Angus and Sophie pass the bearded young man walking his dog. ' Did you hear the President on tv?' he asks. Angus admits he hadn't. ' We're in lockdown until May 11th'. He repeats 'May 11th' in case I didn't understand him the first time. With that he makes a strange noise in the back of his throat and hurries off before Angus can think of a suitably sombre response. This extension doesn't really come as a surprise to anyone bar the villagers.
With another four weeks of lockdown to come Angus considers what new activities to pursue. He decides to record the wild flowers that grow along the verges. After he's done the flowers he will move on to the wild grasses. 'The Font' thinks this sounds like the sort of thing a bored eighteenth century country cleric might have done to pass the time. 'Perhaps you'll also learn to speak Hittite before you start painting the terrace? ' comes a less than helpful follow on remark.
Sophie and Angus find buttercups
Clovers and a blue flower that we think might be some sort of orchid. Angus suddenly realizes he will need to buy a book on French wild flowers if this new found interest is to take root and flourish. Blue and orchidy is not the most precise of scientific descriptions.
A quart of emotion in a pint pot. Can any music / lyric combination be more French ? : https://youtu.be/q_bq5mStroM
How interesting. Something I never knew. People outside the UK stand for the Hallelujah Chorus : https://youtu.be/Lb_bqySDCuk?t=5869
18 comments:
Oh well what can you do? We will enjoy learning about the French flowers.
Just think how good the croissants will taste once the cafes open.
That'a a lovely idea about the wildflowers. (So much better than painting the terrace...) Can I put in a plea for close up photos showing details of the flowers, pedals, stems, leaves etc. so your readers can learn along with you?
And thanks for the particularly energising rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus!
Oops, that should of course be 'petals'. Freudian slip from a keen cyclist...?
I like the idea of photographing the wildflowers - they have been a distinctive feature in many of your recent photos (or perhaps it's just that we have more time to notice). I read last month that Isaac Newton laid all the ground work for the laws of motion while working at home during the plague, but then, of course, he didn't have to deal with Twitter and all the rest. The grooming gloves arrived this morning and, just as you described, Cherry doesn't seem to realize she's being groomed. Thank you for this wonderful discovery!
For all of us who missed it - please ANGUS (at the R.A.F.) and LISA (in Tokyo) - please describe these miracle Dog Grooming Gloves. So that the rest of us clad order them, as well. As well, where to order them. Thanks in advance.
oooops. typo. like GAIL, earlier. Of course it should have been "so that the rest of us CAN order them" (not CLAD, as typed).
Hari OM
A worthy and delightful project, Angus and Sophie; we look forward to the results! YAM xx
The heresy of claiming Jacques Brel as French! He was Belgian through and through. One of his songs was "Le Plat Pays."
As for the Hallelujah chorus, I attended a concert somewhere in Europe and was surprised when nobody stood up. Also, nobody sang along. In some places in the U.S., there's the regular performance, then an encore of the chorus in which everybody is invited to participate. I think that's great.
You can tell the Font you will turn to speaking Hittite after you get down writing in cuneiform. I was listening to a podcast with a call-in game; the caller was asked what he was up to and he said learning new languages, including Burmese, which he claimed to have gotten down. Turns out, one of the game hosts was half-Burmese and tested him. He could sputter only a few phrases, enough to show off to friends but not to hold up to someone whose mother spoke it. Makes me think of your link to the bread-baking article.
Flowers are lovely. Is the Hittite remark a gentle reminder that the terrace needs painting?
This morning I listened to a podcast which refered to Albert Schweitzer's words “In the hopes of reaching the moon, men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.” A coincidence your camera is now turned to flowers and grasses. I'm glad four more weeks of slow paced lockdown has given you a new and interesting perspective to explore and share with us all.
Well, the National Cathedral is an Episcopal one, and I think we always stand for the Hallelujah chorus, no matter nationality.
I recall another paint job that 'The Font' asked (rather firmly) you to complete while she was on a trip to Sweden. It was to paint the old beams in the hallway. You dressed yourself in the appropriate old clothes and covered your head with a shower cap. After a while someone came to the door (pre-gate days). They were so shocked by the vision of the guy spattered in paint including a shower cap that they staggered back and said they'd return when the owner was at home. I was amused at the time you wrote, and it's obviously stuck with me.
Extended to May 11th...what joy is mine. Painting your terrace is starting to sound wildly exciting. Love the artsy flower photos but the one of the ROF, as if in a bubble, is quite beautiful. Have always stood for the Hallelujah chorus over here and always assumed it was done world wide. One of my earliest concert memories is of attending the Boston Pops at Christmastime and being quite confused when everyone stood up. I clearly and fondly remember my parents explaining to me the reason why we stand for this song on the car ride home. Lovely memory.
The photos are interesting, and I love the first one of the ROF.
Never mind, Angus, "blue and Orchidy" will probably mean more to those of us of an unscientific outlook, and we'll know, more or less, what you mean. Will Sophie be taking notes as you walk along taking photos, and giving an in-depth description?
It's a good way to avoid painting walls, isn't it!
I am not sure that what I purchased is exactly the same as Angus's glove, but I just googled "grooming glove" and up popped a large number of apparently identical gloves with blue silicon nibs on the palm, all manufactured in China and none very expensive.
I hope the music was posted on the 12th, done at some previous time. Aren't they on lockdown there?
Blue and orchidy is a Tassel Hyacinth Leopoldia comosa. There are no blue wild orchids in France.
The flowers are lovely. We haven't been extended past May 4th formally, but all big events have been cancelled until September.
There is hope in New Zealand that our level four lock-down maybe lowered to level three, which means more business could open, more non-essential movement being allowed, maybe next week. However, it is very dependent upon the current declining number of new cases decreasing. Today there was a slight increase up to 20, over yesterday's 17 new cases.
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