Weather and Wildlife 2015

January: the orchard looks bare.

January: Early - exceptionally mild with a couple of brilliantly sunny days that were windless which meant you could feel the sun's warmth for real, not just enjoy the light. Also many grey drizzly days. Both New Year's Day and the day of the marche blanche in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings were beautiful days. I saw a honey bee out and about on 11 January, but I doubt if she was finding much to eat. Mid month there were some frosts and cold days with overcast skies. By the end of the month it was definitely cold, with a cold wind, frost most days but just getting warm enough during the day to thaw.

January: Scarlet Elf Cup fungus growning on a twig pruned from a fruit tree in the orchard.

February: First half cold, not that much rain, some overcast days, some days brilliant sunshine. Second half wet, with the ground totally saturated.

February: A Daubentons Bat hibernates in the cellars of the Chateau of Cingé.

Overall the winter was fairly average. Rain was a bit low in December and January, but February made up the small deficit. Temperatures were average, with not much frost. Sunshine hours were a bit lower than average, especially in December and January.

March: Sunset as seen from our back door, and a sign of the fine weather to come.

April: Blossom in the carpark of the Chateau of Chenonceau.

April: The trees in the orchard are still bare, but the dandelions are out in the grass.

May: A rather large tree sweeps along the Loire in Amboise during some minor flooding.

June: A young hedgehog (Fr. herisson) snuffles about on the lawn at the Chateau of Cheverny.

July: One of the hottest and driest on record. Luckily, although soils dried out, river flows and underground water remained at good levels and farmers were permitted to irrigate widely, thus saving the summer crops of forage corn at least. We had less than 5 mm of rain during the month, and Indre et Loire (37) and Loir et Cher (41) were the two driest départements in our area. Indre (36) and Vienne (86) had a bit more rain, but not much. The soils dried out very quickly in July, from around normal moisture levels in late June. By mid-July we were categorised as 'moderately dry' by the weather bureau and in the northern parts of 37 and 41 it was 'very dry'. This situation led to what is known as an 'agricultural drought'. That is, not a fullscale drought, but the soil was dry enough to a depth of 2 m that crop growth was affected. Temperatures in the first half of the month were well above average (about 5 degrees higher than normal) but not record breaking.

July: A male Large Pincertail (Fr. gomphe à crochets) dragonfly, a great record for T&P's place.

The hot weather had the big dragonflies like the Blue Emperor (Fr. anax empereur) out hunting in the midday sunshine and well into the evening shadows. Butterflies also peaked in July, with species such as the Map (Fr. carte géographique) absolutely everywhere. Gatekeepers (Fr. amaryllis) were abundant, and Holly Blues (Fr. Azuré des nerpruns) had quite a long season, doing better than many other blues. The migratory species Long-tailed Blue (Fr. azuré porte-queue) appeared in the orchard, and I later saw one in September at the Chateau of Azay-le-Rideau. With the hot weather I had been hoping to see one or two as I thought it would suit them.

August: The orchard is a sea of dry grass and wild carrot umbels.

August: Grasshoppers (Fr. criquets) mating in the orchard.

September: Paper Wasps (Fr. polistes) rather inconveniently set up home under the tin 'hat' on a post.

October: The orchard mown in strips to provide a mosaic of habitats (long and short vegetation).

October: Solomons Seal (Fr. seau de Salomon) berries in the Forest of Preuilly.

November: The warmest November on record, with rainfall low, at about 70% of normal and sunshine hours about 10% higher than normal. Temperatures were on average about 4° higher than normal, with one day hitting 20°.

November: A Grisette (Fr. grisette) mushroom in the orchard.

I recorded a Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Fr. pic mar) in the orchard. This delightful little bird has quite a distinctive call and now I know it, I have seen them several times in the forests hereabouts. I think they are reasonably common. Also present most days was a newly resident Common Buzzard (Fr. buse variable). I think perhaps it is this year's youngster from the pair who nest in the woods on the hill as you exit Preuilly towards le Grand Pressigny. It seems to be perched somewhere in or near the orchard every time I arrive. The vole (Fr. campagnol) population is good so it is probably quite well fed. The temperatures may have dropped, but that didn't bother the Common Winter Damselflies (Fr. brunette hivernale) too much. They drift about in the dried plant stalks in the orchard, nearly invisible. I suspect they are a much under recorded species.

