Nature

And home again

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

Back in Granollers.  And it is good here too!
I went to my first Catalan class of the year, actually the first in two years.
I am now doing Elemental 1 which sounds high level to me but someone  asked me  ‘is that all?’
This time my class is over the bridge in Canovelles. It’s like a different village, like going from Penzance to Newlyn. They are joined up but not the same.
The class was nice, The others were very friendly and even when the teacher wasn’t there they spoke CATALAN!  In my other class everyone couldn’t wait to revert to Castellano which meant I was at a disadvantage. Perhaps it is because we are paying for this course. It’s only 30 euros or so but still we pay so we are keen to succeed.  Class makeup – all women: one African, four Moroccans, one Valencian, two from other parts of Spain and one Scottish. A good group.

On the way home I looked again at the fields of yellow plants and still can’t identify them but now I am sure they are not Jerusalem artichokes. And I saw lots of fish in the river – so it must be fairly clean.

Then Bonnie and I walked to the Casino to meet a friend, we talked Catalan and nothing else for two hours, Bonnie didn’t bark at anyone and on the way home there were still bands of screeching swifts high above us.  Today is October 3rd and they are still here or at least some of them are. They must be the last broods, preparing to fly off to Africa.  And I am the only person in Granollers who stops mid conversation to point up at the sky and scream ‘Mira!  Falciots!  Encara!’   (Look!  Swifts!  Still!)

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’

 

Heading South

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

The swallows are still here in Cornwall and so am I

but we all will be flying south very soon – or in our case we will be driving east then going through the Channel Tunnel and then heading south west through France.
It is always nice to stay until bramble time – or blackberry if you are English!

At last the sun is shining on them and making them sweet.

Forest Fires

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

Sitting here in rainy Cornwall I am reading about the terrible fires that are affecting Catalunya.  There is nothing so far in the British news but HERE is an article online from the Mail. The photos are shocking and bring home forcefully the horror and tragedy of these large fires which can be started by someone throwing a cigarette end out of their car or sometimes, incredible to believe, deliberately.
It is all in the region of the Catalan/French border. Close to Figueres and uncomfortably close to the lovely place I stayed in with Bonnie and Blue. The road we used to start our journey to the UK is closed as it is unsafe.
Please join me in sending positive thoughts to all those affected – human and animal – and hoping for the high winds to calm down and allow the flames to die out.
There can be fewer things more terrifying than an out of control fire.

River bathing in Montseny

~ Kate Wilson ~ 5 Comments

It was hot today – around 28 C which doesn’t seem much but in the sun you felt the heat.
So what with the temperature and the fact that it was Sunday we headed for the hills rather than the beach. There are mountain pools for bathing on the wooded slopes of Montseny

The best ones are near the Piscines de Montseny but they get very busy at the weekend and you need to walk a long way along a rocky path to arrive at the biggest and best pool. And even that can get crowded.
So we went to a place on the Riu Tordera – more hidden – less well known

It is lovely to walk along the cool wooded paths, searching for wild strawberries, smelling the herbs that grow along the way.
As I dipped my toe into the icy water I saw a snake – it had zigzags on its back. Pep was sure the water snakes are harmless. But it made me pause before advancing further.
Later we saw another swimming across the water – in its element.
Here is another water spirit – soaking away the cares of the week in this beautiful place.