Fossils

One of the things I love about the fermette is the fossils that are everywhere.  Either embedded in the stones that make the fabric of the buildings, or tucked into gaps in the stonework.

They are mainly ammonoids, but from time to time there are other sealife fossils as well.

I like the little snail nestled against the fossil.... kind of like he is hoping to be disguised by it.

Voyage

Well, it is that time of year.  A time when everyone thinks of family and friends and settles in for 2 months of eating and drinking.

So, I am off to Australia for nearly 2 months of family, friends, eating and drinking.

I may update the blog while I am gone, but cannot guarantee taking time out from all the visiting and adventures in order to do so.  As this is a personal blog.... there will be no guest bloggers/ holiday competitions/trite electronic postcards etc... sorry if that disappoints

What I will promise is lots of photos on my return and time to once again blog every week.

Today I sent in my dissertation for the course I have been doing.  A huge relief and a huge burden from my shoulders.  It is not due till mid december, but I have worked extremely hard to finish it before my trip.  I thought that the last thing I would want to do is hide away in a room and write and study, not when there is the beach and people I love to spend time with.

On the home front, the garden has been put to bed for winter.  All tender plants are under a covering and the trees have been pruned to keep them snug till spring.  We have had so much sunshine and blue sky that it hasn't felt like winter yet.... although the temperature has been low and no matter how inviting the sunshine looks - it is NOT warm.

I have a successful hedgehog shelter.  Already 3 hedgies are in there all curled up and cute.  Due to the warmth they come out for food each night still.  So I have been feeding them up so they are nice and fat to hibernate while I am away.  Very pleased with that project.  The pic above is my new hedgie.  No name yet.  He had just tipped the dish of cat croquettes upside down on to his head and I found him underneath grunting and muttering away as he scoffed them down.  Not quite used to pats yet, but have explained that if he doesn't let me pat him then he can't live here.... he remained unimpressed.

One visitor which we have seen evidence of - although not the actual animal - is a badger.  He has helped himself to hedgehog food a few times, and left a little "present" by way of thanks.  In fact it was his little calling cards which enabled me to identify which animal was visiting.  (Wayne was laughing that I borrowed a book on animal faeces from the library.  My response was that if there was a book available to borrow, it was not a strange thing to do.)  I spent quite a few days examining evidence and comparing to pictures and descriptions in the book before deciding that it might have been a member of the weasel family (the books said probably a marten) and most probably a badger.

Also on loan from the library was a book on the native plants of the region.  Fascinating stuff.  I have all the good plants in my wild meadow patch.  I was thrilled!  So have followed instructions for best propagation and self seeding and left it to wait out winter.  Hopefully next year I will have an even better wild meadow area.

The owner of our house called by a few days ago.  It was nice to meet him and put a face to the name on our lease.  He was a charming man and made a point of asking if we would stay for a long time please.  I laughed and said that we were happy in his house and so had no plans to move soon. (Besides that - after all the struggle to get everything here from Paris and Australia, I don't think I could face another move for a few years yet!)  One thing we he said was that he was extremely happy with the garden and house under my care.  He said it had never looked so good before.  A nice compliment. 

The boys are loving the house, and really loving the fireplace.  Guy has claimed a spot on a cushion in front and he sits there in anticipation each day until I finally light the fire.  Eric doesn't care.  He waits till I sit in the recliner to have a half hour break in the afternoon, and then claims my lap. Starting to be a snuggle puss now.  Salameche is growing day by day.  Still thinks he lives with us and tries to spend the night more often than not.  In the morning our bedroom is flooded with sunlight.  Of course all the cats are to be found sprawled across our bed basking and snoozing in the light and warmth.  This pic is of the paws of Salameche.  If the size of his feet are any indication, he is going to be a good sized cat when fully grown.

Since the summer we have really settled in here.  Friends have been made that we will treasure for a lifetime.  My days are full and we are living in a beautiful area that always offers something new to experience.  Sunday afternoon was lovely and sunny, so we went with neighbours to an area about 20minutes away and walked along the river.  A gorgeous spot and I was annoyed that I left my camera at home.  We have promised that we will go back again with them as it was so beautiful and a lovely thing to do on a sunday afternoon.

Building works beside the farm (about 100metres from our house) has thrown up a layer of undisturbed geology which has provided hours of enjoyment for a few others and myself.  Last saturday we were finding pieces of ammonoids - some very large ones too!  It is not surprising as every time I disturb the soil in the garden I find fossils.  I put them aside and examine them afterwards, then pass most of them to a child in the lane who is really interested in fossils and rocks.

Well, time to finish this long update.  We have an apero with the neighbours tonight.  A bon voyage drinks party that promises to be a lot of fun.

For those that celebrate, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  For everyone else, see you after the holidays.

This is one of my photographs which I have made part of my panel for my photography course.  A pastel pink rose from my garden, edited into monochrome. No other editing needed.  It was the most perfect rose at the perfect stage of opening.

Fun in the Sun

What more could you want?

Sun, sea and archaeology. A perfect mix.

The IfA conference was held in Southport this year. A place I had never visited before, but was curious to see.

