Saturday morning. First light. A black and white C-A-T can be found contentedly asleep on the bench at the front door. It doesn't remain asleep for long. The C-A-T wakes, looks at Sophie, then escapes through the hedge . Sophie goes hurtling across the lawn in misplaced pursuit. C-A-T is safe; PONette happy.
Grey and chilly as we set out from The Rickety Old Farmhouse. One of those days you know are going to be 'claggy' as soon as the sun is up and the heat builds.
There was much commotion at the donkey farm three nights ago. This morning, way down at the bottom of their field, the reason for all the noise becomes apparent. The donkeys are too far away for the i-Phone to do them justice but a new, small, presence can be made out. He or she is enjoying a nap under the watchful gaze of a mother and two aunts. Could anything shout out 'French village' more than the arrival of a new donkey ? I tell Sophie that all is well with the world.
I'm not sure this is a very practical study. How would patient and bees work with one another ? :https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/scientists-taught-bees-to-smell-covid-19-infections-2021-5
8 comments:
Sounds like a very satisfying Saturday morning for both sheepdog and master! I also thought the bee study was a bit unusual. Today we received our vaccine vouchers in the mail. In theory we will be able to log on at 9 a.m. on Monday morning and make a reservation. We are wondering how this will play out in practice, but we have our fingers crossed.
Logging on at 9.00 am on a Monday morning and getting an appointment sounds brilliant and simple. What could possibly go wrong ?
Hoping for a closer shot of the baby donkey before he grows too big.
The bee thing is not entirely new - bees have been trained to sniff out cancer too. Interesting process - put bee in small cage with opening they can only get their head through - waft smell you want them to detect past them at the same time as trickling sugar water past so that they can lick it. They quickly learn to put their tongues out when they smell the scent you want them to detect. They are many many times more effective than the best trained dogs at drugs detection in airports too.
Somehow I don't feel that bees are quite as "user friendly" as dogs at detecting - not that I doubt their efficiency in such matters. Many people might confuse bees with wasps at first sight, and either flap their arms about or run off in panic.
We can't blame Sophie for picking up speed past the cows...there are rather a lot of them!
Everyone else logs on at 9 a.m. on Monday, and the system goes down?
Hurtling after C-A-T-S, a baby donkey, beautiful wildflowers . . . what a grand start to the day!
Who knew??
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