Temperatures overall in autumn were average, but with September and most of October being markedly cooler than November. Sunshine hours were slightly higher than average. Rainfall was also about average.

Young Agile Frogs (Fr. grenouille agile) were much in evidence in October, in the potager and in the leaf litter of the forest.

December: Felled oak trees (Fr. chêne) in the Forest of Lancosme in the Brenne.

December: The first half was extraordinarily mild, with average temperatures 2.8° higher than normal. The days around my birthday saw daytime maximum temperatures around 7-10° higher than average and we happily visited the Brenne without coats. The fifth and the tenth were the only exceptions, with frost and day long fog.  The contrast was really marked, about 10° difference from one day to the next and those colder days felt perishing. The second half didn't change much. Some days could be legitimately described as warm and sunny, at least for several hours of the day. There was also quite a bit of cloud cover, but not much rain. The weather bureau is talking about a springlike December, with average temperatures exceeding those you would expect in March (and would be quite respectable temperatures for April). They comment that the duration of the period of mild weather at this time of year is truly exceptional. It was the warmest December since 1900, with temperatures far exceeding the next closest records, from 1934 and 2000. Average temperatures have been 4° higher than normal. It has also been exceptionally sunny for December, but rainfall so low that it has been amongst the driest Decembers on record.

I was able to get a bit of gardening done in the potager and was joined by a Eurasian Robin (Fr. rougegorge familier) sometimes. In English stories they are famous for their confiding nature and will boldly sit on fork handles to watch for worms, but in France they are much less inclined to hang about with gardeners.

Overall the year was amongst the hottest on record, but not the record breaker. It sits at third place, after 2011, with the average temperature 1°C above normal. (2003, the year that everyone will remember for its heatwave summer, is the fourth hottest year on record in France.) Most months in 2015 experienced higher than average temperatures (with the exceptions of February, September and October). Spring and summer were particularly hot, with two official heatwave episodes in July. The temperatures cooled in the autumn, but from the end of October onwards were exceptionally mild, with only a couple of light frosts, and that's really what pushed up the average temperatures. Rainfall was down about 15%, making this one of the ten driest years in the last 50. Sunshine hours were up on average. The fifteen hottest years on record in France have all occurred in the last thirty years.

All photos taken by us in 2015.

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Loire Valley Nature: A new entry has been added for Rosy Bonnet Mycena rosea, a very pretty but toxic little mushroom.

Gonfalon of the City of Milan

This object intrigued and fascinated us. It hangs in the middle of one of the rooms in the Castello Sforzesco, and is a curious and surprising mixture of mediums. We looked at it and thought it was a tapestry, then realised bits were painted and other bits embroidered. It's also huge. We thought it was for public processions, but then because it is so big and unwieldy looking, wondered if it was a theatrical backdrop of some sort. Then we gave up and read the museum panel.

Rather than re-invent the wheel I will quote directly from that museum panel to enlighten you too:

The gonfalon of the City of Milan belongs to the type of city ensigns decorated on both sides so as to be clearly visible to all during processions, although it is much larger than most, measuring a huge 5 metres high and 3.5 metres wide. It was crafted on a drawing by Guiseppe Arcimboldi, using a mixed technique that combined embroidery and tempera paint and featuring inserts of precious stones. Created by Scipione Delfinone and Guiseppe Posterla, between 1565 and 1567, it was drawn to be the main gonfalon of the city and remained in use as such until it became a museum exhibit in the 1870s; it has, however, subesquently been used for a number of important occasions.

On both sides the gonfalon depicts Saint Ambrose standing in the middle of an elaborately decorated arch, holding, in his left hand, the whip he is traditionally associated with and, in his right hand, a finely crafted crosier. At his feet are two soldiers, face down, symbolising the episode of the saint driving out the Aryans. The round-arched portal framing the figure of Saint Ambrose and set against the backdrop of a building rests on piers decorated with scenes from the life of the saint. The border at the bottom, which was added later, is embroidered with gold thread on a damask base, and features nine coats of arms, three of which belong to the Municipality of Milan (a red cross on a white background) and the rest to the gates of the city.

