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Welcome to the March edition of etcetera magazine.
The beginning of spring is a time everyone welcomes with open arms! The days are getting longer, the clocks go forward and we can all enjoy lighter evenings at last.
We hope you enjoy our latest offering, packed full of articles, advice and advertisers. Please don’t forget to mention etcetera magazine when you call tradespeople!
Thank you for your continued support and loyalty, wishing you all a fantastic month ahead.
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114 Text-message emergency number for deaf/hard of hearing
119 Child abuse
115 Homeless
113 Drugs and alcohol
112 European emergency not always English
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3131 Last incoming call, key ‘5’ to connect Orange English speaking helpline
0033 (0)9 69 36 39 00
Website in English: www.orange.com/en/home Technical assistance for landlines (French): 3900 (+33 9 69 39 39 00 from abroad)
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EDF 8am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday.
+33 (0)9 69 36 63 83 EDF Helpline in English 0033 562164908 (From UK)
E-mail: simpleenergywithedf@edf.fr
CPAM - 09 74 75 36 46
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05 87 23 10 08 Emergency 24/7
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For contact details of meetings in your area including those conducted in English, visit www.aafrance.net
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Please
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Bereavement Support Network English speaking support group for guidance on coping with bereavement in France. Personal and practical advice. www.bsnvar.org
Women for Women in France offering support to foreign-born (non-French speaking) women dealing with domestic abuse www.womenforwomenfrance.org
Counselling In France Counsellors, psychotherapists, NLP, CBT etc offering therapy in English to expatriates all over France on www.counsellinginfrance.com
French Health Insurance Advice line
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0033 974 75 36 46 (from other countries). The line is open from Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
NHS website : www.nhs.uk/using-thenhs/healthcare-abroad www.ameli.fr
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English-speaking Crisis Line
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NEEDS SOAKING AND DRYING TIME!
I SAW THESE ON INSTAGRAM AND HAD TO MAKE SOME! THEY’RE CHEAP AND EASY TO CREATE AND MAKE GREAT GIFTS
▪ Egg carton/s
▪ Mixing bowls and a washing up bowl
▪ Handheld blender
▪ Plain flour
▪ Cup for measuring
1. Start by taking the egg carton and remove the plastic/paper packaging.
2. Rip the egg carton into small pieces and place them in a bowl. Fill the bowl with water and let the carton soak for 3-4 hours.
3. Using a blender, blitz the soaked carton until you get a lumpy liquid consistency.
4. Get a large or washing up bowl, plus another bowl and a tea towel. With the tea towel positioned over the large bowl, pour the wet egg carton mix onto the tea towel. Gather the tea towel and squeeze the mix to get all the water out. Place the pulp in the separate bowl and now separate it into smaller rough clumps.
5. Pour one cup of flour for every 3 cups of egg carton pulp and add water until you're able to mix it into a paste.
6. Take the bowl or plate you want to mould the pulp into and place cling film on top of it.
Seb Feasey is studying Design and Applied Art at lycée in Angoulême. He loves music, design, nature, and hanging out with his friends
▪ Bowls or plates for moulding
▪ Napkins (choose the colours, design etc,)
▪ Scissors
▪ Liquid craft glue
▪ Paint for the inside of the bowl (optional)
Evenly spread the pulp mixture, trying to keep the thickness less than a centimetre and as even as possible.
7. Now let it dry, it takes about 3 days too fully dry but if you place it next to a source of heat like a radiator or fireplace it should speed up the process by a day or so.
8. When the pulp is dry to the touch you can remove the newly moulded paper bowls.
9. If you want a natural look you can leave the carton maché bowl like this. You can tidy up the edges with scissors, or leave the rough edges if you wish.
10.To add some colour and decoration, spread the liquid craft glue all over the outer side of the bowl then take your chosen napkin/s and glue it/them to the outer surface of the bowl and leave to dry. You can also paint inside of the bowl with acrylic paint if want.
Voila ! Homemade up-cycled egg carton bowls!
ByMikeGeorge
Leap-years are a fact of life. We understand them. But now we seem to be assailed by leap-seconds and atomic timekeeping to a degree of accuracy that seems ridiculous. Why has this happened, and does it all matter?
Imagine yourself an early human huntergatherer, journeying with the seasons, responding to the day length and the climate. You haven’t got a train to catch. The family in the next cave has asked you to join them for supper, but there is no specified time – just turn up early evening.
To know where you are during the course of the day, all you need to do is have a look at the position of the sun. You know where that is. Its height and direction will tell you if it is morning, lunchtime or if night is approaching, with plenty of slack to allow you to live your life as you want to. If something urgent crops up, you will deal with it.
That is how it was for most of humanity for most of history. The Babylonians divided time up into hours, minutes, and seconds. They had a bizarre numerical base of 60, and so there are 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, and 24 hours to a day (2/5th of 60). These gave time divisions of usable length, but again, these were just divisions. You didn’t aim for them, just used them as reference. Even the hours were flexible – 12 for daylight, 12 for night, resulting in hours of two different lengths during most days.
You had no way of measuring these periods, until someone hit on the idea of putting a stick in the ground and a circle of stones around it. Now during the day you could tell which was the nearest hour by which stone the stick’s shadow fell on! Details like slanting the stick to be parallel to the Earth’s axis came later. The oldest such installation found so far dates to 2500 BC in China, which is still quite late in human history.
Still, mankind (as one of my old school books had it) must measure. So how do you measure the passage of time? The simplest thing is to observe some phenomenon which takes place through
time, and compare the time taken for that with the thing you want to measure. The earliest mechanical system seems to have been dripping water. If you can arrange for water at a certain level to flow slowly or drip to a lower level, you have a steady, regular, measurable event. This gave rise to the clepsydra, or water clock, which has a staggering antiquity, and gave rise to many varied and ingenious mechanisms (you could even fit an alarm to it with some ingenuity!)
More simple, but of course dependent upon the invention of the major component, was the candle-clock. This used to be attributed to Alfred the Great, although examples from other civilisations have been found. You made a candle with as much care for its even composition as you could, put it in a lantern or other draught-protection, marked it with time intervals, and lit the wick. Thus you could see time passing, and measure it.
Mike George is our regular contributor on wildlife and the countryside in France. He is a geologist and naturalist, living in the Jurassic area of the Charente
repeating, adjustable motion. When the escapement was added, which used this motion to regulate the speed of the clock’s mechanism, the clock became far more accurate.
The oldest such installation found so far dates to 2500 BC in China, which is still quite late in human history
In the early Middle Ages it became important to regulate the day of worship. Monasteries wanted to mark the hours of devotion, and also to advertise them to the faithful, with minimum error and effort. The clock mechanism was developed. This could operate bells at given intervals. Initially, the actual time didn’t really matter, as long as the bells rang out regularly and the faithful convened. Even when hands and a dial were eventually added, there was often only one hand to tell you roughly the hour. Such early mechanisms were not that accurate, relying on the slow fall of a weight (or even a falling water level). As long as everyone within earshot heard the bell, the object was achieved.
The clock mechanism never really became accurate until the pendulum and the escapement were invented. Here we come to the nub of time measurement: having a regular, repeating event that you can link to your device. The pendulum, a weight swinging with simple harmonic motion upon a pivot, produced a regular,
There was one area in which the accuracy achievable in a clock was paramount. Long-distance sea voyages had long been a part of trading and life, but the bulk of this had been roughly north to south. Here a competent navigator could tell his position between North Pole and South Pole with relative ease. All one had to do was find the maximum angular height the sun achieved in the middle of the day, which a skilful navigator could do by repeated sightings over the short period involved, and the position, the latitude, could easily be worked out. The problem came when your course lay more east-west. Now what you needed to know was exactly how far around the Earth you had travelled from your starting point. To do this you needed to know the exact time at your starting point when your sightings showed noon at your actual location. A difference of minutes, or even seconds, from the actual time could spell a disastrous miscalculation.
The problem was, no pendulum clock of the time could do it. The speed of a pendulum’s swing can change subtly with temperature (the pendulum lengthening or shortening); extraneous movements around the clock can cause the escapement to miss; a host of problems can produce that one fatal alteration. Anyone who is interested should read: Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel, about how John Harrison, the 18th century clock-maker, created the world’s first chronometer, a clock accurate enough to enable the determination of longitude anywhere in the world.
In the four centuries since the pendulum was invented, clockmakers found ways of miniaturising clock movements by using
spring drives rather than weights, and by reducing the size of the escapement to an amazing extent. The escapement is simply a way of slowing down the fast-running watch mechanism to an exact rate. This enabled the development of pocket watches and then, at about the time of the First World War, of the wristwatch. Later alternatives to the escapement were tried.
The Accutron movement was controlled by an electrically maintained tuning fork but proved less than popular. Then came the quartz crystal movement, in which an extremely pure crystal of silicon dioxide was electrically stimulated to vibrate, which it did with an extremely regular frequency. This led to the wristwatch of today, which can be accurate to seconds in a day. What was really needed was a regular standard time base that could be related to the clock but that was not dependent upon
the clock or its environment. Eventually, such standards were found, but in the realm of atomic physics.
Enter the Atom
For obvious reasons, atomic clocks are vastly expensive, and not many exist
There are certain properties of regular change within the atom that are immutable, but regular and independent of any outside influences. The only problem is detecting them and measuring them, as they tend to be very rapid. This is no bad thing; the more rapid the change one is measuring, the more accurate and precise the result can be.
It was discovered that an excellent primary frequency standard can be based on the transitions between two groundstates of the Caesium-133 atom. This takes place at exactly 9,192,631,770 cycles per second. All that was needed was to be able to count an event that happened so rapidly. By 1955 this was possible, and the first atomic clock was built by Louis Essen
at the National Physical Laboratory in the U.K. This enabled an accuracy of 1 second in 30,000 years. Subsequent refinements have improved this considerably. This standard of the length of the second is now the primary standard for the International System of units (SI) – the modern form of the metric system.
