The bird of paradise alights only on the hand that does not grasp.

Not one, but two, red squirrels run across the lawn. Bob and his sister Sophie look on in disbelief. They then give chase. The squirrels disappear safely into the upper branches of an old oak tree. Bob and Sophie practise their tree climbing skills. These prove to be non-existent.

Six am on Friday morning. The barn owl starts hooting. This is the cue for every other owl within a five mile radius to also start hooting. There are a lot of owls round here. Bob gives us his full throated " Do you know there's a barn owl out there ? " bark.  Is there such a thing as a late rising dog owner ?

Later today we shall all head off to the Prefecture in the departmental capital with our notarized and  translated drivers license application forms. Our fifth meeting with French motor vehicle licensing  bureaucracy.