The gonfalon of Milan was commissioned by the Magnifica Communiti institution of the city for Palazzo dei Giureconsulti, which housed the Collegio dei Nobili Dottori training institution from its inauguration in 1654 until the Napoleonic Era. The work was initially entrusted to the painter Carlo Urbino and the weaver Bernadino Riome (weaving was chosen for financial reasons, since the technique is less expensive than painting and lasts longer), but the initial results were deemed unsatisfactory, in particular the skin tones, and the decision was taken to place the work in the hands of the prestigious Milanese embroiderer Scipione Delfinone; at the same time the preparatory drawings were entrusted to the artists Guiseppe Arcimboldo and Guiseppe Meda, both from Milan.

The iconography of the composition appears to have remained unchanged; the radical departure from the initial version consisted of the use of the more sophisticated technique of embroidery. The embroiderers created the work using the appliqué technique, consisting of a support on which were placed shaped pieces of different fabrics, mostly painted with embroidered inserts. For example, the saint's face is painted, while the mitre is embroidered and embellished with precious stones, creating a striking relief effect. The embroiderer also used a large number of precious materials, the purchase of which is extensively documented. Particularly fine gold and silver threads and fabrics were purchased, as well as brocades, silks and satin fabrics, while the goldsmith Battista Cellario supplied the precious stones: pearls and garnets, together with the rubies destined to adorn the mitre of Saint Ambrose.

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A la cuisine hier: Beef casserole with some good leftover red Touraine cabernet franc, lots of carrots, baby onions and some aged celery that needed using up, cooked on the wood stovetop. 

Since it was Epiphany Sunday I made a galette des rois from some homemade rough puff pastry that I had in the freezer, filled with almond paste from the supermarket and a couple of the remaining homegrown apples, sliced. I also sprinkled it with raw sugar (Fr. cassonade) so it made a sweet crispy crust. Not traditional but good. I got the fêve.

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Loire Valley Nature: An new entry has been added for Morel Morchella esculenta, one of the most prized of the edible mushrooms.

Painted Grasshawk

This is a female Painted Grasshawk dragonfly Neurothemis stigmatizans. She and her kin are native to the parts of Australia that run from the Queensland/New South Wales border, around the top and down to Broome in Western Australia.

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Loire Valley Nature: A new entry has been added for the Deceiver Laccaria laccata, an attractive and common little mushroom.
A photo has been added to the entry on Fungi Forays, showing the mushrooms found on an outing being identified.

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A la cuisine hier: A French light classic Oeufs en meurette (poached eggs in a red wine sauce) for lunch.

Dinner was herbed pork sausages from the supermarket with mixed mash (potato, carrot and celeriac). Dessert was some chocolate squidge which was supposed to be brownies but I forgot to switch the mini oven from grill to oven so they didn't cook properly. Never mind, they were actually delicious as extra squidgy sticky chocolate pudding.

Surgical Instruments

The Musée Saint Roch, the former pilgrim hospice in Issoudun, holds a collection of surgical instruments.

An 18th century trepanning kit and 18th and 19th century bone saws for performing amputations. (I hear this type of saw is useful in a butchery emergency too.)

 Syringes (for injecting mercury up the urethra, a treatment for syphilis), bedpans (one for women on the left, men in the middle) and a bloodletting pan (right).

19th century stethescope, tourniquets and a homeopathy kit.

 An 18th century trepanning kit.

 Pap boats from the 16th to 18th centuries, for feeding infants.

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Loire Valley Nature: A new entry has been created for Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria. This is the red and white spotted mushroom of the fairy stories.
A new section for Artist's Bracket Ganoderma lipsiense has been added to the Bracket Fungus Polyporaceae entry. This fungus's English name comes from the way you can do line drawings on the creamy white underside.
Two photos have been added to the Fungi Foray entry, showing a group about to head off into the forest to search for fungi of all sorts, and at the end of the day, fungi being identified.
A new entry for Common Stinkhorn Phallus impudicus has been added. This fungus certainly lives up to its various names.

