And then, a day before a storm arrived in early September, they were gone. The wires were empty and the air silent. A week later we spotted a dozen stragglers on the wires looking a bit confused - not sure if they had missed the departure day or if they were on the migration route from somewhere further north. If they were migrating it makes we wonder even more why the wires outside Monique's house are a magnet for swallows - do they have some internal navigation system, maybe it's word of mouth (or rather beak) or perhaps a coincidence. We really understand so little about how migrating birds travel it could be any of these. As the first swallows to swoop over our field in March provide an indicator that Spring is on its way so their disappearance means Autumn is gathering pace.
Although we weather hasn't been great through August, the last week did provide some good clear skies and whilst we had some friends over from the UK held a "Skycamp" with the telescope down the field. Great views of the moon, Saturn and a good selection of clusters and other interesting objects - for people who have never looked through a telescope the moon is always a stunning sight.
On another subject I missed recording in the blog the remarkable achievement by the England women's hockey team in winning the European championship played at Lee Valley in the Olympic centre. The game at international level now bears little resemblance to the sport I started playing competitively forty years ago. In the early eighties I played several times for Camberly against clubs with international players in their team, they were good players, quicker and more skilfull than we were but they didn't seem a race apart. Watching the England ladies team beat old rivals Germany and Holland on the way to the championship Barbara and I were in agreement that, even at the height of our games, we couldn't have competed with these super fit, amazingly skilfull players. Recent rule changes have made the game an attractive TV sport and a great positive message for girls playing sports - it just needs more exposure and coverage.
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I've been a bit lax about recording our activities recently, for my records maybe rather than your interest here's what we've been doing:
Week of 17/8
Monday Walking: 3.8km
Tuesday walking: 3.9km
Tuesday Swimming: 1.15km
Wednesday walking: 3.8km
Thursday walking: 3.9km
Friday walking: 3.8km
Week of 24/8
Monday Walking: 3.8km
Tuesday walking: 3.9km
Tuesday Swimming: 1.25km
Wednesday walking: 3.8km
Thursday walking: 3.9km
Friday walking: 3.8km
Week of 31/8
Monday swimming: 0.12km (in the pool at La Roche, Gennes)
Wednesday walking: 3.6km (Aubrac plateau, Lozère)
Saturday walking: 4.6km (Le Puy en Velay)
Week of 7/9
Tuesday walking: 3.9km
Tuesday Swimming: 1.10km
Wednesday walking: 3.8km
Thursday walking: 3.9km
Friday walking: 3.8km
Friday swimming: 1.25km
Week of 14/9
Monday Walking: 3.8km
Tuesday walking: 3.9km
Tuesday Swimming: 1.4k
Wednesday walking: 3.8km
Thursday walking: 3.9km
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