but before I start talking about our Sunday morning spent fossil hunting, I'll show you the set of coasters that I finished & listed in the shop :
yesterday morning, we decided to go fossil hunting. OK, so it's already warm over here, and you know what ? well, it was a bit too dry to properly look for fossils, so I'll declare the fossil hunting season closed (well, at least in that area) until further notice. I did find a couple of them. But most importantly, we enjoyed the lush (well, for the garrigue, it is) flora of late spring, because we know that very soon, the heat will dry everything, and not much flowers will be in bloom. Along the way we found little garrigue friends (read = insects & animals), so please let me share our morning in photos. Thanks to a very good book (it was expensive but oh so worth the price) about garrigue, I managed to identify practically everything, so place your mouse over each photo to get the name of what you see, and anyway, you can click each photo & it'll take you to its page on Flickr, where you can see them larger (waaaaay larger, I swear), and where you'll maybe get more infos in the description. (so now you know)
soon enough, the few water streams will run dry, the flowers will fade & die, the snails will sleep, and the garrigue will be only made of thorny shrubs, dry thyme, ants, very dry lichens & moss, cicadas, spiders, euphorbias, and other tree, flower, and animal species that adatped themselves to the very dry & warm weather of southern France in the summer. Right now is the best time for admiring the garrigue.
btw, that blue flower I took mant photos of is called "aphyllanthes monspeliensis" (aphyllanthe de Montpellier en français)& is in full bloom right now, making the whole garrigue blue & gorgeous. Its names in Greek means flower with "no leaf" (a = without, phyllo = leaf). It's this flower's way to protect from deshydratation. So it really has no leaf. My FIL told me once that when he was a child, he used to suck at the back of the flowers. So I guess it is not toxic ...
oh, I'll leave you with a video. I was shooting the star shaped moss (pleurochaete squarrosa) when a bird came in a tree very nearby & started singing. I turned the camera to the video function & started recording. I asked hubby (who knows more than me about birds) & he told me that it was most probably a chaffinch.
don't laugh, but I started crying when I was filming, realizing how beautiful my life is, and what a precious moment this was. I was in the garrigue, taking photos of what I like, with the most important people of my life, and a bird was singing so close to me, I was as silent as I could be & the bird didn't feel my presence.ok, off I go, girls. Tons to do at home today. It's a bank day & I planned to make many many small & bigger things at home. June is going to be awfully busy, so now is the time to make things.
I wish you all a wonderful start of your week ! Thanks so much for stopping by !
yesterday morning, we decided to go fossil hunting. OK, so it's already warm over here, and you know what ? well, it was a bit too dry to properly look for fossils, so I'll declare the fossil hunting season closed (well, at least in that area) until further notice. I did find a couple of them. But most importantly, we enjoyed the lush (well, for the garrigue, it is) flora of late spring, because we know that very soon, the heat will dry everything, and not much flowers will be in bloom. Along the way we found little garrigue friends (read = insects & animals), so please let me share our morning in photos. Thanks to a very good book (it was expensive but oh so worth the price) about garrigue, I managed to identify practically everything, so place your mouse over each photo to get the name of what you see, and anyway, you can click each photo & it'll take you to its page on Flickr, where you can see them larger (waaaaay larger, I swear), and where you'll maybe get more infos in the description. (so now you know)
soon enough, the few water streams will run dry, the flowers will fade & die, the snails will sleep, and the garrigue will be only made of thorny shrubs, dry thyme, ants, very dry lichens & moss, cicadas, spiders, euphorbias, and other tree, flower, and animal species that adatped themselves to the very dry & warm weather of southern France in the summer. Right now is the best time for admiring the garrigue.
btw, that blue flower I took mant photos of is called "aphyllanthes monspeliensis" (aphyllanthe de Montpellier en français)& is in full bloom right now, making the whole garrigue blue & gorgeous. Its names in Greek means flower with "no leaf" (a = without, phyllo = leaf). It's this flower's way to protect from deshydratation. So it really has no leaf. My FIL told me once that when he was a child, he used to suck at the back of the flowers. So I guess it is not toxic ...
oh, I'll leave you with a video. I was shooting the star shaped moss (pleurochaete squarrosa) when a bird came in a tree very nearby & started singing. I turned the camera to the video function & started recording. I asked hubby (who knows more than me about birds) & he told me that it was most probably a chaffinch.
don't laugh, but I started crying when I was filming, realizing how beautiful my life is, and what a precious moment this was. I was in the garrigue, taking photos of what I like, with the most important people of my life, and a bird was singing so close to me, I was as silent as I could be & the bird didn't feel my presence.ok, off I go, girls. Tons to do at home today. It's a bank day & I planned to make many many small & bigger things at home. June is going to be awfully busy, so now is the time to make things.
I wish you all a wonderful start of your week ! Thanks so much for stopping by !
oxox
Sonia
Isn't the world a magical place? Sitting here at my computer in the southern hemisphere listening to a bird in the South of France is definitely magical. Thank you. Kim :)
ReplyDeletebeautiful post, such wonderful pics,thanks for a little window into your world xxx
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a fantastic walk on your nature trail...lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Monday.
Char
lovely photos Sonia :o) And I just love the coaster you made. Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteTime I was off. xxxx
So much beauty in one post, Sonia, I don't know where to begin. I LOVE the repurposed coasters--the colors are just beautiful and soothing. You really are a master with the colors. And your region of southern France reminds me of my heart-favorite place, Central Texas. Spring and early summer are sweet seasons there, too, before summer's heat puts such intense pressure on the plants. Thank you for sharing a beautiful day, and your joy in it.
ReplyDeletejune will be busy and very exciting for you
ReplyDelete