A new entry for Leafy Brain Tremella foliacea has been added. The specimen I photographed looked just like silicone sealant.

Yellow Bellies

The inhabitants of Chaumussay had a nickname in the old days. They were known as les ventres jaunes ('yellow bellies'). This sobriquet may have had two origins [Source Au temps de Chaumussay by Michel Brouard]:

1. A century ago vines were quite numerous around Chaumussay and a sign of wealth. Their owners were considered to have so much gold in their waistcoat pockets that it would rub off on their bellies.
2. The quarrymen who worked extracting stone from the mines and quarries would emerge from the workplace with their clothes covered in yellow limestone (Fr. tuffeau jaunâtre) dust. The best underground quarry in the area was dug out in the 1880s. Later it served to grow mushrooms and then as a storage depot.

 The entrance to an abandoned limestone quarry near Chaumussay.

The second explanation seems much more likely to me. The very best tuffeau is sparkling white and comes from the underground quarries at Bourré. Other quarries provided differing qualities and colours of stone, ranging from white to yellow and suitable for building fine houses to paved roads. This house shows you the typical colour of stone around Chaumussay. Compare it to the colour of the Chateau of Chenonceau.

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Happy New Year to Everyone.
May it be happy, healthy and prosperous.

An Apothecary in Issoudun

The Hospice Saint Roch constructed a new balustraded gallery in 1711. It completed the south wing of the Hospice, between the women's ward and a building which served as lodgings.

The laboratory side of the apothecary.

Three arcades created a quite low space which served first of all as a shelter and an open passage towards the gardens and the cemetery. Around 1750 the apothecary was installed there, a century after its creation in the 1640s by Jean Perrot, who was director of the hospice from 1644 to 1662.

Up until the beginning of the 17th century the sisters procured remedies from an apothecary in the town. Then Jean Perrot organised for an apothecary to be installed at the very heart of the establishment. He ordered dressers to hold the apothecary's equipment and earthenware trivets and pots from Nevers.

 The large white lidded pot on the central desk was made for Jean Perrot in Nevers.

The space is divided into two, on one side the dispensary (Fr. officine), with its shelves and pots, on the other a laboratory. At the back there was the garden of medicinal plants and the cemetery.

 Big copper jugs in the apothecary.

The shelves and desks are original furnishings, as are accessories such as mortars, chafing sets and books. They form one of the most complete apothecaries in France. 

 The range in the laboratory section of the apothecary.

The apothecary sat at the centre of the hospice when it functioned as a hospital, just as it sits at the heart of the museum today.

Why are French Farm Carts Blue?

Traditionally in the Touraine, and in some other parts of France, horsedrawn carts were painted blue. There are several posited reasons [Source Au temps de Chaumussay by Michel Brouard]:

• the base pigments used for the paint were Prussian blue and barium sulphate, a mixture known as bleu charron. The residue from the manufacture of the blue plant dyestuff guède or pastel (woad/indigo) was also added, and the concoction was an excellent insecticide.
• the blue repulsed flies, which taking the colour for the sky, didn't land on the cart.
• it's the best choice of colour for the job. Red was too agressive, green would mean the vehicles disappeared in the vegetation, yellow was too loud, black was morbid, white was pretentious and got dirty too easily.

I've heard a similar story about kitchens and pantries in the 19th century being painted blue, because it was believed to be a colour that discouraged flies. The colour is known as dipteran blue in English as a result. In France this colour blue is known as bleu charrette (cart blue). Personally I don't believe the colour of the cart would discourage a fly attracted by a cart full of muck. Nor do I believe that woad/indigo would kill wood boring insects (or that carts were in any danger from such creatures). I think the last explanation, prosaic as it sounds, is the most likely.

Apothecary's Mortar and Pestle

In 1646 the administration of the Hospice Saint Roch in Issoudun recruited an apothecary to care for the sick. They chose Master Maré, who had been working in Chateauroux. It was he who brought the indispensable utensils of his trade that today are the most precious objects in the collection of the apothecary section of the hospice turned museum.

