what a wonderful shot K...

V.

Thank you, V, I'm glad you like it.

Thank you, B, I'm glad you think so. ;)

The idea of a leisure castle is new to me. How interesting

Also, the exposure on this shot is really lovely! I like that the stars are very visible there. :)

Ah, well, I don't exactly know what term to use there. What I meant is that this castle used to have a military function until the 17th century, with the 'stabilisation' of Europe and the Renaissance era, former military castles were transformed to welcome the nobles for them to live in. The castle in question had the defensive openings on the facade replaced by larger windows, similar to those of the Renaissance era castles.

Thank you, i'm glad you like it too! And yes, since I originally was out to try out my new lens on night shots. Originally I wanted to take the back of the castle but I had to little lighting on the castle to get a good shot, so I took the other side. ;P

It is a good term. I like the friendliness of it. ^^ I suppose the repurposing of the castle and the widening of the defensive openings is a lot like the people who buy the missile silos to live in here in the US (or the people who have houses in D-Day bunkers in France). Peace finds a way to make use of war eventually. :)

Ahhh. How exciting to try out a new lens! My coworker is in love with Olympus cameras and recently bought a new compact lens for his camera body. It is nice to be able to use the lighting in place versus carrying around your own lighting on tripods. x)

Well, if it works, then let it be! And yes, that's the idea. Though I think it was rather a way for nobles to show off by owning a huge property located in elevated places, like a way of showing their domination over their serfs, I guess. But yes, it's a great idea, to reuse former military installation to live in, actually, if I had the money to do so, I clearly would be doing so, too. XD

Ah yes, I bought it since I needed a wide-angle lens since my 18-55mm died a good while ago. So I've been trying it out mostly at night for either sky or monuments photography. Well, given it was around 1am when I took that photo, I still had to light the gate up with a lamp pointed to the ground otherwise it would have been way too dark, that was taken on a new moon night so it really was dark that night... XD

Ahhh I understand now. :) Maybe something lucky will happen and you will have the chance to own part of history! We can hope so, at least.

Ahhh. For some reason I thought they had the gate pre-illuminated. I suppose if the night were any darker you would have needed some night vision technology lol. It is nice that you had the lamp nearby. ^^

Heh, technically, I do live in a piece of history, currently, since I live in a former farm from between the 15th and the 17th century. I probably not have known great history facts, but it still have crossed the ages. ;)

Well, that castle is privatley owned and isolated, in the middle of nowhere, you only end at this gate if you intend to or got lost! XD
But yes, since I wanted to do some night shots and had to go through a forest by night, I absolutely needed that lamp.;)

Oooh! That is awesome! Hundreds of years of Earth and soil. If you dig deep enough then you may touch the same soil that someone's ancestors did many moons ago. Seems like a beautiful human connection in a way. You have indeed crossed the ages. :)

Ah! It sounds like this was a more clandestine mission than I had assumed that it was lol. It would have been fun to leave them a note from "an old ghost" using an feather pen and inkwell to form the calligraphy. :U

Indeed, that's crossing the ages! Living in these old stones, with tracks form the past of the building (I've still have the base of the original chimney, a coal furnace, a fuel furnace and the current electric boiler), really is something enojoyable for someone loving history. I already found, while digging the courtyard to plant my chrysanthemums (which got me weird looks since it's a mourning flower in France), an old rusted door handle, while I cannot say how old it was, I certainly can say it wasn't one from the post-war era!

Well, it was not that clandestine since I have to pass by this castle to return to my house and this forest is owned by my landowners who authorised me to use it at my convenience if I needed (Yay for free mushrooms and chestnuts!). As for the note, it would be a really fun idea but one I cannot do, they would rather believe that their doctor went by to leave it to them! (Well, I don't know if there's a similar expression in english so let me explain, in France, we've got an expression for people with unreadable handwritings that's literally "to have a doctor's handwriting" which comes from the fact that very few are those who can read the prescriptions from their doc, with the exception of pharmacists who have super-natural gifts XD )

Oooh! That does sound really lovely. It's hilarious that your neighbors were not sure what to think of the chrysanthemums. Sometimes a flower is just a flower. Will you try to restore the door handle? It is exciting to find something old in the yard!

