White Snow Background For Sparkling Plumage of Cock Pheasant.

2006-03-08::

Hello Pen,
I hope your 'studio' project gets the go-ahead, then perhaps one day in the future, people from different countries of the world will come to see it ! Will the banks be planted with Spring flowers? The crocus and snowdrops were in bloom here, then the snow came. It flattened the crocus but the snowdrops lived up to their name, and survived! If you call during your visit to Windy Gap, you probably wont see any crocus or snowdrops here, but perhaps you will be lucky enough to see our resident pheasant ! The cock pheasant was out feeding on the snow covered ground last week with the sun making its plumage even more brilliant. I keep this information away from the Chinese, for their first instinct would be to catch and eat them ! Have you ever tasted pheasant ?????? You may also be lucky enough to see the baby rabbits. They have a burrow under the garden shed, and sometimes they pop out to nibble a few blades of grass before hurrying back to safety whenever a large bird flies overhead. A few years ago, I was sitting on a low wall in the front garden, feeding sultanas to four young thrushes, which were quite close to my feet. Suddenly the four thrushes darted under my legs for safety; they had seen a large crow flying above them! When they thought the danger had passed, they came out again for a few more sultanas.

It would indeed be a coincidence if Fred and I knew the same group of people! 'Mach' and 'Diep' are most likely, Vietnamese family names. Most of the 'Asian people' I know are Chinese, the original group coming from Vietnam and are known as the 'boat people'. Most of these were Chinese who had moved from China to Vietnam or who were born in Vietnam. At the time, China and Vietnam were not particularly friendly with each other!

I think I only know about three families where one or both partners are Vietnamese. One family 'Pham' lives in France, another family Pham lives in London as does family Hue. Many of the newer immigrants come from south-east China, one of the areas I have not previously been to, but this year hope to do so, hopefully to meet two of the families of the Chinese takeaway people. I also hope to see the Hakka Round Houses! I doubt whether you have heard of them!!!!! The area where they are is rather remote so a visit might not be possible. How about you supervising the building of one of these in the UK ? The best way to describe them is, 'a long row of terraced houses bent into a circle' !

Lots of love,
Dan *****

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