For obvious reasons, atomic clocks are vastly expensive, and not many exist. They are used to control systems that regulate other devices which do tell the hour in some way, as well as those that are purely used for the measurements of time periods. This is typically done by transmitting radio pulses to purpose-made clocks, whose time indications are then promulgated just as before.
There is so much more to this fascinating story. One day I hope to tell you about the time-sellers; about the Great Analemma in the Sky; about how your true-hearted sundial is hardly ever right. But that must wait…
Au téléphone, nous prenons rendez-vous chez le médecin :
Bonjour Madame, je voudrais prendre rendez-vous avec le docteur Guerritout ?
Allô. Bonjour. Oui. Qu’est-ce qui vous arrive ? C’est urgent ?
J’ai mal à la gorge et je crois que j’ai de la fièvre.
Est-ce que demain mercredi à 19h00 vous ira ?
C’est parfait !
Quel est votre nom, s’il-vous-plaît ?
Je m’appelle Madame Joëlle Dumal. Très bien. Merci. Au revoir !
Merci. Au revoir et bonne journée !
Au rendez-vous, chez le médecin :
Bonjour Madame Dumal. Comment allez-vous ?
Bonjour Docteur. Oh, j’ai un mal de gorge.
Où avez-vous mal exactement ? Je peux regarder ? Est-ce que cela vous fait mal quand j’appuie ici ?
Ah oui ! C’est douloureux.
Depuis combien de temps avez-vous mal à la gorge ?
Depuis cinq jours.
Ouvrez grand la bouche, s’il vous plaît ! Toussez ! Avez-vous mal à la tête ? Avez-vous eu de la fièvre ?
Oui, j’ai eu mal à la tête lundi, mais maintenant ça va. Je crois que j’ai eu de la fièvre avant-hier dans la nuit, mon pyjama était trempé.
D’accord. Je vais prendre votre tension et votre pouls. Vous pourriez remonter votre manche s’il vous plaît ?
Oui, bien sûr.
Tout va bien et votre cœur aussi. Vous avez attrapé un virus. Je vais vous prescrire des médicaments : des antalgiques, du sirop pour la gorge et des pastilles antiseptiques à sucer. Voici l’ordonnance pour la pharmacie. Pouvez-vous me donner votre carte Vitale, s’il-vous-plaît ?
Voilà.
Merci. Le tarif est de 26,50 €. Bon courage Madame Dumal et restez au chaud. Vous irez mieux dans quelques jours sinon revenez me voir.
D’accord. Merci Docteur. Bonne journée !
prendre rendez-vous to make an appointment
Avoir mal à + part of the body
Qu’est-ce qui vous arrive ? What seems to be the matter?
(Literally - What’s happening to you?)
We have some nouns already made up (like in English):
un mal de gorge a sore throat
un mal de tête a headache un mal de dos a backache
un mal de dent a toothache avoir de la fièvre to have a fever
Est-ce que mercredi vous ira ? Does Wednesday suit you?
(« ira » comes from the verb « aller » (to go) in the future tense). appuyer (verb) to press (with fingers)
Est-ce que cela vous fait mal quand j’appuie ici ?
Does it hurt when I press here?
The word “à” changes to “au” in front of a masculine singular word
Or to “à la” in front of a feminine singular word
Or to “à l’ ” in front of a masculine or feminine singular word starting with a vowel sound
Or to “aux” in front of a masculine or feminine plural word.
Ex. J’ai mal au dos. (masc, sing) My back hurts.
J’ai mal à la tête. (fem, sing) My head hurts.
J’ai mal aux pieds. (masc, pl) My feet hurt.
douloureux / douloureuse (adj) painful
Depuis combien de temps…?
For how long …? / Since when …?
Ouvrez grand la bouche ! Open wide (the mouth)!
tousser (verb)
to cough
la tension (artérielle) the blood pressure
le pouls
the pulse
remonter (verb) votre manche to roll up your sleeve
le cœur
the heart
prescrire (verb) to prescribe
un médicament a medicine
un antalgique a painkiller
une ordonnance a prescription
Useful Vocab!
une éruption cutanée a rash
j’ai la diarrhée I’ve got diarrhoea
je suis constipée I’m constipated
j’ai une grosseur
I’ve got a lump avoir (verb) la cheville gonflée to have a swollen ankle
j’ai une douleur au dos, à la poitrine
I’ve got a pain in my back, chest froisser (verb) un muscle to pull a muscle
If you want to know more about France and the French language, do not hesitate to contact me!
Soignez-vous bien ! (Take care of yourself!) À bientôt ! Isabelle Élargissez vos horizons avec CONTINENTAL HORIZONS ! Broaden your horizons with CONTINENTAL HORIZONS!
Isabelle works for CONTINENTAL HORIZONS Language Centre in L’Isle Jourdain 86. She is a specialist Teacher of French as a Foreign Language with more than 26 years’ experience. Do not hesitate to contact her on 06 20 10 34 49 or 05 49 84 17 73
Horizons! Contact us by email : continentalhorizons@free.fr
je suis asthmatique, diabétique, épileptique
I’m asthmatic, diabetic, epileptic un certificat médical a sick note
éternuer (verb) to sneeze
attraper / avoir un rhume to catch / to have a cold avoir mal partout to ache all over la bouche
the mouth
le ventre
the stomach
le poumon the lung
Email:
Tél.
une prise de sang a blood sample une analyse de sang a blood test
un pansement a plaster/bandaid des pilules (f, pl) pills
un comprimé a tablet la pharmacie the pharmacy, the chemist’s une radio(graphie) an x-ray
consulter (verb) un spécialiste to see a specialist la santé the health une maladie a disease
être (verb) malade to be sick / ill être (verb) faible to be weak une douleur a pain une blessure a wound une égratignure a scratch une entorse a sprain une fracture a fracture une brûlure a burn une coupure a cut
(se) soigner (verb) to treat (oneself)
Despite growing up in Wales, my family was mostly an English mix so I never got a toehold on learning the national language. Indeed, after I scored four percent in a school test the teacher put a tick next to where I’d written my name, which I thought was unnecessary. That notwithstanding, the Six Nations Rugby Championship this month brings Wales versus France and the two most spine-tingling national anthems. ‘La Marseillaise’ is equalled only by ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’ being belted out by the crowd at the Cardiff Millenium Stadium. No translations necessary, the human voice itself brings the emotional clout. A further example is the YouTube clip of Eric Whitacre with his Virtual Choir performing a piece called ‘Lux Aurumque’. It features 185 singers across 12 countries selfrecorded at home then merged together on screen, an exquisite convergence of art and technology. The words may be sparse and in Latin but the effect is of a continuous sigh, the world as it exhales. In my youth I was obsessed with bluesmen like Elmore James and B.B. King, their power lying not in clear articulation but in the raw feeling, one man and his guitar against the world. No need for written lyrics or explanation. Llandudno’s major cultural event in those days was the annual sojourn of the Welsh National Opera Company. I was about 14 when a friend of my mother’s decided I might be open to something equally intense and took me to see ‘Nabucco’ and ‘Il Trovatore’. The music of Giuseppe Verdi (plain Joe Green if he’d been born British) was spectacular and I loved both nights. But again, I didn’t understand any Italian
and it mattered not a jot. The voices were everything.
Imagine the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands at full throttle but enunciating in clear and perfect diction, their performance reduced to a safe, family-friendly, alcohol-free healthy option. The aural equivalent of a protein shake. Or Ed Sheeran. Can’t make out the words the lead singer is yelling? Probably just as well. It’s all about the feel, man.
Ditto with foreign language films. Would you watch one of those idiosyncratic French dramas or a Scandi-noir thriller with the sound off, just reading the subtitles? Of course not. Here at Chez White, we’ve (uncharacteristically) enjoyed a couple of those shoot-em-up Mexican crime dramas on Netflix delivered in turbocharged Spanish. Dubbing this dialogue into perfectly accented English would render these films ridiculous. Or, rather, even more ridiculous.
Out in the real world the rule holds. Our radio recently brought a news report from Gaza where a near-traumatised Palestinian woman was trying to explain what had happened to her family. Her anguished words were being overlayed by a French translation for the radio audience but the mix wasn’t calibrated correctly and the two voices were swirling together in a muddle of sounds and syllables. Somehow, this served only to accentuate the despair in the poor lady’s voice as she seemed to be literally pleading to make herself heard. Despite it being poured out in Arabic, her abject pain was heart-wrenching. I’m taking no sides, suffering does not differentiate and history knows only too well these same
Brian White lives in south Indre with his wife, too many moles and not enough guitars
catastrophes when the victims grieved in Hebrew and every other language. When UK news outlets cover a natural disaster or terrorist attack in some farflung location, instead of interviewing a local inhabitant who can offer context and detail through an interpreter, they generally prefer to find a British holidaymaker who happened to be passing the volcano/shipwreck/crime scene and can describe it in English. But like the film with a dubbed soundtrack, authenticity suffers as a compelling story is repackaged for our convenience. My point is that the human voice itself carries a heft and a power which can surmount barriers of language.
Nevertheless, my solid belief in the intrinsic power of the human voice meets both its validation and its rebuttal in the music of the Western world’s greatest composer. Choral performances of his 9th Symphony, the so-called European Anthem, give me goosebumps although I speak no German. See? Proof positive. And yet. I confess that many years ago in the UK I spotted a vinyl record at a carboot sale which threw my entire theory into question. It not only wobbled my ideas about the potency of the human voice but also managed to threaten this great composer’s legacy. It even went so far as to make me doubt my principles regarding freedom of speech. In fact, seeing the “Hans Liebermann Yodels Beethoven” LP almost made me throw up. An outrage against all I hold dear, an abomination of recorded sound and an insult to humanity itself. But damn, I wish I’d bought it.