A series of painted wooden boxes known as silènes; six pots from the end of the 16th century in tin-glazed earthenware from Lyon; and this superb mortar from the end of the 15th century. On its rim is recorded the name of the man who commissioned it and the year of its manufacture -- 'The year 1497 Thibault Pasquier had me made to serve in his business'.

The grinding of drugs to a powder constituted a long and necessary stage in the preparation of most remedies. Fixed to a block to set it at a comfortable working height the bronze mortar is closed by a wooden lid. The cover is a later addition and is open in the centre to take the pestle, but its purpose is to protect the practitioner from material which may be ejected while they work. According to the quantity and the nature (animal, vegetable or mineral) of ingredients to grind, mortars of specific sizes and materials (copper, tin, lead, marble, porphyry or glass) would be used. The mortar was usually enthroned in the middle of the workshop, it being one of the primary symbols of apothecaries, and numerous businesses adopted it for their signs and badges.

Lions from Como

This funerary monument, with its rather personable lions, now displayed in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, came from the church of San Francesco in Como. It was made sometime after 1339 for Franchino Rusca, a member of an aristocratic family from Como. The sculptor was a Tuscan master, possibly Giovanni Balducci. Franchino died in 1335 or 1339 but the sculpture dates from about 1350. A representation of Franchino himself would have lain on a slab between the two angels in the middle. The well preserved monument is Gothic in style and very similar to a number of other contemporary Tuscan tombs.

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A la cuisine hier: I'm fed up with oysters. I've decided I just don't like them enough to be bothered with the time and effort of opening them. I grilled a dozen for lunch, dressed with an Asian style mixture of lime juice, soy sauce and fish sauce with a smidge of salt and sugar.

To follow the oysters was a fridge soup based on this one. The spice mix is too peppery but otherwise it's a good basic soup. You can keep to the spirit of it and keep it vegan with the cashew cream, but I added milk to it instead. I included swede in the veggie mix.

Bombax

Bombax is a genus of large tropical trees, one of which, B. ceiba, is native to northern Australia. This one, with its impressive array of pointy protrusions on the trunk, was photographed in a picnic area in the Northern Territory of Australia.

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Au verger hier: I sprained my thumb trying to extract a volunteer cherry tree that has established itself on the edge of one of the fallow vegetable plots. Its main root is about 5cm thick and it's been there about 18 months. I think I'm going to have to poison it. It will take forever to dig out.

I have a Brown Hare Lepus europaeus (Fr. un Lièvre d'Europe) back in residence. As usual, it was invisible until I got to within about 10 metres, then it shot out of its form (nest in the long grass) and disappeared over the field beyond. It looked big and fluffy, in good condition. I was also joined by a twittering phalanx of Long-tailed Tits, moving from bush to tree searching for insects.

I picked some small broccoli heads for dinner and tidied up some prunings into neat piles to dry out and become next year's kindling.

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A la cuisine hier: Leftovers for lunch -- a casserole made from diced leftover roast guinea fowl, carrots and potatoes, mixed with a small box of bechamel and some green flageolet beans.

Dinner was bavette d'aloyau steak from the butchers with a slab of homemade foie gras on top, served with potatoes from the new rotisseried chicken stall at the market and our homegrown broccoli.

Gingernut biscuits, with good crunch and plenty of ginger.

Gallo-Roman Altar, Vendoeuvres

In 1856 a Gallo-Roman votive altar, probably 2nd century, was discovered during the demolition of the 12th century Romanesque church of Vendœuvres. It was buried in the ground where the first arcade on the left now is, as you enter the current church which was to be constructed shortly after the demolition of the old. The altar was then sealed into a buttress on the south side of the church.

The altar measures 1.02 m high, 0.50 m wide and 0.60 m long. It was sculpted and erected to honor the pagan gods and dedicated to the divine Augustus.

The Mars and Apollo face.

The main face has a half destroyed inscription at the top. Below that is a trophy decorated with a very simple helmet without crest and resting on a shield. In one of the corners there is the end of a bow. These are the attributes of Mars, the god of war. The bottom of the panel has a tripod around which a snake is coiled. This probably symbolises the god Apollo.

 The Juno face.

