Saturday, July 30, 2016

All the colours.


By half past six the sun is up and the heat beating down. The sunflowers in the valley are at their peak cheerfulness. Let's hope the Village Fleuri judges are keen on sunflowers.


Back at The Rickety Old Farmhouse, Loic, the heavily bifocaled gardener, is busy tidying up the driveway in case the judges decide to wander into the garden. The PONs 'help' him , then get bored.


The bench on the village green that was a rather feminine blue has overnight received a second coat of green paint. It now matches the graveyard gate


The post of the road sign by the new speed bump has also been painted , as has the metal cover for the old weigh bridge outside the town hall. This is the ' have can of paint , don't know when to stop ' syndrome of beautification.


The judges arrive not at ten, nor at noon , but at twenty to three. '' Gascon time " says the mayor with a gallic shrug of his shoulders. The Village Council are out in force. The mayor is resplendent is his red, white and blue sash, grey crimplene trousers,peach coloured short sleeved shirt and his red and green plaid pork pie hat. The judges are younger than one would imagine. I have they feeling they might be regional government fonctionaires who've volunteered to judge village plantings in order to get out of their offices on hot summer afternoons. They're due to spend thirty minutes in the village before heading off to their next appointment. They spend forty five. A good sign ? The results will be known in three weeks time.


It is scorchingly hot. Bob emits a indifferent 'woof' as the judges pass by . If it was ten degrees cooler he'd watch them from his stump seat. His sister lies in the shade of the downstairs hallway. From time to time her tail wags to indicate she's ready to guard her flock at a moments notice.



10 comments:

Virginia said...

My mind boggled at the Mayor's sartorial elegance!!

WFT Nobby said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
WFT Nobby said...

I too had fun picturing the Mayor. It just needed Mme Bay standing beside him to complete the scene.
Cheers, Gail.
PS I am thinking today of wee Angus on holiday in the Isle of Wight exactly 50 years ago today, sipping his a glass of his coke after a certain football match, while his older brothers were offered champagne...

Swan said...

The sun flowers look amazing! I just love Bob's expression. His eyes have so much wisdom. An old soul...

Emm said...

The speed bump sign looks to me as if it's warning of a slug in the road. But nice color on the stick.
Fingers crossed that the flower people thought the village was as beautiful as what you've shown us.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

I am always amazed by those sunflowers.

Coppa's girl said...

Perhaps the mayor will win a special prize - purely for colourful sartorial elegance?
I think Bob knows the answer...

Unknown said...

Such beautiful clouds. The mayor should definitely be awarded a prize; his pride and efforts on behalf of your lovely village are very touching.

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Good thing the judges came late, gave that paint more time to dry.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

If an award was given for the sunflowers or for the charm of Bob and Sophie, your village would win in a landslide.