Ohhhhhh gotcha gotcha. I didn't know that the landowners had authorized the visit. For some reason I thought you were far from home and adapted to the scenery with some camouflage to get near the castle. Hooray indeed! Free chestnuts and mushrooms definitely taste the best.

Hahaha! I can see them tapping the note in confusion "Take two daily....take two WHAT daily? I can't read it!"

The joke translates well to English. I had read it the way you intended first, but then I did a double-take lol. I am convinced that pharmacists are secret alchemists and they can bend the doctor's ink to become more legible with some specialty chemicals. xD

Indeed, but in the minds, in France, chrysanthemums are nothing more than the flower of the deceaseds. Actually, that custom comes from after the Great War, it's in 1919, for the commemorations of the first anniversary of the Armistice that Georges Clémenceau, one of the most eminent man of politics in the 1910s in France, asked to the people to put flowers on the graves of their relatives who fell during the war, and thus, the chrysanthemum, being one of the only flowers to bloom at that time of the year was chosen. And later, since the day of the deads is on the 1st of November and Armistice day on the 11th, it has been commonly associated with the time, people commemorating their fallen relatives on the 1st rather than on the 11th, and thus, chrysanthemum became the flower of the deads. Quite funny when you know that in most of the world, chrysanthemums are considered as a flower of happiness and prosperity, isn't it?
As for the door handle, unfortunately, I won't try to restore it, I haven't the knowledge for that and I already have too much old stuff that take the dust in the corners of my house! XD

Haha, though it also coud have been a possibility since a lot of privately owned castles are barely visible from the outside since they are hidden behind a wood. But I fear I wouldn't be the one you would see do that since it's almost unthinkable for me to cross a road when the pedestrian light is red, even though there's none! XD

I really do like that theory about pharmacists! I'll try to bake my cousin (who's a pharmacist) to know the secrets of alchemy! :3
And well, in the case I would have written that, they couldn't have read that far. Honnestly, I still have my notes from philosophy classes I had in high school and I don't know what's the most shameful, the fact that it's basically multiples lines of different size that sometimes have variations, or the fact that I can still read myself after all these years... XD

I have been thinking about this one for a few weeks now. It is really interesting how culture forms traditions that shape how we see the world. I think our rememberance flower in the US would be a rose or a peace lily. Maybe your little garden will make a new tradition of keeping the dead with us in our hearts on many days of the year instead of 10 of them. I had not known that the world sees the chrysanthemum as a flower of happiness and prosperity! It always reminds me of the Battleships Yamato and Musashi because of the symbol on their bow.

I have a few old dust collecting items too. Sometimes it is nice to have something laying around to admire or tinker with.

<3 Awww. Well, at least the world has you to keep it safe in following the rules. We have some large houses here in Texas set fairly far back into the woods also. Granted, to arrive unannounced in someone's territory here is almost always seen as aggression. I once snuck in a gated community to look at a large group of deer, and I met a man there who was very interesting. He had been in the army and was a mathematician after that. A very good soul although he scolded me a little for sneaking in (which is fair although many people do go to take a look at the same scene).

Ahhh, has your cousin revealed their secrets?? :3
It sounds like you and I write the same. I am only recently able to stay within the lines on the paper lol. If you can read it, it is effective writing. No shame in something effective. :p

Indeed, it really is interesting! But unfortunately, many do not understand that and study the past or other cultures with their own point of view, from their cultures, and never try to understand the culture and the history before their subject of studies... I didn't knew rememberance flower in the US would a rose or a lily, I always thought it was a poppy, like in the UK (shame on me for thinking so XD ). Do you know where does that comes from? I never never would have imagined they would be rememberance flowers, since I do have the image of the rose as a flower representing feelings of romantical love and the royalty for the lily.
Concerning the chrysanthemum, I learned that while digging infos on these flowers, but yes, if the golden chrysanthemum was present on the bow of the Yamato class battleships, it's because the chrisanthemum is also the seal of the Japanese imperial family, and thus, it was present on the bow of major warships shuch as battleships, aricraft carriers and, I think, on cruisers too, at least the heavy ones, but it was also present on infantery weapons as well, the Type 38 and 99 Arisaka rifles had it on the top of the chamber. That seal was present on these as it was these warships and weapons were considered as the property of the imperial family, it was at a point where soldiers were threatened of the death sentence if they were to loose their rifles.

