Kindle For Christmas?

Happy Christmas, readers.

It has been a wonderfully sunny day here today. But for the lack of leaves on the trees and the shortage of degrees on the thermometer, it could have been mid-summer.

Our local market was open. There were only 3 stalls, but they included the all-important fresh veggie stall and the baker. We had a light lunch, a leisurely stroll in the glorious countryside, a glass of mulled wine with mince pies and continue with a quiet, leisurely day.

I know millions of people have had Kindles, iPads, and other e-reading devices for Christmas. I was happy to see that at least some of these had been downloading my book overnight instead of peeping out for Santa. Good move. The reviews tell me it is a decent read, which you get at the same time as contributing to the search for a cure for the serial killer which is pancreatic cancer. And it is inexpensive. Top right on this page is where you can find out where to get the book. Do it now!

Precipitation

A brilliantly sunny day today, but what a difference a few days of rain or snow has made!

We have had a bit of rain in the past few days, after most of the year has been pretty dry.

This weir was almost non-existent for months, but now it is in full force, as are a number of waterfalls round about, including one we can hear from the house.

The local ski stations have been totally devoid of snow and unable to open. The rain we have witnessed has fallen as snow higher up the mountains. Again, we have been able to see some on the hills in front of our windows. The bit peaking over Lavelanet market in the picture is actually much nearer to skiing. A limited number of runs have been able to open.

Importing Bones

The winter has arrived at last, but hardly in full force. This time last year we were skating around on snow which had melted a bit then frozen again - very nasty stuff. For the last couple of days we have had a bit of light rain and temperatures under 10 degrees.

On our morning walk today we saw some white herons, which seem to have been around for a few days. I tried to get a picture of one as it was flying over us but it was too quick for me. That would have been nice to show you.

Gay picked up a bit more information this morning on the human bones found in the woods here recently - as I reported a couple of weeks ago. Apparently they are recent, female, and about 50 years of age. That is all that is known so far. How do the police go about finding who they belonged to, especially if they have been "imported". There was a case in the papers recently. A body had been found near Perpignan about a year ago. Now a man in Germany has been arrested. He is charged with committing a murder in Germany and dumping the body more than 1000 kms away, near Perpignan, on his way to Spain.

Warm Walk Work

Little to report. The running experiments have continued and are reported on in the other blog (click here). There is a slight setback to report, but nothing too serious, I hope.

But the walking rehabilitation has continued. I am now taking regular walks of about 6 kms. I am encouraged in this by the magnificent autumn and early winter weather we have been having. A report in the local paper the other day told us that November was the warmest for 63 years in these parts, by a factor of almost 4 degrees Celsius.

What Big Teeth You Have, Sleepy Hollow

As I set off for my walk today, I was not 300 metres from the house when I saw a couple of these lovely critters - wolves. These are not my pictures because unfortunately I did not have a camera with me.

We were told only a few days ago that the person who now owns Puivert castle has some wolves there - I assume the two I saw had managed to get out for a walk of their own.

We are told at the wolf sanctuary not too far from here in the Pyrenees that it is a complete myth about wolves attacking humans and that there is no known case of it happening. I am always telling people this but was still a little trepidatious to be faced with a couple.

It seems that the activity I came across yesterday in the woods - multiple gendarmes and sounds of machinery in action - was related to some human bones found up there. Some hunters at the weekend discovered part of a human skull and now the police investigation has found some more bones. The machinery I heard was probably something being used to sift the soil.

Isn't life exciting here in Sleepy Hollow?

Don't forget to have a look at my other blog, about the hopeful resurrection of my running career by casting cushioned shoes to the wind. Click here