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A large, furry candidate has been taking all our attention these last few weeks. At the end of March, Oska travelled to the UK to see Professor Noel Fitzpatrick, the 'Supervet'. Noel, as we were invited to call him, was impressive - and well aware of the 'charisma'. After just observing Oska walking for about five minutes he gave a detailed diagnosis, but then said he would like him to have a Dynamic MRI scan and various X-Rays to confirm what he thought, or otherwise. So, Oska, compliant as ever (apart from very rare occasions when he 'takes against' something or someone) went off with a member of the veterinary team and we were asked to telephone on progress at 6.00pm. When we called back we were asked to call again in about an hour, which we did and were told that Noel was about to go into surgery but would call us. It felt a bit 'edgy' and when Noel did call after a few minutes we thought it was going to be bad news, but it wasn’t - ‘phew!. He asked us to call in around 11.00pm (he was, he said, available until 2.30am ....), which we did and in a fascinating half-hour chat, with remarkable pictures and computer simulations from the MRI, Noel explained that Oska has a lumbar sacral problem, inherited, and the end vertebrae, joining the pelvis, has a tear and an extrusion. He did not want to operate (although he could, with the titanium bolt procedures one sees on the 'telly') as he thought that epidural steroid injections would have a good chance of medium-term support and repair …. so, he had already delivered the first of those (umm .. I don't think we had much choice in the matter!) and then we could have the remaining two injections, at two and five weeks, here in France. So, we are now all back home and Oska has visited the specialist Veterinary here in Castres and has been seen by the very friendly Dr Letesson - who has delivered the second epidural. Dr Letesson is optimistic about the potential success of the procedure and is clearly skilled in delivering it ... so, Oska will have his third injection in early May and then we'll see how things go. We have a dog who is very pleased to be home, seems pretty much settled after his long trip and various proddings and pokings ..... but is not sure about his 'street cred' at the moment - a little...(huh?!) .... matter of a rear end, which has already received cries of 'Babouin! from across the road (at least, I think that's what Oki the Lab said .......) ..... 'Pot appelant la bouilloire noir, je pense!' retorted Oska ....
Anyway, as this has been going on the first round of the Presidential elections here has been underway. We have had a couple of interesting evenings with neighbours, listening to some varied views and thoughts - which give perspectives very different from the media portrayals available ... but with some exceptions, on April 24th there was a fascinating programme on BBC Radio 4 - in the programme Professor Andrew Hussey argued that while it's true many people will give Le Pen their vote, he says that there are many more who will not, partly thanks to generational allegiance to the left, but also more interestingly because of the power of 'la culture populaire'. He visits the north of the country, the area where much of its industry has been traditionally based, and the setting for not only Edouard Louis' powerful recent novel 'The End of Eddy', but also the film 'Chez Nous' about a nurse who becomes a Front National representative. He then returns to Paris, to talk about not just the influence of music, comedy and TV, but also the lived culture in the markets and the streets of his own arrondissement just inside the southern Périphérique. The rich diversity and mixture of the people and the lives being lived here offer, he argues, a different and compelling narrative of France that is troubled, certainly, but for the most part functioning and powerful enough to withstand the advances of the far right. Really recommended - catch it at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08n2jb1 .
Nature, meanwhile, is of course taking no notice ..... but is not giving us any rain here - it's been dry now for about a month. The effect has been some spectacular blossoms and flowerings:o withstand the
- but the blossoms has dropped very swiftly, great mounds of scented, petals from the wisteria, and some plants are clearly starting to suffer:
- but the ancient variety of climbing roses that we have planted along the walkway to the pergola have progressed wonderfully and other, established, roses are covered in buds:
I know roses like the clay soil here, but they must be particularly adept at drawing the moisture from it.
As I write this, I'm looking at the sky - as we have been promised rain this afternoon but there have been a few spots, that's all - but it is the Spring Fair at Pampelonne just down the road on Sunday and it always rains then, so maybe it's saving it up.
The wildlife in the garden has been very active with this weather. In particular we have never seen so many bees this early, and butterflies are numerous too; cuckoos have been around for some weeks; bats have been out in force; and the pond is alive with frogs, with their disco-level croaks, able to sit on the lily-pads that have floated up from their winter depths a few weeks early too. So, what is to be this Post's Wildlife Feature ? An unusual one perhaps .... it is:
As I write this, I'm looking at the sky - as we have been promised rain this afternoon but there have been a few spots, that's all - but it is the Spring Fair at Pampelonne just down the road on Sunday and it always rains then, so maybe it's saving it up.
The wildlife in the garden has been very active with this weather. In particular we have never seen so many bees this early, and butterflies are numerous too; cuckoos have been around for some weeks; bats have been out in force; and the pond is alive with frogs, with their disco-level croaks, able to sit on the lily-pads that have floated up from their winter depths a few weeks early too. So, what is to be this Post's Wildlife Feature ? An unusual one perhaps .... it is:
Yes, it is the Carp! We know from previous years that the pond is quite well-stocked with carp .... but this year it seems to be teeming and in evidence earlier in the year than usual - with tiddlers, we've seen 40 or 50 at a time; and there are much bigger specimens, 50 cms plus, swimming around in groups ('groups' ... is that right? 'Shoals' sounds daft ...) of 20 or 30. But what has been marked this year is their jumping - both in the evening, but also early mornings, leaping right out of the water and rather inelegantly belly-flopping back. The pond is deep, about 3 - 4 metres, and although all this activity would seem to suggest a healthy habitat, I must check about overstocking. But, for the moment, we're celebrating our carp! If you're reading this and understand these things - advice welcome!
Finally, in the last Post we showed our planting from pot to earth of Orson the Olive tree - over the last few weeks we have noticed that our 'resident' woodpecker has turner his attention from other trees to the olive ... we have tried to photograph him, but it is tricky - Noella had the best go this morning ... if you look right-hand side, just over half-way up of the window-frame, on the big branch ....
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