Well, I can understand a bit the thinking behind, over here, either you've got old walls or fences with signs to indicate whenever you enter on a private property, that helps on avoiding troubles. Well, even though you've been scolded, it seems like you still could have a little chat with that man, isn't it? I'm not sure that it would be possible if that kind of situation were to happen over here! XD

She feigns ignorance for now, but one day, probably, I will make her talk! ;P
Oh, is that so? Then we now can have a "unreadable handwriting club"! XD
I see, I'm on the other end of the spectrum on my end, people always tell me I've got a spidery handwriting, and to make it worth, I'm almost always writing in italic. And yes, you've got a very good point here... In fact, it might even become useful, replace all forms of coding methods by our kind of handwriting and unwanted eyes will never found out what's been written! Though, there's quite of a flaw in this plan, you still need someone to read it on the receiving hand...

Ahhh, this is well said. I wish that I could live in every country for 10 years, but of course anyone alive would run out of time trying to do that. The red rose as a funeral flower is probably meant as a final visible act of love toward the deceased (one last hug or kiss goodbye). There are both yellow and red roses. Also, the flower shop makes good money on the roses because they are quite expensive as a bouquet lol. The peace lily is a really easy plant to tale care of and does not require much light. Seeing as grief sometimes reduces people's ability to care for plants, it is probably one of the easier plants to take care of and keep alive.

The poppy comes from WW1 Remembrance Day doesn't it? I have heard a song or a poem about Flanders Field and how some have planted a poppy in memory of a loved one who died in the war. An artist also filled a field with artificial (glass?) poppies as part of an art display.

How interesting concerning the chrysanthemum being the Japanese Emperor's family seal. :D Now that you mention it, I do remember the symbol stamped onto rifles and even tanks artillery. How unfortunate to face death if you lose your rifle. Hopefully if you capture something interesting from the enemy it would reduce the sentence. D:

Ahh well the automated gate should have kept me out, but I was equally clever and dull about that lol. We did indeed talk with the man. He was really interesting! It was nice to meet someone new. I can definitely see this kind of thing ending differently in France as well as other parts of the US.

Hahaha! Well, I will be eager to see the day where she gives in to curiosity.

Yes! We will do exactly that. With enough training someone could possibly read a few important words of ours. This is definitely a challenge as you have pointed out. Spidery handwriting in italics! Could I please see a sample of your writing one day?

That would be great, indeed... I've heard of people in my surrounding of relatives of their who went abroad, mostly in South East Asia and always outside of tourist rides, for 3 to 6 months, and to whom, just that short amount of time spent in an another civilisation, with another outlook on life and the world in general, made them think differently from how they use to. Maybe, if everyone in the world could have the opportunity to do so, could we understand each others a bit better?
Ah, that makes quite a lot of sense, I've never seen things that way but indeed, having plants that requires little cares to decorate graves makes a lot of sense. And the meaning for roses seems very fitting and poetic.

About the poppy, I don't really when they really became the remembrance flower, but I know they became because poppies were the among the only flowers that were managing to grow on the battlefields. But it might have apppeared during the war, since in France, the flower that's used to remember the fallen and the wounded, the cornflower, named as the "Bleuet de France", became our remembrance flower during the war as wounded soldiers were making paper or fabric cornflowers to help the wounded to get back in an active situation and to bring them some money as these flowers were sold to the public. Wasn't that poem 'In Flanders Fileds', written by John McCrae and that have been adapted in a wonderful chorus song by metal band Sabaton, by any chance?

Well, I don't know for sure if they really were facing death if they were to lose their guns or if that was a way to boost discipline among the soldiers but given the brutality of the Japanese Imperial Army back from the 1930s and 40s, I wouldn't be so much surprised neither. I just remember that from the testimony of a former IJA soldier based in China during WWII, now he didn't mentionned that the words were ever applied, but I only heard a short bit of what he had to say.

