You know you're living in deepest France profonde ...
..... when the most exciting thing that happens is ...
..... the workmen arrive to repaint the zebra crossing and the speed bumps.
Bollards are laid out and paint applied.
Bob, sitting on his stump seat by the gate, is transfixed.
The workmen return in the afternoon to collect the bollards.
The little tike and his brother ride their bikes through the wet paint.
Sophie, exhausted by the drama unfolding outside the gate finally adopts her ' You guard. I'll sleep ' pose.
For the PONs this has undoubtedly been the best day ever.
The musicians seem to be enjoying playing this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcDzRjMIDvo
A morning for standing on the stump seat and watching the village youngsters head off to school. The builders van, sound of hip-hop on the radio audible through its open window, gets barked at.
Then an amble along the lane to see the donkeys ....
...... and count how many new calves there are in the field by the crossroads. Two more today.
The farmer hasn't managed to cut the sunflowers before the rain set in. Nothing quite as bedraggled looking as afield of wet, past their prime, sunflowers.
At the greengrocers pumpkins and four different types of beetroot.
A motor home has parked next to us. As Bob and Sophie get into the back of the car a Bichon that's been asleep on the dashboard wakes and lets them know that it rules the roost around here. Bob ignores it. Sophie never one to let the chance for a diva moment pass her by, rises to the occasion.
This just written piece of Scottish music arrived in the e-mail yesterday. It's very calming.Perfect for christenings : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pscNTzAGVnk&feature=youtu.be
Six am. Sophie demonstrates her impatient ' let's get this show on the road ' flick of the ear.
A bowl of kibbles and cabbage is a great start to the day. This is followed by a long walk and a good half an hour chasing round the garden. Then it's time for a quick nap. In a hectic routine a girl has to find time for herself.
By September the grass in the garden and the surrounding fields is usually brown and and parched. This year it's emerald green. No one in the village can remember this happening before. Another sign of climate change ?
After three days of rain and chill temperatures it's time to close the pool. The Old Farmers aquatic lunge exercises come to a seasonal end. The solar powered pool cover doesn't work. I have to wind it closed by hand. The PONs would like to get involved but settle for watching. The pool noodles are stored away.
For the pool closure Sophie sports her worldly wise look.
It is Beers of the World week in the supermarket. On closer inspection all the beers turn out to be Belgian.
Monsieur Bay and the mayor are busy. Loic lives in a village 10 kilometres from here and his care home is 3 kilometres beyond that. There is much organizing to be done. The matron of the care home, who didn't know Loic had been released from hospital, has to find specialized medical help. This isn't as easy as it sounds. The mayor of Loics village has to be informed of what's happening. The local doctor needs to sign forms. The department has to authorize payment. Calls have to be made. No one complains. I'm reminded that we all know good people.
It pours with rain. Heavy rain.
The PONs having got soaked to the skin on a pre-breakfast tour of the garden are toweled dry.
They come to the kitchen with that 'what are you going to do to entertain us' look.
At the greengrocers a delivery of girolles.
They come from Russia. This is the first time there's ever been a Russian product in the greengrocers.
Late on Sunday night the farmer in the grey Audi 4x4 rings the bell at the front gate. From what I can understand ( his accent is impenetrable ) Loics mother remains in hospital. It seems Loic is diabetic ( something we didn't know ) has collapsed, been in a ward for a night and has now been driven home. Instead of taking him to the sheltered housing the ambulance men have bizarrely taken him to his mothers empty house. The farmer adds '' You have such great vitality. You'll know what to do ". Angus has no idea what the French mean when they say 'you have great vitality' but is pretty sure this is a polite way of saying ' you deal with it '. Calls are made to Monsieur Bay and the mayor. They can navigate their way round the French social safety net more efficiently than foreigners ever could. A complicated situation becomes more complicated.
Here's some violin music by a little know composer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXG1sZGly3g
A vision of loveliness greets me at the front door.
Mental note : Sophie needs a thorough grooming.
It's the Foires aux Vins at the supermarket. The twice a year sale when the French buy wines at sensible prices. Our local supermarket has 2010 Pomerols at a quarter of the price we'd pay in Edinburgh.
After lunch Bob joins me for a trip to the departmental agricultural show.
We observe a stand selling front gates with flower motifs. '' It's as if you're looking through them into a field on the other side " says the salesman with gushing certainty. Angus can't help but think that if this was real life the poppy's would be twenty feet tall. There is something strangely funereal about views of fields with giant poppy's and gathering clouds. Bob is prevented from christening the hinges. We promise ( untruthfully ) to think about buying a pair.
Some hugely overpriced, and stale, Breton pastries at the food hall. Angus takes two mouthfuls. Bob gets the rest. The man at the stall informs me 'Kouign' is pronounced 'Queen'. As in the Queen of England. We decline the chance to buy a bottle of genuine Breton mead for 45 euros.
Dog and master examine a canary yellow three wheel cross country bike. Angus marvels at its impracticality. Where would you put the shopping or the dog ? Yet another sign he's turned into his father. The target audience are probably of an age where practicality is not an attribute that's high on their list of must haves.
By the tractor park we pass a Swiss restaurant. The menu appears to be a more upmarket version of KFC. What's Swiss about it ? Bob is encouraged home before he visits the kitchen.
Loic is still at his mothers bedside. Madame Bay informs us that 'time is moving along'.
The post baby boomer young will probably make a better job of running the world than their elders.
There were amorous cats in the garden at 1:29 am. I know this because the PONs helpfully informed me of their presence. Helpfully in this context means loudly.
This morning they seem none the worse for having had their sleep interrupted.
Bob and Angus sit on the storm drain and discuss world affairs. Sophie demonstrates a new found enthusiasm for eating acorns. The young garagiste on his motor bike and the farmer in his large green Toyota with a Westie in the passenger seat wave as they drive by.
Off to the greengrocers. With these PONs we've pretty much stopped giving them dog treats. Instead they get carrots, cut length ways into quarters and stored in the chiller. Sometimes they get rice cakes. Kibbles are supplemented with broccoli, cabbage, beans or spinach. This lower protein approach means that we're spared much of the yeast build-up and ear scratching that previous generations of PONs suffered from.
Sophie starts her day with a demonstration of ....
..... her hallmark zest for life. This is accompanied by sound effects.
En route to get the morning croissants we stop and look at the primary school menu. Today they are having Sausage and Patatouille followed by grapes. The children stand at the railings and wave at Bob and Sophie. The little ones are wearing blue smocks to keep their clothes clean. A peculiarly old fashioned touch.
We cut across the forecourt of the church.
A wonderful old 13th century barn of a thing. It has five arches on the facade. Could they have been altars ?
Can't think that I've ever seen a church with anything like this on the outside. There are traces of old corbels high up on the wall. Perhaps there was a cloister here before the wars of religion ?
At the cinema last night they had a late showing of another movie we've never heard of.
We'll get more news about Loic and his mother from Madame Bay this morning.
