Plaque Michelin

War memorial by the church

Memorial cérémonie le 8 mai

Church and the war memorial

Old window in house behind the church

Reflections on the lake

The allotments

Flowers and across the valley

Pansies


Rose against a wall

 Leaves with droplets of water that had stayed there nearly all the day despite the warm sunshine

This is an impressive and ambitious Chinon from the 2007 vintage, which is generally light with the fruit rarely ripe enough to make a weighty and concentrated wine without extracting green tannins. This Château de Saint-Louand, which comes from Baudry-Dutour's small property in Saint-Louand – a western suburb of Chinon. Aged in oak it still has considerable oak spice; it is drinking well now but would probably benefit from another year to let the wood and the oak marry more completely.  

China Vasion has put together a smart-looking piece of luggage that might suit James Bond on his next assignment to hide a folding sniper’s rifle and some rounds of ammunition here and there. Featuring Nubuck leather lined with soft suede along with a fingerprint reader that remembers up to 12 different users and 2 administrators and can store 2 different fingerprints for each user. Supporting 600 scans on a single charge, the fingerprint security briefcase would need occasional charging via USB to keep it functional. Since fingerprint recognition has moved out of the realm of forensics, it’s better that the technology be brought to a good use and it’s even better to see it integrating in a briefcase than a coffee machine.

If you’ve been looking for a bike that looks slick and handsome, consumes no petrol and gives a top mileage of 47MPH (75 KPH), your dream has come true with the Doctorbass’s homemade miracle. The vehicle, constructed in Quebec, uses 432 individual battery cells wired into a custom battery pack providing just over 24Ah at 100V. If the technical details didn’t arrest you, I am sure its mere two hour charging period and a performance packed 130 miles per charge will.


Feel like a bona fide secret agent, with manual controls on your speedster. Being electricity powered, the bike gives practical shape, in a pretty audacious way, to further development of environment friendly devices.


So, if you wanna go green with a wild spin at the same time, think of this homemade bike and you will find that it meets all the standards.

With earth getting warmer with each passing day, the indirect consequences have shown up in the form of natural calamities on a somewhat regular basis in recent years. A Swiss-based company Trunz Water Systems has come up with a trailer-mounted, solar-powered membrane-based water treatment/desalination unit to normalize the off-putting impact of such natural disasters.






The unique product, dubbed as Trunz Water Trailer, provides 250-900 L/h of potable water from any water source. It can be equipped with a solar-powered TWS 200 water treatment system or a TSS 200/TBS 200 desalination system and can be equipped with ultrafiltration or reverse osmosis for better results. The energy generated by solar panels/wind generator is stored in batteries and can be used for charging other devices as well.








Moreover, a generator provides enough energy to keep the system running when weather plays foul. The compact, easy to install system needs no further equipments.

There has been many attempts to club iPhone with car enthusiasts and there is really no telling how much farther they can take this little gadget. Take this innovative car jack dubbed as ‘ilift’ that can be controlled by an iPhone. Developed by the leading manufacturer of springs Gold Schmitt and development partner - Intec, this innovative technology is controlled by the Gold-Schmitt “App” to free it from the wired control unit. While the innovation looks pretty simple, but we are sure car enthusiasts would love the taste of this geeky fun

With the world waking up to the concept of sustainability, the meaning is definitely not lost on SOM Architects. The designers have come up with yet another architectural marvel, introducing nature into healing. The proposed Jurong General Hospital in Singapore mentored by the National Health Group invites nature into the built space introducing sustainability into healthcare, playing to the sensitivity of the patient, keeping in mind the holistic healing and health.


The proposal


The proposed hospital falls under Jurong Lake District, which includes homes, offices and shopping pockets. The healthcare centre shall consist of a 700- bed general hospital, a more affordable 200- bed community hospital, outpatient departments, emergency wards and various other facilities aiming towards a wholesome and holistic approach towards healthcare.


The design


Two major elements, a diagnostic centre with gardens on the rooftop and a multistoried tower with outpatient departments overlooking the terrace make the hospital complex. The height attained treats the patients with views of the lake and green space around it.The gardens and green lungs help cut down on the noise pollution and enhance fresh air into the complex. The terrace gardens and interwoven landscaped pockets introduce a serene and peaceful healing environment to the patients. The horizontal windows will allow natural light into the building.