How long would it take to train someone to read us? My mother is still incapable of decipher my handwriting that isn't destinated to be read by anyone else and struggle with the other! XD
But yes, clearly, it's always fun to watch someone struggling to read your writing. XD

Concerning the samples (that's what took me a bit of time), I've managed to find back the best and worst exemples of my handwriting; they directly come from back my time in high school (or the era I was writing novels every days XD ). That first one is my typical note-taking handwriting that even I struggle to read back. and that second one is the kind of handwriting I take when I want people to read me, even though sometimes, my writing is so little that people still cannot read me! XD

Southeast Asia is a unique place to vacation! It is lucky that they were able to escape the tourist areas and enjoy things as they are. It always seems like our American tourist places are not very good at representing the area that surrounds them in the sense that most things are 'sanitized' and safe instead of gritty and fluctuating (in some sense). I agree that most people would come to a better understanding of each other if they were able to spend a few months living among each other and having to interact on a communal level. :)

The cornflower is so beautiful! I would much rather enjoy the cornflower over the poppy although it makes sense to use the flower which survived on the battlefields to represent those lost to the war. I assume the copper, steel and lead gradually changed the soil pH and profile where certain species could no longer gain a foothold. It is a cute and heartfelt idea to sell fabric cornflowers to help the soldiers who needed it. I would certainly buy a few to decorate the house with. Flowers tend to cheer up scenery. Do you agree? How is your garden doing?

Ohh the IJA in China....1939 ish? I remember Nanking and the expansion of Japan into Manchuria early on, but then the details get fuzzy. I have a few battle weary rifles. Although no death sits above my head if something happens to them, I do try to preserve them in honor of the people who had lived and fought around them. The fabric of time and humanity connects us although the voices of those men and women have now gone silent. To do anything foolish with the rifles would be unthinkable. D:

Oh, your writing is not that bad. Your note-taking cursive script looks a lot like George Washington's handwriting to be honest (I saw a copy of his writing in Washington D.C. a few years ago). Granted, as a non-native who knows only a little French, I would have to find the words I recognize and use software to confirm the rest. How did you know to save these writing samples? It is interesting that these survived from high school.

Your second sample shows amazing penmanship! Such clarity is a little bit difficult to find as the generations transfer from written to electronic means of communication. Thank you for sharing these with me! <3

Indeed, it seems like a very rich place to visit ! And yes, I understand what you mean, showing the real face of a place isn't as great as showing an idealised version. I can't say I've ever visited the USA as of now but if I were to, I would do as I did for other countries and visit unheard places. Indeed, that would help a lot. You know, by talking with my japanese teacher, who's japanese herself, I've come to understand why Japanese people do not recognise the slaughters that took place in China in the 30s and 40s; in the Japanese culture, it's unthinkable of settling in a place where suicides, lone death and horrible deaths occured (that's part of a why there are a lot of vey cheap houses on sale in Japan) and as such, can't believe that it took place since Chinese people went back living where the slaughters took place after the war with Japan was over. There are so much cultural differences around the world, that would be so great if we could know each of these, that would, indeed, help so much with understanding other people...

Well, the cornflower is a bit more complexe than the puppy, but just as the latter, was also growing on the battlefields, if my memory doesn't fail me, and was used as a symbol to mark out-of-training soldiers since they had it tied to the canon of their rifles, giving the French expression of "Bleu", that litteraly refers to the blue colours but there, refers to an inexperienced person, to the newest member of a team. And well, concerning the reason of why they were the only ones to grow, I supposed that indeed, the pH level of the soils have been a major reason but maybe the fact that with all the shells exploding everywhere, other plants couldn't grow fast enough to survive. In fact, these cornflowers are still sold today to support victims of wars, militaries, their families and civilians from the warzones by the association "Bleuet de France", but they rather are meant to be worn on clothes, I always buy one whenever I see someone or a place that sell them.
And yes, that's a great help to embellish a place, I used to live near Cognac and while this is a beautiful city, whenever the sky was cloudy (which basically is the whole winter in western France), the city becomes sad as hell since there were no colours at all in the streets... Concerning my garden, if one can call the few space I have so, it's going surprisingly okay, I'm glad to say that some of my chrysanthemums have survived the winter and are growing back, the seeds of Butternut Squash I planted this winter have taken, as well the tomato seeds and the sweet potatoes. Plus, my mother gave me some mint that invade her garden and I should plant some avocados seed soon. The only problem I've got are the snails that are eating my squash plants, I'm seriously considering about capuring and rising them to cook them later, they are the right species for the "Sauce aux Lumas", a regional dish that I would be willing to try someday ! XD

A bit earlier, it began in 1931 with the Mukden incident and continued with the second sino-japanese war from 1937 to 1945. Reminds me that I'm currently reading a book in which are gathered testimonies from former Zero fighter pilots and one of these testimonies was from Harada Kaname, one of the last survivors from the USS Panay incident, from Pearl Harbor, Midway and Guadalcanal battles; it's titled "The Last Zero Fighter" and was written by Dan King, if ever you're interested.
And that's a great thing that you preserve them ! I do the same with pieces of uniforms, even though most of them have never seen any fightings at all. Protecting these items that made the daily life of the people who went fighting is very important. Now, I'm quite curious, might I ask what kind of battle weary rifles do you own?

