looduskalender.ee

Re; Harald's calander.
Here (Alsace) St. Catherines day is still celebrated on 25th Nov. by young ladies still unmarried at 25 yrs. by wearing exotic hats and headgear to entice the young batchelors.!! because...
Somehow the hat industry began calling St. Catherine their patron saint and this got mixed up with the Ladies Batchelor Day. These ladies are then called Catherinettes.
Our local newspaper always opens a competition for the 'BEST' headgear and we can enjoy the photographs in the next days edition.
Don't know if this is a germanic custom or french.

Didn't mean to start a NEW TOPIC the forum asked me and ................... My,My do move it somewhere Jo.!!
And I haven't even finished posting the autum pics..(its soooooo complicated.!! I'm waiting 'till son has a moment to help goodness gracious me !)

edit: Well, I suppose we could talt about Winter customs,on reflection ? Next date will be St Nicholas on Dec.6th.

When the hats make the news paper you had best get us a link because I want to see them.

Great idea, Alice.

Carmel, I will move this if you want me to, but it seems OK here.
I think I will rename it Winter in Alsace, then you can post pics as well as any other winter news here.
Actually, I intended to ask Harald for examples of the Primstav calender.

Here is a photographic record of 'Hats for "Les Catherinettes':
http://www.museeduchapeau.com/CATHERINETTES2005.htm
When the day comes this year I will post an update.

Sadly,the newspaper didn't talk at all about The Cathrinettes at all this year. Maybe its a tradition,like many others...dying out.

Glad you found the older pictures for us.

I don't want to start another thread for Spring so, as we have just identified this plant in the garden I will share the image I found on the net;

http://images.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=h ... k-AaUsK2UD
Viburnium carlesii = Korean spicebush
This bush was here when we moved in and we have never identified it until today.
I took photographs but who knows when I can put them here to show you. This is easier.
It's smell covers the whole garden,almost. It smells a bit like cloves.

It looks very lovely and spring like.

I am wondering if I could grow it.

Yes, I want one, too!
I have two viburnums, but not that one. I love their scent and foliage.

You'll hafta drop in and we will give you a sprig or whatever is needed to grow one.
Yup,on the site it says 'Stem cutting' (or seeds)

Until today we haven't identified a tree in our garden. Thanks to the local newspaper and their article on remarkable plants in The Zoo (rather Parc Zoologique et Botanique..! ). Our tree is an Epicea inversé or Upsidedown-pine.!! here;
http://www.zoo-mulhouse.com/fr/le-parco ... verse.html
If the plant is not tutored it will grow along the ground.
( we thought it was an invention of the man who planted the garden in the 1950ies and choose some unusual plants~~ unusual in the sense they are not present in the surrounding gardens.~ some of which we have lost through ignorance or neglect.. )

Since yesterday the birds in the garden are letting us know they are ready for the feeders. ... So we have started the feeding.
Today we saw a Nuthatch amongst the hungry flock.( Sitelle torchepot or Sitta Europaea) Like this one:
http://www.google.fr/images?hl=fr&q=sit ... CDsQsAQwAw
In Aug.1996 and Oct.2007 we sadly found one dead in the garden. Why,we don't know... maybe the cats they seemed uninjured.
So,today was special.

Do your nuthatches go beeeep beeep. I hear them but rarely see them.
Maybe I will try a feeder this year, but the year before last I kept seeing a rat jump off the feeder when I walked into the bathroom. The main feeder was outside the bathroom window.

Bit late but....the new double-glazed almost sound-proof windows shut out a lot of noise.! Of course if I opened the window,the birds will take flight. In this weather we keep them closed apart from airing now and then.

Hubby saw this bird in our garden today;
http://www.oiseaux.net/oiseaux/grimpere ... rdins.html
A Short-toed Tree Creeper... 1st.time seen ever.
It was thanks to Gigi-the-cat that hubby saw.. cat's interest was keen but the bird was not at all disturbed,didn't mind a bit.

Clever cat

It looks very much like our Brown Creeper which is my one of my very favourite birds. For a couple years I taunted my dad because I saw them everywhere -- on walks, on trees near my house -- but he did not have them on his year list, but more recently I haven't seen any.