Wolfie and the otters

My readers know how much I love otters. Well, my wife and I discovered recently that Wolfie does not share yet this love. We recently visited a sort of mini-zoo that has a number of exotic and local animals. Including otters. (But not the otter on the picture: I took this particular photo in the otters sanctuary that we visited a few years ago in Buckfastleigh, in Devon.) While Wolfie loved quite a few animals, when he saw the otters there he looked pitifully, cuddled up to us and said in a small voice "bit scared". We had to go away. I wonder why he was scared of the otters there and not of other, bigger animals. Maybe there is something predatory about their attitude?

L'instant T (la photo du mois)

Dernière minute, thème choisi par Aude, j'ai trouvé la photo de ce mois-ci dans mes photos du Devon. Et non ce ne sont pas des monstres marins, ce sont des loutres.

Voyez ce qu'ont trouvé les autres:

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To read during the long train journey

I took this picture in the special steamed train line they have between Totnes and Buckfastleigh in Devon and I am sharing it here because it illustrates my post. So anyway, as you know last week I went to an interview at a company's headquarters about three hours away in train. In the end, I did not get the job, although I think I got fairly close. But on the plus side, once the die had been cast, I could relax and read. I love reading during long train journeys, I find it part of the pleasure of traveling. So at least I experienced this, which I had not done in a very long while.

Loutres affamées

Je regardais mes photos du Devon hier, surtout celles du sanctuaire de loutres et un détail m'a rappelé l'une des raisons pour lesquelles j'aime les loutres: leur alimentation. Beaucoup sont friandes de poisson, tout comme moi. Celle sur la photo de droite se nourrissait je crois de truite. C'est une loutre qui a des goûts sophistiqués.

Et puis même les goûts plus douteux de certaines ne gâchent pas mon amour pour elles: celle-ci, par exemple, mangeait une boulette de viande faite de rats et autres petits
rongeurs. Je déteste les rats, les mulots et les autres petits rongeurs. Cela dit, ça veut dire que la loutre, prédatrice, permet de contrôler les populations desdits rongeurs. À défaut de partager son repas, je l'encouragerai à se goinfrer.

What will be the star of Springwatch?

As I am typing this, I am watching the brand new series of one of my favourite TV programs in the UK: BBC's Springwatch. It comes a bit late in the year really, but all the same, it's my favourite program of the season. There's nothing like British wildlife. And I am wondering what animal will be the star of the show this year, the one that will fascinate the viewers and . My money is often on some sort of owl and I have seen some on the show already, but honestly I find owls a more autumnal bird. Another great contender is the otter, as you can see here from the otter sanctuary in Buckfastleigh in Devon. Otters are among my favourite animals in Britain, so I am truly rooting for them.

Tawny Owl (the bitter)

I try as much as possible not to judge a book by its cover and a beer by its label or name. That said, sometimes one gets curious by the appealing label of a certain beer. This was the case when I saw this little piece of advertisement in the steam train station of Totnes (or maybe Buckfastleigh) in Devon, promoting the Tawny Owl (or the Tawny Bitter as written on the image) from Cotleigh Brewery. I love all owls and I loved look on the image, dark and mysterious. I wondered if this beer still existed and had a colour similar to the bird of prey it takes its name after.

As I discovered, it does. Not only that, but the Tawny Owl is a proper bitter, just dark enough and with plenty of character. For once, its label didn't lie. Because as I found the beer at complete random in a garden center my wife and I sometimes go to. It was a couple of months ago, when I had completely forgotten the picture I had taken in Devon. And there it was, with other products of Cotleigh Brewery, all with names of birds of prey. I bought two for home. I will blog another time about the other beer, but the Tawny Owl has so far been one of the best discoveries I've made this year and I cannot wait to buy some more and drink it again. The brewery is from Somerset. I think we might go there one day on holidays.

"Guinness is good for you"

I took this picture in Devon, in the old train station at Buckfastleigh. An old Guinness advert, which is of course my beer of predilection on St Paddy's Day. But this year, a nasty cold forced me to take antibiotics. Which means I will not drink alcohol. Dry on Saint Patrick's Day.I don't drink Guinness much anymore, in fact I almost exclusively drink it today. But I do want to enjoy a pint or two, it is one of the few things I do to celebrate Ireland. But tonight, there will be no Guinness, no Jameson, no trip to the local Irish pub. At least I have the Irish music, but even that is more enjoyable with a pint of Guinness. Maybe I should forget about the medication and just drink one. After all, it gives me strength. It's good for me.

Comme une loutre enfermée

Il pleut des cordes depuis hier. Nous sommes un vrai dimanche bien glauque et ma mélancolie habituelle ne s'arrange pas. J'appelle les journées pluvieuses ici un temps de loutre, parce que si d'aventure je sors je me sens comme cette loutre sur la photo qui accompagne le billet (oui, ce billet est un peu une excuse bête pour télécharger une autre photo des vacances au Devon). Comme je ne compte pas sortir de l'appart sauf pour un très bref moment afin de faire provision pour la semaine, je me sens comme une loutre enfermée. Il faudra que je m'occupe un peu.