Well, I don't really know, I personally find it quite childish, it's a mixt of block and script writing and is quite unreadable sometimes, my mother confirming me that last part, though, instead of comparing it with George Washington's, she said it was looking almost exactly the same as my great-grandmother's... XD
In France, we actually only learn cursive writing, I think in English speaking countries, you mostly learn block writing, aren't you? I remember I had the occasion to see DaiCymru's handwriting when I met him and I was quite jealous since he has a very gracious block handwriting. Well, yes, sorry, I couldn't keep my english redactions (French schools were still keeping the "fill-the-holes" language learning methods >_< ), so, I had to do with French written notes... Honnestly, I think that might not have been too easy to try to transcript and translate that, was it? XD
I'm actually that kind of person who have difficulties to throw away things because I'm always thinking that it might come helpful someday (which it still haven't been until you asked to see my handwriting XD ), and there are also quite a lot of drawings in these notes that I've done to keep myself from falling asleep and that still crack a smile on my face whenever I find them again... And I also have, since my biology teacher in my second year of High School was quite... high, the notes of her most insolite actions and quotes I could have heard and seen from her... XD

Ah, well, thanks! ^^
Given the fact that French schools were not keen at all with informatic note taking (and might still be) at the time I was there, I was still used to writing a lot, and had to write a lot in a very little time. But well, that second document was from a test from my last high school year, so I used my best handwriting, at that time, since I was tired of having my teachers unable to read what I had written and as such, lost points beacause of that. X3
Now, I'm quite curious, would it be possible to see one of your handwriting smaples, too?

Ahhh. Bless you for explaining the ideas and beliefs behind the Japanese hesitancy in recognizing the trouble in China! I had remembered the belief in not living in a house that had suicides or murder in it (let alone death), but I had not equated that to reinhabiting the previous warzone. This makes so much more sense now. :D

For some reason the idea of plants racing to grow against the impending artillery bonbardments makes me chuckle. What a life that would be! Outside of the harassment of being 'new boots' (the nice term that describes people fresh from basic training in the US), it is nice to mark them with the flower. I imagine that some felt whimsical placing the flower on their rifle. For the officers, I imagine that it helps to see what level of experience your platoon has. Might change the battle tactics a little outside of WW1 where everyone seems to have been in the same situation. Lots of promotions after the heavy battles...

It is certainly kind of you to continue to buy the cornflowers in support of those affected by war.

Ah! Cognac! I haven't heard that name in so may years. Moscow and Western France sound like they experience the same dreary winters. The sunshine hides from everyone in winter. Maybe it needs the holiday too lol.

As for your garden, how awesome is it that the chrysanthemums survived!! It is always a gamble here as to whether uncovered plants will survive the cold. How nice to have sweet potatoes, squash and tomato too! Tomatoes grow very very well here in Texas, but the stink bugs like them enough to ruin their color by injecting the tomato with something that helps dissolve the fruit enough for them to eat. If you eat the snails, let me know what you think of the cuisine! Maybe they will cook nicely. As for the mint, it should be extremely happy when the summer comes, yes? I can't remember if it likes full sun or partial sun. The avocados will need a little shade from direct light when they grow to be about 2m tall. For some reason, the young avocado trees tend to sunburn when young.


Thank you for helping me to learn more about the war. In our schools, there are events that are really lacking. I like to look at Mark Felton's videos on YouTube to learn obscure things from all sides of the conflict. As for the book, I'll definitely read it! Hadn't heard of the USS Panay until today. It is good that you have an interest in collecting uniforms and restoring them. Those kinds of displays are rare in the US, but it is nice to see something that belonged to someone with a story. Since the story of weapons is kind of a hot-button issue in the US right now, I will send a note with the particulars of the rifles for your eyes to see. :)

That feels really special! How awesome to be able to remember your great-grandmother through your pen strokes. Maybe the genes that affect writing are passed down from generation to generation?
As of right now, I think we teach typing more than writing in America lol. Back when I was in school, we started with block letters and then graduated into cursive after that point in time. Cursive is almost dead here, so young people are seen mainly using block letters.
DaiCymru's penmanship is rather impressive! I agree. If he visits again I may have to take lessons from him lol.

