- Joined
- May 13, 2015
- Messages
- 841
Hi there! Out for the week-end with the family again :thumbup:. Its chestnut time 
! On Saturday we went for a hike, a well travelled track, rather easy 3 hours climb, leading to a clearing the kids really love because of the
horses! Also they like to have picnics on the shores of the small alpine pond, sitting on the soft grass (a kind of moss, it's a lot of Carex; C. fusca, C. stellulata, C. panicea, C. canescens, C. irrigua, C. tumidicarpa, C. pauciflora, etc.), surrounded by the beautiful larch trees (mainly Larix decidua) which are now fully getting their beautiful fall colors. The horses are not really wild horses, though the kids always refer to them as Spirit (the stallion of Cimarron) and his brothers 
, they are just wandering and grazing free but they belong to a rancher/farmer family. The little one marched as a soldier (even if for one hour only, then he went into the baby-carrier
on my shoulders). The whole family is very proud of him ! Weather was fine on Saturday, a bit cloudy on Sunday but still warm! Sunday it was Chestnut Festival in one the villages in the valley here, almost every house yard had someone roasting and offering chestnuts together with vin brulè (mulled wine) . In the morning we went for another 2 hours, very relaxed picking hike and we got some treasures back with us, good work from the kids! Last mushroom pick of the year. It will be a mushroom risotto week, I can tell you ! Villagers are also busy, these days, with the preparation of logs for their fireplaces and stoves. Its a lot of cutting, splitting, stacking, piling of logs and blocks. The sound of chainsaws, hatchets and axes it was the weekend soundtrack! I tried to do my part and I took with me again the well establish F1/X5 combo 
. They didnt see much action, frankly speaking, but they always do the job with our small camp fires and minor food prep. While strolling around the shores of the pond we spotted a few crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes). The kids wanted to roast them but, since they are an endangered species and fishing is prohibited, eventually I saved their lives. They were very small anyway. Some pics, just to share !
! On Saturday we went for a hike, a well travelled track, rather easy 3 hours climb, leading to a clearing the kids really love because of the
horses! Also they like to have picnics on the shores of the small alpine pond, sitting on the soft grass (a kind of moss, it's a lot of Carex; C. fusca, C. stellulata, C. panicea, C. canescens, C. irrigua, C. tumidicarpa, C. pauciflora, etc.), surrounded by the beautiful larch trees (mainly Larix decidua) which are now fully getting their beautiful fall colors. The horses are not really wild horses, though the kids always refer to them as Spirit (the stallion of Cimarron) and his brothers , they are just wandering and grazing free but they belong to a rancher/farmer family. The little one marched as a soldier (even if for one hour only, then he went into the baby-carrier
on my shoulders). The whole family is very proud of him ! Weather was fine on Saturday, a bit cloudy on Sunday but still warm! Sunday it was Chestnut Festival in one the villages in the valley here, almost every house yard had someone roasting and offering chestnuts together with vin brulè (mulled wine) . In the morning we went for another 2 hours, very relaxed picking hike and we got some treasures back with us, good work from the kids! Last mushroom pick of the year. It will be a mushroom risotto week, I can tell you ! Villagers are also busy, these days, with the preparation of logs for their fireplaces and stoves. Its a lot of cutting, splitting, stacking, piling of logs and blocks. The sound of chainsaws, hatchets and axes it was the weekend soundtrack! I tried to do my part and I took with me again the well establish F1/X5 combo . They didnt see much action, frankly speaking, but they always do the job with our small camp fires and minor food prep. While strolling around the shores of the pond we spotted a few crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes). The kids wanted to roast them but, since they are an endangered species and fishing is prohibited, eventually I saved their lives. They were very small anyway. Some pics, just to share !
