I should have been on the train* to London, meeting Liz and the girls and going to this. But the Young V&A is closed due to the heatwave. And instead I have fallen down an Internet rabbit hole, no, a marmot burrow. Consider the French painter Fragonard for instance. Until this week, I only knew two of his paintings
Young Girl Reading - which was on a postcard pinned in my student bedroom, and The Swing [I saw this in the Wallis Collection]
But now I have found The Girl With The Marmot, [in the Albertina Museum, Vienna] and I have now learned an awful lot about marmots. These cute rodents [related to the groundhog] live at high altitude , spending many months in hibernation. They come out for just 4 or 5 months in the summer, and display hyperphagia - extreme insatiable hunger.This enables them to build up body fat to sustain them through their winter months, in their underground burrows. But these creatures are ill-equipped to survive temperatures about 20°C. They cannot sweat [no ex-Royal-related jokes, please!] They have to sploot - that is, spread themselves out, face down**, on a cool rock in the shade somewhere. This helps them reduce their body temperature. Maybe I should strip off and sploot on the cool tiles in the Futility Room? Perhaps not. They forage and eat early & late, and take it easy in the hottest parts of the day.
I could definitely be a Marmot Girl, following their example - and this is my summer!
*Trainline are refunding my tickets - thankyou!
** the marmot in the cartoon is lying the wrong way up!
I think I could become a splooter. Lovely word.
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DeleteI’d like to split too. We have had a spectacular storm during the night and the thunder has just started rumbling again. At leas it’s watered the garden. Glad you got a refund on your train tickets. Catriona
ReplyDeleteMy refund covered the return journey too
DeleteThis reminds me of when we were on a skiing holiday in the French Alps. I was on the ski lift with the instructor, admiring the scenery as we were taken upwards. There were lots of footprints in the snow and he claimed they mere the prints of "marmottes" I thought he had said "Mammoths" and refused to believe him. If they do hibernate then I was right not to believe him, but for the wrong reasons.
ReplyDeleteThere is a brand of herbal tea called "Les deux marmottes" - some of their teas sound appealing, but they are expensive. The marmots on the label are quite cute though. https://www.les2marmottes.com/en/
I will check them out
DeleteYou can get Marmot socks on offer!!! https://www.les2marmottes.com/en/products/chaussettes-vertes
ReplyDeleteWow 🧦
DeleteI came across 'sploot' this morning; a picture of Robin splooting to let the sun shine on its wing feathers. Apparently the heat dislodge the mites, making it easier for the bird to remove them! Who knew..,
ReplyDeleteThis is SO not a day for travel. You've had a lucky escape, I reckon, and a refund too.
I didn't know robins splooted
DeleteI would like to be splooting on an ice bsg right now! Regards Sue H
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DeleteThat should have read been Sue
ReplyDelete😉
DeleteOur cat Yvonne has spent most of the last week splooting on the tiled floor in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great word and I feel like splooting myself!
I see they are limiting the drinking of alcohol in Paris during the heatwave
DeleteMy eldest travelled to London on Sunday for work because his emp!oyers refused to let him work remotely. By Monday evening changed their minds and came to their senses and on Tuesday back on the train he got for Edinburgh to work from home. Unfortunately his travel expenses weren't reimbursed. We had a fantastic electrical storm in the early hours.Mother Nature was spectacular!
ReplyDeletePoor bloke!
DeleteAhh! Third time lucky I meant berg. Too hot to be particular. Sue H
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DeleteI too saw the Fragonard in the Wallis collection. I was a student at the time with very little spending money but had to buy a postcard of the Swing. What an artist!
ReplyDeleteThe Swing is even referenced in Disneys Frozen, when Anna visits the art gallery
DeleteHaha, I love that I never know what to expect when I visit your blog Angela. People say that I am random with my postings, but you take it to a whole other, very fascinating level. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you Sue. Did you pick up Bob's useful reply yesterday to your comment re solar panels?
DeleteI think I would be tempted to "sploot" on the tiles if I were enduring your heat. By coincidence, yesterday I saw not a marmot but a cute young groundhog in the grassy area near the church. I enjoyed watching him wander around. There have been groundhogs there for years and in summer I have a favourite parking spot at a distance under the trees, right next to a groundhog hole.
ReplyDeleteI've only seen groundhogs on TV
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely word 'sploot' is. Shame you missed the exhibition and time with your girls though. Xx
ReplyDeleteIt is on for quite a few months. Liz will try and rebook for the autumn
DeleteDancer used to spread himself out flat on the cooler bathroom tiles during the heat of our summers, poor cat. I hope the marmots find many cool rocks on which to cool off especially if our global climate continues to warm up.
ReplyDeleteMe too. Thanks for the heads up about my typo yesterday.
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