I don't mind having the notes in French only. To be honest, I got to the point where several of your words stood out, but I did not try to translate them over yet. When I learn someone's handwriting, I tend to write down their letters as they are deciphered, and then go back through the message to understand it. Some of the letters were a little hard to guess, but the shapes are consistent so I would eventually figure out which letters were intended. ^^

Ah! You must be my Kindered Spirit! It is wise to save everything for later. Paperclips, scraps of notes, bits and baubels, and maybe the empty rolls of tape. You never know when the little plastic rolls could turn into plastic wheels for a school science fair car or something. Your notes certainly came i handy to be able to show them to me. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when you were writing the notes about your biology teacher. She sounds like the kind of fun that is okay to experience once (versus often).

Ahhh that would be a really difficult way to learn without notes. I'm sure the pen heated up nicely at the tip as you hurried to keep up with the teacher! I did the same in university. The professors are like a video tape and only move at one speed. It is unfortunate to loose points because of handwriting. At least in high school you found a way to solve the problem. :0

When I write to you concerning the rifles I will try to also include some handwriting samples in the note too! Ideally it will be this weekend, but I can not promise it at this point. For you. I will write block and cursive script with both of my hands. o3o

Sorry, for the late reply, I got busier than I expected in the past month... ^^'

Well, that probably isn't the reason that most of the japanese deniers are using, but I think that what my japanese teacher is thinking. Thought, after thinking back on that matter, it's an argumentation that can easily be challenged by mentionning the cities of Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and quite a few others which have been almost entirely destroyed, with thousands of people killed on these soils and to whom hasty funerals were given, and to see that as of nowadays, almost 1/10 of the Japanese population lives in Tokyo, Hiroshima has over 1 million inhabitants and Nagasaki over 400 00... But well, after reading a bit about it, it seems like quite a messy situation, with most people recognising the slaughter (even though some of them minimise it) and a minority of nationalists denying it.

Eh, while we flee such life conditons, nature will always try to survive and to adapt to these new conditions, one exemple is Chernobyl, even though the wildlife of the Red Zone has a reduced lifespan, they keep on living there, adapting to keep on prospering in this almost human-free area.
Well... Actually, about that expression, I've mixed up two different things, after some researches, I've found that the expression "bleu" actually dates from the French Revolution since it was the color of the uniforms of the newly founded revolutionnary army, whose soldiers were inexperienced. As for the story of the flower tied to the cannon,it gave another expression; "Partir la fleur au fusil" (To leave the flower on the rifle) which refers, approximately, to go naively in a situation, this one coming from soldiers, mostly in the first months of the the First World War, going to the frontline with a flower in or tied to their canons. And actually, soldiers were volunteer to display these flower since it was offered to them by women as they were leaving for the frontline and it was a way to say "We'll not even have to use our rifle to win this war!", with the consequences we've known later... XD
So, sorry for getting mixed up, we definitively have way too much expressions in our language to be sure of where they come from and what they exactly mean... >_<

Well, let's be honnest, none knows of Cognac for anything else than for the local liquor, and I have to say that excepted for the distilleries, the military airbase and an excellent pizzeria on the quays of the Charente river, there isn't much to see or do. XD
Well, I don't know much of the winters in Moscow but I at least can gladly say that we do not get as cold as they do! :P

Indeed, I'm quite glad at least one plant of chrysanthemums survived but a bit disappointed the others didn't, I must say we've had a winter as I've never seen before, with few days of extrem icing (I've got photos I should post somedays...), I almost ruined my collection car because of that ice! Unfortunately, my tomato plants have been completly eaten by the snails, so, I decided to replaced them by a plant that made the reputation of my region, an angelica which seems like she really enjoys to sit by the window of my kitchen, but I had to place my mint next of it to try to repel the aphids ants are rising on the angelica... But I'll keep in mind that part about the stink bugs, I've seen that I could be invaded by them as winter comes, so I'll keep an eye on them. As for the snails, even though I now have a very good reason to make them become a meal, I haven't tried to cook them yet. From what I heard, the variant of snails I've got are very good, but preparing them disgusted many, I'll see the day I try and will make sure to make you know what I think of it ;)
As for the mint, over here, it grows invasively over here, might it be spring or summer, and wherever it's been placed ! That's a very good thing to know, about the avocado! As of now, it shows no signs of rising above the soils, but once it does, I will make sure it grows in the right place!

