The hills of home

On Sunday I took a short stroll to collect our bread.  The boulangerie was packed and I wonder if any ‘flu bugs were hovering, but everybody in the queue looked healthy!

Yesterday, Tuesday, we drove to the lake - no people but fresh air and a little exercise in the sun was welcome.

Wednesday.  A bright day with lots of sunshine after a sharp, overnight frost and the town is clear of snow and ice.

Our enforced hibernation is over so we drove to Rodange, which is just in Luxembourg, touching both the Belgium and French borders.

There was far more snow in Luxembourg and its nearest part of France.

On the way back, at Telancourt (in France) I took some photos from the moving car.

The snapper snapped!

When we were in sight of the “hills of home” it was obvious that the snow is quickly disappearing...

The forecast is for several days of sunshine - a wonderful outlook.  But it is only early February and I doubt winter has done with us just yet.  In the meantime, we'll just enjoy the sun while it IS here!

Cocooned !

A haiga...(for the uninitiated (!) that's a haiku with an image.)


sitting -
under snow-covered glass roof
cocooned

Friday: Snow is forecast for here every day now until Tuesday! Ron and I had our 'flu jabs this morning (first chance what with viruses, colds, Christmas and Spain!) and told there is 'flu in the town and our protection won't kick in for 5 days. But we're well stocked, apart from picking up our ordered bread from the nearby boulangerie on Sunday morning, so happy to stay cocooned in the warm - but not under the glass roof in our chilly "garden room"  - in there just now it did seem strange and closed in.

Costa Calida

the curve of the shrub-topped sierras
above bare, weather-scarred faces of the foothills,
echoes the wide bay of the gulf of Mazarron;
in between, arid yellow rocks, split by deep ramblas
allow September’s heavy rain to race to the sea

around the valley four pockets of urbanisation,
beloved by the Brits who have rapidly claimed
the area as their own, with the local Spanish
providing much-missed British products in the shops
in the centralised little shopping area augmented
by charity stalls at the weekly market in the square.

In this “Little Britain” we enjoy a pub-meal Sunday roast
with English football to entertain the guys;
delicious fish and chips - and an English am-dram panto!
not a paella in sight - but we did enjoy Rioja
and the sun shining from a clear, blue sky
in this costa-not-a-lotta-part-a-Spain at Camposol -
land of the sun…where Hola! becomes Hello!

Farewell

We were staying with friends in southern Spain on the day of the funeral in Bristol of our dear friend, “Stubby”.

Our friends drove us to a quiet bay next to Bolnuevo and left us on the small cliff top while they took their dog for a walk.

It seemed an appropriate spot as he had expressed the wish to be cremated and his ashes scattered on the sea - so that he could travel the world.

As we stood, looking out to the sea, our thoughts and prayers and chat were of Stubby and, on a cloudy and chilly day, suddenly a pathway of sunshine stretched from the horizon to where we were.  It was a very moving moment.
 

 Stuart Brown
1953 - 2014
R.I.P.

Then we smiled at the thought that he would have liked the idea of our overlooking a naturist beach - few people were about and it was far too cold for anybody to strip off!  He would have had something to say about that and made us all laugh...but then, his signature tune was...
"Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life"...and, bless him, he did.

Charlie Hebdo

On January 7th the massacre of workers and police at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper offices in Paris stunned not only France but the world.

A prompt “a moving beast” that day in the Prompted Poetry Forum on Writers’ Dock inspired me to write this poem…

a moving beast

it spread across the world
attacking those who disagreed
or dared to criticise or comment
it wanted all subservient to its greed
to hold complete power over others
no brothers-in-peace to appease
just a cause to fill its hungry maws


R.I.P.

Viva Espana!

That old tune keeps running through my mind as we look forward to a winter holiday with friends in Spain...



how good it will be
for a while to escape
dark, dank, dreary days
to be in a haze of sunshine

how lucky are we
with an invite from friends
to stay for a holiday
in wall-to-wall sunshine

at least that’s what’s foretold
we hope forecasters got it right
as we leave to mine for gold
in Spanish sunshine

catkins

After a deluge of heavy rain all day on Saturday, we took advantage of a beautifully-sunny day on Sunday and strolled by the river Meuse at porte de plaisance at Stenay.  I looked up at the trees...which inspired this haiku:

January 4th
I spy catkins -
promise of spring

I have previously noted that catkins appear here in north-eastern France earlier than I'd noticed in England and it was a very welcome sign to see these so early in the New Year.