This month seemed like the perfect opportunity to share with you some of our personal favourites.
Our family consists of two vegetarians and two meat-eaters, so more often than not we cook recipes that are vegetarian-based and can have meat added if desired.
Anyone who lives in a household with children or teenagers may often find themselves cooking more than one meal to adapt to everyone’s tastes. As with all families, we have our go-to menus that are always enjoyed by everyone, and so this month I am sharing some of the recipes
You can always tell when the magazine print slot is approaching by the meals we have
we all enjoy together and have done so for many years.
In our house, you can always tell when the magazine print slot is approaching by the meals we have - pasta pesto or beans on toast on deadline day! Most of the recipes aren’t too time-consuming to make, apart from the gyozas which do take time to prepare but they are worth the effort. We tend to do this in two parts, preparing the filling on one day, and then everything else the next, so you’re not in the kitchen for two hours. Here are two starters, two mains and a dessert that we all love. Now I’ve put the pages together I realise there is only enough room for these, so there may well be more next month!
This is Sam’s favourite soup, and considering he’s a meat-eater that shows how tasty this is! I tend to stick to these vegetables but as with many recipes you can use what you have, so feel free to play around with the flavours to suit your taste or what you have in. If you want a smoother soup, you can skin the tomatoes and peppers after roasting but I leave them on.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
700g ripe tomatoes
3 large yellow/red/orange peppers, halved, cored, deseeded
3 courgettes, halved lengthways
1 small aubergine, halved lengthways
4 garlic cloves, halved
2 onions, cut into quarters
Salt and pepper
Pinch of dried thyme
1 litre vegetable stock
125ml milk
Fresh basil and chili flakes,to garnish
ByGayleFeasey
1. Brush a large shallow baking dish with olive oil. Laying them cut-side down, arrange the tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and aubergine in one layer (use two trays if needed). Tuck the garlic cloves and onion pieces in the gaps and drizzle the veg with olive oil. Season well and sprinkle with thyme.
2. Place the vegetables in a preheated over at 190c and bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes or until soft and browned around the edges. Scoop out the aubergine flesh and discard the skin. (Skin peppers if you want.)
3. If you have a hand mixer, blitz all the vegetables up together, or put in batches into a food processor.
4. In a large saucepan, combine the stock with the vegetable mix and simmer over a medium heat for 20 minutes.
5. Stir in the milk and heat the soup gently for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust according to taste.
6. Serve in bowls and garnish with fresh basil leaves, chili flakes.
Delicious served with homemade wholewheat bread rolls.
This recipe is from Cookie and Kate’s Love Real Food cookbook. I’m a big fan of black beans and this is made using tinned ones so there’s no pre-soaking required. If you don’t like coriander (luckily for us it doesn’t taste like soap!) just leave it out, it will still be delicious. Our teens say they don’t like celery, so I just chop it up really, really finely so it’s invisible! You can adjust the levels of spicyness according to you own personal tastes. (I haven’t converted this to metric, I use both in our kitchen.)
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, chopped (I use red, yellow or orange, whatever I have in)
3 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
6 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
4 ½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp red pepper flakes (use ¼ tsp if you’re sensitive to spice)
4 cans (15 ounces each) black beans (haricot noir), rinsed and drained
4 cups (32 ounces) low-sodium vegetable stock
¼ cup chopped fresh coriander (optional)
1 to 2 tsp apple cider vinegar, to taste, or 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Optional garnishes: diced avocado, extra coriander, thinly sliced radishes, crème fraîche, tortilla chips…
Method
1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy based saucepan or soup pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, celery and carrot and a light sprinkle of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetable are soft, about 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Stir in the garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the beans and stock and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook, reducing heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, until the stock is flavourful and the beans are very tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Transfer about 4 cups of the soup to a stand blender, securely fasten the lid, and blend until smooth (never fill your blender past the maximum fill line, and beware the steam that escapes from the top of the blender, it’s very hot). Or, use an immersion blender to blend a portion of the soup. This creates a thicker soup but still with texture.
4. Return the pureed soup to the pot, stir in the coriander, vinegar/lime juice and salt and pepper, to taste. Serve.
I usually garnish this with avocado, some thinly sliced radishes and a swirl of crème fraîche.
You can store it in the fridge for 4-5 days, and it freezes well too. I keep glass jars for this purpose (the huge pickle jars are great for this!).
This is one of those meals when you started sautéing onions but you weren’t sure where you were going with it! It turned out to be a great way to get some nutrition in the kids' bellies when they were little (and they only wanted bread, pasta, crisps or chocolate!). I use red lentils (corail) and serve them with whatever we have in terms of grains or pasta. Use whatever fresh greens you have (spinach, chard, mâche), to create this simple midweek meal.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
220g spaghetti or pasta or rice of choice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion finely diced
3-4 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsps tomato paste
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry thyme
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup dry red lentils rinsed
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 can passata (420g)
1 can diced tomatoes with juices (420g)
A big bunch of greens, thinly sliced 1 and ½ cups vegetable stock
¼ cup fresh chopped basil
Red pepper flakes for serving Salt and pepper to taste
1. Sauté the diced onion in olive oil over medium heat until golden, almost brown. Stir it occasionally to promote even cooking. Decrease the heat if the onion starts to brown too quickly.
2. Add the tomato paste, dry herbs, and garlic. Saute another 1-2 minutes to cook the herbs and toast the tomato paste. Deglaze the pan with 2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar. This removes any stuck on bits and adds a lot of depth to the sauce.
3. Add remaining ingredients: red lentils, nutritional yeast, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes with juices and vegetable broth and greens (spinach, chard etc). Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer until lentils are cooked through.
Great served with pasta, rice or quinoa, topped with grated cheese (cheddar, parmesan, for example), fresh basil leaves and more red chili flakes for that extra kick if needed.
These take a bit of time to prep, but they are worth it! We fill the veggie dumplings with tofu and the meat ones with chicken, but you can add whatever you fancy. Both have the same base, so you once that is made you simply separate it into two batches and mix with your chosen filling. You can probably find shop-bought ones in Asian stores or the bigger supermarkets but the homemade dumpling dough is delicious.
Ingredients (Serves about 20 dumplings, so five each for a family of four)
Dumplings:
300g plain flour
½ tsp salt
160ml hot water
Cornstarch or flour (for dusting)
Vegetable filling (base):
1-2 tbsp sesame oil
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, shredded
200g finely chopped mushrooms
½ a leek, finely chopped, 200g cabbage, shredded
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sriracha (optional)
1 block of tofu and/or 100g meat (eg chicken) per person (filling)
Dipping Sauce:
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp agave or maple syrup
¼ tsp sesame oil
½ tsp sriracha (optional)
Garnish 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp spring onions
Method
Dumplings wrappers
1. Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Add water while stirring to combine. Transfer to a work surface and knead for 3-5 minutes until you have a smooth, soft dough. Form into a ball, wrap in cling film, refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Divide the dough into two pieces (this makes it easier to roll out). Dust the working surface with a little cornstarch and roll out the dough to about 2mm
thick. Cut out circles using a glass or cookie cutter (approx 10cm). Remove the trim, knead it into a ball, and roll it out again to cut out more circles. Dust the wrappers with some cornstarch before stacking them up, otherwise they will stick together. Use them right away or store in an airtight container in the fridge or freeze.
1. Vegetable (and base) - Finely chop the veggies and heat the oil in a large pan. Add the mushrooms, onions, and carrots and fry for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Then add the leek and cabbage with a little salt and cook for further 5-7 minutes, or until veggies are soft and cooked through, stirring occasionally, adding a little water if needed. Add the garlic, ginger, and seasonings and cook for a further minute to combine the flavours.
2. Meat - Gently sauté the chicken in oil and a little seasoning to your taste, making sure to keep it tender.
3. If doing two options, divide the base filling into two, add tofu to one (cook for another few minutes to incorporate it well) and then the meat to the other, again, mixing well. Set both fillings aside to cool.
1. Add 1 heaped teaspoon of filling to the centre of the dumpling wrapper. Brush the edges with water and squeeze the edges with your index finger and thumb, making sure to seal the seams well. Repeat until the wrappers are used up.
1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the gyoza and fry for 2-3 minutes or until the bottoms are nicely browned. Pour in about 1/4 cup of water and cover with a lid. Steam for 7-8 minutes or until the water has evaporated.
1. Mix all ingredients for the dipping sauce together. Sprinkle the gyoza with sesame and chopped spring onions and serve with the sauce. Enjoy!
This recipe has become our go-to chocolate cake ever since Belinda first shared it. The only thing I change is the frosting, replacing the cream cheese with ermine frosting. None of us are fans of sweet frostings and this ermine frosting hits the spot for us - be careful - it is very moreish! I’m glad I only make this cake a few times a year! If it’s someone’s birthday, I can be sure this will be requested.
Ingredients (Serves 12)
Cake
(2 x 23cm diameter spring-form cake tin):
250ml Guinness
250g butter
80g good quality cocoa powder
400g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
150ml crème fraîche
280g plain flour
2.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Ermine frosting (can be made day before, allowing time to chill)
200g sugar
45g flour
225ml milk
225g butter (room temperature, soft)
1 tsp vanilla extract
20g cocoa powder (optional)
1/4 tsp (if using unsalted butter)
Method
Preheat the oven to 170ºC (325ºF), Gas mark 3, and line the base of the tin with baking parchment.
1. Pour the Guinness into a saucepan, add the butter and gently heat until it has melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir the cocoa powder and sugar into the warm liquid until dissolved. Mix together the eggs, vanilla essence and crème fraîche by hand in a jug or bowl, and add this to the mixture in the pan.
