Seven thirty in the morning. Aude, the bi-polar decaratrice, arrives accompanied by the lady who weaves 'natural' alpaca wool into pashminas at the 'Wimmins Cooperative' . They're here to return the front door key belonging to Caroline - the bad-tempered ex-cleaning lady. With the key comes a scrawled missive stating the reasons for her abrupt departure " I am unable to clean a house where there is no order. IT IS BAD KARMA !!!! Never, never. I AM A PROFESSIONAL. I will not do walls !!!! ". There are another three paragraphs in this cathartic vein, much of it relating to muddy dogs. ' The Font ' reads the letter and sighs. ' Politer than her comments the last time she was here' observes Angus with a smile.
The rest of our day is rather mundane. The PONs check the perimeter fence clockwise then anti-clockwise. Unsure that they've done it correctly they repeat the process. From time to time we catch a glimpse of a tail waving in the far distance. This takes an hour.
Bob and Sophie then arrive in the cool downstairs kitchen and look expectantly at 'The Font' . Ancient Romans used to go in for bread and circuses; the PONs go in for a chilled carrot and a game of 'throw the furry fox'.
Before dinner Bob and his master go for a long walk along the top of the ridge. Sunflowers on one side, fields of stubble on the other. No sign of the mountains - they're shrouded in heat haze. Sophie, who continues to eat for France, stays behind to monitor the preparation of boulettes d'agneau aux herbes, sauce a la feta et au yaourt and clafoutis aux peches et amaretti. Hot weather food.
One of those days that's too unexciting to warrant an entry in the diary but too important to go unrecorded. Those ordinary moments that make up life in deepest, deepest France profonde.
17 comments:
Heaven, pure and simple! Here in deepest greater Vancouver BC profonde the fires are consuming the landscape, there is a chance of a shower in about two weeks...
I want your piscine!
Let's start a campaign. BRING BACK MADAME BAY!
The only time we were in Vancouver it was scorchingly hot. We naturally had packed for rain.
If only those joints were ten years younger.
Weather's just as bad here + haze. Glad you are rid of your very angry Caroline. Mine is an angel. Always soft spoken and never angry :)
Households that are 'in order' probably don't need cleaning ladies...professional or not. We do not do well in humidity....
Suggest that Caroline carried the bad karma around with her.
Very hot....I'll do a rain dance for you all...and my roses!
Bad karma? How dramatic ! I suspect the " bad karma " was that there was actual cleaning to do.
You have such an entertaining breed of cleaners in France Profonde, wonder who will be next?
YEAH!!! Doing a dance of pure joy over here...Caroline has gone...good riddance to the BAD KARMA!!!
She has "so much mouth" as we say here, yet didn't have the balls to bring her own resignation letter and return the key...I'm sure Bob and Sophie are rejoicing and the ROF angels are singing a heavenly chorus.
The Font in her wisdom is preparing a lovely celebratory meal...wish I could have some of that too....you go Madame Font.
Now to find someone who is truly worthy of being in such good company and who actually doesn't mind cleaning....keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you..
I agree with that! She was one strange, angry woman. While you're doing a rain dance for them, could you include California? We could sure use it!
Beware the words 'I AM A PROFESSIONAL' !!! The last time I heard them uttered was from the man who was hired to cut our grass. For some reason he decided to attack our shrubs with electric shears. He cut all around the bottom of each one, making them look like shrubs on stilts. When confronted he screamed the dreaded words we should all beware, 'I AM A PROFESSIONAL'!
I hope the cathartic rant made Caroline feel better, if not, I'd recommend a walk among the sunflowers to lift her spirits, or dare I suggest that perhaps she try a game of throw the furry fox?
As I scrolled through, the Carolingian rant was followed by a picture of two adorable PONs with "what-me-worry?" faces. I laughed out loud.
Glad to know they're keeping the ROF perimeter secure. The dinner menu sounds excellent.
I can hear my mum saying "good riddance to bad rubbish" from out in the ether.
Will it be possible to hire a sensible cleaning person - third time lucky perhaps - one that actually gets on with the cleaning rather than wasting time complaining about conditions?!
Sounds like a perfect day - except for the weather. Sorry to hear about Caroline....
Will try to send some of our wet weather your way....
The PONs look happy enough, Bob has a dusty nose, and they've secured the perimeter fences, so life couldn't really get much better could it !
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