Monday morning. Nothing like a break of day tour of the shopping centre to get a PONettes week off to a flying start.
No hamburger patties to be found but someone has dropped a half eaten pot of ice cream on the ground by the bins. This is devoured before the word 'No' can be uttered. Sheepdogs can move at the speed of light when they want to.
The childrens play area is a place of intrigue and excitement. There are mounds to climb and tunnels to explore.
Back in the village a small bus arrives with a dozen or so ramblers. They spend ten minutes putting on their walking boots and then head off, at a brisk pace, and are soon out of sight. Sophie is keen to follow them but is 'encouraged' to stay in the garden.
Africa's Galapagos. Getting here might be a challenge and it looks hot and quite possibly steamy :https://www.hbdprincipe.com/
Not only the US. Warmer, wetter winters mean Lyme disease is becoming a thing here too :https://knowablemagazine.org/article/health-disease/2022/lyme-other-tickborne-diseases-rise
8 comments:
Interesting article about tick borne diseases. It's something people are increasingly wary of in Scotland when they venture into the hills and forests.
The children's play area has a rather brutal modernist look - tick free, I would guess.
I also found the article about ticks interesting. I always wondered why ticks are now so much more a threat than they were when I was a kid. They were always disgusting, but I remember picking ticks off our dogs and cats and no one was worried about disease in those days. Playgrounds in Japan often have the same kind of brutalist look - lot of concrete, no grass. Grass seems to be regarded as something rather exotic here unless it is on a golf course. When I decided we should have a lawn at our weekend house, instead of gravel, I was initially informed it was impossible. I suppose this attitude may explain the playgrounds.
Lucky Sophie! Curly croissant ends, two mignardise, illicit ice cream leftovers, and a run round the play area! Now that's an exceptionally good start to the week!
The Galapagos - another bit of Paradise lost?
The article about Lyme disease has reminded me that here we are into the Processionary Caterpillar season. All the more reason to walk along by the beach, where there are no pine trees.
One of our more nerve wracking moments was when Wilf got up and close with a line of processionary caterpillars. Thank heavens for a German vet in Italy who told us if we wanted to save his tongue we had to turn the hosepipe on to full and wash out his mouth and throat aggressively.
Years ago one of our dogs was bitten and we had an emergency rush to the vet late on a Sunday evening, after we'd managed to find the one on call! Fortunately all was well (apart from the bank account!) and the vet said that ours was one of over a hundred he'd treated that month - January. Sadly he hadn't managed to save them all, but also told us that it's mostly very young dogs that are attacked - they tend to be more inquisitive.
The young lady at the bakery reminds me of Alo Alo, with the accent. The sweet girl would have had such a nice long ramble with the day hikers.
I'm surprised Sophie didn't elect to go with the young lady - could she get treats all day long?
I agree with Gail; the playground architecture is in stark contrast to most of the buildings we see in your photos.
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