Showing posts with label Weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weather. Show all posts

Saturday, 10 June 2017

Adieu Printemps - Weekend Reflections

We've just received photos of our French garden from our dear neighbours who keep a watchful eye over My French Folly. According to their report................

Spring is about to bid us farewell as the sun stretches high into the sky.


The promise of new life has been delivered.


Fledglings dessert their nests.


The breeze plants a warm kiss in the shadows


 Now, the sweetness of the air barely lingers.


Leaves discard their verdant, juvenile greens for more mature hues.


Nature's rhythms continue to invoke feelings of wonder and security.


Printemps  by Victor Hugo
Voici donc les longs jours, lumière, amour, délire!  

Voici le printemps ! mars, avril au doux sourire,  
Mai fleuri, juin brûlant, tous les beaux mois amis!  
Les peupliers, au bord des fleuves endormis,  

Se courbent mollement comme de grandes palmes;  
L’oiseau palpite au fond des bois tièdes et calmes;  
Il semble que tout rit, et que les arbres verts  
Sont joyeux d’être ensemble et se disent des vers.  

Le jour naît couronné d’une aube fraîche et tendre;  

Le soir est plein d’amour ; la nuit, on croit entendre,  
À travers l’ombre immense et sous le ciel béni,  
Quelque chose d’heureux chanter dans l’infini.


Springtime by Victor Hugo
Here are the long days, light, love, delirium!
This is the Spring! March, April with a sweet smile,
May flowery, June blazing, all the beautiful friendly months!
The poplars, asleep by the riverside,
Bow gently like great palms
.
The bird quivers at the far end of the calm, tepid woods
.
It seems that everything laughs, and that the green trees
Are joyful to be together and say verses to each other.
The day comes crowned with a fresh and tender dawn.
The evening is full of love, the night, one can almost hear
Through the immense shadow and under the sacred sky,
Something happy singing in the infinity.

Recording: Monique Palomares  

English Translation: Lisa Yannucci 


Linking to Outdoor Wednesday

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Sunday, 28 May 2017

Words fail me.

The recent events in Manchester are numbing.
Words fail. 
Efforts of comfort appear incredibly hollow.


Change, like sunshine, can be a friend or a foe, a blessing or a curse, a dawn or a dusk. William Arthur Ward

There are 2 early birds in flight across this dawn sky. France 2016

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark. Rabindranath Tagore

Wild poppies growing amongst the remains of Roman built baths in north eastern France. France 2016

A sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier times. Alfred Lord Tennyson


Participating in Black and White Weekend
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Friday, 11 January 2013

Too Hot to Handle


Billabong. Tabilk Winery, Australia

Gardening is spiritual, anchoring me to the earth and seasons – my form of green meditation. While I don’t apportion my time to gardening accordingly to its importance to my life, just wandering around the yard, pulling a few weeds here and there, spot watering and planning my next major activity are incredibly fulfilling and soothing. 

A worm on the 4th floor of Annelid House.
Part of my green landscape is my worm farm that supplies me with lovely, organic fertilizer while disposing of our herbaceous kitchen scraps. Harvested rain from the house roof usually manages to provide the garden with water until early summer. 
Bee-keeping activities have now ceased due to my allergies but I still delight in seeing bees in my garden foraging around in search of sweet nectar.  
So it is with a heavy heart that I have to report the death of the worms in the worm farm due to my forgetfulness.

The 4-tiered annelid-tower has survived in the shade for the last 10 years, through all weather - fair and foul. Kitchen scraps go into its top store, garden fertilizer and compost come out from the bottom– until last week’s unseasonal 41 o C. (106 o F). The weather was so uncomfortable that once I made it home from work and feed the troops, I just flopped around the house preparing the bare minimum for the following day, before collapsing onto my bed.
No thought was given to the new seedlings in my vegetable patch or to my wonderful worms.

Third floor worms
Suffering from the heat, I omitted to remove the lid off the worm farm to allow the tower to cool – a necessity once the thermometer hits 35 o C. My oversight became apparent when my little soil Trojans were to be fed during the weekend. As I approached the worm farm, laden with kitchen scraps, I noticed a cloud of frenetic flies. A foul odor hung in the air. ….. “Something’s wrong.” Removing the lid of the 4-tiered annelid-tower unleashed a sickening smell and revealed a sea of discolored, putrefying worms. Phew!  My supportive family retreated indoors amidst screams of disgust leaving me to deal with the product of my neglect. Not an easy task given the size of the tower, and the stench.

On our 12 acres in the countryside, huge eucalyptus tree branches frequently
fall during strong winds,  adding to our list of chores.
Their removal can consume hours of our time and test our patience.
Yes, lurking under my suburban exterior is an avid greenie – not one who hugs trees in protest, but one who hugs them out of sheer delight; inhaling the sent of their wood,  feeling the texture of their bark, observing the intricacies of their being and feasting on the hues and contrasts of the colours of their bark. Isn’t nature wonderful?


Friday, 23 December 2011

Christmas Carols


Christmas carols are embraced with fervor in the Land Downunder, despite their occasional inappropriateness!
Courtesy of Andrew Weldon and The Age
Currently the temperature in Melbourne is hovering around 30 0 C
Joyeux Noël 

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Springtime (Le Printemps) 
par Théophile Gautier



Look at the boughs,
How white they are,
It’s snowing flowers!

Scoffing at the rain,
The sun dries
The weepy willow.

And the sky reflects
In the violets
Its pure colors…

The fly opens its wings
And the dragonfly
With the golden pupils,
And the wasp-like corset,
Unfolding its silky wings,
Has resumed its flight.

The water happily babbles,
The tiny fish wriggles
It’s Springtime again!


