Grace La Limace

For all you slug-lovers out there.

(I'm sorry, its not natural
and its just not right)

(no, I'm not sorry at all. It just isn't):




These are taken from a very strange,
indeed surreal and rather disturbing,
French picture book called Grace La Limace,
given to my daughter by some weird good
french friends.

Maybe this is a gallic thing?
Trac has just been in France and finds slugs sexy.
Tat - what is your view on slugs?
But this doesn't account for Betty.
Does it? Hmmm.

I would be hard pressed to think of a less appropriate name for a slug than "Grace".

I am not generally a squeamish person but the only thing which turns my stomach as much as slugs (particularly the really big, brown ones) is the abhorrent spong that collects in the plug-holes in the bathroom.
I can tolerate them in my compost heap (slugs that is, not plug-hole hairs)(feeling quite sick now) where I understand that they fulfil a useful and indeed ecologically admirable function. Anywhere else and I'm afraid they are for it.
(Not BBQ'd though, Meg
thats quite disgusting).

My Nan used to put salt on slugs in her garden which was also pretty disgusting.

I can understand only some of the text but the story involves Grace finding a tiny (Elf?) baby buried head-first in a lettuce. A large vagabond escargot sings to the baby, which then seems to be happily relocated in a rose (I think this is because its bonnet says "Fille"). Does this make sense to anyone?

On to more wholesome matters - pictures of our [mercifully slug-free] day (well, half-day by the time we got out) in London yesterday.

Daffs in St. James Park and along the Mall:




















Most of the trees are still bare and wintry, but the willow and the cherry blossom are bursting out all over, bright and beautiful.




Still in St. James' park, though this picture looks almost rural
















You can tell I'm putting fun before work again today. Thankfully Blogger is less sluggish today (which is where it all started, if I recall rightly). I have marked one essay while waiting in between pictures....















LG (right) and her friend MAG (Most Appreciative Girl in the world)









Shadow pic. - me with camera, MAG, LG and M, heckling the ducks. There were a few of these cute little fellows, which have unfeasibly blue beaks - really car-paint-sky-blue, which unfortunately doesn't show at all in my photo.









And finally Gaby's in Charing Cross Road, where we ate wonderful falafel, once again.
Worth visiting next time you are in London.


Click here and imagine that the pigeon is a slug.
Just don't show this to your children unless you want them driving you nuts by singing it constantly, incessantly, repeatedly, annoyingly, raucously aaaaaaaghhhhh.