At Dun-sur-Meuse

Yesterday, Sunday - a warm, sunny afternoon - we visited ‘Le Ballestiere’ at Dun-sur-Meuse - a reclaimed gravel (ballast) pit that lies between the river Meuse and the canal and where the waters were making their way from Verdun towards Stenay.

The right-hand canal side is a popular spot for touring camper vans - we counted 15 in a row with several of the owners sitting on the bank-side fishing.  Also along that bank there are a variety of summer houses and cabins - ideal bolt holes.

Along the left-hand side lies the reclaimed pit, now a pretty lake with picnic area and, across the river, contented cows in a lush meadow.

As we arrived, the only sounds to be heard were from chaffinch, chiff-chaff, blackbirds and the ubiquitous sparrows.

A pretty and peaceful spot we shall certainly return to.

Mystery

He was looking at a map. “I’ve found a little road that runs by the river from Longuyon to Montmedy” he said.

We set off along familiar roads, then turned onto a road new to us. 

It went through a couple of villages but no sign of a river on our right - just a glimpse of one on the left.  We continued.

Not sure when we went wrong but we found ourselves facing north-east instead of north-west and crossing the border into Belgium.  Still we were rewarded with magnificent views above Lamorteau in the Rouveroy region.

This part of Belgium is like our area in Lorraine, France, and probably elsewhere in this country where people seem to care about their surroundings (and children are taught from a very young age to dispose of litter appropriately) where picnic areas, however remote, are kept clean and tidy with the grass cut, rubbish bins (which are used - no litter here!) and emptied regularly.

Of course that’s how things used to be in England whereas now it seems to be drowning in litter which is caught in uncut verges with either no bin or an overflowing one probably covered in graffiti.  And some people wonder why we of a certain age mourn how it used to be…or maybe I have just turned into a Moaning Old Minnie!   But that spells MOM so perhaps I haven’t changed so much after all…but I am always amazed that people manage to carry full bags, cartons and bottles yet want to quickly lose them when empty - usually out of a car window which certainly shatters my peace of mind.

The cross, in the photo above was erected in 1782 and has survived despite the battles which too would have disturbed the peace of this now tranquil spot.

You never know what’s around the corner…

We were discussing this subject with friends recently. It doesn’t take long for the proof to come along.

After a happy evening, morning and an enjoyable car ride exploring new areas not too far from home, this afternoon came the very sad news that an old friend has died.

She was taken into hospital when we were in England a month or so ago and not far from our last port of call. Friends there understood when we excused ourselves after lunch on the day we arrived.

Our friend in hospital was so surprised and really pleased to see us. It had been decided that she was no longer able to live on her own, in spite of family help, and a nice residential and nursing home had been found and she was looking forward to moving there. They kept her in hospital to get her more stable and apparently she had been much brighter yesterday. This morning at 5.30 while nurses where in her room, she took a gasping breath and slipped away. A blessing her end was quick and peaceful.

And we are so glad we had the opportunity to see her when we did.

It underlines the old carpe diem phrase - take opportunities as they come along for you may not get another chance.

R.I.P. Mary.

Poem published

A good start to the day. Received the news, via Facebook, that a poem of mine titled Gondwana has been published in The Australian Times online Poetry Magazine.  http://www.theaustraliatimes.com/emagazines/poetry/issue210


And another, Pangea, is to be published in next month's edition.


That's put a smile on my face!


Mind you I started off feeling good after a lovely evening yesterday spent at a friend's house for dinner. 


A happy social occasion and modest publishing success - good way to wind up the week!

Technogrief

For a few years before retiring I ran my own secretarial services business from home.  I called it Just A Sec which I thought was catchy and seemed appropriate. During that time I also coined the word technogrief which seemed to cover a multitude of technical snags.

Now you may be wondering what all that has to do with the photo at the top of this article.  Well nothing at all really except that word technogrief still comes in handy at times.

When I first started this blog it would not allow me to add images in a similar fashion to not being able to add attachments of any sort to my orange email account so I knew it was something to do with my computer and not the blog site.

I was bemoaning this to our daughter and son-in-law when he said he had experienced the same problems with his email.  He had fixed it by installing Firefox, which he now has as well as Internet Explorer. He uses it for attachments.

With some trepidation this afternoon I also installed Firefox which I hope to keep just to get over these problems as, at the moment, I can't get my head around the thought of changing everything! 

This is the first test of it and the photo I had hoped to install a week or so ago with another post worked this time without problems.

I hope it will still be there when I publish this post!

Oh the photo?  A hill, not too far from home, above a village called Chaumont with its patchwork of green crops and yellow rapeseed.

Weather report

I suppose if the weather wasn’t so changeable and fascinating we wouldn’t talk about it as much.

But here we are in May, experiencing “April” showers, borne by “March” winds and buffeted by bursts of hail but with thunder rumbling when the sky darkens over clear and sunny skies.

Talk about a cocktail of weather conditions and not what is expected in the merry month, although I have known it to snow at this time in the past.

Oh well, with this little bit of everything, we are not bored…we are kept busy checking for torches and candles as lights flicker and we try to decide if it is necessary to shut down computers and televisions.

Our thoughts also go to the anglers on their fishing holiday at the lake. Hope their bivvies are well anchored and they are snug in them.

But it’s enough to drive one up the Maypole!

Reflections

Thursday afternoon



In the distance a haze of lavender-blue provides relief from the harshness of rapeseed gold. A time to reflect on light and shade.



　

Friday afternoon



treetops swish

stiff breeze ripples lake’s surface

my thoughts stir



Friday evening



a familiar squeal

first swifts of the season

I’m drawn to the window

Coincidences

Coincidences

Life can be strange at times. Coincidences do happen.

A few years ago, when in Amsterdam, enjoying our coffee, six elderly people came into the café looking tired and badly in need of a rest and coffee. They had come off a cruise ship and did not have the correct currency and started to turn away from the counter looking dejected. We stepped in and insisted on buying them their obviously much-needed refreshment. They were very grateful and we chatted to them and discovered they lived in the same Essex village where we too had once lived. Mention was made of people that we too knew but none of us had met before.

Last year, in Malta, we chatted to another resident in the hotel and it transpired we had all lived in the same area of London, bordering Essex (as it then was!) but our paths had not crossed there.

More recently, an English couple arrived in France to manage another lake holiday business on the edge of our town, and we discovered they had come from the town on the North Norfolk coast where we had last lived in England. We knew the guy’s cousin but had not met them before.

I suppose coincidences like these crop up in others’ lives too but these are just a few that have happened to us.