Saturday, February 6, 2016

Burning tyres.


It usually takes twenty minutes to get to the market. Today it takes an hour. The farmers are blockading the motorway exits and burning tyres on the road that runs along the riverbank. Something to do with a lack of government subsidies. We take a detour inland but the protesters have parked tractors and combine harvesters across the bypass. The PONs think it's wonderful. Angus less so.

Some Turbot from the fishmongers. At the Italian delicatessen Rabbit and Rosemary Ravioli. The angelic duo get given some Pecorino. Bob shows his overbite and does his soft shoe shuffle. Angus is always worried that some unsuspecting passer by will mistake the joy overload for a fit. 


It takes an hour to get home. Angus listens to the morning news. You know when there is going to be a bout of Brit bashing when the announcer starts to refer to ' Nos amis les anglais '.  Today there is a twenty minute diatribe about why Europe would be better off without us .


Four shaggy donkeys have appeared in the field next to the orchard. They munch away and blithely ignore the PONs.


Sophie plays with lamb on a rope ....


... while Bob joins his master on a tour of the village. The French teachers Labradors have run off again. She is distraught. They've managed to dislodge a fence post and dig their way out. We walk for two hours but there's no sign of them.

Just another quiet day in deepest , deepest France profonde.

This is interesting : http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-top-nyc-dog-walker-makes-110000-a-year-2016-02-05?dist=countdown



10 comments:

Coppa's girl said...

Poor lamb on a rope looks somewhat battered - suffering from the over enthusiastic attention of Sophie?
The French teacher's Labradors are most unusual - ours will rarely leave our side - let alone make a break for freedom ! Has she tried looking in the place she found them last time?

WFT Nobby said...

Did the rabbit and rosemary ravioli fast as good as it sounds?
Hoping for a safe passage home for the Labrador.
Cheers, Gail.

VirginiaC said...

I hope the teachers dogs are found safely...and I hope they don't travel as far away as they did the last time...poor lady must be so worried.
The dog walking business is very lucrative in NYC....the sidewalks are filled with dog walkers, but honestly I had no idea it was like $15.00 an hour...wow. People probably look down their noses at him sometimes but he is living well....great story.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

Add me to the list of those hoping the Labs are returned safely. Perhaps they'd stick around if they could be like Bob and Sophie and enjoy a bite of Pecorino, or maybe she should hire a dog walker...

The article is correct by the way. He is walking more than one family's dog at a time, and he is charging $15 to each family, per walk, so he's doing very well! We pay our dog-walker $15 for a 20 minute visit, and this is pretty close to the going rate in the area. One business in the area is charging $10 for each additional dog on top of that. (Can you imagine what I'd pay??!!) But my dog walkers are worth every penny, and I know I'm not the only one that thinks that.

BaileyBobSouthernDog said...

I do hope the labs stay together until they are found. My lab would dig holes large enough for humans to escape! She could toss concrete blocks, with her mouth, as if they were toys. She challenged me every moment of every day! My father told me I should write a book about Ebony and her antics. I told him no one would believe me!

Coppa's girl said...

Having always had Labs (and still have), we'd believe every word you wrote !

Coppa's girl said...

I think I missed my vocation !

Emm said...

I hope the teacher finds her Labs. Maybe they could spend some time with that smart dog walker/trainer.
I like his point about "be present" -- I see too many people "walking" dogs while chatting or even texting on their phones, with consequent inattention to the critters.

BaileyBobSouthernDog said...

Thanks Coppa's girl!

Kari said...

Burning tyres? Sounds like another country rather removed from France, doesn't it.
I hope the dogs are found quickly; safe and sound.
I have seen ads for types of fencing ( no bottom cross rail) that you drive into the ground below your regular fence for digging dogs. Do they help?