The face on the left shows a seated woman, wearing a loose robe. Her breasts are exposed and she is nursing a child. Next to her a smaller character is standing, naked, winged and holding a spear. Below, three large well executed acanthus leaves occupy the entire bottom space. My first impression on seeing this face was that it was Christian imagery, showing Mary with the infant Jesus, joined by an angel. However, this is Juno, goddess of marriage, fertility and mothers. The winged character may be a personal spirit, known as a genius.

 The Minerva face.

The right face, the one that was once hidden in the masonry of the new church, depicts two birds, one facing us and one in profile. They are probably owls, the symbol of Minerva, goddess of intelligence and the arts. This face was unfortunately very damaged when the stone was embedded in the buttress of the church building. It was visibly hacked about, probably to make its insertion in the new masonry easier.

The Concordia face.

The back shows two tightly clasped hands. This is the symbol of Concordia, the divinity who presides over the harmony of the imperial family. Underneath is a beribboned garland of flowers and fruits.

The altar was probably consecrated to all of the above -- Augustus, Concordia, Mars, Apollo, Juno and Minerva.

In 1864 a stone carved with Celtic images, including a seated antlered god, and two characters standing on snakes, was found in front of the church. On the back of this stone was a depiction of Apollo playing a lyre. Celtic gods were beginning to be merged with Roman gods.

In 1892 another Gallo-Roman altar was found in a garden in the middle of Vendoeuvres. This one now resides in the museum in Chateauroux. It appears that in Roman times Vendoeuvres was a place of some importance, a town rather than a village.

Vendoeuvres is built on a slight rise overlooking the surrounding countryside. Most likely it was a significant Celtic community before becoming a Gallo-Roman town. The parish church is dedicated to Saint Stephen (St Etienne in French) and this indicates that the population was Christianised in the 3rd century. The name Vendoeuvres is a corruption of the Celtic 'Vindo Briga', meaning 'white fortress'.

Merry Christmas

Simon went crazy and bought a Christmas decoration!

Merry Christmas to all our readers.

A Tithe Barn and Dovecote in Chaumussay

The dovecote.

Under the porch situated to the left of the entry to the church you will find the former tithe barn (Fr. grange dîmière) with its door and some lovely carpentry. Over the centuries this space was used to store tithes destined for the church. Today it is used by the local council for materials and equipment. Behind, to the left, you will find in an old opening in the barn a remarkable small dovecote, a real artisanal masterpiece in zinc, with additional motifs in wood. It has six openings above rounded landing platforms from where the occupants can coo (and poo) to their hearts content. According to a theory developed by a 20th century historian, this dovecote might have been moved in the 19th century from the Priory of Saint Valentine to the tithe barn. If this is the case it is a significant artefact, since virtually nothing remains of this substantial and once important priory.

Carpentry in the roof of the tithe barn. Remind you of anything?

Continuing along the barn wall you will find a much older wall, recently restored and capped to prevent water infiltrating. This wall runs along the path taken by the priest each evening as he read his breviary in its shelter. 

The tithe barn (the church is to the left, visible through the arch).

Source: Au temps de Chaumussay by Michel Brouard.

The Chapel of Saint Sulpice, Vendoeuvres

 The interior of the chapel.

This small, very simple edifice from the 16th century, constructed in Brenne sandstone, is situated in a clearing in the heart of the Forest of Lancosme.

The chapel of Saint Sulpice. 

The very red sandstone tells you the building is not in the Touraine.

According to legend, the finest ox in a herd grazing in the clearing was noticed incessantly circling a bush. The ox didn't graze, but didn't lose condition and the grazier who owned him was intrigued. Going to the spot the young man discovered the corpse of Saint Sulpice, former Archbishop of Bourges.

A shelf fitted with spikes for votive candles, 

which have deposited a heavy layer of soot on the wall.

The Archbishop was interred and from the place indicated by the ox flows a spring to which was attributed the power to cure pain and convulsions in children. The first Sunday after 25 August is the traditional date for pilgrimage to the shrine and it looks to me as if it is still an active pilgrimage site. I wonder how many curistes strip off and go for the full immersion plunge in the spring? It would have been jolly tempting this summer.