Sustainable approach


Interlinking gardens and landscaping into the facility is the approach undertaken. Patients will be kept in the “healing sanctuary”, kept as closet o the nature as possible which will speed up the recovery process. Roof top gardens are also being proposed to make up for the building footprint. A striking balance is being attained, thanks to the integrated approach. The sky garden also harvests its own fruits and vegetables for the use of the hospital furthering its self dependence. The presence of so many green belts also facilitates the rain water harvesting keeping the ground water levels optimum.


The hospital has a LEED Platinum rating as it respond to the humid climate of Singapore effectively. The mechanical, electrical and HVAC systems, all have been designed so as to not harm the local climate.


“Healing with Nature”


Sustainability in healthcare is being seen as a new dimension to both environmental friendly construction as well as healthcare. This new approach will open new doors into “healing with nature”.


Jurong General Hospital, Singapore by SOM Picture Gallery

Le lac@Epeigné-les-Bois

Photo used on cover of the Epeigné Bulletin Municipal 2011 (slightly modified with truck and car erased)

Hail damage in Monthou, Cher Valley 2009

'Un violent orage de grêle détruit le Sauternes

Un violent orage de grêle a fortement touché le vignoble de Sauternes, qui produit des vins liquoreux d'excellence, touchant "au moins 40% de l'appellation", a-t-on appris mercredi auprès des responsables de châteaux classés grands crus qui évoquent des "ravages".'

Read the rest here. 

A violent hailstorm hit Sauternes early evening on Monday. The communes of Bommes and Sauternes were particularly affected. Hail can be very destructive. Parts of the Cher Valley, Sancerre and Menetou-Salon were very badly affected by hail in 2009. Fortunately hail is usually quite localised but those affected can lose virtually their whole crop.


See video of damage here on Bill Blatch's Bordeaux Gold.

Now at the end of April the threat of frost is lessening in the Loire, while the danger of hail increases especially as the vines are so in advance of normal this year. We had a little bit of hail last Sunday in Epeigné but as far as I know not enough to do any real damage.

Closure notice

I gather that the remaining Oddbins' HQ staff are to be made redundant on Tuesday.

A couple of possible job offers:

All very sad. but here's a silver lining. Any ex-Oddbins staff in the Wimbledon area who would like some part-time work, call Mark @ Revelstoke Wines. 0208 879 1810

Tweet from Carte Blanche Wines:

cbwines Carte Blanche Wines

Message to all Oddbins staff. Please DM us if you would like a job. Would you all mind rt'ing this? Thank you.

 

Carte Blanche Wines

Saturday 30th April: Moules Frites – both at lunchtime and in the evening or to takeaway.

Saturday 7th May: Grand inauguration of the restaurant

 

From 19.00 hours. Unclear whether Nico and Carla will be able to make it...
 

Restaurant open for lunch from Tuesday to Saturday: 10€ for three courses + a 1/4 litre of wine or a demi pression

Restaurant open for dinner from Tuesday to Saturday: from 12€ for three courses + a 1/4 litre of wine or a demi pression

Friday and Saturday tagine or couscous available if ordered in advance

Reservations to Stéphanie or Nacer on 02.47.23.97.94

8 Rue de la Fontaine, 37150 Epeigné-les-Bois  

 

 

 

Passat on its way...

After spending an hour and a half tasting at the Foire aux Vins at Amboise on Saturday we headed off towards Cheverny to the open day at Domaine Philippe Tessier where Pascal Potaire was also showing hios wines. Sadly a fault in the radiator of our Passat meant that we didn't get there. At Pontlevoy the warning sign came on and told us to stop immediately, which we did. After a few minutes we switched on again – the warning sign stayed off. Unwilling to take any risk we drove cautiously back to Epeigné. 

We decided to try again on Monday but the warning sign came on immediately, so we had to contact our travel assistance, who arranged for the car to be picked up on Tuesday morning and taken to the VW garage at Perusson, just to the east of Loches. It turns out that the raditor has to be replaced – ouch!

Passat parti! 

Taking advantage of the windy shores of Ohio, global welding manufacturer Lincoln Electric is considering setting up a giant wind turbine at its US headquarters in Euclid. Lincoln ordered the 443-foot-tall, 2.5 megawatt wind turbine from a German turbine manufacturer Kenersys Europe GmbH and plans to begin assembling it on an enormous tower in May.


This will be the largest wind turbine in Ohio and one of the largest in North America. To construct the 14-foot diameter steel tower to support the turbine, Lincoln will take the help of a giant robotic welding machine that the company sells all over the world.


Extending support to the Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force’s campaign, Lincoln ordered the monster 200,000-pound wind-powered generator, last fall. The vision of the Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force is to establish the Cuyahoga region as the hub for a wind energy cluster and capture a large portion of the future economic potential in research and manufacturing.






