Spring is in the air
The cows are back
May 2008
You know when spring has finally turned the corner in the village: the cows are back in the fields.
The winter has been fairly kind this year with a couple of cold snaps but nothing too aggressive. On the 25th April which is Anzac Day down under, thousands of Aussies poured into France to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of their liberation of the town of Villers-Bretonneux.
I went down for a special dawn service and spoke with lots of Australians who had a hard time believing that we had seen snow in the north only a few weeks ago. They were so lucky in getting a clear and sunny weekend.
At this time of the year some of the early mornings can be quite spectacular near our local wind farm. With dozens of our eoliens dotted across the hillside around Fruges we have the largest collection in France. At times they remind me of Tripods. You come up a slope and there lit by the sun are these huge arms turning in front of you.
We have become quite used to seeing them around and I think that they are quite graceful.
I have been out and about doing a lot of walking around the area and at this time of the year they have been cutting down a lot of the trees along the river. If you own a wood in France you are supposed to farm it, cutting down so many a year. If you have an open fire of some sort in France it will invariably be wood burning. Coal for fuel is almost unheard of.
With the spring holidays taking place most of the camp sites along the Authie are open again and the river continues to thunder its way along as rapidly as ever.
It might be getting milder but that hasn't stopped the birds seeking out Champion's salted peanuts. Some of them are so brazen in their approach that I can sit out in the sun only a few metres away and they will still come down to the chair to hack away.
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