“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free … it expects what never was and never will be.”
Thomas Jefferson
Villa Ndio Butterfly Book
I have received a working prototype for a book to be published later this year. The prototype has some 40 pages, each with a full-page photo of a single unique butterfly. On the good advice of my photographer brother Tony, I will be redesigning the inside pages to include multiple images of each butterfly, as well as additional images to provide context. I plan to make some other changes as well.
Happy New Year
Leaving a challenging year behind and facing new optimism for a fulfilling 2025. Kathy has come a long way on her long road to recovery from her stroke last August. One more operation to address collateral damage caused by a necessary change to her meds will happen in mid-January. We expect a period of convalescence and hope for some normalcy in our lives come the spring.
Some thoughts, not in any particular order with regard to importance timing or priority:
Follow-up and completion of unfinished household projects, particularly the ground floor bathroom.
We will start looking in earnest for a new place to live. A smaller easier living arrangement.
Some travel is planned to Arkansas in March for a White House Fellows gathering and to Arizona in August for a high school reunion. We will otherwise be welcoming visits by family and friends.
We are anxious for America and indeed the world as a new political wind blows.
Back to Brico
I invited Jack Hammer, John Mayal and Eric Clapton over today to help me pick up where I left off on a major home renovation (brico) project here in the Villa Ndio big house. For years we have wanted to have a ground floor bathroom to replace the inadequate and not really legal facility left behind by the previous owners of the annexed half of our house. That toilet and sink arrangement pumped raw waste out into the small garden across the way. We have had several false starts at implementing a solution that would involve proper disposal of waste out of the house in the same direction but concluded it is just not workable. We now have plans afoot to have waste from a new bathroom pumped across the next floor up and over to the existing septic tank on the other side of the house.
Before the bathroom fixtures and plumbing can be installed we have to prepare the walls, floor and ceiling of the room that is to be the new bathroom. Enter Jack Hammer. Curiously the original space, which has been used as a storage space, had shelving units resting on three concrete blocks, one each against the north and south walls and abutting the west wall, and one in-between them with a one and a half foot gap on either side. Each of the concrete blocks is about one and a half foot cubed. These have to go.
The original structure that is now Villa Ndio, we have learned, is over 300 years old, and has a storied past. It has been rumored, for example, that German military used the house when they occupied France during World War II. During each of my brico efforts over the years that have involved jack-hammering through rock and concrete, I have wondered aloud, jokingly, if I was going to find hidden treasure as part of these efforts. Will today be the day?
I have hammered into pieces the block against the northern side, pieces small enough to wheelbarrow away. No treasure under it. The middle block has been quite stubborn. I have chipped away at it, literally, but so far I haven’t been able to break it up. I hammered around the bottom edge and got a crowbar under it enough to flip it over. No treasure. Next I will drill a line of holes across the middle and try again to hammer it into smaller pieces that I can lift into the wheelbarrow. The first block was in the corner on the fa r right of the featured photo above. The middle one is lying on its side in the middle of the photo. The third is under a pile of brico supplies and equipment,
I have now attacked the third concrete block, to find that it consists of two large rocks, like the big one in the middle block. I have so far cleared out around them as you can see in the photo below. So now it is time to clear out the debris before trying to break up and remove these three large remaining pieces. Stay tuned!
A Day in Geneva
Up at 5 am for an 8 o’clock flight from Nice to Geneva. Clear sailing both on the ground and in the air. I was looking forward to hooking up with my dear old friends Clive and Benedikt. We had planned to spend the day together.
While I was at it, I brought along my Minolta 35-105mm AF lens, which I am currently reviewing. I will evaluate the lens performance on both my Sony SLT A77V and my Sony A7r3a camera bodies when I further process the photos on my computer and write about them and my experience with the lens in a review on the Villa Ndio Photography website.
I met up with Clive and Neil, another old friend, at the Nyon train station. I took a train there directly from the Geneva airport. From there, we drove to a favorite lake front cafe for a coffee and a gooey pastry. We then met up with Greg and the four of us went hiking through a woods on a well worn path. I took some photos of the guys and a few butterflies and flowers.
After saying farewell to Neil and Greg, Clive and I went back to Nyon for lunch at a lakeside restaurant. Benedikt joined us there.
The three of us then went to the spot where we had distributed some of Ed’s ashes into the lake several months ago. Ed was and always will be the fourth member of our “Gang of Four”, together for over 25 years, having met and bonded in Geneva those many years ago. That was the highlight of my visit. Clive, Benedikt and I palled around for a few more hours before I headed back home the way I came. I was dog tired but spiritually fulfilled.
At the Parc Zoologique in Frejus
Not far from Villa Ndio, passing over Lac St. Cassien followed by a short drive along the autoroute takes one to Frejus. Near the autoroute exit lies the Parc Zoologique with a decent variety of wild beasties in the pens and cages. We went there on a lark one day recently (July 2019), me with my cameras equipped with telephoto lens. Below find some samples of what we saw there. Click on any image to enlarge it and/or start a slideshow.
Damselflies and Dragonflies Around Villa Ndio
What is the difference between a damselfly and a dragonfly? Inquiring minds want to know. I learned that dragons spread their wings out perpendicular to their bodies when they perch, and that damsels have wings that taper down to their bodies and are held upward when they perch. These photos were taken in the Villa Ndio garden and in neighboring communities.
Continue reading “Damselflies and Dragonflies Around Villa Ndio”
Bird Watching with Ed and Liz
While enjoying a wonderful visit with good friends Ed and Liz in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, I photographed visitors to a bird feeder erected by them behind their house. Here are some of the best shots. Also included in the mix are photos of birds seen at the inn I stayed at, and at Longwood Gardens nearby. Click on any image to enlarge it and/or start a slide show. Continue reading “Bird Watching with Ed and Liz”
Birds of Villa Ndio
This blog post will be updated with each new sighting! Beginning in late Spring 2019 we have put out feeders and suet balls to attract birds to the Villa Ndio garden. The result was an immediate increase in bird activity, and as the birds developed confidence they began visiting these new food sources laden with birdseed purchased by the bagfull at the nearby grocery store. Continue reading “Birds of Villa Ndio”
Longwood Gardens Bouquet
Longwood Gardens is a marvelous botanical garden with over 4 million square meters of garden flowers, wild flowers, parks and meadows, and a large conservatory to protect weather sensitive plants. Some friends and I explored the gardens on an overcast day. I had some of my best cameras and lenses with me.