As the three enormous wind turbine blades from Europe were offloaded at the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority on Monday, County Executive Ed FitzGerald said:


This is an important symbolic moment and a substantive moment. It shows we are serious about supporting this emerging industry. We want Greater Cleveland to be on the cutting edge of the renewable energy sector. And we want to do everything we can to promote the Port of Cleveland.


Lauding the efforts, chairman of the task force and county prosecutor William Mason stated:


The task force has been aggressively pursuing Kenersys for more than 21/2 years. We believe that Kenersys has the expertise and shares our vision for making this region a center for wind energy in North America.


The seven sections of the mammoth tower weld together will weigh 435,461 pounds and reach 266 feet into the air while each of the turbine’s three 159-foot-long sculptured blades weighs more than 24,000 pounds. Lincoln has already poured nearly 600 cubic yards of concrete and 65 tons of steel reinforcing bars, called rebar, to fabricate the reinforced concrete foundation.


The turbine will also save Lincoln a colossal annual electric bill of $500,000 by generating 2-1/2 million watts (2.5 megawatts) at a wind speed of 27 miles per hour by spinning at just 14 rotations per minute.


The turbine and installation cost of about $5.9 million will be met by Lincoln by financing $4.55 million from its own kitty, in addition to taking a loan of $350,000 from the county and receiving a $1 million federal stimulus grant.

Inspired by the Acadia tree, Czech architect Petr Pospisil has introduced a new building design, the Acadia Tree tower. The architectural wonder is proposed to look like an Acadia tree, but with office spaces, elevators, conference halls, accommodation facilities, restaurants and swimming pools. The outstanding thing is that the structure needs minimal footprint in the city it is in, because it raises its head in the city on three massive legs, which will house offices, commercial spaces and elevators to whisk people to the top, the real living space on the structure. The design is definitely a brilliant idea for a dense city.








Plants and grasses around the Acadia Tree tower make it a fantastic experience for nature lovers. Plants wrap up the entire structure from its large three pillars to the terrace. The open terrace, which is meant to look like the building as a bird’s nest highlights plants and trees like in a lawn. The idea of the design marvelously realizes the concept of nature and human in the top of the city, unlike the traditional concept of nature in the ground and humans in the top.









Three legs of the structure grow shining grass in the middle furrow adding aroma of green foliage in the whole length of the tower. The green pillars add much into its splendor. The relaxing area of the Acadia Tree has expanses of grass, plants and trees looking like a green heaven in the city from the top. The area is proposed to provide some respite for people who reside or do business in the complexes below. Swimming pools, restaurants, sports areas, spa, tanks for rainwater harvesting and solar panels make the structure a great wonder for green and architect lovers.

Compressed air energy storage (CAES), according to researchers is the latest technology in conserving intermittent energy. Intermittent energy is any energy source (e.g. the wind or a tidal wave) that though predictable is beyond human control and cannot be harnessed at will. Researchers are increasingly talking about using compressed air energy storage systems. This technology envisages a situation where intermittent energy can be stored on a very large scale and released as and when required. The greatest glitch in storing this kind of energy is that unless electrical energy is converted into another form it cannot be stored. This causes tremendous efficiency losses and is not an economically viable solution.








The basic premise on which the CAES works is that excess power on the grid powers an electric motor to drive a compressor. The product is compressed air. The temperature of this compressed air is brought down and then is stored at pressures of 60 to 70 bar. Researchers admit that the concept is not new and that CAES plants have been functioning in Germany and Alabama since 1978 and 1991 respectively. But these plants use a large amount of carbon-based fuels to restore the high temperatures so that the stored compressed air can be expanded in a gas turbine. As a result both these plants record high levels of efficiency losses in the form of heat.






Researchers worldwide are exploring the possibility of storing the heat generated when the compressors are working. The objective is to use this to rewarm the air when required. This is known as Advanced Adiabatic CAES or AA-CAES. A major problem faced by technologists is that when the air is compressed to 60 – 70 times atmospheric pressure, the heat energy generated can go up to 650 degrees and becomes difficult to manage.


Prof of Dynamics, Seamus Garvey at the Nottingham University has proposed a cost effective CAES system. According to him, Energy Bags with butyl rubber bladders and outer surfaces made of polyester-reinforced fabric coated with steel straps are the perfect solution to the problem. These bags can be stored underwater as the sea acts as the pressure machine.


As technologists worldwide are gearing up to work on AA-CAES, it remains to be seen whether this innovative solution will finally be able to resolve the problems of intermittent energy conservation in the long run.