Le retour du temps de loutre

Bon, ce billet est un peu une excuse vaseuse pour publier une nouvelle photo de loutre, un animal que j'aime beaucoup. Photo prise dans le Devon au sanctuaire de Buckfastleigh. Enfin, tout ça pour illustrer le temps qu'il faut aujourd'hui: il pleut des cordes et constamment. Et il vente. C'est ce que j'appelle un temps de loutre. Le mois de novembre à son pire. D'autant plus qu'il est atypique: il fait doux, beaucoup trop doux pour un mois de novembre. Ca peut sembler bête, mais à tout prendre je préfère un mois de novembre froid et sec à doux et humide. Enfin, humide au point d'être aquatique. Novembre loutre passe les bornes. Oui, c'est un calembour aussi atroce que tordu.

Autumnwatch tonight

This is a public service post (well, sort of) for all of those who live in the UK:  the show about British wildlife Autumnwatch is back on tonight on BBC2 at 9:00. It arrives late this year and for me it was about time. For people like me who love autumn and love wildlife, this is comfort TV at its best. And it is intelligent TV too. I don't know which creatures will be featured this season, but to illustrate the post, I thought I would upload a picture of an otter from the Otter Sanctuary in Buckfastleigh. Tonight, I hope to see them featured in their natural habitat.

Planning the train journey

This picture might not be very grand, but it is used to illustrate the topic of this post and it is just an excuse as any to upload here more photos of my holidays in Devon. To be more precise, I took this in the steamed train station of Buckfastleigh, which is linked to Totnes. I loved the whole steamed train experience  so much during my holidays there. I love trains and model trains. I love everything about trains. And trains were on my mind a lot tonight, but not the ones in Devon. Rather, the one that will lead to York for our future holidays. Because we have been planning our train journeys there tonight. It is always a bit stressful, however very exciting all the same. Not quite as fun but more practical than merely planning my holiday reads. And I think we now have a good idea of the journey and the route we will take. I am always excited about the journey to a holiday, especially when traveling by train. Getting there is an experience in itself.

Dreaming of train journeys

I took this picture during last year's holiday in Devon, it was on the steamed train journey from Totnes to Buckfastleigh and back. I am watching and rewatching these pictures from my last holiday, because I already long for my future holidays in York. And also because one of the things I love about these kind of holidays is the long train journeys. I kid you not. I just love travelling by train. And I learned that there is a National Railway Museum in York, so I know of at least one thing to visit. These holidays, like last year's, might be train themed.

It might be because I am looking forward to experience the exciting long train journeys leading to a new destination (to me at least) that I have recently borrowed from the local library a brochure dating back from 1973, about the history of the local train line. It used to cost twenty pences, as it says on the bottom of the front page. But it is a most precious things. The information may be given in a dry manner, but looking at these old black and white pictures of train stations I know so well, see them in a different light, see also how the train line has not sadly dwindled here is fascinating. It is another kind of journey, through time, that I also long for.

Penultimate Springwatch tonight

I don't know if it will feature otters, but it is the penultimate Springwatch episode of 2015 tonight in a few minutes on BBC2. I did not follow it as much this year, what with life taking a lot of my time and keeping me away from the TV screen. I hope I can find time to catch up on BBC iPlayer. Anyway, to my British readers: watch it. Get the reminder on now. Turn the TV on. And enjoy British wildlife. So anyway, to illustrate this post, I decided to use this picture from the otter sanctuary in Buckfastleigh. From last year's holidays in Devon. The otter was eating a rats burger. This is one thing I love about otters: they are also predators and they eat the rodents I hate. Think of me if otters are featured tonight.

Les tortues m'indiffèrent

Je regardais mes photos de vacances au Devon de l'année dernière (en fait les seules vacances passées au Devon) et je suis tombé sur cette photo de tortues, prise au sanctuaire de loutres (!) à Buckfastleigh. C'est la seule photo des tortues que j'ai prise, alors qu'il y en a pleins d'autres animaux, même des cygnes et des goélands que l'on voit pourtant partout ailleurs. Et je me rends compte que, parmi nos cousins et cousines du règne animal, les tortues m'indiffèrent. Je ne les déteste pas comme les rats, je ne les aime pas comme bien des bêtes à poil, elles ne cultivent pas mon imagination comme disons les crocodiles (pour mentionner d'autres reptiles), enfin bref elles ne m'intéressent pas. Même dans la fable du lièvre et de la tortue, j'ai de la sympathie pour le lièvre. Sinon, je les associe aussi aux Tortues Ninja, mais j'ai arrêté de m'intéresser à cette bédé/ce dessin animé depuis des années. Alors tout ça pour dire que je vais essayer de redécouvrir les tortues et essayer de développer un intérêt pour elles.

