Tag Archives: hunters

Sunday 18th January 2015 – IT’S SUNDAY!

And I had a nice lie-in too. Until all of 10:30 in fact and I wish that it had been longer seeing as it was 03:00 when I wznt to bed. This 3D program that I’ve been playing with – I reinstalled the up-to-date version the other day following my midnight revelation last weekend, and after another couple of marathon sessions (including last night) I think that I’ve finally cracked it – and to such an extent that already, I’ve more-or-less abandoned the earlier version and everything that I’ve been building since 2010, and I’m starting again.

After breakfast, I had a leisurely morning doing not very much, and then I cracked on with the radio programmes. I’ve done a rock programme, the additional notes for the next series of shows and to conclude, I dashed off a quick 2200 words on our next major topic. There’s still plenty more to write but there’s enough for the next few weeks and in any case, I’ve no plans for the forthcoming weekend so I should be able to finish it off.

After that, I crashed out for half an hour and then cooked my pizza. and wonderful it was too.

I also had some visitors this morning. The hunters came back around here. I hate hunters with a passion that cannot be measured on any scale known to man. I class them as the lowest form of human life. At least with many other classes of despicable human criminals, those people generally leave their victims alive. Not so hunters. They kill anything that moves and usually for no good reason either.

B@$t@rd$ every last one of them.

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Sunday 23rd November 2014 – I HATE HUNTERS

But that of course is quite a usual state of affairs isn’t it? However, after today I hate them even more.

I’d had a coffee last night at the footy, hadn’t I? And so at 04:00 I was still not in bed. I eventually crawled into my stinking pit ready for my Sunday lie-in when at 09:30 the hunters came down the lane. B@$t@rd$. Hounds baying, dogs barking, horns nlowing and firearms discharging. I hate every last one of them.

After my rude awakening I had something of a leisurely morning and then set off to Miremont, making a mental note to bring in the washing when I come home as the weather was clouding over.

Pionsat’s 2nd XI were playing at Miremont and just for a change not only did they have a full team but even a substitute too. And they won at a canter, 6-2, without even breaking sweat. One of the goals was probably the best that I have ever seen at this level – a telling, curling cross into the penalty area and a full-length diving header right across the penalty area from Frederic and he met the ball perfectly with his forehead.

Pionsat also had a new player out, a young lad who was playing his first match. He was nominally a striker and was on the bench at first and he admitted that he had never played at this level before. I gave him the benefit of my advice, such as it is, and the most important thing was, in my opinion, that if he was playing up front, to run after the ball every time that it was kicked into the area because at this level of football, anything is possible in the defence.

And so that was what he did and, sure enough, eventually it paid off. The keeper could only parry a fierce shot and this young lad, running in, reached it first before the keeper could recover, and smashed it into the net. He was delighted, and so was I. It’s not every day that anyone takes any notice of me.

But it was tough on the keeper. He was the best that I have ever seen in Division 4 and ought to be playing in Division One at least. He made half a dozen desperate saves and without him, Pionsat could have had double figures quite easily.

I went round to Liz and Terry’s afterwards to rehearse the radio programmes for tomorrrow, and Liz made a nice spinach, mushroom and chick pea curry. Not only that, I even had a doggy bag of the leftovers, which was really nice.

But two wins out of two for Pionsat this weekend. It’s been a long time since this has happened.

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Sunday 13th November 2011 – I DON’T THINK …

… that I will be seeing the wild boar again.

The farmer came down this morning to bring his cows to the field behind the house. He went for his usual walk around to check the boundaries and he must have seen the wild boar tracks because half an hour later the hunters arrived.

I was once at a meeting where I heard a hunter describe hunting as “a noble sport”. I’ve no idea what is noble or sporting about 20 armed men ringing a thicket, sending a bunch of dogs in to flush out everything that is in there and then blasting into oblivion whatever comes fleeing out.

