Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[ManueB]

what do you do with your quinces? Make paste, or jelly, or something else?

My partner made paste today. Tomorrow I will make quince and apple sauce. But we are giving out most of them, we have about 30 kilos with the young trees, and the older trees that are not yet ripe have about the same.

 

[Sequel]

My partner made paste today. Tomorrow I will make quince and apple sauce. But we are giving out most of them, we have about 30 kilos with the young trees, and the older trees that are not yet ripe have about the same.

I had to look up quince paste. That sounds so yummy! The recipe I read said in Spain they eat it with Manchego cheese. How do you eat it in France? I’m going to make your Swiss chard tart too as soon as I get enough chard!

 

[ManueB]

I had to look up quince paste. That sounds so yummy! The recipe I read said in Spain they eat it with Manchego cheese. How do you eat it in France? I’m going to make your Swiss chard tart too as soon as I get enough chard!

It works really well with cheese, and not only Manchego but many other types of cured cheese, and I also like it with fresh goat cheese. I actually prefer how the spanish eat it, the paste isn't as dry as we do here.
In the south of France, in all of Provence, there is a tradition of having 13 desserts for Christmas. Where I live quince paste is one of the thirteen. People make it now when quinces are ripe, cut it in little squares dipped in sugar, and keep it in a metal box to eat for Christmas dinner and to give as presents.
I have a very sweet tooth so I eat it way before Christmas and we make about ten kilos so I eat a lot. I have it with a square of dark chocolate and an almond.
(I like it best with less sugar, but it doesn't keep.)
**********

We had a little real rain today, 10 ml in 24 hours. However, we are on maximal alert tonight for rain, they are expecting 150 to 200 ml locally between 4am and 10 am, which happens to be exactly when my partner will be leaving home to drive the bus up the valley in the mountain and back down to Nice. They are closing schools and public buildings but maintaining public transportation, unlike last time when we had storm Alex. Anyway since he has to drive first a bit through the worse part in the gorge to go collect the bus, I know he will just turn back home if it's too dangerous.

This morning there was a bit of drama. Both Lilly and Piou-piou hadn't laid yesterday, so at 7 both were at the door of the coop, on the starting block, waiting to be let out to run to the woodshed where they both lay... in the same nest. Piou-piou is dominant, so she got in first, but somehow Lilly managed to squeeze in and quickly lay a beautiful purple egg. It has been a very long time since she has laid one of those. I wonder if it's linked to the fact that she didn't lay yesterday ; she used to lay those when she was laying only three or four times a week.

I was making lunch inside when I heard some screams. Going out I found Théo hanging upside down with his spur stuck again in the netting ! I have no idea for how long he was like this. When I got him off he was in complete schock, with his hackles raised and trying to hide for about an hour. I tried to check if he was hurt but he wouldn't let me near him, he wasn't limping. Then during the day he went back to normal except he was in utter terror of Gaston, even worse than usual. I helped him get inside the coop at roost time like I usually do distracting Gaston and I could see he was totally frightened.
It's really strange to see that their relation is so bad when I see how relaxed Gaston is with Pied Beau.

The chickens are already getting tired of the rain, even though they were able to be outside most of the day. Tomorrow will be hard for them. The younger pullets actually spent most of the afternoon perching in the coop on the roosts. They are very different from Merle and Piou-piou when they were a few months, who would stay out under pouring rain scratching for worms.
Nieva’s foot was slightly better again this evening, so maybe we are finally going to see some improvement . They all went to bed at 5.30, and it was a bit hectic because Nougat, Blanche, Piou-piou and Chipie are all terrified of Pied Beau, even when he does nothing special.

 

[Perris]

they are expecting 150 to 200 ml locally between 4am and 10 am

that is shocking; similarly they're expecting 200-250ml rain over part of Scotland tonight and that's on a red - danger to life - alert from the met office here.

which happens to be exactly when my partner will be leaving home to drive the bus up the valley in the mountain and back down to Nice. They are closing schools and public buildings but maintaining public transportation, unlike last time when we had storm Alex. Anyway since he has to drive first a bit through the worse part in the gorge to go collect the bus, I know he will just turn back home if it's too dangerous.