The healing spring.

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A la cuisine hier: A bûche de Noël, somewhat randomly iced with assorted buttercreams left over from past Cake Club efforts. Tasted good though.

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Au verger hier: Onions, garlic, broccoli rabe, cavalo nero, some unidentified brassicas and chard all marking time for next year. I still have lettuce, and regular broccoli which I should have picked but got sidetracked and forgot. The beds are full of phacelia and poppies acting as green manure/weed suppressants. I don't know if they will make it through the winter.

Church Well

This well in Chaumussay which probably dates from the beginning of the 16th century is close to the sacristy which it served. It provided water to dilute the communion wine so it would go further, amongst other things. In the old days practically every household in the village and surrounding hamlets would have had a well and a bread oven. Sometimes the well would have several people with the right to use it, which was a source (no pun intended...) of conflicts and some fairly outrageously extreme stories (Fr. rocambolesque, meaning incredible, fantastical, far-fetched.)

Source: Au temps de Chaumussay by Michel Brouard.

Susan

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Winter started at 05.49 this morning. We didn't get out of bed to celebrate (if that is indeed the word) because sunrise isn't until 08.39, and no-one gets out of bed almost 3 hours before sunrise. Our latest sunrise isn't for another 2 weeks, but yes, from here on in the days are getting longer.

Simon

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A la buanderie hier: In early December we attended the annual Christmas dinner for our car club and Elisabeth B managed to spill red wine all over me. I was wearing a sunflower yellow boiled wool skirt and a handmade purple felted wrap which was a gift from Liselle. We frantically dabbed all the red wine with white wine and hoped for the best. I washed the skirt on returning home, using stain remover and it has just about come out. There is a faint shadow if you know where to look. The skirt is old (probably 10 years) but a favourite. Luckily it is machine washable so I didn't hesitate to launder it myself. The wrap was a different matter. It has no care instructions, but I knew its creator had developed a unique method of fusing handmade felt to a fine background cloth and that it was hand dyed. Fortunately because of its colour the red wine spots were not visible (even I couldn't identify them). However, I didn't want to leave it impregnated with wine as it would smell and attract insects. I didn't want it being munched full of holes while I wasn't looking. Yesterday I plucked up courage, put it in a white pillowcase and carefully hand washed it in tepid water with a drop of dishwashing detergent, then rinsed in cold with a dash of white vinegar. It leaked almost no dye which was a relief. Still in the pillowcase, to support and protect it while wet, I gently squeezed some of the water out then set it to spin in the washing machine. I figured it was better to extract the water to reduce its weight while it dried draped over the rack upstairs. It appears to have survived the experience perfectly well, with no apparent distortion or loss of colour. Phew.

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A la cuisine hier: The kimchi is clearly up to something. Tiny bubbles are filtering up through the shredded veg. Packing it in glass jars to cure has proved a good idea. I can see what's going on without disturbing things.

Fruits and Fleeces on the Ceiling

Many of the rooms in the Castello Sforzesco have painted ceilings. This vaulted one was decorated with bunches of fruit and leaves. I have in my mind that it dates from Ludovico il Moro's time (the last years of the 15th century) but I see that one of the motifs is the Golden Fleece. He doesn't seem to have been a member of this chivalric order, so this part of the decoration at least presumably dates from slightly later, probably from when the encumbent duke was a puppet of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles always used the 'standing ram' emblem of the Golden Fleece extensively.

The fruits depicted will have been carefully chosen for their symbolic values. For example, the pear, which features numerous times on the ceiling, is a symbol of the Virgin Mary. At a guess I'd say it was proper fresco (ie painted originally on wet render).

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A la cuisine hier: Spiced Pear Upside Down Cake, which uses puréed pears as a substitute for fat. The cake is nicely spiced, the texture squidgy and you can do a pretty pattern with pear slices which get nicely coated in syrup.

I added some chilli to some of the picadillo and turned it into natchos with some corn chips and cheese.