Thursday, 21 April 2011

L’Automne et une Belle Chanson, Les Feuilles Mortes


"Texte + mélodie + interprétation exceptionnels = Un monument de la chanson française."
Ma saison préférée est l’Automne. J’adore la lumière, les couleurs des arbres, les monceaux de feuilles et le temps. Le ciel est bleu, le ciel est gris………. Aussi en Australie nous célébrons Pâques pendant l’Automne. C’est un moment nous espérons que tout se passera bien…..et nous mangerons plus de chocolats. La chanson Les Feuilles Mortes me fait penser à l’Automne.
Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower
Albert Camus - French novelist, Nobel Prize for Literature.





Les Feuilles Mortes
Oh je voudrais tant que tu te souviennes
Des jours heureux où nous étions amis
En ce temps là, la vie était plus belle
Et le soleil plus brûlant qu'aujourd'hui
Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle
Tu vois je n'ai pas oublié
Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle
Les souvenirs et les regrets aussi
Et le vent du nord les emportet
Dans la nuit froide de l'oubli
Tu vois, je n'ai pas oublié
La chanson que tu me chantais

C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble
Toi tu m'aimais, et je t'aimais
Et nous vivions tout les deux ensemble
Toi qui m'aimais, moi qui t'aimais
Mais la vie sépare ceux qui s'aiment
Tout doucement sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable
Le pas des amants désunis

C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble
Toi tu m'aimais et je t'aimais
Et nous vivions, tous deux ensemble
Toi qui m'aimait, moi qui t'aimais
Mais la vie sépare ceux qui s'aime
Tout doucement sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable
Le pas des amants désunis.


Oh I so want you to remember
The happy days when we were friends

At that time, life was more beautiful
And the sun brighter than today
The dead leaves gather on the rake
You see I have not forgotten
The dead leaves gather on the rake
Memories and regrets also
And the north wind emportet
In the cold night of oblivion
You see, I have not forgotten
The song that you sang to me

It's a song that resembles us
You loved me, and I loved you
And we lived together every two
You who loved me, who loved me
But life separates those who love
Gently, without making any noise
And the sea erases on the sand
The footsteps of separated lovers

It's a song that resembles us
You loved me and I loved you
And we lived, both together
You who loved me, who loved me
But life separates those who love each other
Gently, without making any noise
And the sea erases on the sand

Friday, 4 February 2011

Heat, Humidity and Head in the Sand

The heat and humidity are sapping my energy. I have an uncomfortable sticky feeling all over my skin – reminiscent of tacky fairy floss. This malaise is further aggravated by the lack of appropriate garments in my wardrobe – the result of an over zealous appetite and a recent purging of clothes which I have sadly outgrown. I long for new summer attire, fashionably designed to allow a breeze to ventilate my glowing skin. Clothes made of natural fibres that “breathe”.  But it is not to be…. I’m too frightened by the prospect of seeing my newly acquired fuller figure, (cleverly illuminated by revealing lights), in the change-room mirrors . Dimples aren’t so appealing en masse.  Yes, I’m ashamed to admit that I whole-heartedly subscribe to the Ostrich Principle. Must revive that vision………..

Thursday, 3 February 2011

G & T ............a C.L.M


Not gin.....but "any port in a storm"
Summer…………..the sauna continues. The persistent throbbing in my head lowers my will power – pathetic justification for scoffing a whole bag of white chocolate-covered raspberry bullets. ……….Satisfaction gives way to loathing……….Another bout of hot flushes adds to my already damp skin. Right now a  gin and tonic with 2 aspros would be the perfect medication -  if I didn’t have to dash back to “ The Office” for an evening meeting. With a nickname of Cadbury’s (a glass and a half and I’m confused) a cool, long G&T with a twist of lemon, albeit tempting, would definitely be a C.L.M. (career limiting move)

Saturday, 15 January 2011

Floods Across Australia - No Longer Singing in the Rain!

Like many Australians, I’ve fantasised about rain during our long 10 plus years of drought, as dams and water supplies across the country emptied, crops failed, stock perished, paddocks turned to dust, and water restrictions tightened, but this incessant rain has lost its appeal.
Slow floods; flash floods; interminable floods.
Isolation.
Desperation.
Lives lost. Livelihoods swept away, hopes and futures shattered.
And the financial cost – mind-boggling.
However, amongst all of this devastation and despair are amazing stories of survival, and bravery; heart warming tales of camaraderie and newly forged bonds……..Very black clouds with a tiny silver lining.
In the beginning ………………..













Where and where will it end?



Sunday, 2 January 2011

A Piece of France

 
My French Folly is looking very lonely and miserable.

This week we toasted the purchase of our own piece of 
France, La Maison de Fraise, only to learn that la neige sur le toit ancien had become too heavy for some plastic which was sealing 2 two roof windows so les carreaux (window panes) have fallen in and the snow has followed ! My French dream definately didn’t include building snowmen inside le grenier. Réalité bites…… completely closing off these windows for the rest of the winter is  now  the our first priority. Apart from the damage which can be caused by a melting mounds of snow, the insurance policy on La Maison de Fraise will become invalid. 
An email to my guardian angel* in France has been dispatched toute de suiite. Thank goodness for the current favourable exhange rate. I hope this is not the beginning of mon rêve français turning into un grand cauchemar………
It was 40 °C  here yesterday - too hot for me but probably quite enticing if you have been enduring freezing conditions and deep snow for months!

* Postscript 2012: the guardian angel and his wife have turned out to be "wolves in sheep's clothing" which I have since discovered thanks to some wonderful locals in the village.
Current local weather conditions, France, Samedi 01 Janvier
Température de -2°C à 1°C
Soleil de 8:26 à 16:56
Taux d’humidité : 92%