Impressions

Today we had to get some groceries and decided to take a different route home, via the Plateau de Saute. We travelled up to Belcaire, which is set up for winter skiers, but under the dark clouds of today looked rather ominous. The temperature at 1000 meters was around 13 degrees, which is I believe about the same as Auckland is having right now.

The Plateau was very interesting indeed with lots of stone homes and wooden chalets in a scrubby kind of nature, and again, surrounded by forests. We are also surrounded by forests (Douglas fir and native species) as well as a range of other crops – maize, more than likely for animal fodder, sunflowers – so far we have seen a few blooming, but in 2-3 weeks time there will be a sea of yellow faces and plenty of opportunity for photos, paddock grasses which have been mown into hay bale rounds.

While they sit there waiting to be ‘wrapped’, you can see in each paddock a falcon or peregrine (not certain until I have a book of birds to confirm) sitting atop one bale, scanning the area for the next meal. My guess from the amount of these birds is that there is plenty for them to eat – rats, mice, smaller birds....

We need to find out what type of animal is making certain droppings we’ve seen in quite a few places now. It seems to be eating some berries or seeds and pooping them out in large quantities.

The other thing which intrigued us is the slug population. If you think you have big slugs in NZ, forget it! I can see that gardening here will be a challenge and will have to plant several decoy lettuces... So far we’ve seen the dark grey and red slugs, but there may be others lurking. Photo to follow one of these days.

Last night we made a walk along a disused railway track – the tracks have been removed and a path created for walking and cycling. It’s easy walking (for one who is recovering from flu) and interesting enough for Cassy with lots of smells and variety of paddocks. It’s also safer and quieter than trying to walk along the roads and we can have Cassy off the leash.

There are plenty of wild flowers everywhere and at the moment just starting to flower is the clematis – very sweet smelling and as nice as the honey suckle. There are lots of wild plants I don’t know, so this will be another book on the list of things to buy, unless I can wait for our library to arrive from NZ.

Some people go to a lot of trouble to make their little spot look beautiful, and they succeed – lots of poppies and other bright flowers adorn the highways and byways, and the local gardens and plots are a real pride and joy. It seems most people have at least a pot or two or some hanging baskets if they have not much room.

The weather is different in that around the Pyrenees you can have some almighty thunder storms. We had one a few nights ago which was bad enough that Cassy wanted to hop into bed with us to feel safe. When there is rain blowing in, we are in the cloud base, so can see the clouds drifting by as they speed (or not) through the tree tops and mountains on their way. We have had rain, although it seems to be not enough for the farmers with maize as we see them watering everywhere. Not sure how the rain affects the area in winter yet. You have to be prepared for any type of weather on any day (luckily, I was a girl guide!) so layers are the answer. But if it’s hot, it will stay hot until there is a break in the weather.