Brumbies

As many of you will know, the ancient and fragile Australian natural environment is now plagued by feral and introduced animals which cause damage ranging from extirpating native species to erosion and desertification. What you may not be fully aware of is just how many different types of animals have gone feral in Australia. There are goats, cattle, camels, cats, horses, donkeys, buffaloes, pigs and dogs all roaming freely in National Parks or other public lands, and on large farming properties.  Quite apart from the non-domesticated introduced wild animals such as foxes, rabbits and deer.

In many places feral horses, known as brumbies, are a big problem. Whilst the public is willing to accept government programmes to shoot feral donkeys, buffaloes and goats, horses are seen as special. As a result, in the Northern Territory, the control of buffalo and donkeys is well established and adequate. Horses are another matter. The mob (as herds are called in Australia) in the photo above were enjoying the grass at a visitor centre in Kakadu National Park. The Aboriginal woman who runs the centre told me they were a pain, leaving manure where she has to sweep it up and being a danger to tourists who want to go up to them and pat them. These horses are not tame, and although habituated to people, the stallion will get aggressive if he feels people are getting too close to his harem. On a more serious environmental level, these are hard hoofed animals in a landscape evolved for soft footed kangaroos, and Australian native dung beetles don't know what to do with horse manure.

Much as I like horses myself, and despite being an avid reader of Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby stories as a child, these horses have to go. I spent my childhood on the fringes of the Victorian high country, where there is also a significant brumby problem. To read more about it, see this article in the Guardian from last year.

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A la cuisine hier: Fingers crossed for some kimchi I laid down yesterday. Simon developed a taste for the spicy Korean fermented cabbage and vegetables dish when he was in Korea ten years ago. We bought a Korean book translated into English on how to make the stuff, but the recipes are all a bit off and my one and only attempt was way too salty. This time I'm using a recipe from French food writer Clotilde Dusoulier, so hopefully any lack of authenticity is made up for in good practical kitchen common sense.

I took off the outer leaves of the cabbage and blanched them for use stuffed with the boring leftover picadillo. Jazzed up with a good strong tomato sauce they ought to be alright.

What I did for my Birthday

Friday was my 56th birthday so as a birthday treat Simon took me to lunch and on a little outing. We went to Vendoeuvres, in the middle of the Brenne. Not as you might assume to birdwatch. Neither of us are bird nerds and winter isn't the best season for birdwatching in the Brenne.

We went almost on a whim. Simon had read that the church there housed a Celtic altar, and we knew the town had at least two restaurants offering a worker's lunch menu of the sort we like, although we'd never eaten at either before.

 Auberge Saint Sulpice.

The aforementioned restaurants are both on Place Saint Louis. When we got there one was closed, so that made the choice easy. We ate at the Auberge Saint Sulpice, and very good and convivial it was too.

The menu du jour was tuna and tomato salad followed by mussels in cream sauce with what appeared to be proper homemade chips, cheese, and a dessert of three sorts of creme brulée. 

 Me peering into the limpid depths of the magic spring in the forest.

The salad and main were both simple and very tasty. The chips were excellent -- hot, crisp on the outside, floury on the inside, the best I've had for a very long time, and these days it is rare to get chips made from scratch in the kitchen. The cheese was dull, just camembert and a hard cheese of some sort. The dessert came in three tiny pots, all with their sugar flaming. They were vanilla, coffee and chocolate flavoured. The whole lot, plus coffee and wine, came to under €30.

We noticed that the paper serviettes had a picture of a chapel printed on them and we asked if the chapel really existed. 'Oh yes,' we were assured, 'it's just down the road. Turn right at the stop sign then turn left at the bridge, towards Neuilly le Bois.'

Me waiting while Simon photographs the gallo-roman altar.

So off we went, after lunch. The chapel, and its inevitable magic fountain, is hidden in the forest in a lovely peaceful location. We were charmed. After inspecting it inside and out, marvelling at the quantity of water flowing from the spring and enjoying the sun we returned to Vendoeuvres to check out the church.

The day was incredibly mild. There was no need for a coat outdoors, and it was probably the warmest birthday I've had since we left Australia. The church was noticeably chilly nonetheless, and much colder than outside. The altar turned out to be gallo-roman strictly speaking, and is displayed in a side chapel.

More on the chapel and the gallo-roman altar will be forthcoming in future blog posts.