It's an Otter's Life

The possibility of a March blizzard that I mentioned last month ended up to be an April one....actually two. On Sunday, April 6, Greg measured a total of eighteen inches of new snowfall. The following Friday, April 11, we got five more inches. Naturally we ask ourselves, where was this in February? Nonetheless, we are always happy for the added moisture. This meant that we were still in the firm grip of winter, and so there was still time for snow-related activities. Here is an account of one of Greg's recent adventures:

We have a neighbor down the lake whom I've known for 35 years. We were young teenagers when we first met, at a homeowners' picnic. John challenged me to a rock skipping contest within four minutes of being introduced. In the winter, we would go sledding, climbing the steepest and longest hills that we could find, and then racing to the bottom. We'd do this over and over, trying to run the other off the trail. It was always the same with skiing, too, and sledding behind pick-up trucks.

John is always game for an adventure, and one day last week, he asked if I wanted to take the snow machines out for an evening ride through the 18" of wet snow that had just fallen. I agreed, and after two hours of riding and exploring, we found ourselves standing on the Enzenhauer Bridge. We washed down some cashews with winter ale, while watching an otter work its way toward us. The river was mostly frozen over, but there were plenty of holes where you could see the dark water rushing past. The otter ran a little, then tobboganned on its belly toward one of the holes, and slid smoothly into the current. He popped up at the next hole, periscoped his head in our direction, slid over to another hole, and down into the water again. His sleek body briefly passed through the hole right beneath us. We moved to the other side of the bridge in time to see him climb out and make his way to the next hole, and on and on until he was out of sight down river.

It's something otters seem to really enjoy. I have seen their tracks while grooming ski trails: a few footprints on the level, then sliding tracks all the way down and around some of the switchbacks on the West End Trail. Another time I watched as two otters trudged up a bank on Lanktree Lake, slid down, trudged up, slid down, again and again, like kids on a playground slide.

John would probably tell you that an otter's outlook on life is a good thing to aspire to.

Tip's And Tipping Tips

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I was surprized to red this article in CNN.com/travel.

The story begins with you sitting in a cafe in Tokio and preparing to "leaving a healthy 20 percent tip".
I did not know a right word for this practice but it's interesting to understand this other rule to know if you visit other countries. Here are some qoters from the article:

Tipping in Japan and many other Asian countries is simply not a way of life. In fact, it's usually regarded as a vulgar display of wealth and a disregard for the culture. The same can be true in Europe and Latin America ... though not always. And in the United States, of course, tipping is expected (and sometimes demanded).

The expectation is to tip not only big but also often, from the kid handing you a Venti coffee at Starbucks to the multiple hotel hands that rush to open doors, carry bags, and offer an escort to the hotel room. (in US)

If you're taking a taxi in Chile or New Zealand, for example, the driver won't give you the evil eye if you don't tip -- it's not expected

In many European countries, this charge averages 10 percent, but it's usually included in the price of a meal. If it is, then do as the European do, and leave a few extra coins or round up the bill... And if you're heading to Fiji, Malaysia, or South Korea, be aware that no tip is required in restaurants.

I don't know about the high cost places in Italy, but in the normal life I rarely see that somebody wants a tip.
In bar you can lieve coins to the barist or put them in a special piggy bank -you can, but it's not obligatory and nobody will say you anything if you did not do it.
In some restaurants you can find 1 euro for service in the bill, but not in all of them.
There are sooooo many bars and different pizzerias and similar now, that they are happy if they have somebody that comes to eat there.

The only place where you will be forced to give tip is the toilet. Specially those in autostrada, McDonalds and similar. If you have not coins, don't go there. In autostrada look for t in filling station, not in Autogril. And be careful, there are persons that want money for parking.

Most parkings in the cities have illegal persons that want money. It's better to pay. For you, for your car and sometimes for your life. If you have not 2-3 euro to give him for place (sometimes less) it's better if you look for other parking.

Bideford Park

Time to get out in the sunshine again. My children had friends round this afternoon so I loaded them all in the car and took them down to Bideford because a) it really is the best park around and b) its the only park with a Hockings Ice Cream Van right outside!

There are two children's play areas (the one shown says for 4-8 year olds on the gate but it didn't stop the older ones from going in) and they all ran wildly from one to the other to play leaving me out of breath somewhere in between the two trying to keep up. There are slides outside the play areas, grassy banks to roll down, the fort and cannons to play on, and thats without even going near the paddling pool mentioned in a previous post - it was too cold for that today.

When they'd exhausted themselves we found a sheltered spot to eat our ice-creams in. Yum, the first one of the year, now I know summer is on its way!

The Gnome Reserve

Out in the middle of nowhere, between West Putford and Bradworthy you will find The Gnome Reserve. Started 30 years ago in the owners garden the gnomes have grown and grown in number and the publicity likewise. �2.95 will get you entry, �2.50 for children. It seems a little over priced to me for what is essentially a walk round someones garden, but the children seemed to like the hour we spent in the spring sunshine.

