jobes73.blogspot.com
Jobes: October 2010
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Saturday, October 23, 2010. I'm currently on the way to Switzerland, and am leaving a country tying itself in knots. To the British, the French propensity to strike is a source of amusement and occasional holiday frustration, but living here it's quite interesting to watch the country go through one of its periodic convulsions. The strikes are getting bigger and more frequent, and are starting to make life difficult. Lots of things have been leading up to this. La crise. Sarkozy (I've only met one person...
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Jobes: July 2011
http://jobes73.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html
Friday, July 29, 2011. Around dusk, as the green fades from the vegetable patches and the cornflowers seem to start to glow eerily, a black shape flits into view and disappears again in the long grass beyond the allotment beds. A few evenings now, I've seen this shape twitching about in the distance. Finally I've identified the mysterious creature. I'm not sure the mice do us much damage, but if he deters the rabbits and wood pigeons too, he's welcome at any time. Monday, July 25, 2011. Courrier internat...
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Jobes: August 2011
http://jobes73.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html
Tuesday, August 02, 2011. A watched pot never boils. I was about to write a post about how my tomatoes were still defiantly hard and green, and how I feared I'd be making an awful lot of green tomato chutney come the end of September. But a few days of hot, sunny weather arrived in the nick of time. I've seen the first blushes of colour on a couple of the huge coeur de boeuf tomatoes. Whether it'll be enough is another matter, especially as the hot weather may only hold for a couple more days. However, t...
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Jobes: June 2010
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010. Babies everywhere this month. Maya the hunting dog had nine puppies; the three that remain are trying to stand up but are so fat that they cant bear their own weight. They look like black and white balloons with limbs. Has seen ewes abandon newborn lambs in order to rejoin a flock that has suddenly moved on. Most recently, Bianca the sheep guard dog has had eleven puppies. Last time she only had one, so she had some catching up to do. She and her male partner Cagire (nam...When ...
jobes73.blogspot.com
Jobes: April 2010
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Thursday, April 29, 2010. I came to "do bees" but I've spent half the first week doing garden things. Nora, Bastien and I spent an hour one morning with our noses 6 inches above the soil, weeding a strip of carrot seedlings. The weed seedlings are the same size as the carrot shoots, just as delicate, and much more numerous, so it was real tweezer work and I felt quite cross-eyed by the end of it. Not something you can do for long even if you find a comfortable working position. It was very satisfying to ...
jobes73.blogspot.com
Jobes: ‘On n’est pas bien’
http://jobes73.blogspot.com/2010/03/on-nest-pas-bien.html
Saturday, March 20, 2010. 8216;On n’est pas bien’. To add to the anti-Parisian regionalism, Béziers has a long rivalry with Montpellier - and is coming off worse. Even Montpellier had tumbleweeds when I visited one Sunday, but I still got the impression that this university town had more going for it. It's expanded a lot in recent years, which I expect hasn't pleased everyone. Avoiding the Sarkozyism, travailler plus pour gagner plus. I feel like an apostle of Thatcherism, and slightly queasy. Virginie i...
jobes73.blogspot.com
Jobes: November 2010
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Monday, November 15, 2010. Because you're worth it. Many pupils seem to think that if 60-year-olds work for two years longer, they will have to wait two more years before they can inherit their jobs," wrote The Economist magazine, worrying about the economic illiteracy of the French 16-year-olds who were striking against the increase in the retirement age. I suppose the main case for employing someone is that they repay (at least) the cost of their employment in extra income or in cost savings. I'm sure ...
jobes73.blogspot.com
Jobes: The plot beast
http://jobes73.blogspot.com/2011/07/plot-beast.html
Friday, July 29, 2011. Around dusk, as the green fades from the vegetable patches and the cornflowers seem to start to glow eerily, a black shape flits into view and disappears again in the long grass beyond the allotment beds. A few evenings now, I've seen this shape twitching about in the distance. Finally I've identified the mysterious creature. I'm not sure the mice do us much damage, but if he deters the rabbits and wood pigeons too, he's welcome at any time. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom).
jobes73.blogspot.com
Jobes: September 2010
http://jobes73.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html
Tuesday, September 14, 2010. I am at a new farm, still in the Minervois. . Im sleeping on a mattress on the floor of a spare room which houses a large loom (it looks like it has stalled mid-weave). . We are, as the French authorities put it, en situation irregulière. I think Ive mentioned before that the legal status of wwoofing in France is a bit cloudy. There appears to be no concept over here of volunteer work. . I said to Clothilde (not her real name). Cest idiot. From the authorities point of vie...
jobes73.blogspot.com
Jobes
http://jobes73.blogspot.com/2011/07/ive-taken-on-allotment-now-im-back-home.html
Monday, July 25, 2011. I've taken on allotment now I'm back home. Hard work, and a crazy undertaking given that I don't really find time to get on top of the garden I already have. However. Anyway, during the very dry spring (and from time to time since) I've been treated to glorious sunsets. I've been admiring them while filling the watering cans. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). View my complete profile. Ive taken on allotment now Im back home. Hard wo. Overseas Development Institute (ODI) update.
