January 2021 Newsletter.pdf (745.7 KB)
Unless I missed it, she doesn’t mention the critical fact of making sure you alert people to remove the dead deer…or getting authorisation to take it yourself. ??
I hit one here a few years ago. I turned down the nearest track to inspect the damage to the car and a van pulled up down the main road, doors opened, deer removed…probably changed their lunch menu 
When I lived in the Eastern Cape (South Africa) night driving out of town was a bit dangerous, not so much because of hi-jackers (though there were too many of those) as kudu - large nocturnal antelopes as big as a horse that would try to cross roads by jumping over approaching cars and sometimes landed on the bonnet, going through the windscreen and crushing the inhabitants. Many people who lived on local farms had massive grills in front of the windscreens of their bakkies (double cab pick-up trucks).
Nevertheless kudu steaks, kudu pie and kudu biltong are the foods I miss most from SA. Oh, and edible avos and papayas.
This is the biltong from my local butcher, the aptly named Connock’s Butchery. The big shop was quite impressive with large kudu heads around two walls and below them lesser game such as warthogs (loved warthog chops). The remaining walls were covered in stuffed marlin and other large gamefish from the nearby Indian Ocean. The eponymous owner was ex-SAPS (SA Police) withj typical thick neck, slightly smaller head and tight tight, short shorts (think mid '70’s Dutch footballers).
He had a gamefarm on the edge of town, next to a kudu reserve and when he was caught skinning a kudu in the reserve, claimed that it was one of his. He’d shot it on his property and that with its dying breath the antelope had leapt over the 3m high game fence and landed in the reserve.
Despite the case being brought in the ‘new South Africa’ it was was dismissed through lack of evidence.
A useful list of French abbreviations:
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I used to commute regularly from London to the West Country. I always came off the M4 at Hungerford because the A4 from there to Box was excellent for road-kill - pheasant and rabbit. A pheasant flew into the windscreen of the car ahead, sailed clear over my car and landed in the road behind me, in front of the next car up. We all three drivers got out, much commiseration from the woman driver of the car behind mine.
I was first to the bird, picked it up, about to put it in my boot when it woke up! It stared round at the three of us in that stupid way that pheaasants have. I missed a trick by not giving its neck a discreet tweak. The woman said, “Oh! It’s alive! Let’s take it to a vet!”
I handed it to her. “All yours, madam”
The river Tamar is a trunk route for birds. Every day a large flock of Canada geeze would fly up and down, morning and evening. 400m downstream from my boatyard power lines crossed the river. Flocks of birds would get confused by these - go over or go under?
One day my shipwright came in off the river with a goose that had just flown into a cable. He handed it to my PA, his g/f, and said, “There you go girl. Roast goose for dinner, please”
Next day she came in with slices of goose breast - goose breast sandwiches for lunch! It was horrible. I have never eaten pond slime, of course, but that was what this goose tasted of - muddy, brackish pond slime. We gave it to the dogs.
Public Holidays in France 2021
https://www.french-property.com/news/travel_france/public_holidays_france_2021/
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Not sure that this is worthy of a new topic, but I noticed what, on face value, appears to be a rather bizarre new law. It will be an offence to pass between two vehicles in a line. i.e. motor cyclists will not be able to sneak through a traffic queue. What justification can there be for this?
Number of deaths caused by accidents resulting from this behaviour I presume… number of times I’ve seen near misses because of cars turning in from of bikes that have snuck up on them (without indicating of course…)
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Have you driven in Paris during the morning rush?
When we arrived in France 13 years ago in the depths of winter, we found ourselves on the Boulevard Périphérique in really heavy stop/start traffic. Motos were scooting past us at incredible speed on either side weaving in and out of the gaps. One such moto flew past us and hit the passenger mirror of a large Renault van on our left full on! His helmet took the mirror off its mountings but he just carried on leaving the bemused driver out of his cammion scratching his head. Unbelievable.
Some bikers are just nut jobs 
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