Seriously? Driving through a gorge when that sort of torrential rain is forecast? And he will be going out at the start of the storm? The gorge will be a lot worse when he comes home. How is communication in the gorge? If there is trouble, will he be able to alert the authorities?

 

[ManueB]

that is shocking; similarly they're expecting 200-250ml rain over part of Scotland tonight and that's on a red - danger to life - alert from the met office here.

Seriously? Driving through a gorge when that sort of torrential rain is forecast? And he will be going out at the start of the storm? The gorge will be a lot worse when he comes home. How is communication in the gorge? If there is trouble, will he be able to alert the authorities?

His boss just called him to say that the prefect has cancelled all public transport. So he’s staying home tomorrow!
Yes, it's a red alert. The last one here, storm Alex, killed 11 people and destroyed the greater half of two small mountain towns, so they must be very afraid that the same scenario happens.

 

[RoyalChick]

His boss just called him to say that the prefect has cancelled all public transport. So he’s staying home tomorrow!
Yes, it's a red alert. The last one here, storm Alex, killed 11 people and destroyed the greater half of two small mountain towns, so they must be very afraid that the same scenario happens.

That sounds very scary. Hope you are all OK.
The Christmas quince treat sounds wonderful!
I am going to look at recipes and try something similar with my crabapples

 

[MaryJanet]

His boss just called him to say that the prefect has cancelled all public transport. So he’s staying home tomorrow!
Yes, it's a red alert. The last one here, storm Alex, killed 11 people and destroyed the greater half of two small mountain towns, so they must be very afraid that the same scenario happens.

I hope it doesn't do too much damage.

 

[Perris]

His boss just called him to say that the prefect has cancelled all public transport. So he’s staying home tomorrow!

I was so pleased to read that - but horrified by the second part of your message; I don't normally think of a storm as a threat to life, except at sea.

 

[BDutch]

I was so pleased to read that

Yes, me too. Good to take it serious and stop public transport in time.

- but horrified by the second part of your message; I don't normally think of a storm as a threat to life, except at sea.

Storms are becoming more extreme and dangerous because of the climate change. Not only near the sea or in the mountains of France.
There was one in july 2021 in central Europe with extreme rainfall. Rivers got flooded and took a few hundred lives. Water was coming down from the hills and gathered in the rivers in several towns where streets and houses got flooded so fast people couldn’t get away in time.
Wikipedia: More than 220 people died in the natural disaster, of whom at least 180 in Germany and 41 in Belgium.

 

[ManueB]

Yes, me too. Good to take it serious and stop public transport in time.

Storms are becoming more extreme and dangerous because of the climate change. Not only near the sea or in the mountains of France.
There was one in july 2021 in central Europe with extreme rainfall. Rivers got flooded and took a few hundred lives. Water was coming down from the hills and gathered in the rivers in several towns where streets and houses got flooded so fast people couldn’t get away in time.
Wikipedia: More than 220 people died in the natural disaster, of whom at least 180 in Germany and 41 in Belgium.

Yes, we are not used to thinking of storms as dangerous, and unfortunately it's one of the cause of deaths. People getting stuck in their car or not wanting to evacuate their homes. We just think it happens elsewhere but not where we live.

France has set up a new alert system directly on cellphones some months ago, we got a striding loud buzz and this message. It is pretty efficient. Not sure if you have the same in other countries ? Before that we had just official messages on social and traditional media, and central alarms buzz in bigger cities.

We had a lot less rain than forecasted , only 70 ml up to now. There has been more elsewhere, but only material damage, mostly the temporary bridges and roads built after storm Alex. One "fun" thing is that the buses they had brought up in case they were needed for evacuation in one of those mountain towns, were carried away by the flooding river. My brother is a volunteer rescue there so he probably didn't have a good night, he and all the locals are still very much traumatized by the storm three years ago.
Now all the chickens are locked up in the coop and Merle, Piou-piou and Théo in the shed, and they are not wanting to come out as they had a good scare this morning with the violent winds and rain.

Saw this yesterday which seems appropriate:
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article...d-12-striking-photos-of-the-climate-in-crisis
And this was about storm Alex in October 2020 :
https://www.theguardian.com/weather...vastation-to-south-eastern-france-in-pictures