2. Sift together the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl or into the
bowl of a freestanding electric mixer. Using the mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand-held electric whisk, set on a low speed and pour in the contents of the pan. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are incorporated.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tins and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the cake bounces back when lightly pressed and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Set aside to cool, and then remove from the tin on to a wire rack, making sure the cake is cold to the touch before you add the topping.
4. Now for the frosting. Whisk the flour and sugar in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Cook for about 2 minutes to toast the flour - be careful not to burn it!
5. Slowly add in the milk, whisking it to combine, bringing the heat up a little to a gentle simmer while whisking continuously until it is thick and
pudding-like. Cook at simmer-point for one more minute.
6. Transfer this mixture into a bowl and cover it with cling film, touching the surface so it prevents a skin forming on the top. Place in the fridge to cool well (or overnight). If you’re short of time, you can spread it on a baking tray and pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes instead.
7. Add the softened butter to a bowl and whisk on high for 2-3 minutes until very light and fluffy. (I just use a hand whisk.) Now, slowly add (one spoon at a time) your cooled flour and milk mixture to the fluffy butter, incorporating it well to ensure a smooth frosting.
8. Add the vanilla, salt and cocoa powder (if using) and mix until creamy.
9. Place one of the cooled cakes on to a plate and apply the frosting. Add the second cake, and top with frosting. The flavours really come out the next day, so if you can, make it the day before. Enjoy!
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How do you know if transferring your UK pensions abroad is advisable?
Transferring a pension abroad has always been challenging and requires specialist financial advice. The answer could lie in where you live and work. If you live abroad permanently and have no intention of returning to the UK, then transferring your pension might be the answer.
Before transferring your pension abroad, be aware of the new legislation on pension transfers.
new tax legislation is introduced on 6 April 2024.
Currently, transfers to qualified recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS) can be made free of UK tax provided certain conditions are met, irrespective of the amount transferred.
Before transferring your pension abroad, be aware of the new legislation on pension transfers
Previously, any transfers to a Qualifying Recognized Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) were subject to a tax charge of 25% on the amount over the current Lifetime Allowance (last LTA was £1,073,033).
Due to Brexit restrictions, If you live abroad, your financial advisor in the UK may not be able to advise you, and there could also be restrictions as to how you can draw on your pension.
Also, if the value of your pension is nearing the £1,073,000 limit, now is the time to talk to a financial advisor about moving your pension abroad before you incur tax liabilities.
The UK government has abolished LTA and brought in a new transfer charge when transferring to a QROPS. Pension transfers over the limit of £1,073,000 could now be subject to a 25% overseas transfer tax in certain circumstances after
This new legislation, which basically reverts to pre-6 April 2023 tax laws where pension excess was subject to the lifetime allowance charge of 25%, seems to repeat the previous law but in new packaging.
There is an opportunity for overseas residents who hold large UK Pensions to review their objectives and consider an overseas transfer to mitigate the new OTA charge. Also, be aware of potential changes to UK death benefit tax charges on pending UK pensions and any possible changes that might occur after the next general election.
Non-UK residents should also consider the volatility of the pound since Brexit.
deVere France S.a.r.l. are regulated by ANACOFI-CIF and ORIAS which will only recommend French regulated products.
Helen Booth works as a financial adviser for deVere France S.a.r.l and has lived as well as owned property in the Deux-Sèvres region. Having worked in the financial services in the UK for over 15 years, Helen prides herself in being fully diploma-qualified for the services that she provides. Helen has lived and worked in France for over 8 years and enjoys being part of deVere France S.a.r.l., a division of one of the world’s leading independent financial consultancies, deVere Group.
With over $10 billion of funds under its advice and administration and with more than 80,000 clients around the world, deVere Group truly offers a myriad of unique products and notes that are not available anywhere else in the market.
deVere France can advise you on ways to help safeguard and increase your wealth, as well as helping with HMRC-recognised pension transfers to a Qualified Recognised Overseas Pensions scheme (QROPS) to give you potentially more flexibility in your pension plans.
If you would like to know more about how deVere France can help you, contact
Helen Booth DipPFS , EFA : +33 (0) 77 171 2879 : helen.booth@devere-france.fr
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For individuals relocating to France from outside the European Union (EU), the idea of using a local driving licence can be both practical and liberating. This guide aims to provide a comprehensive walkthrough of the steps involved, offering insights into the requirements and intricacies of this licence exchange procedure.
Understanding Eligibility Criteria for Non-EEA Licences
Foreign driving licences issued outside the European Economic Area (EEA) must be exchanged within one year of establishing legal residency. This timeframe commences from the date of obtaining your carte de séjour or visa validation, depending on your individual circumstances. Past this one-year period, acquiring a French driving licence requires taking a driving test to obtain a 'permis de conduire.'
France maintains a mutual recognition process with many countries. The exhaustive list of countries, including US states, with which reciprocal agreements exist can be accessed either on the diplomatic website www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/--_liste_permis_de_conduire_valables_a_l _echange_09.12.2021---_cle8735a7.pdf ) for digital readers or on the diplomatie.gouv.fr website for our printed magazine readers.
Understanding Eligibility Criteria for UK Licences
If your UK driving licence was issued before January 1, 2021:
Your UK licence remains valid in France until its expiration date. Paper licences are typically valid until the age of 70, while plastic photocard licences display the expiration date on the front. Without a valid reason for exchange, applications may be rejected.
If your UK driving licence was issued on or after January 1, 2021:
Recognition of your UK licence in France lasts for one year from the date of obtaining your legal residency in France. If planning to stay in France beyond one year, exchanging your UK licence for a French one within the initial year is mandatory, with no requirement for a driving test.
In summary, changing your licence is necessary if:
▪ Your licence has expired or will expire within six months (e.g., at 70 years of age).
▪ Your licence is lost, stolen, or severely defaced.
▪ A driving offence in France requires you to exchange your licence.
▪ Your driving licence was issued after January 1, 2021.
To exchange your existing driving licence for a ‘permis de conduire’, the application must be completed online on the ANTS website. While additional documents may be requested, you must provide at least the following:
▪ A copy of both sides of your current driving licence.
▪ A copy of your passport.
▪ A recent utility bill as proof of address.
▪ A copy of proof of residence in France for a minimum of six months, such as a visa or carte de séjour.
ANGLO FRENCH HELP contact@anglofrenchhelp.com
personal information, a space for affixing your simple ID photo, and a section for your signature. You can then send the form to the address listed at the top of the document.
After submitting your application, it may take between 6 and 8 months for the authorities to review and accept it
▪ A copy of your marriage certificate, for female applicants.
▪ A certificate of entitlement (driving history record) from the licence authority in your home country, dated within the last three months.
Additionally, you need to provide a digitally signed photo taken through an accredited photo booth. The photo bears a 22-digit code above the typical ID photos, which you use to upload the photo on the ANTS application site.
Alternatively, you can download and print the photo form after completing your application. The form includes your
After submitting your application, it may take between 6 and 8 months for the authorities to review and accept it. Once accepted, you may later be asked to provide the original driving licence, which should be sent only via registered mail. Only individuals with an 'Attestation de Depot de Permis de Conduire' are permitted to continue driving if their licence has expired, and this attestation is only valid in France. The attestation is issued upon approval of the application and should not be confused with the receipt acknowledgement 'Justificatif de dépôt de demande.'
While the ANTS online application streamlines the submission process, applicants must be patient, as the review and acceptance period typically spans 6 to 8 months. The 'Attestation de Dépôt de Permis de Conduire' serves as a vital authorisation for those whose licences have expired, offering the privilege to continue driving within French borders. If you have any questions about the process or the documents needed, don’t hesitate to reach out to Lauren at Anglo French Help.
OWNER: CAST T: 05 45 84 14 94 lindseyqueriaud@outlook.com
If the value of the transferred object does not exceed 5,000€ things are simple. The sale is exempt. Better still, this threshold is assessed on an object-byobject basis. The only exception is objects that make up a set (e.g. furniture forming a pair, a china or silverware service, a stamp collection, a pearl necklace, etc.). The administration may then consider it to be a single object.
Sales made to museums bearing the label "musée de France" or museums of a local authority, public libraries and archives, as well as those made by nonresident taxpayers escape taxation.
The flat-rate tax
It should be noted that the commissions paid to the intermediaries involved in the sale are not deductible from the transaction price or the customs value.
Since 2014, its flat-tax rate has been 6% plus an extra 0.5% for the CRDS (Contribution pour le Remboursement de la Dette Sociale). Therefore giving us a total of 6.5% to pay.
It should be noted that this rate applies to art and collectibles. The sale of precious metals is subject to a special rate of 11% (plus 0.5% for CRDS).
Above 5,000€ on the other hand, the seller is subject to taxation
Worked gold and silver objects are classified as jewellery and fall under the category of works of art, collectors' items and antiques. The rate of 6% therefore applies.
of an export, the declaration must be filed and paid for by the French Customs. Taxation of real capital gains
The seller can also choose to be taxed only on his capital gain. This capital gain should then be determined by making the difference between the sale price and the purchase price (including acquisition and/or restoration costs).
The balance, i.e. the capital gain, is then taxed at 19% plus 17.2% social security contributions, which gives an overall tax of 36.2%.
The seller also benefits from allowances depending on the length of time he has held the property. These allowances are 5% per year beyond the second year and result in an exemption after 22 years of ownership.
Above 5,000€ on the other hand, the seller is subject to taxation. The flat-tax rate is simple since it is calculated directly on the selling price in the case of transactions in France and in a country of the European Union, or at the customs value if it is an export to a country outside the EU.
