Spoooooooooky! a pumpkin carved out to make a Jack o' Lantern.

One of the traditions at Halloween is to display a pumpkin carved into a comic or a gruesome head. A candle is placed inside, and this makes a Jack o' Lantern. In earlier times in Ireland and Scotland instead of a pumpkin a turnip was used or even a fat cabbage stalk. The lantern was placed in a dark window and was thought to keep the evil spirits away. Let's hope it works!

Cranes spotted in France flying South, October 2011.

Cranes spotted in central France flying South, probably to Spain.  They  form an echelon which is aerodynamic, and they keep in touch with each other by calling  constantly.  This photograph shows a few of many hundreds that fly on this trajectory every year.  

Knitting and crochet - The Tricot Journal, Paris 1934

Front cover illustration from the Tricot Journal of Paris 1934. The magazine is full of patterns for making chic  jackets, socks, waistcoats, blouses, hats, dresses for children etc., when the skill of the crochet hook was at its height.

Gaspar and Gontrond, the Yorkshire miniature terriers go on the offensive! and a small gothic house in France.

The miniature Yorkshire terriers Gaspar and Gontrond spy out the next door garden where a large Pyrenean  mountain dog stares back at them, through the fence!

A wonderful little gothic house in France, - probably belonging originally to the priest.

The attic window in a small gothic house in a village in Indre, France.

Quinces, a painting.

Quinces in a bowl, a painting by Tessa Bennett.

French chestnuts, (marrons/chataignes).

Chestnuts date back to prehistoric times and are a wonderful food source. They were introduced to Europe via Greece. Chestnuts contain twice as much starch as potatoes, and can be eaten in many forms.
The photograph shows the chestnut in it's outer prickly shell and its shiny brown shell, beneath is an inner skin which has to be removed before cooking and eating.They are collected in October in France, and can be roasted, boiled, or ground into flour.

Walnuts in France.

Walnuts gathered in France. The shells in this variety are fairly smooth not thick, and unlike many types of walnuts don't have ridges, so more nut and less shell.