It’s all really sad and pathetic, and brings out the worst in human nature if you ask me. But it’s legal to do it and part of the French rural tradition, so I have to put up with it whether I like it or not.

faille de limagne plaine de limagne riviere allier loubeyrat puy de dome france>This afternoon I went down to Loubeyrat. FC Pionsat St Hilaire’s 2nd XI were playing there today and it’s a nice drive down.

We’ve been here before, a few years ago, and one thing that impressed me then was the view that could be had from the corner of the football ground. It’s right on the edge of the Faille de Limange – the fault line that runs down the centre of the département and there are views from here right across the plain and the valley of the River Allier all the way over to Vichy and the Montagne Bourbonnaise.

fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire football club de foot loubeyrat puy de dome franceIt was a real shame about the match though.

Although FC Pionsat St Hilare lost the match 3-0 they were desperately unlucky here. Two superb free kicks and a defensive howler were responsible for the goals but apart from that they did really well. This was probably the best that I’ve seen them play in recent times. They even managed to have a good shape that they kept throughout the match.

It’s just a pity that they can’t play like that every week.

Back here this evening I watched one of the videos that I had bought at Noz in Montlucon for a couple of Euros the other day. This was a Frank Sinatra film called Tony Rome.

Not only does Sinatra not sing in it (for which I am extremely grateful) he acts spectacularly well in his role as a private detective in Miami. If you know any of the Philip Marlowe films, then think of Humphrey Go-kart in The Big Sleep, bring it up to date by 20 years, film it in technicolour with good outdoor scenery and give it some meaningful and convincing co-stars and there you are.

It’s easily the best film that I have bought for quite a while and it will be one that will feature on my regular playlist.

There was a follow-up of it called The Lady In Cement. While it is very very rare for a follow-up to be anything like as good as the original, I shall be trying to track down a copy of that.

But it really was a good film, this.

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Friday 17th September 2010 – I had a visitor today

fox les guis virlet puy de dome franceI wonder if he is the same one who came around here earlier in the year.

This time he didn’t stop for food and he didn’t stop to have a play around, he was just sitting down in the field. As soon as he heard me he was off, but this time I had the camera ready.

Mind you, he’ll need to be good. The hunting season has started already and I hate hunters. They are the scum of the earth. It’s no joke being woken up at 07:30 in the morning by the sound of a shotgun blast. If I had my way I would arm the wildlife and set them after the hunters – see how they like it.

I keep on telling Rhys – the American Constitution has been misinterpreted for years. What it actually says is that “Every American Shall Have The Right To Arm Bears”. That’s much more like it.

pointing stone wall les guis virlet puy de dome franceMeanwhile, here’s a pic of where I got up to yesterday with the pointing. I’ve done half of that row now. Today I did another quarter and I finished off by gouging out the loose sand for the final panel at that level.

Once I’ve pointed that I’ll have to stop as I will have run out of ladder. The other half of this one is the piece that is transformed into the roof ladder and Terry has that which he is using on someone’s roof.

But that’s not too much of a worry – In another 2 weeks I shall be in Canada living the Life of Reilly and before then there is something really important that I need to attend to which requires my absence from here for a day or two. It’s all go, isn’t it? So it’s not really worth starting on more if I’m not able to finish it off. When I come back it will be mid-November (gulp) and I’ll be ready for more encouragement from Ms Stephenson.

In other news, the other day Bill lent me a book on French railways, published by the SNCF. One section talks about viaducts but as you might imagine, in any publication by the SNCF about viaducts, the Viaduc des Fades is conspicuous by its absence, despite it being the highest railway bridge in the world when it was built, being currently the second-highest, and being the highest railway bridge in France, as well as being built using pioneering techniques. Knowing the French like I do and with all of their national pride, it’s hard to understand why they don’t talk about it. Probably because they are ashamed about their handling of the viaduct and don’t want to call attention to themselves.

But his book does talk about the 141R class of locomotives, the type that passed through Montlucon in the summer. I’ll extract some notes.

But here’s a puzzle for you. What is the significance of the 141? And why are some other locomotives of the 130 class, or maybe the 250 class? Or even the 031 class?

It suddenly struck me the other week when I was writing about it – can you remember?

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