Nature notes and stuff

Summer seems to have arrived within a week of winter. I’m sure that we’re going to pay for it. Strange things have happened in the garden, I had tulips and daffodils where I didn’t plant any. I think the birds must have uprooted and dropped bulbs at some point. There were lots of violets on the lawn too. One morning a couple of weeks ago, I opened the shutters just as it was getting light and I saw an owl on his way home. Rob and I stood in the park one afternoon when the leaves weren’t quite out and watched a squirrel make its way along the tops of 5trees before losing track of it. I’ve had my phone ready every time I walk through the park hoping to get a picture of the jays. no sign of them this year, nor across the road.

Dom came for the weekend. We went window shopping together and I showed her my short cut to change buses which takes me past a row of birch trees. She explained to me that they were the only trees that would grow in region of Russia where she stayed a few years ago. She and J-M will be back in a couple of weeks. I know they are making a special effort as they both have a lot of studying and preparation to do. Dom is preparing what is called her ‘mémoire‘ in French. I don’t know what the word is in English, I know it’s not a theses. I just discovered the difference: At her level of studies Dom hasn’t created a concept or new theory yet. This only exists in France it seems. J-M has finished his written exams and is preparing for his oral exams. They have a good system. They leave home every day and work in the library, very businesslike.

Olivier is home for two weeks before his exams. Not much sign of him revising… When he arrived home he’d got a copy of the Financial Times in his hand, so I suppose that counts

Next week I’ve got exam supervision, that seems to have come round again very quickly