In the case of coins, either of these rates may apply depending on the date of issue. Until the year 1800, they were considered collectors’ items (i.e. subject to the rate of 6.5%). Those issued later fall into the category of precious metals.
The transaction must be declared and paid for tax purposes (form no. 2091-SD) within one month of the sale. In the case
This option can therefore be advantageous, but it requires all the supporting documents to prove the date of purchase and the purchase price. This can be complicated for family heirlooms or fungible assets such as coins.
The tax return and payment must be made within one month of the transfer. The form to be filled in is form n°2048-M-SD.
Sorry to be gloomy this month. Here is one of our most popular policies which gives a lump sum to beneficiaries of your choice to help them pay for your funeral. Funnily enough, we all have house insurance in case our house burns down but not all of us have insurance on ourselves when we can be pretty certain we are all going to die one day! So, if you don’t have big savings, this is a must-have contract. (Unless you don’t like the person who is going to pay for the funeral!)
Criteria for subscribing: Anybody aged between 50 and 84 years old and who is a French resident. No health questionnaire. How much can you be insured for: Between 3000€ and 10000€ without a health questionnaire. Average cost for a funeral in France is around 3000€ to 4000€. Cremation and burial are about the same. The lump sum you are insured for follows inflation because 3000€ today might not be worth the same in 10 years!
If you are still alive after 10 or 15 years, you can afford to stop paying the premium as you will have enough cover ready
How does it work: The lump sum you are insured for is given to the funeral parlour (presentation of the bill) or to the person who has paid the funeral (presentation of the bill paid) and what is left is given to the beneficiaries you have named on the
policy. You are not covered during the first year for disease or suicide, but you are insured for death by accident straight away. If you die of disease or take your own life in the first year, the insurance company pays back the amount you have paid in. It is not like a normal insurance policy whereby if you stop paying your premium you stop being insured. You receive a statement every year showing 3 lines. The first one shows how much you are insured for and it follows inflation. The second line shows how much you are insured for if you stop paying the premium. The last line shows how much is available if you want to shut down the policy completely. That means that if you are still alive after 10 or 15 years, you can afford to stop paying the premium as you will have enough cover already. Or if one of you dies and the survivor of the couple wants to go back to the UK, you can cash in the value of your policy (amount shown on the third line of the yearly statement).
How much does it cost: As an example, a person born in 1950 and insured for 3000€ would pay around 27€ per month and we offer a 10% discount for a couple
Isabelle Want 06 17 30 39 11 Email: isabelle.want @bh-assurances.fr
22 rue Jean Jaures.
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subscription (so then only 24€ each per month). For 5000€, it’s around 44€ and 10000€ it’s 88€ (for couples, 10% less). Conclusion: It is a contract we do quite often and the one we never have any problem with! There is no cheating with it; you are either dead or alive! No assessor needed! And no argument from the insurance company for paying! The payment is given very quickly once we have the death certificate, funeral bill, and the ID of the beneficiary (within 10 days). For free quotes, all I need is your birth date and the amount you want to be insured for. To set up the contract, I need copies of passports, a RIB (French bank details), and the list of beneficiaries (date of birth, place of birth, surname, maiden name, and first name).
And remember to check out our website www.bh-assurances.fr/en for all my previous articles and register to receive our monthly newsletter.
MICALA WILKINS MARKETING4TRADESMEN
In a recent exploration of various Facebook groups, I delved into the trade traits most cherished by homeowners. Among the myriad responses, one sentiment echoed universally: the longing for trades to reliably show up. This seemingly simple expectation carries a weight that extends beyond borders, resonating in France, the UK, the US, and Australia. Unpacking this desire unveils a fundamental truth: time is a precious commodity for homeowners and trades, underlining the significance of mutual respect. Let's delve into the dynamics between these two crucial stakeholders.
appointments and dodging fallout rather than addressing issues head-on.
To elevate the homeowner experience, trades can implement some practical strategies. For example, creating detailed inquiry forms for homeowners allows for a better understanding of projects.
Both homeowners and trades must acknowledge the value of each other's time
Embracing other forms of technology to better use your time, such as creating standard templates for various communication scenarios, colour-coded digital calendars for efficient scheduling, and designated days for appointments and assessments, can significantly enhance organisational efficiency. These steps improve client relations and contribute to a smoother workflow for trades.
Tradespeople engage in a delicate juggling act, managing various tasks beyond physical labour. The impact of poor planning or disorganisation within their business often eludes them. The modern tools and streamlined procedures that could enhance customer satisfaction still need to be discovered by some. Often overwhelmed and needing more resources, trades may resort to scheduling
On the homeowners' side, gathering quotes is a critical aspect to consider. Trades often face the dilemma of committing to comparison quote appointments or trade parades.
Recognising the unseen investment of time and resources - including travel, discussion, research, and devis preparation - sheds light on why
occasional no-shows may occur. Providing thorough project details, exercising patience, and confirming appointments through various channels can foster a more respectful and collaborative relationship.
It helps to understand that a signed devis is a binding contract between a homeowner and a tradesperson. A devis that has been issued and signed months before work commences means that the price quoted, say six months ago, will be completely different. Another reason some trades don't turn up is that they know they cannot start for six months, but it would help if the trade communicated this to the homeowner in the first instance.
Both homeowners and trades must acknowledge the value of each other's time and maintain open and continuous communication. While there is much more to explore on this topic, the essence lies in recognising that fostering a harmonious relationship requires understanding, patience, and mutual respect. In this interplay, building trust and collaboration becomes the cornerstone for a thriving partnership between homeowners and trades.
Amanda is a registered Naturopathic Nutritionist and Nutrigenomics Practitioner. Gut, Digestion and Microbiome Specialist
www.amandakingnd.com
Email: nutrition@amandakingnd.com
As with all nutritionists, I get asked a lot of questions about supplements, for example:
▪ Which supplements should I choose to boost my health?
▪ Can you give me a list of supplements that will help me be more healthy?
▪ Can you review my current supplements and tell me if it’s worth it or right for me?
These are common questions when you are a nutritionist and the answers are never that simple.
We are all a little different, we all have slightly different needs, we have different symptoms and different health goals.
Someone who chooses a vegetarian or vegan diet will have completely different supplement needs to someone who eats high quality grass-fed beef and organic animal protein at every meal with lots of oily fish for example.
There are some schools of thought that say we should not be supplementing so much. We should be able to get everything we need from the food we eat if we can only eat a variety of plants and a clean, good quality omnivorous diet. There are so many products that claim to be ‘the best’ and so many ‘common sense’ opinions out there
It’s a minefield in the online world of generalised advice
and then we have ‘experts’ who are often paid by supplements companies or who take a cut from some marketing campaign or other, selling products that suit their own pockets and not the health of their clientele. It’s no wonder people don’t know where to turn or how to decide what is best. It’s a minefield in the online world of generalised advice.
The reality is that there is no way of eliminating toxicity in this world any more. Our air is polluted with car/aeroplane fumes, industrial pollution or agricultural chemicals. Our tap water
Couples
has various hormone-disrupting chemicals in it along with residues of hormonal contraceptives and other people’s medications. Many of the soils that our food is grown in are depleted of nutrients, overworked and lacking in natural bacteria and the biodiversity necessary for optimal plant growth. We are sedentary, we eat processed junk and we are fed junk information directly through the eyeballs via mainstream TV, politics, and celebrity culture. There is a lot to mitigate! It’s not a question of whether we have toxicity any more, it’s rather to what extent.
As we are all unique, I believe the only way to get your individual supplement regime spot on is to get your DNA report (ideally Methylation DNA or Metabolics DNA) done through a UK company (diagnostics are available through my website below) and then speak with a registered and qualified health professional who understands how to interpret that information along with your other clinical diagnostics from the doctor, like your blood work for example. Only this way can we know exactly what your needs are and how you use vitamins and nutrients genetically. That’s the gold standard! There is no guesswork with that approach. But if you don’t want to take the gold standard and you just want the best kind of ‘general advice’ available then this is how to work it out best for yourself.
For most people a good quality multivitamin will cover the bases in a supportive way. Multivitamins are definitely not all created equal. For example, a high street or supermarket multi may contain Folic Acid (B9) and Cobalamin (B12) but these are not natural versions of the vitamins. Both of these are lab-made versions of these vitamins and when you ingest them, they have to go through a series of processes in the body to be converted (methylated) into forms that the body can actually use which are MethylFolate (B9) and Methylcobalamin (B12). If the dose is too high, you can even deplete yourself of the forms you actually need to be healthy and cause harm. Choose a methylated multivitamin and choose the right dose for your age and gender. If you are a man or a postmenopausal woman, you are not an athlete or diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia, and you eat red meat, then you should avoid iron in your supplements as this can damage your organs.
Remember that what we are not told is that minerals and vitamins compete with each other. Zinc can deplete copper, magnesium can deplete vitamin D, and vice versa. This is why it’s a lot better to seek the advice of a health professional to get the correct advice.
Remember that macro-vitamins like magnesium and calcium are often in much smaller amounts in multivitamins because of the amounts that the body actually needs. It’s impossible to meet the needs with the contents of one tablet or capsule. Quite often, and especially if you don’t eat at least two handfuls of leafy greens every day, you need more magnesium. But remember, more is less with many nutrients, you need to get the ‘Goldilocks zone’. Not too much and not too little, it needs to be just right (within a safe range).
But remember, more is less with many nutrients, you need to get the ‘Goldilocks zone’
they needed was to take vitamin D, they were deficient in D3 not in medication. It’s always best to address the root cause where possible.
This is a substance that is underrated and is very important. If you are deficient in choline you may have brain fog, memory and concentration issues, infertility, ADHD symptoms, fatigue or anxiety. Choline helps the nervous system and improves attention and memory. Everyone’s needs are different but choline is abundant in egg yolks and in liver. It can be really useful to look at your DNA as we can see how much choline you may need based on that and a discussion about your diet and lifestyle.
