Signs of Summer

Are these the first signs of the coming summer?

The fruit trees are blossoming!

The charolaise are out of the barns and back in the fields!

Then rape on the hill is turning yellow!

Dandilions flowering in the fields!

 

We are past the spring equinox and have had a very mild winter, so are hoping that there is not a cold snap before the summer as this would reverse these signs and damage the crops.

Watercolours in Burgundy

I have just got a new camera which really ups the potential I have to take better photographs. At the same time I've found a technique that allows the photographer to become a painter.

The St Catherine's bridge in Salornay su Guye takes on another look with a touch of watercolours, as does the main steeple of the Cluny Abbey.

Both these images are based on photographs taken by ChigyTweet and are available. Six megapixel versions of these files, which should make good prints are available by email on request.

 

Autumn on the Chigy / Salornay Road

This shot across a field alongside the Le Gros Chigy to Salornay sur Guye was also take in late October 2010.

photograph by ChigyTweeter

published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

The photo is a panorama using two photos taken with a Canon G7 at f3.2 for 1/100th.

Things To Do In The Clunisois Area

The image below is from a map showing Cluny and surroundings, which can be found on the Cluny Tourism Information Office website. The darker brown area which we call the Clunisois Area (Communauté de communes du Clunisois) offers a range of attractions centered on Cluny a major religious centre of the Middle Ages.

Click Image to Download Complete Map

The map shows the villages within a short distance of The House at Le Gros Chigy that have interesting buildings and facilities although the keys to these is not on this extract. Click the map to access the full PDF document with the key.

Although even the church and grounds of a little village church like Massey are interesting, Cluny, Brancion, Cormatin and St Hippolyte are better known and offer more to the visitor.

The map is well worth downloading or getting a copy of as it holds much useful information.

First Peach Blossom at Main Bedroom Window

This photograph taken from in the main bedroom on a non seasonal coldly, shows the first blossoms on the peach trees. The cherry trees are in full blossom - if we are luckier with the weather than last year we should have a great crop within the next months.

photograph by Joel
published under a Creative Commons license.

 

The Le Gros Chigy Chateau in Summer

A view of the Chateau and surroundings looking towards Cluny from the same position as the autumn view in the previous post.

Image by Gros Chigy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

This time on a hot summer's day in 2012, when there hadn't been rain for sometime.

Some More Produce Charts

For those who liked the fruit chart, here are two more of the Fresh Produce Charts that show when fresh vegetables and fresh herbs should be available.

This and other charts on vegetables and herbs are available online at Chasing Delicious, who apparently designed them and can also be bought at The Sweet Tooth Paper Goods Company.

Power Lines Do Effect Us or Do Power Lines effect Us?

Here is a nice view of the Bourgogne countryside from Joël's room. Of course there are the ever present Charolaise grazing on the hills.

Image by Gros Chigy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

This sight got me to thinking about a study I had heard about on a podcast a few months ago, regarding the way cattle stand in fields.

Of course "they stand with their rears to the wind in a rainstorm" makes a lot of sense, otherwise things would be very uncomfortable. But this study was about the way cattle stand in circumstances that offer more freedom.

It was in 2008 that a German team of scientists claimed that they had found that herds of cattle tend to orientate themselves with the magnetic lines of the earth. Interestingly this was proven by comparing herds close to and well removed from overhead power lines. The reasoning being that the power lines would result in herds nearby not being able to orientate themselves to the earths magnetic lines because their sensing system would be disrupted by the magnetic field from the lines.

What I like most about this story is the innovative use of free information available in Google Earth.

There has been some discussion about the results with another team not being to replicate the results, but the original results, at least for now seem to remain valid!

At a casual glance the two herds in this photo seem to be orientated in a similar direction, although one is under a power lines. Of course two observations don't constitute proof! So I wonder If and how the power lines effect us?