One area of the 4 acre grounds is the designated gnome reserve where over 1000 gnomes live and can be seen engaged in activities such as the traditional fishing, to playing instruments, flying helicopters and even going to the toilet. To enter this area visitors are encouraged to wear the 'almost compulsory' gnome hats that can be picked up in the admissions area. My oldest daughter asked, "Do you think she washes the hats?" I should state at this point that I was quite prepared to leave my oldest daughter at home, thinking that this was not the place a teenager would be interested in, but as soon as she found out where we were going she was dead keen to come too. Who would have thought?

The other part of the grounds was the wild flower garden. We were given a quiz to answer as we went around which involved counting fairies amongst other things. There are not so many of these, but we had fun counting, although we seemed to count more than there actually were.

We stayed for a cup of tea and a piece of cake. The children had fun playing on the grass. Then we made our way back home. I went today with my dad and was glad he came along, not just for the company but also to give directions. It's not the easiest place in the world to find. Watch out for little gnomes pointing the way planted in the hedgerows on white card.

Lambing at Kipscombe Farm

We ventured out today on possibly THE coldest day of the year to visit Kipscombe Farm. This is a National Trust property and, as a working farm, was open only for today as a free event.

We met in a car park on Exmoor (the lady I booked with over the phone gave me the grid reference but we found it more by luck than judgement, having been given only the vague direction that it was just outside Lynmouth) and climbed out of the car into a howling northly wind that made the outside temperature feel artic. Our guide led us down into a valley that was a tiny bit more sheltered, but only a tiny bit as the farm was built overlooking the sea. It did ofter fantastic views of the Bristol Channel and over into Wales, you could even see the snow on the Brecon Beacons.

Our tour took us into the sheep barn where we met the farmer who was very informative about the ins and outs of breeding and lambing sheep. He had been up at three that morning as several lambs were being born then. We were lured here today by the guidebook's promise that it may be possible to witness lambs being born whilst on the farm. The farmer showed us a sheep he thought might be about to lamb, but nothing transpired so we continued the tour, looking into the cow shed and walking over the fields to see more sheep and thier newly born lambs, becoming ever more frozen as the minutes ticked by.

Back in the sheep barn the children were allowed to hold some of the lambs that had been born that morning, which they loved, although my littlest one was quite surprised at how heavy they were. Another sheep went into labour and was ushered into her own private pen - with about twenty onlookers all holding thier breath. We waited, and waited.... Sheep labour, it appears, it akin to human labour, it just goes on and on. So eventually we could stand the cold no longer and decided to give up and head for somewhere out of the weather serving hot chocolates.

It was a shame, all of us wanted to see the sheep have its lamb, but the elements defeated us. If only they'd served hot drinks we might just have made it. Six hours and later my nose is only just returning to normal.

Traditional Italian Meal

If you visit my blog "Animals as Friends" you read my reports from agricultural show in Bastia Umbra ( A Mann And A Bull, Italian Cattle Breeds and will come others)

Now, here I wanted to tell you about one traditional Italian course.

Italians from North and Sud can love one other as Kosovo and Serbia, but there is a thing that unites all parts of Italy better as Garibaldi. And it's "Pan'ino". One of the best it's ingredients is "Porch'etta". What mean these words you can see on my photos and you'll not need explanations.

"Panino" you can buy in many little shops every day. Workers eat them during their morning-break. There are special shops that sell only "panino" and there are auto-shops that come in the squares only on Sundays. Here, in our zone, people go very often in these places after or during Sunday-evening family-walk. It's a part of this walk.

You can choose what you want in your "panino". Normally it means a piece of meat, fried on the grill, and vegetables. Hamburger, sausage or "porchetta" as meat. The vendor prepares panino for your eyes: warms bread, fries meat, adds vegetables and sauce, wraps it in the paper -and your meal is redy. You need only to ad a drink.

The best "porchetta" I've ever ate was always in this show. I think they prepare it once a year and when this show takes part, "porchetta" is very fresh. When you eat it in other months, it's more dry. But I like it fresh, with "juise". Practically it's boiled pork meat. Made in a special way.

There were not much other food manufacturers (hope it's the right word) this year. Here you see cheese, cooked meats and sausages.

Train-traveller

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Some days ago I found an interesting site "The Man In Seat Sixty-one" where there is great quantity of intersting information. And among all it, tips how to travel in Europe with train.

I like train travelling. More. I like trains from my childhood. That special "tac-tac", odour -and pictures that fly for the eyes.

Today I try to come from place A to place B in less time as possible for headaches and prefere airlines if can, but I like trains.

With Internet the life of a traveller in Europe became very simple.
If you have to travel in Italy, you can and HAVE to visit the railway-site first. And there - promotions and offers. Because sometimes there are very interesting promotions like tickets of the last minute ot 10 -19 euro-tickets. So, you can spend not 60 but 10 euro for a ticket, for example, and with 50 euro go in an interesting place next day.

Than, you can buy your ticket online and avoid many problems in the railwaystation when you have not time to look for the pay desk or to wait your turn. It's very important, you know. You are quiet and think only where you can sit to relax a little. So open Michelin maps, find where is the next to your aim railway-station and turn to railway site and book your ticket.

It seems simple, but you do not think about these possibilities when you plan your trip.