Look Out for European Spindle in the Touraine Loire Valley

 European Spindle Euonymus europaeus (Fr. Fusain d'Europe). 

A shrub or small tree, abundant in almost all of France, and very noticeable in the autumn because of its shocking pink seed capsules which spread open to reveal equally vibrant orange seeds. Grows in mixed hedgerows in areas with calcareous soil.

 

 

The species is the most important overwintering host of the Black Bean Aphid. As such they provide an important food source for early emerging hover flies with predatory larvae.

 

 

The species has a surprising number of uses for man. As referenced by the French vernacular name, it makes the best artists' charcoal, and the best charcoal powder. It has a hard fine grained yellow wood, ideal for sharpening to a point and making meat skewers and spindles, as well as being used in horology for cleaning brass and rubies without scratching them. The seed capsules can be used as a source of dye for certain Moroccan leathers.

 

 

The other time of year you might notice spindle is when it is being attacked by Yponomeuta spp small ermine moth caterpillars in the spring. This looks devastating as they eat all the leaves and cover the plant in a silken web. But the plant recovers, and by June has grown a full covering of leaves again.

 

Awaydays Blog Post 14: By Train

We caught the the train from Goulburn to Woy Woy. It involves changing from the old creaky and rattly train you see here to an even older one in Sydney.

It has to be said, though - NSW state railways do an exceptionally good line in tin sheds.

Everyone Knows the Story About the Donkey

At the fruit tree care and maintenance lecture I attended last year, Jean-Pierre Couturier said at one point: 'Of course, everyone knows the story of Saint Martin's donkey, but in fact the Romans pruned'.

St Martin's donkey, munching on a grape leaf, is depicted on the left of these medieval carvings on the church at Cande Saint Martin.

And it's true, everyone in the Touraine does know the story of how Saint Martin's donkey nibbled on the vines it could reach when tethered at Marmoutier, just outside of Tours. The monks noticed that the vines the donkey munched did better than the vines that were left to grow naturally, so they started clipping all the vines. Thus pruning was born.

Donkey in a field.

However I'll bet not many of our international readers know the story and would have been mystified if they'd been at the lecture. 

A herd of Poitou Asses, a local breed of donkey, with vines in the background.

But then, I guess not many French people know the story of Simpson and his donkey, whereas all our Australian readers will be familiar with that story.

Statue of Simpson and his donkey at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

Simpson is an Australian hero of Gallipoli in the First World War. As medic, he went out again and again with his donkey to retrieve wounded soldiers from the battlefield.

Today is both Saint Martin's Day and Armistice Day, which commemorates the end of the First World War. It is a public holiday in France.

Awaydays Blog Post 13: Parroting

This morning we went for a gentle perambulation on the lower slopes of Mt Majura. The star event was seeing a mob of at least a dozen Gang Gangs. Can you see them?

Later, at lunch one landed in Kathy's garden. This photo was taken through the dining room window.

and as a bonus, have a superb parrot.

Awaydays Blog Post 12: Guess!

Awaydays Blog Post 11: Batlow

It's been close to 40 years since I was last in Batlow. Its a lovely little town with an apple and pears fixation, and I can thoroughly recommend the Apple Inn as a traditional, very comfortable motel, and the RSL next door for its traditional NSW country Chinese restaurant.

Awaydays Blog Post 10: Half of an Excellent Day

What a great day. The Snowy Mountain Project museum, swimming at Yarrangobilly, proper Australian hamburgers (beetroot, not "pickles"), and the sadness of historic bushfire damage.

Awaydays Blog Post 9: Roos

No words, and a day late because the place we were at yesterday had no WiFi or phone signal.  The Big Trout, Yankee Hat, and a mob of roos

Awaydays Blog Post 8: Nature n Stuff

Yesterday we went to Mulligan's Flat with Susan's sister Kathy. We saw three echidnas in the space of a 3km walk (bringing my lifetime total of echidnas to 4).

We also saw kangaroos and wallabies, but no good photos available on our phones.

Afterwards Kathy's husband John joined us at the café for an excellent lunch, before we headed off to the National Arboretum café for ice cream. It was hot and windy, so Susan, Kathy and John headed out to look at bonsai while I sat in the cool.

Tonight for dinner we're looking forwards to home made pizza. 

Yum!!

All the photos on the blog whilst we're away will be taken from our cheapest available phones. Camera photos may (or may not) follow.

Awaydays Blog Post 7

Four pictures. A walk, a view from home, and a nighttime art tour.

Awaydays Blog Post 6: Transport

Today was all about transport. First, a ferry (although this image was taken last night)

Then a train

And the purpose of today, Dad's new wheels.

Then we drove back to Canberra.

Awaydays Blog Post 5

It was a big day yesterday - three ferries, light rail, three buses, 6.7 km walked, a sculpture trail, a shark alert, and dinner with friends we met in Tours. Add to that 7 beaches, 30°C heat and humidity, you'll excuse us if we write no more.

Why is no-one swimming at Manly?

They're all at Bondi.

I'm getting good at selfies.

Awaydays Blog Post 4: The Phoney War

Last time Susan and I were in Australia we brought our little Wiko brick phones and my "big" phone that we only used for satnav. Unfortunately, even though France still hasn't turned off it's 2G, Australia did that ages ago. This meant we had to shift the SIM card from one of the little phones into the big phone and work like that.

This time we boxed clever, brought our French 4G phones, and on our first day here (traumatically and expensively) bought an Australian SIM card for one of them. That worked great for 24 hours, giving us phone calls, texts, and data - and then it suddenly died. No amount of changing settings, putting the SIM in different slots (and different phones) made any difference.

A picture of a beach to help me de-stress.

It transpires that Australia turned off its 3G system on Friday. I knew that was coming. What we (and many other people) didn't know is that it also turned off parts of the 4G system, rendering all but the most expensive 4G phones brought in from overseas useless. (France is planning to turn off 3G in 2027)

After much debate, we eventually bought, for $127, a new, Australian mobile phone. It might also work in France, it might not. We're using it for texts and phone calls, but also as a USB hotspot, meaning that both of us can use our phones for everything except for phoning and texting.

Another picture of a beach. It's not working.

We have now spent a day and a half of our visit sorting out phones. We are peeved.

Awaydays Blog Post 3: Burdlary

We were out for lunch with my father. We all ordered battered barramundi with salad and chips - as you can see.

Susan realised they hadn't delivered Dad's coffee, so she went off to check. She was gone a while, dad and I were deep in conversation, when (literally) out of the blue a kookaburra flew down, and was just about to strike at Susan's fish when I flapped it away.

Apparently about three people a day lose their lunch that way, but the restaurant just replaces it. We had a giggle about it with the ladies at the next table and later spied the bird with a delicious morsel, sitting on a branch near the restaurant.

No photos of the bird, as I considered saving Susan's lunch more important than reportage.