Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.

The early morning air already heavy with the scent of lilac and rosemary. A hot day in store . The bakers children barge through the queue for baguettes and rush squabbling out of their front door onto the pavement. The little girl turns and runs back to greet Bob and Sophie. Her elder brother tells her to hurry up. She scampers after him pulling on her satchel as she goes. 

At the newsagents the young sapeur pompier who plays fly half in the local rugby club stops to greet the two pups. He calls them Wilf and Digby. I don't bother correcting him. Sophie rewards him with a lick. There's time for a quick coffee at the cafe under the arcades. Bob and Sophie get fussed over by the waitress. Both of them have already perfected their '' I'm an orphan dog that's never been fed " routine. They share a half croissant. Bob smacks his lips. Sophie devours her portion in demur silence.

Home to find a black van parked outside the house. From a distance it looks like a hearse. Barely seven o'clock and the builders are unloading shower trays . '' We'll break the back of it this week " says the foreman. So much for them being finished by June 20th. This thought is not voiced.

Later today I'll speak to the company that manufactured the solar powered pool cover about spare parts . I'll also ask the foreman to take a look at the leak that's developed over the weekend in the washing machine. Why is it that machinery always miraculously breaks down after three years ? Bob and Sophie will hunt for windfalls in the cherry orchard . Just another Monday in deepest France profonde.