There should be at least 25mg of zinc for most men in a multi, women need a little less, 15-20mg. There should be no more than 50mg of zinc a day for anyone.
For most people 1000 IU of vitamin D3 a day is a good maintenance dose but genetically many people need a lot more than that. There is no way to tell unless we see if the individual has a common mutation on their VDR (vitamin D receptor) - we can check for this easily with a Methylation DNA report. There are many places online where people are being told to generally take more D3, much much more, but we have to be careful with fat-soluble nutrients. They are stored in our body tissues and can lead to toxicity if levels get too high. What is much better is to have a maintenance dose and get checked very regularly. Vitamin D deficiency is common and rickets is on the rise, which is crazy when we think about how simple that disease is to prevent. Often I see patients who are deficient in vitamin D3 and depressed so they have been given anti-depressants. The reality for some of those people though is that all
In the end, supplements should always be a support to a healthy diet and lifestyle. You cannot out-supplement a bad diet and there is no substitute for an organic, home grown, fresh, and wholefood diet. We often need to make up the shortfall though and by using these tips you may be able to make a more informed choice about your supplements. Remember to avoid high street and supermarket supplements and get professional advice if you want to get personalised advice. Always check with your doctor before you take supplements when you are taking medications and never adjust any medication without speaking first with your medical team or doctor.
By choosing high quality supplements that actually work and are bio available (available to your body for its needs) you will avoid wasting your money on just expensive pee.
These articles are for information purpose only and do not constitute personal advice. For personal advice, reach out to your healthcare. Feel free to contact me for individual consultations provider.
‘I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!' ‘I AM USELESS AT THIS!’ 'I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO MAKE THIS WORK’. SOUND FAMILIAR? DO YOU RECOGNISE THESE COMMENTS ON YOUR WORK OR ACTIONS?
We all have this little voice in the back of our head commenting on our everyday life, on all our actions and choices, and more often than not on our failings and shortcomings. It is constant, even when it is not always that loud or noticeable. Have you ever kept track of how often this voice's comments are negative and critical versus how many times it encourages you or gives you praise?
Now, imagine if that ever-present and opinionated inner voice was a real person. Would you want to hang out with them? It is quite likely that after half an hour you would tell them to take a hike. No one wants to spend time with someone who criticises them, points out how useless they are or are negative about pretty much everything all the time. You would tell them to take it elsewhere and not bring you down all the time, ruining your mood, if not your entire day. So, if you wouldn’t want someone else to talk to you that way, why would you do it to yourself? How is it helpful?
Let me give you a few examples. If you tell yourself ‘I can’t do this’ then that’s pretty final. You will not make any more attempts and will no longer feel the need or have the courage to try, practise or improve your skills. You may feel beaten, end of story.
No one wants to spend time with someone who criticises them, points out how useless they are or are negative about pretty much everything all the time
But if you add ‘yet’ to that sentence, suddenly everything changes. ‘I can’t do this yet’ creates hope, possibility. Right now I might not be able to get this done but maybe at some point in the future I will. And you are more likely to keep trying and feel motivated instead of beaten down.
Have you ever noticed how often you use the word ‘should'? We use it pretty often and frankly, it is not a helpful word. Should implies guilt or shame; ‘I should get on with work’ means that if I don’t, then I did something wrong. ‘I should have got on with work’ means I have done something wrong already! It is a negative use of language and consequently makes us feel negative, down, pressured in taking action. Like there is no other choice.
ByRafaëlDupré
Originally from Belgium, Rafaël has run private practices in the UK and France, working with individuals or couples on a huge range of issues
Erase that unhelpful word ‘should’ from your vocabulary and replace it with the more helpful ‘could’.
MAKING SMALL CHANGES
It is remarkable how small changes in our language can make a big difference in how we feel and how we behave differently as a result. All it takes is awareness; would I speak to my best friend in the same way I speak to myself? Treat yourself with the same empathy, understanding, and kindness. Change the language of your inner voice accordingly. Be your own best friend.
It is hard to break a pattern though, something that is so ingrained will resist being changed. It therefore can be helpful to use a physical reminder: an alarm on your phone; a note on the bathroom mirror; a simple bracelet that you notice every time you stretch your arm…. Anything that reminds you to pay attention to your inner voice and its language, so you can rephrase things more positively when you catch yourself being negative. Just for today, one day at a time. Should you change your language or could you? And if you haven’t mastered it yet, no problem, you will get there at some point. You just aren’t there YET!
The language we use, with ourselves or with others, determines for a great part how we feel. If your inner voice is very self-critical, for instance, it could be that you actually feel criticised and incapable, useless or generally not worth very much. If you use more positive language with yourself, you will feel lighter and less burdened by the same shortcomings or failures. So, if you can change the language, you can change how you feel. And when you feel more positive, you will also start making more positive choices and more constructive approaches towards life.
But if you replace ‘should’ by ‘could’ the meaning of that sentence changes; ‘I could get on with work’ means that you have choice and again it creates possibilities. It puts you in charge, you feel more in control and therefore you feel more content. You might still make the same choice and get on with work, but now at least you are doing so because you weighed up your options and their consequences. You chose to do it because you wanted to and not because you would feel guilty if you didn’t. We go from a negative motivator, guilt, to a positive one, choice.
MARCH IS FINALLY HERE, SIGNALLING THE BEGINNING OF SPRING. THE DESIRE TO GARDEN IS MORE URGENT FOR EVERYONE!
The big repotting period is almost with us, so now is the time to make a list of plants to repot and to start sorting the pots and potting compost. Garden centres and supermarkets are starting to burst with colour, but beware, as frost can still bite and destroy your hard work overnight!
Here is a list of activities which will not take a great deal of time and are not hard work but will reap dividends.
● Install nesting boxes for the various species of birds that visit your garden. Place them at the right height and out of reach of cats. If nesting boxes are already in place in the garden, check that they are empty before cleaning and replacing them.
● Preserve old swallows’ nests (if you are lucky enough to have them) and shelter them under your roof curb, the swallows will return soon.
time! Some of these options are alternatives to a conventional lawn that will take less of your time and attract even more friendly insects.
Suggestions include:
▪ Blue Star Creeper (Laurentia fluvaitilis) forms dense blankets of tiny green leaves with delicate blue flowers
▪ Clover and microclover makes ideal turfgrass substitutes and need little mowing, stay green all year, and make their own fertiliser
▪ Creeping Thyme is hardy, drought resistant, and will stand a lot of walking over, it gives off a wonderful perfume when you walk on it
It is a good therapy for stress and anxiety, and for regulating heart rate
● This is an excellent time to plant and transplant hardy perennials, some of which you may have divided at the end of last year or purchased at one of the many growers’ markets opening now.
● Annuals such as marigolds, poppies, cosmos, snapdragon, and phlox can also be sown now. Try new and different plants and varieties to broaden the palette in your garden, perhaps attracting new visitors,
● There is still a short amount of time left to cut hedges but take care when pruning hedges and shrubs as you may disturb nesting birds. If necessary, postpone the pruning until autumn! The cleaning of the pond is one of the operations which can be carried out in March, but be careful not to destroy the first amphibian eggs.
● If you are thinking of sowing a lawn, opt for an alternative to grass that requires less water, less care, and little or no mowing. Grass has its place, but it’s a resource-heavy plant needing irrigation, mowing treatments, and most of all our
● Weeds grow particularly vigorously in early spring. In flower borders they should be removed before they go to seed. Contrary to popular belief, it is quite possible to compost them after uprooting, so they can be recycled!
● However, it is worthwhile leaving a secluded part of the garden for nature to rule. Here you should allow daisies, dandelions, nettles, and plants which in other parts of the garden we regard as weeds, as these plants serve as hosts for many of the gardener's helpers.
● Always act before weeds flower. Whether you pull them out or cut them back, always act as soon as you see any trace of a weed as these plants have an incredible capacity to develop seed, and if these seeds get onto the soil they will always find the right time to grow!
● Sow green manure. Cover soil in vegetable beds when they are bare between crops by sowing clover, phacelia, mustard or alfalfa, depending on the season. These green manures cover the soil preventing the growth of weeds, while loosening and fertilising it. Cut back green manures before they go to seed and leave them as a ground cover. They will rot down and add extra humus to the soil.
By Ronnie Ogier
Ronnie is a passionate gardener and now loves sharing her years of experience of success and failures in her own garden and sharing it with you. Also a keen runner, having been bitten by the ‘Couch to 5K’ bug!
● Mulch with plant residues. Green manure, grass clippings or crushed dead leaves can be an ideal organic mulch. Spread in a thick layer on the ground, it deprives weed seeds of light and prevents them from germinating.
● Cover the ground with a tarpaulin. If you have a large area overgrown with difficult weeds and don't want to weed it manually, spread a tarpaulin over it. Secure it with planks or large stones placed around its edge. Leave this stuffy blanket on for 3 weeks or longer and then you’ll be able to take out any weeds very easily.
● Recycle cardboard boxes. In the same way, you can use cardboard to cover soil between crops. If the method seems unsightly, cover them with a light vegetable mulch. The whole thing will decompose within a few months, leaving a perfect soil ready to plant into. And the worms love cardboard.
● Hoe, weed, scratch the soil. Hoe and weed at least once or twice a week to remove weeds as soon as they grow, so they won't have time to reproduce and invade everything! Early morning is the best time of day to do this. Leave them on the soil and let the sun destroy the weeds.
● Scalding the weeds. Don't throw away the cooking water from your potatoes or pasta. Use it as a natural weed killer to eliminate weeds in small areas and scald the seeds that remain on the ground. This is not a permanent weed ‘killer’ but repeated scaldings as the weeds regrow will eventually weaken and destroy them.
