Monday, July 7, 2014

$70 a pound.







It pours with rain. In the absence of a down pipe and guttering the water runs off the roof on the front of the house with a Niagara type roar. This is a sound Bob hasn't heard before. He wakes at 1.19 am to tell me about it. I wander downstairs, put on a light in the library, switch it off, and go back upstairs. Satisfied I've understood the danger Bob goes back to sleep. He's done his job as guardian of the flock. Sophie doesn't stir.

The market folk particularly talkative this morning. The wine merchant is off to Brittany for a month but has hired a student to look after things while he's away. The cheese lady has some freshly churned butter from a local farm. This she informs me will go well with toasted baguette . The delicatessen is selling Spanish Bellota ham at €96.90 a kilo. That's $70 a pound in real money. Today, for the first time he comes round to the front of the stall and shakes my hand. Perhaps I'm becoming a local. We don't buy his ham although Bob shows great interest in it. 

12 comments:

Kinley Westie said...

Dat are some expensive ham!

WFT Nobby said...

One wonders quite what's done to that ham to make it so expensive?
Or is it just a clever marketing strategy to make the customer think oh I'll have some of the Corsican stuff, a snip at 57 Euros/kg?
Cheers,
Gail.

Whispering Walls said...

What a great photo - it looks as if Sophie's standing on Bob's head!

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

Enjoyable photos of both the sunflowers and Bob and Sophie--I have to grin at the door sign, but not the price of the ham, I wonder what it would be sold for here in the US?

Anonymous said...

I have been away from my crumbly old place in the Aveyron for a while and am relieved whenever you inform us that it has been raining, having done so much new planting recently. Two more weeks before I return. I do hope the rabbits haven't had a field day.
Lovely picture of the two rascals by the front door.
Have a great day.
x

Angus said...

The door sign a purchase from Georgetown.

Angus said...

No need to worry about a lack of rain this year !

VirginiaC said...

Loved the "What part of Woof don't you understand" sign...soooo cute.
Bob takes his guard dog duties seriously....Angus that was so nice of you to still check around after he alerted you even though you already knew what the noise was. This made him feel important and boosted his ego I'm sure.

Emm said...

It's worse than you thought. The USD:Euro cross this morning is 1.36, and thus that solid gold ham is $131.84.

I think you did what I do when I don't use an automatic conversion table.

Love the door sign.

Emm said...

oh, but you're talking pounds and I was looking at kilos. Sorry about that.

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Love markets....although they don't seem to have the same range of decorations as Stores.

XXXOOO Bella Roxy & Dui

Kari said...

What ever would make that particular ham cost so much (except for greed, of course) ? What does the font say?
Maybe the purveyor has confused the price.
Bob on the job. What a dear boy.
Sophie probably identified the sound and knew it was just rain. We've just had our first rain after 148 days and it was a deluge!