$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.