As you are ‘working’ in your garden remember that gardening is good for your health! It is a good therapy for stress and anxiety, and for regulating heart rate, thereby improving blood pressure. Everything you do in the garden stimulates muscles and joints and fights against obesity.
So, grab your tools, it's spring!
MOVING OUR CLOCKS FORWARD THIS MONTH WE ALL KNOW THAT WE’RE IN FOR LIGHTER EVENINGS, BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT PLANTS HAVE CLOCKS TOO?
When I am designing a new border or planting scheme I think about succession of interest throughout the growing season, whether it is a herbaceous border, shrub border or mixed border. I start by choosing some background plants which have a long season of interest and will support or complement the plants that provide short-lived colour, texture or form. These background plants will be mainly foliage plants such as evergreen and deciduous shrubs, ornamental grasses, and evergreen perennials. Next, I think about adding successional bursts of colour to create ever-changing interest, starting with the spring bulbs and flowers, followed by the herbaceous perennials, some of which flower in spring, some in the summer, while others will flower in the autumn and early winter alongside the autumn colours of the foliage.
But have you ever wondered how plants know when it is their turn to perform? As a plant scientist as well as a designer and nursery grower this is something that always fascinates me, and a deep understanding of what goes on inside plants gives me the knowledge of when and how to plant, prune, and propagate. One of the biggest influences on flowering time is day length. Plants that flower in late spring and early summer are triggered into growth by the lengthening days (or more importantly the shortening nights) - these are known as ‘Long Day Plants’. Late flowering plants are triggered by the shortening days after the summer solstice and are known as ‘Short Day
Caroline has been a lecturer in horticulture for 20 years and now runs a nursery and ‘garden craft’ courses in the Haute-Vienne at Le jardin créatif
A deep understanding of what goes on inside plants gives me the knowledge of when and how to plant, prune, and propagate
Plants’. So, can plants count, or tell the time? In fact they respond to the relative difference in length of the night and day in a process known as ‘Photoperiodism’. What actually happens is that plants have light receptors within their cells that are sensitive to far-red light wavelengths of light. During the day the far-red light converts a chemical called ‘Phytochrome Red’ into ‘Phytochrome Far Red’. During the dark hours of the night this is slowly converted back again to Phytochrome Red. When the daylight is longer than the dark hours, on balance there will be some remaining Phytochrome Far Red in the morning. This will build up again the following day and keep building up within the plant cells. When the nights
Caroline Wright Le jardin créatif Growing in raised beds Crocus require a soil temperature of 6 degrees to initiate growth
are longer than the daytime it is the opposite; most of the Phytochrome Far Red is converted back to Phytochrome Red. Each plant species will be receptive to a certain level of Phytochrome Far Red for the production of flower buds to be triggered and this relates to the number of dark hours and is known as the ‘Critical Period’.
For example, Chrysanthemums that flower in late autumn need over 9 hours of continuous darkness 6 to 8 weeks before flowering for flower bud initiation to be induced. Florists are able to produce Chrysanthemums in flower all year round by imitating this period by using a combination of artificial lighting and black out curtains. They can hold back flowering by using lighting to lengthen the daytime until they wish to induce flowering, and they can promote out of season flowers by blacking out the growing area.
are dormant, they are underground and therefore are not affected by light. Early bulbs such as snowdrops and crocus need a soil temperature of 4 degrees and 6 degrees respectively for a period of 4 to 6 weeks, while later-flowering bulbs require higher soil temperatures. Florists can manipulate the flowering of bulbs for cut flowers by refrigeration and precise temperature control. This process known as ‘vernalisation’ is also important in the blossoming of many trees, including most fruit trees, that require a period of cold temperatures followed by specific warmer temperatures for successful blossoming. The cold period is just as important as the warm period, so mild winters and cold wet springs can have a detrimental effect on the flowering of many tree species and can affect fruit production.
days of autumn the plants are triggered to draw back nutrients from the leaves in preparation for dormancy. Iron and magnesium are often in short supply in the soil so the plant will draw them out of the leaves and store them for early growth the following season. These two nutrients form a major part of the chlorophyll molecule which makes the leaves appear green. When these are removed the other light capturing pigments become visible. These are mainly the carotenoids, the reds and oranges that we see in the autumn colour of the leaves. A hot summer will enhance their production, and a cold snap will speed up the process of colour development.
It is this phenomenon that makes it difficult to get your Christmas Poinsettia to flower again the following year, because when the days start to shorten and the dark evenings are upon us, we switch on the lights in our homes, and this effectively lengthens the day. You need to keep them in an unlit room to give them sufficient dark hours. In urban areas street lighting can also confuse plants and you may find them flowering out of their usual season.
Temperature also plays a part in the whole process, especially for bulbs. While they
Some plants are known as day neutral plants because they are not affected by daylength and come into flower at their own physiological maturity, although temperature and quality of light will have an effect on their development. Many annuals will start to flower a certain number of days after germination, therefore early sowing can be beneficial, but sometimes later sowings can catch up if it has been cold and dull for the early ones. This is why many growers of annuals will use artificial lighting and heating to bring on the crop.
Autumn colours in the leaves of deciduous plants are triggered by a combination of light and temperature. In the shortening
www.lejardincreatif.net
Our nursery and garden are reopening from the first weekend in March. Opening hours for March are Saturdays 12h - 16h. From April onwards we will open every Saturday 10h - 16h. We have a range of perennials, shrubs, herbs, and ornamental grasses for sale. We also offer free planting advice to nursery customers on Saturdays. Check out our plant list and details of our forthcoming courses and workshops on our website: lejardincreatif.net
Male Carpenter Bee pollinating flower
Bumblebee pollinating Peach blossom in spring
Female Large White butterfly
Bee-fly
Gendarme bugs
At its beginning, the trees are still bare, and frost is still a distinct possibility –we can have a frost even up to mid-April, and then, woe betide the fruit-crops!
Occasionally, though, it is quite possible to take a lunchtime drink in a sheltered spot in the garden. Just make sure you have a nice warm pullover to hand!
For reasons too distressing to enumerate I have been confined to the house for the last few weeks or so, so this offering is being written quite close to the end of February. Never let it be said our news is out-of-date! As a result, most of this month’s observations are second-hand or as seen through my window.
This has so far been a warm year, and you may possibly have seen some insect life already. Warm days can bring out hibernating butterflies such as the Red Admiral, Tortoiseshells, even the odd Comma, and one can only hope they manage to find some sustenance, although survival for an awakened insect is less energy-critical than for a mammal. The first of the true spring butterflies will soon start to appear – Brimstone butterflies,
some Large and Small Whites. The first beetles – the hardy Gendarme bugs with their red-and-black coats – will be seen this month. I have already seen a few small clusters of them, gently circling around a tree bole following a patch of sunshine.
The return of the Insects
If the weather remains warm, you may see honey bees going about their business. Over the winter the bees have been tightly massed in their nest, busy keeping the temperature up by metabolism (that is, flexing their flightmuscles) and activity. They gain the energy needed by consuming stored honey, and can get through up to 50 kilograms of it, depending on the size of the colony and the length and severity of the winter. They will soon be getting the nest ready for the new queens, and for the start of the really active season. However, no self-respecting Honeybee will fly if the temperature is below 10°C. So don’t expect swarming until towards the end of April.
ByMikeGeorge
Mike George is our regular contributor on wildlife and the countryside in France. He is a geologist and naturalist, living in the Jurassic area of the Charente
They gain the energy needed by consuming stored honey, and can get through up to 50kg
The Bumblebees are even hardier than the Honeybees, and start their work surprisingly early. If there is a flower to drink from, you will almost certainly see a Bumblebee. Long may it continue, although census-takers suggest that numbers are dropping. If they cease to populate our gardens, they will also cease to visit our farmers’ fields, and then we shall be in a serious mess!
Another thing to watch out for is the Bee-fly. These tiny creatures, about the size of a pea and light brown in colour, love to hover in front of early flowers and drink the nectar. They look very like tiny bumblebees, but close inspection will reveal that they only have one pair of wings and are true flies – all bees have two pairs of wings. Also they have a long proboscis to push into the
flowers, unlike the Bumblebee with its short mouth-parts. These curious little creatures actually prey on bumblebee colonies, laying their eggs in the nests of the hapless bees. It has been said that the fly hovers in front of the Bumblebee’s nest entrance and somehow lobs a fertile egg into the nest, but I have never seen this myself.
They can even be fatal to cats and dogs if they sniff them or try to eat them
Hummingbird Hawk-moths may put in an appearance on warm days later in the month, flying strongly, often close to the walls of your house. Again, they do no harm to the house – they are just enjoying the warmth radiated from the stonework.
At this point I must repeat my annual warning about the Pine Processionary Moth caterpillars. If you see a line of about 20 to 30 caterpillars walking noseto-tail in “follow-my-leader” style DO NOT TOUCH THEM!! These caterpillars (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) are covered in irritating hairs which will cause at best a nettle-rash in humans, at worst a serious allergic reaction in susceptible people. They can even be fatal to cats and dogs if they sniff them or try to eat them, as the hairs get into their upper breathing-passages and force the tissues to swell.
As for other flying creatures, I know that the Cranes (Grus grus) have already been
passing overhead en route for their spring nesting-areas. I hope that this is a good sign for a warmish year to come, but experience has taught me the folly of relying on just one sign from Mother Nature!
In the woods, Daffodils are already making their appearance. Look out for the wild ones, so much smaller and shyerlooking than the cultivated varieties. Violets will begin to appear in fields and on road verges. See if you can spot white specimens – they are about. Cowslips also start to carpet the roadsides. They love the limy soil of this region.
I once lamented the fact that there seemed to be no bluebell woods in France. I was hastily assured by walkers and naturelovers that there are some – they just take a bit of finding!
