Thursday, October 28, 2021

Routines.


The owls were out in force last night. Six of them held a lengthy and shouted out  conversation on The Rickety Old Farmhouses window ledges. 'The Font' slept through it but Angus and Sophie were aware of every nuance of owl speak concerning voles and shrews. Never believe that an out of the way French village is a quiet place.

Sophie peers out into the courtyard and observes that it is suddenly patterned with fallen leaves. Loic will be here on Friday to start the Sisyphean task of blowing them into piles. Sophie doesn't like the sound the leaf blower makes but loves leaping in, and out of, Loics assiduously collected leaf mountains.


Spiders webs everywhere today. All Souls Day now bringing visitors into the village. The parking spots in front of the church already full - even at this early hour. A car from Picardy, another from Yonne and a third from Lot. All families doing their annual duty of tidying up their ancestors graves and potting out a fresh chrysanthemum. By the end of the month 90% of the graves will have had a 'freshening up'.


Look carefully in the centre of this blurry ( and hastily taken ) photo below and you can see the male of the remaining Moorhen family heading off at high speed into the safety of the shrubs that line the village pond banks. His white feathers wave maniacally to let his partner know that there are 'intruders' in their neighbourhood. In a hectic world the routines of village life are a grounding of sanity.


 

8 comments:

WFT Nobby said...

Does Angus know what species of owl reside at the ROF? Tawny owls maybe?

Diary of a Nobody said...

The small cemetery in our village looks pretty at this time of the year with all the different chrysanthemum colours .

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
I am just enjoying the genuinely autumnal feel to today's post... YAM xx

Diaday said...

A beautiful fall day in deepest France profonde. Your hastily taken photo is stunning with the sun shining through the window and making the dew sparkle on the spider web.

Fay said...

At our first home in Sausalito, California (right next to a woody ravine), the racoons used a path right by our bedroom window and squabble loudly every summer night. Lovely web and final photo.

Travel said...

What a delightful glimpse into your world, thanks

Tigger's Mum said...

Collective noun for owls being 'parliament' seems very appropriate in the circumstznces you endured last night. We love the cobweb photo.

waterdog said...

What an incredible shot of the spider web in the morning dew. Very apropriate this time of year.