Décor de film (La photo du mois)

Le thème ce mois-ci était choisi par Alexinparis. Ca a été très simple et j'ai réglé ça en trois coups de cuillière à pot: la gare des trains à vapeur à Buckfastleigh, entre cette ville et la ville de Totnes dans le Devon. C'est indubitablement un décor de film. Un film d'époque bien entendu. Mais enfin bref, cette gare ferait l'affaire pour un whodunit, un film d'horreur, un western, que sais-je... On plonge vraiment dans un autre monde en y allant. Et on a même le figurant comme bonus, pour faire plus époque.

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Autumnwatch tonight

Before I do my countdown to Halloween post, I wanted to write a quick post to all my UK readers as a reminder: Autumnwatch is on tonight, at 08:00PM. My favourite UK program, about this country's wildlife in... autumn. It has many animals featured, including otters. These ones were seen in the otter sanctuary in Buckfastleigh. I thought they would illustate this post beautifully. So tune in.

Un temps de loutre

Cette photo a été prise au sanctuaire des loutres à Buckfastleigh, je la télécharge ici rien que parce que ça illustre mon propos et que parce que j'aime les loutres. On dit un temps de chien, un temps de grenouilles parfois, mais vous remarquerez que l'on ne dit pas, enfin pas ce que je sache, un temps de loutre quand il pleut. Pourtant, s'il pleut des cordes et que je suis dehors, je me sens comme une loutre. Tous ceux qui ont vu des loutres peuvent en témoigner: lorsqu'il pleut, c'est vraiment plus un temps de loutre, lire un temps où seule une loutre serait confortable. Or enfin bref, il pleut souvent ces temps-ci et à chaque fois que je marche sous la pluie, avec le capuchon de mon Kanuk qui me couvre la tête, je me sens comme une loutre. Alors je suggère de populariser cette expression.

The Signal-Man (a ghost story)

This there were major disruptions on the train line, so I arrived late at work. I don't mind when it is late in autumn, I can read more scary stories to put myself in a Halloween mood. I mentioned it here. But anyway, I said to my fellow disgruntled commuters that we needed a signalman. It made a few people smile. I was thinking of course about The Signal-Man, the ghost story written by Dickens which I discovered a few months ago in its play adaptation. Which I am going to read soon in this book. But you can find it in many anthologies of ghost stories. As I mentioned here, I love that it mixes elements of modernity and in particular technological progress with the supernatural. A common trope in many XIXth century ghost stories, and modern ones too. This morning, I was thinking that however technologically advanced we are, we are still vulnerable to nature and malfunctions of human inventions. Which is maybe the main theme of Dickens' story. I took this picture of a signal box in Devon, on the steam train from Totnes to Buckfastleigh. I was thinking of ghost and ghost stories. Like I did today. And I am certain you now noticed that you just read tonight's countdown to Halloween post.

Reading ghost stories in the train

This picture was taken in the steam train between Totnes and Buckfastleigh during my last holidays in Devon. Not the most impressive picture, but I took it because of the unique setting and because I was even then thinking about this post. The steam train journey was one of my favourite moments of all the holiday there. I posted about it here. But I digress... I have uploaded it because this is what I read at the moment in the train. Not this particular book, but ghost/horror stories. In the upcoming weeks leading to Halloween, which is only a bit more than a month away now, I read plenty of horror stories, old and new. And I often read them in the train. While it is not as romantic an experience as reading it in an old steam train or an old train station, it is still an atmospheric setting for such readings. Supernatural literature and railways have developed simultaneously, almost hand in hand, and trains and ghosts sometimes met in fiction, if not, for those who believe in them, in real life. I do not believe in ghosts, but I do think that if I was to write a horror story featuring them, or any supernatural creature really, I would seriously consider using the train and/or a train station as a setting. In any case, as a reading place for horror stories, the train is great.

Railway through time

I wanted to do it for a long while, I had the chance to do it during my recent holidays in Devon: I traveled in an old steam train. it was like traveling through time. Twice, actually, or even three times if you count the return. This post and the pictures accompanying it are from the second trip, from Totnes to Buckfastleigh and back.

Well, what I can say first? I love train travels, I love, no I adore everything train related. It is for me the mean of transport that kick-started modernity and it is simply the greatest mean of transport. At its best, the train is comfortable, practical, fast enough to go from point A to B in a decent amount of time, slow enough to enjoy the journey. Even the most banal, plain train has character, even the most banal train station as well. I love the atmosphere of train stations, the oldest the better. I was served with this journey: the train stations were built and furbished as old ones, with old advertisement, red bricks and wood and so on. Except it does not look old, it looks very contemporary, just like the staff wearing clothes from the time period. And of course the locomotive was a steam engine. It was like stepping into another time in history, the moment we set foot on the station.

The illusion is only ever broken when you leave it, and even then, you are still haunted by the journey. I spent the trip looking half the time at the window when we were passing train stations or a signal box (more about it in a future post), half the time looking at the inside of the compartment. I imagined myself being the character of a crime story (no, not that one) or a ghost story set in that time period. Or just a traveler from yesterday. I wish train stations and trains had still the same cachet and elegance of these ones.