Mad March hares
Of all the creatures that personify March, it is the Lagomorphs (the rabbits and the hares) that are most typical. This is mating time for them. The rabbit tribe tends to be more circumspect (although they do have some bizarre mating customs), but it is the hares, with their open air existence, who make themselves welcome in the countryside in spring. The well-known “Boxing-matches” in which they indulge were long thought to be chiefly between competing males. Careful observation has made it clear that, in most cases, the fight is little more than a hardpressed female bopping the nose of an overzealous male suitor.
Towards the end of the month the familiar green haze of spring begins to appear in the trees. Soon the true spring will begin, and nature will re-awaken.
RESEARCH HAS GIVEN US A SNEAK PEEK INTO THE LIVES OF MULTIDOG OWNERS, REVEALING THAT AROUND 8% HAVE REPORTED INSTANCES OF DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN DOGS IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD
Studies suggest that having dogs of the same gender might add a bit of drama to the doggy dynamics. This is especially notable among the ladies, and that’s likely to be as a result of a rise in oestrogen which can cause females to be irritable. While the exact frequency of conflicts in multidog households remains a mystery, it's worth noting that spats between dogs is one of the most common reasons our canine pals find themselves back in rehoming centres.
But there are things you can do to keep the peace at home. Here are 5 tips to keep tails wagging and create a haven of tranquillity for your dogs:
1. Calm Canine Communication
Train each of your dogs to respond to a calm positive interrupter noise. This is a calm noise that you make that alerts your dog to the fact that they should come to you calmly, such as a clicking sound with your tongue, or a ch ch ch as you might use with a cat. This is perfect for preventing disagreements before they even begin!
2. Zones of Zen
Designate certain areas of your home as 'Calm Zones.' Whether it's the lounge or a special corner, make these spaces havens of tranquility where calmness rules. Teach your dogs to use beds and boundaries in these calm zones, offer long-
lasting chews to encourage calmness, and save high-energy games for the great outdoors!
3. Lifestyle Harmony
Sometimes our lifestyle is challenging for our dogs. For example, they may find themselves home alone for much of the day and then be super-excited when we return from work, or you may have a busy social life that they’re required to be a part of.
Tailor your lifestyle to accommodate your dogs. Consider your dogs’ need for mental and physical stimulation, balanced with adequate rest. Boredom, too much stimulation or exercise, or insufficient rest, can all be triggers for behaviour problems. In a multi-dog household, this energy can easily lead to over-exuberance that might not be appreciated by all members of the doggy family.
4. Gated Bliss
Create gated communities by using crates, puppy pens, or stair gates. Each dog needs a personal space, away from the hustle and bustle of the other dogs and household generally, where they can go when they would like some time out and where they are assured of some good quality rest. Many dogs find movement exciting, so shield them from movements around the house by covering their crate or pen, or
Jack
By Hazel Johnson
Hazel is a dog behaviour consultant, supporting dog owners to transform their dog’s challenging behaviour, and to develop their dog’s ability to make good behaviour choices
www.caniamis.com
See advert on page 45
even putting them in a room on their own behind a closed door.
Separating your dogs from one another for part of the day is always a good idea, but do remember that gated communities are about love not punishment and require positive training from the outset.
5. Rethink the Routine
Break free from the predictable! Dogs are animals of efficiency and are very quick to work out our routines and what they mean for them! But in a multidog household, this can often lead to a chorus of excitement.
Shake things up a bit – practice grabbing the lead without going for a walk, redefine the meaning of keys and coats by picking up keys and putting your coat on, even when you’re not going anywhere. Show your dogs that not every ritual heralds a whirlwind of excitement. This helps to keep them calm and reduce the likelihood of fallings out.
The path to peace in multidog households is all about understanding your dogs' needs and creating a harmonious environment where each one can thrive as an individual whilst still being able to come together in a safe way.
By incorporating these simple strategies into your routine, you can create a tranquil atmosphere and nurture the bonds between your dogs.
THIS
However, with a telescope we could have the opportunity to search for and follow the progress of a few comets. The first of these is named, imaginatively, C/2021 S3 PanSTARRS.
2021 is the year it was discovered and 'Panstarrs' describes the telescope, the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System. The ‘C’ means that this is a non-periodic comet (it has an orbital period greater than 200 years). On their website and in their logo they use the acronym ‘Pan-STARRS’. This comet should become bright enough through the month to be seen with good
This comet should become bright enough through the month to be seen with good binoculars
binoculars. Look towards the north east, close to the horizon and below Hercules. The comet will travel closer to Cygnus and Collinder 399 towards the last day of the month. The other two comets, named 62P/Tsuchinsham 1 and C/2023 A3 Tsuchinsham-ATLAS, could brighten to 10th and 13th magnitude respectively throughout March. For more detailed finder charts for these comets you can search on the Facebook group 'Comet Watch'. If a comet brightens to magnitude 4 or 5, you should be able to see it with your unaided eyes from an area free of
By Claire Wardlaw
Claire Wardlaw, originally from Edinburgh, lives in the Charente with her husband. Since their move to France, Claire has become passionate about astronomy
artificial light or moonlight. A small pair of binoculars should show comets as faint as visual magnitude of 8 or 9 under very dark skies.
As we begin to say goodbye to the constellation the Hunter or 'Orion' we can look forward to a few new constellations taking pride of place in the spring skies. Cancer, which is slightly more difficult to define, can be found to the left of Gemini. You can use the stars Castor and Pollux as pointers.
Leo, the very easily recognised Lion, will be just to the left of Cancer with the inverted question mark forming the lion's head.
Leo Minor sits just above Leo. It is smaller and not quite so easy to recognise as an actual 'animal'.
Virgo, sitting nearer to the horizon looking south east, is easily found once you identify the bright star Spica. Virgo follows on the heels of Leo.
The Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox falls on 20th March this year. The equinox marks the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, but to be more specific, it's the day the sun's rays shine onto the equator while the Earth sits with its axis tilted neither toward nor away from the Sun. This causes 12 hours of sunlight almost everywhere on Earth with a day and night of almost equal length.
the 13th and the 16th, looking towards the west. The waxing crescent Moon will begin close by the planet Jupiter on the 13th. It will move closer to The Pleiades on the 14th and then it will be found in very close proximity to the star Elnath which is in the constellation of Taurus.
These two bright objects will be found low in the southern sky
Last Quarter Phase Moon:
3rd around 16h23
New Moon Phase: 10th at 10h00
First Quarter Phase: 17th just after 05h00
Full Moon Phase: 25th at around 08h00
This month, why not plan to look outside after dark and try to spot the very bright star Antares - in the constellation of Scorpius - seemingly very close to the Last Quarter Moon on the 3rd. These two bright objects will be found low in the southern sky. Later in the month you could see the changing position of the Moon between
Planets this Month
▪ Mercury is an evening planet and will be best seen later this month.
▪ Venus has become less bright in the mornings now as it sits closer to the Sun in the brightening twilight.
▪ Mars is lost in the morning twilight this month
▪ Jupiter is sliding out of prominence this month as it slips down closer to the horizon as darkness falls
▪ Saturn is not visible at this time
▪ Uranus and Neptune are not best placed for observation with a telescope just now.
Astronomy Jargon Buster: Geocentric and Heliocentric
We have two contradictory words to bust this month. Firstly, let's think about the word ‘geocentric’. This word describes a system of movement and positioning in our Solar System of the Earth, Sun, and Planets which places the Earth at the centre of everything! Heliocentric describes a Solar System with the Sun at the centre with planets orbiting around it. (It's fair to say that this is the accepted system - we checked!)
NASA’s historymaking Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has ended its mission at the Red Planet after surpassing expectations and making dozens more flights than planned. While the helicopter remains upright and in communication with ground controllers, imagery of its 18th January flight sent to Earth this week indicates one or more of its rotor blades sustained damage during landing and it is no longer capable of flight. We can look forward to many more developments in the future given what these history-making flights have taught scientists.
On 14th March 1835, Giovanni Schiaparelli was born.
Schiaparelli was an Italian astronomer who was the Director of the Milan Observatory. He was the main populariser of the theory that Mars had 'canals'. He also established the connection between the orbits of meteor streams and the orbits of comets.
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Hello and welcome to March. Is spring here yet? I hope so ‘cos I’m fed up with getting cold and wet. Multiple nonmatching layers, gloves, and a hat have been my fashion for a while now. Quite ‘chic’ as they never say around these parts.
Once the sun comes out I’m sure I’ll cheer up, but for now, I kindly ask that you pay attention, stop watching people on TV baking stuff, and cast your eyes to the guff below.
Right, actual useful info.
Those of you still using a first generation Sky box (so, not high-def) will find they become obsolete this year. Following the move by the BBC, Sky have announced that they will cease broadcasting channels in the DVB-S standard during 2024. This means that even though some standarddefinition channels will still be broadcast, older Sky boxes will not be able to receive them. Going forward, Sky will use DVB-S2
which can only be received by Sky HD and Sky Q boxes (in fact, any HD receiver for the free channels). This switch is also the reason the BBC radio services are being affected.
It may come as a surprise, but Freeview remains completely different to Freesat. It’s still happening people. Especially when ordering online. If you want UK TV then you need either a genuine Freesat HD receiver (it’ll be printed on the unit itself), a Sky HD digibox or worst-case, a generic free-to-air HD receiver. What you definitely do not want is a Freeview box. Not sure about where you might be, but we’ve got fibre internet these days. And very good it is too. However, some areas still have a bit of a wait. This is where Starlink comes in. Internet via satellite. It’s very fast and has the benefit of a rental option (with no minimum contract period). So if you need fast internet but don’t yet have fibre, it might be worth giving Starlink a look.
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email: immo@courivaud.com
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