Animals

Dogs and cats and all other four legged creatures feature here

Driftwood

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

There is a beach near Sant Pere Pescador which I have been trying to find for a while.
This time armed with a detailed map and accompanied by man and dog to help me stay focussed, I finally found it.  Actually I have been very close once before but in the summer you can’t go hereas it is part of the protection area for breeding birds.
Bleached driftwood is lying everywhere.
It is a beachcombers paradise. Something I only dreamed of in Cornwall

The wood is almost all branches from trees so there are not the kind of planks you sometimes find brought in on Atlantic waves, but still it is very impressive for a bay on the Mediterranean, surrounded as it is by towns and villages and within a gentle stroll from a man-made monstrosity called Empuriabrava.
I brought back some pieces to carve

and had to leave some that were too heavy to move

And there was a dog wondering ‘with all this wood around why don’t you throw a stick for me?’

Two annoying things

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

For ages I’ve been meaning to get these two things off my chest.
They are not so important but niggle at me most days.

1. Little dogs on extending leads
Most people here have little dogs. They also have them on extending leads. They also like to gather in groups in the middle of the pavement, chatting.
When walking along the main street Bonnie and I have to pass a lot of small pooches with big attitudes. They wait till we are parallel and then go berserk, barking and running towards us with their leashes unwinding like fishing lines. Because their owners hardly ever have them under control. 
Bonnie is pretty good, I tell her, ‘Deja’ ‘Leave it’ and her ears go back but she doesn’t retaliate. But since I read that one of the tasks of Pack Leader is to protect her pack, I now have to be alert for little dogs in the street and I expect I am now known for my unfriendly attitude as I shoe them away.

2. Pedestrian rights on crossing the road


Basically the rule is that even when there is a green man giving people the right to cross over the road, cars turning right can still come round the corner so long as they go slowly and give any pedestrians priority.
What often happens is that cars try to get past before the humans have started crossing over.  Or they nose up to you when you are in the middle of the road. Everyone here seems to feel cars are more important than people so it is far from unusual to see cars speed up as they approach traffic lights which are changing. At least it keeps you awake!

Border collie on the train to Barcelona

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Yesterday I finally made it up to Barcelona to meet a friend in Ciutadella Park.  I even managed to fit in a tango or 6 in the open air La Glorietta. I haven’t danced for months – it was lovely!
Bonnie came too and we travelled from Granollers Nord Canovelles to Arc de Triumf. It still surprises me that Granollers has three railway stations. From Canovelles you can go in the other direction to the mountains, to Vic and Puigcerda, something we’re planning to do soon.

This was Bonnies second time in Barcelona and only her third and forth journeys on a train. She wears the muzzle only when we are sitting in the carriage, to protect her really as most people don’t try to pat or touch dogs wearing restraints. She doesn’t like to be bothered by strangers.
As before, she was very good, very patient, very quiet and even snuggled up to a man on the next seat, letting him pat her and stroke her ears.
Here she is trying to get comfy and find the best position on a very wobbly and slow train to Barcelona

What’s Not To Like?

~ Kate Wilson ~ 8 Comments

I am back at Sant Nicolau and although I was supposed to go home today I am still here!
It’s the light.
It’s waking up to birdsong.
It’s the pleasure of letting Bonnie out into the garden for her morning pee without having to get dressed to face the people of Granollers.

I called this post What’s Not To Like?  because I’ve always loved that strange phrase, learnt from my old friend Hannah in London.  Being here in Sant Nicolau makes me feel that way.
I love being here.
Helen and Francis are such warm generous people, the little cottages for rent feel like home from home, the resident dogs and cats are friendly and chilled, the gardens are beautiful, the swimming pool is inviting, there is healing energy in the air. We are near the lovely beaches of the Costa Brava and from the Mas you can walk along quiet lanes with the Pyranees and Mare de Deu del Mont in the distance.
Here there be light and love and magic!
The only thing that would make it perfect would be if Pep was here too!
This is the walk that Bonnie and I take most days from the house.

Nature Notes

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

So, I am back in Granollers and as I am finding it hard to feel settled and that is not an easy thing to write about, I decided to post some words about what is going on in the natural world.
Pathways
I am out walking Bonnie every day and as we meander along the paths which are edged with plastic bottles and beer cans and strange fluffy red sponge things, (it makes a change from the brambles and honeysuckle we were forced to endure in Lamorna), I try to find some way of encouraging my roots to sink down into the dusty earth.
Birds
It’s always good to watch the birds.
Amazingly the swifts are still here. Not so many, not so often seen but as of yesterday there was a crowd of them shrieking above the city.
By the river which is very low after a long and unusually hot summer, I saw a bird with a large yellow patch on its tail. I can’t identify it. I didn’t see it for long enough to describe it better. I looked  at images on Google and found one almost identical but it too had evaded identification and was only named ‘Bird with yellow marking on tail’ .
It was lovely though.
The heron is still feeding on the river in spite of the mass of floating plastic bags and we also saw fish – quite large ones – swimming near the bridge
Weather
At 6pm this evening the temperature was 24C. The last two days have been cloudy which has meant Bonnie and I could walk in the morning without having to get up at some unearthly hour to avoid the sun. It doesn’t really feel like Summer but neither is it Autumn yet.
The Streets
The trees have blossom in the streets around our home. Yet again I must confess to not knowing what sort of trees they are. The flowers are pink and large and plentiful. I have realised one tree near the house is a pear tree as it suddenly dropped lots of fruit on the pavement. Or was it someone with a broken bag coming home from the market?
The River
The most wonderful thing about the river just now is the field of yellow flowers on tall green stems. What on earth are they?  Surely not Jerusalem artichokes but they remind me of that kind of wild abundance.

Well, that is today’s nature diary.  I am ashamed of how much I don’t know the names of what I see. That somehow reflects my general feeling of ignorance at the moment. In answer to almost any question I feel the most honest reply is ‘I don’t know’