No problem. And I understand perfectly the thing about schools, over here, we aren't teaching the kids about the wars in themself and only portions of them are studied (and gosh! How much we're skipping the 1870 war like nothing happened !), all I've learned, might it be for history or English, mainly comes from personnal studies. On that matter, there's one quote I wish to share because, while it has been written in 1951, we still have much to learn from it, it has been written by French figher pilot Pierre Clostermann in his book 'Feux du Ciel' which counts some extraordinaries true stories of airmen through WWII:
"Is it by teaching charts or consommation curves that one will teach to hate war and to respect those who've done it ?"
I've already seen some of Mark Felton's videos in my recommendations but never actually watched any of them, I'll try to watch them next time I see one!
Well, concercning uniforms, my vest are mostly surplus ceremonial uniforms and, excepted a 1944 USN jacket modified for the French Fleet Air Arm, I don't think they have seen any action at all, my helmets, on the other hand, are different since I own a WWI era Brody Mk.I helmet used by the Commonwealth, an Adrian modèle 1915 and a modèle 1926 as well as a M1935 Stahlhelm which probably have seen service in Czechoslovakia since it has been painted in black. But I don't really display them, reconstitutions are very rare over here, they are much more common, I guess, on former battlefields. I will make sure to make a reply to your note as soon as possible !

Eh, who knows? I could tend to believe so given what my mother said about my handwriting and the fact that we've got similar handwriting with my brother ;)
I see, I think, over here, we still rely mainly on handwritting, for each students to have a laptop would be too much to ask for the parents and the public institution would struggle too much to suply every student with one, without talking of having to make sure that the students are actually taking notes and not fooling around. XD
Here, we're only teach cursive back in elementary school, as, on the contrary of the US, the block writing never has been popular, but, and I can be a good exemple of that, many are those who have mixed cursive and block writing to optimise writing speed. I wasn't doing it too much back in high school, though, since I was writing with a fountain pen and it was a pain to write block characters with it. XD

Well, if ever you need help, I might try to help, if you want to. That's quite a interesting method you've got there and I suppose it might be quite efficent, at not whent facing an exemple like my first sample where it began approximately readable before I had to rush the writing, probably because, as you mentionned, teachers were saying important stuff too fast, honnestly, even I still struggle to decipher what I wrote in this sample. XD

Well, yeah, you're spot on, I'm indeed the kind of person to keep an used spark plug, other used car parts, several years old notes, old electronic devices and other parts of used or broken stuff in his desk ! But yes, sometimes, that kind of stuff you keep aisde really can come useful after a while, excepted for that floppy disk player I had kept and, when I finally deseperately needed it, found out that nowadays motherboards are not coming with the corresponding sockets anymore... XD
As for that teacher, I do confirm that it's the kind of teacher you only want to experience for one class, while I do like weirdness and originality, there, it was way too much... XD

As I've written higher, I'll reply to what was in your note a bit later, through the note system, but I will do my best to do it as soon as possible ! And writing from the both-hands ? Would you perhaps have been a thwarted left-hander ? That's a nice skill, that to be able to use efficiently both hands!

It is okay! Our schedules have their own special ebb and flow to them.

You have made a good point about the Japanese who are now living in cites that were nearly reduced to open graves in the late 1940's. Perhaps it is a generational thing also. Some come to accept the realities, and some wear bandages over the thoughts that give them trouble. We have plenty of both where I live. Hopefully in time those wounds will heal enough where the living can make peace with the dead again.

Ahh, when you mention Chernobyl I remember the "River Monsters" fishing show. The host of the show was allowed to fish in one of the reactor ponds. The wildlife do look a little strange there, but as you have mentioned they are living their best human-free life at the moment.