It did not disappoint. A melange of tacky seaside carnival, a high street to rival any other, majestic Victorian architecture, and excellent restaurants. With an enormous statue of good old Vicky presiding over all.

She is always portrayed as old and grumpy, but her young married life was full of sex, lust and joie de vivre. Never fails to amuse me that this most prudish era was named after a girl who was "hot to trot" - although it must be added that this was only within the confines of marriage and she was totally faithful to her Albert.

Enough of that.

I will write a separate post on the food and restaurants, but let me say now that it was a good food trip. A brief teaser..... I did eat fish and chips and mushy peas. Obligatory really, but that will not be the highlight.

The weather was glorious and it was a joy to walk around exploring in brilliant sunshine.

Of course I shopped a little..... ok, a lot.

I went over with an A4 list of things I needed to buy for both of us. Managed to get all of the list barr one item. Pretty good going I thought. I was especially pleased with my cashmere cardigan reduced from 175pounds to 20 pounds. My Mum taught me well.

To business.

The speakers at the conference were great. The problem was deciding which ones to attend! I was disappointed that one of my favourite speakers was only given 20 minutes to talk. She is so entertaining and interesting that you go away wanting more. I did make a point of requesting a longer session next time though.

We attended a formal dinner on the first night. Met some really interesting people and had a delicious meal (warmed goat cheese with salad for entree, herb crusted rack of lamb with veg for plat and pavlova with strawberries for dessert). One of the best formal dinners I have attended.

The informal dinner and party the next night was not so good unfortunately. The meal was a bit disappointing and everyone seemed to disappear to the pub immediately after eating. So no dancing or mingling. Luckily I was at a table with good company and we sat and chatted for a while till the (really!) bad disco music drove us away.

Friday we had an excursion to the beach...... but you will have to watch this space for more on that!

Lastly, you would not believe the fabulous little shop I discovered just off Lord Street. It was a magical place of rocks, fossils and books. More and varied collections you have never seen before. I could quite happily have moved in and never left.

I spent probably about the better part of an hour chatting with the owner and admiring the wonderful selection on his shelves.

No, I did not buy any books. By this stage my suitcase was nearing dangerously overloaded.... sigh. Of course this just means that I have to visit another time to explore the titles on the 3 floors (yes 3 whole floors!!!!) of books.

Simply heaven.

EUROCK

Well, I guess it is time to come clean about my trip to Bruxelles.

Yes, it was to do with rocks, but no it was not archaeology. I was attending the AGM for the Geology Society I am a member of.

What a fabulous group of people and what a great weekend.

We visited a disused quarry, and had opportunity to gather specimens ourselves of some fabulous Devonian fossilised tree trunks. Also vegetation fossils in the most fine grained shale I have ever seen. This photo shows ripples caused by wave and current motion on an ancient sea floor. Something that you can see today at any beach. Incredible to think that this has happened since time began and the evidence is visible in places like this. Very interesting morning.

Another trip was to a cave system, or "Grottes" as they call them in french. (I was too busy taking notes and did not get the opportunity to take any photos, but will post some when they are forwarded to me from the others on the trip.)

The caves were interesting as they were on two levels and had been carved by the action of an underground river. In fact, after walking though the upper level of the caves, we had to return to the entrance via a boat on the lower level. The caves are still full of water on the lower level and water was constantly trickling down from the surface so the level never drops.

Fascinating to see so many enormous stalagmites and stalagtites as well as flow deposits from the calcium carbonate in the water building up over the centuries. Makes you look at the limescale in the kettle in a whole new light........

Of course what trip would be complete without sampling some of the local delicacies? Not this one that is for sure! I have tried chocolate in every permutation imaginable, and every flavour on earth. Think I will need a complete post dedicated to that topic alone.

One thing which Belgium is known for is waffles, or "gaufres" as they are called in french. Traditionally you eat them with powdered sugar only, but in the cafes and street stalls you can have almost any topping you can think of.

I had mine with powdered sugar and a glass of hot chocolate, called "chocolat chaud". The hot chocolate was not a sweet version. It was chocolate from Madagascar that had been powdered, but left in its natural state flavour wise. Deliciously bitter and with a great depth of flavour. The perfect companion to my sweet gaufre.

You will notice a small foil wrapped biscuit on the left of my drink tray....... It was a very unusual thin crisp biscuit with slivers of nuts in it. I asked my waiter what they were called, as they were so nice I thought I might look for them in a supermarket and bring some home. He told me that they don't really have a name, and you can't buy them in a supermarket. I must have looked a bit disappointed as he returned a few minutes later and asked me to open my backpack. When I did he placed a huge handful of them inside, zipped it up, said "Un petit cadeau", winked and walked away. Such a lovely thing to do, I was so surprised and very pleased. You can be sure he received a tip!

Sunday morning we visited the Natural History Museum. It was such a great place that I think it also deserves a post of its own. So stay tuned and I will show you this magnificent museum in a few days.

I will leave you with one last photo. Even though my focus for the trip was geology, I did walk all over Bruxelles and do all the usual cultural things. It is an interesting city with a real melange of building styles. The guild houses in the Grande Place were fabulous though and really caught my attention.

The carved stone work and the gold gilding was gorgeous.