Ah! I will have to look up historical pictures of the uniforms during the French Revolution. It seems that the visual cues of french uniforms would not be as harsh as the pre-ww1 Austro-Hungarian uniform and the somewhat Prussian (German?) pointed helmets of the Kaiser's men. I think we were all surprised at the time how long WW1 took and how horrific the effects were. The happy little flowers look out of place on the muzzle of a rifle or cannon I think. Thank you again for your continued educational information. Sometimes these mix-ups promote more learning and research so I do not mind at all. :)

It is true. Most people stop learning about Cognac once they learn of the drink. It is interesting to think of the airbase and the pizzeria in that area. I wish we had some attractions beside the rivers locally, but I have to travel about an hour Northwest to Gruene (pronounced like "Green") to find a hisforic dance hall and a new restaurant along the cold river that flows through the area. I think the river is the Comal. How nice that your area avoids the brutal cold of Russian winter!

D: Ahh. You see, I did not know that your winter had become like ours this past year. With the strict standards for classic car use and repair in France, it is nice that you had saved yours from the ice! The angelica is a very interesting plant. I had no idea that it existed or that it flowered. If you do not mind chemicals on occasion, you can kill the aphids by dunking the angelica stems in soapy water (we use Dawn dish soap). The dish soap acts as a deterrent and a surfactant thusly suffocating the aphids. You are quite brave to try eating the snails. It will be very interesting to see what you think of their taste. How to you clean a snail to be sure that it has not been taken over by parasites? Some snails here have a parasite that crawls up to the eye stalk and steers the snail however the parasite wishes to go. I think it looks like a cloudy eye on a snail, but I can not remember.

Oh gosh! I had no idea that so many countries are leaving out such massive details in their history lessons! The Franco-Prussian war in 1870 was an important conflict. Too important to brush aside. It is great that your personal searching has lead to new discovery.

Pierre Clostermann definitely has a point. Sometimes the wrote nature of learning will not impart the necessary lesson. You can admire the airplane, but it has a different feeling when cannon shells and machinegun fire from the airplane are trying to reach you. I can say for myself that I respect those who have served and fought, but I know enough to know that I can't really wrap my head around their reality. The military life is somewhat of a different world from mine.

I have heard of the Adrian and the Stahlhelm before. Your collection of uniforms and helmets is extremely interesting! When I think of the French Fleet Air Arm, I think of the Fairey Gannet and Firefly. :)

Oops! I hit send by accident. I answer these on my phone, so there is a lot of scrolling involved in reading and then writing the response. ^^

It makes sense that the handwriting had taken place versus placing computers in every student's hands for the reasons you had written. Unfortunately we are very technology-centric here and our children have been absorbed by the tech boom so to speak. Monitoring software and software blocks tend to slow misbehavior down a little, but some kids who have natural intelligence with technology have hacked and exploited those nanny systems before lol. It is understandable to have wanted to skip block lettering with the fountain pen. I agree that it would be a pain. As you have mentioned though, combining cursive and block lettering for efficiency is quite useful.

I would certainly appreciate the help! I am a bit lacking in focus right now, but if I begin the process, I can send you a note with what I have been able to decipher at that point in time. :D

Ahh, your desk has become a curio cabinet! If only you add glass doors everyone could peek in awe at the different items inside. Your desk sounds like the inspiration for the "I Spy" picture books. Everything is laid out on a page of the book, and you have to find certain objects within the pile of objects so to speak. That poor floppy disk player may have to find good company with an old computer if you can find one in decent condition. Perhaps with 3D printing the floppy drive will have a floppy disk reader that fits the new format? Computers do change format and capabilities rather quickly. Ehehehe weirdness and originality are enjoyable for me too, but I agree that they have comfortable limits. Hopefully that teacher has become a little more mellow and less eccentric over the years.

Whenever you have time is okay for me. I still have the link to our conversation on your Valley of Bouvante submission. Regrettably, I loved what I read but I could never come up with a cohesive response to write. >u<

I have left eye dominance and right-hand dominance at the moment, so it is possible that I had been a left-hander thwarted by the system. The writing is equally rough with either hand as you will see, but I agree that it is a nice skill. I started a program for myself many years ago to teach the left arm and hand everything that the right arm and hand could do so that losing one or the other would not be a setback. The hands are not quite the same in capability, but it is close. I can write, eat, reach, shoot, tap and press with either hand. While writing that sentence my head itched a little, so I went from typing with both thumbs to typing with just the left thumb lol. If one hand gets tired of something I just switch off. This can be useful in tennis and baseball I admit. :p