The Easter central heating miracle is short lived. It comes to a sudden and bracing end in the middle of 'The Fonts' leisurely morning shower. The recalcitrant furnace decides to stop working. Angus points out that the sudden immersion in ice cold water must have had a positive cardiovascular effect. This insight is met in silence.
Despite it being a holiday the retired plumber comes out to see what the problem is. The fuel line has become blocked again. He will return tomorrow with a compressor to blow air through the system. In the meantime 'The Font' and Angus will enjoy a 'bracing' start to their day.
The PONs and their master go to the covered market where the coffee is really good. Angus finds a side table and orders . Despite being busy the barman brings over a bowl of water. The PONs look at him in an accusatorial way. The barman retreats and then returns with two savoury crackers. Tails wag. The barman laughs. This is a triumph of inter species non-verbal communication. On our way back to the car the PONs are spoken to by an organ grinder. Bob is unsure of this stranger and maintains a wary distance, Sophie treats him as an adoring fan.
Today Air France, the railways and the local supermarket are on strike.
Sophie is looking svelte. Her energy levels seem to have quadrupled since the close crop. This might have something to do with the chill Autan wind that's been blowing relentlessly for the last three days. A girl has to keep on the move if she's going to stay warm.
Angus starts on a new book on the Russian Revolution by Laura Engelstein the Professor of Russian history at Yale. She writes brilliantly but it's soon apparent that she's an expert on things Angus didn't even know he didn't know.
And talking of the Caucasus here's a group of Armenian girls singing Edelweiss - tone and pitch perfect : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JMHXbxZYf4
The last Carolina parakeet. You find the most unexpectedly beautiful writing on the internet : https://orionmagazine.org/article/forever-gone/
11 comments:
Sophie is indeed looking svelte. Bertie too, having been stripped of his furs last week, is going through a phase of renewed bounciness, probably also related to the continued cold weather.
Fingers crossed that the boiler is fixed soon. (Have you ever considered an electric shower as back-up...?)
Cheers, Gail.
When we first moved into our house in France it had no bathroom. We erected a shower stall and put in an electric instant water heater as a temporary solution (we still had to climb a ladder to get to it). What we hadn't realised was that our water pressure was unregulated and about 6 bar. Consequently the water whizzed through the instant hot water heater so instantaneously that we never managed more than luke warm showers. This went on for a year and it wasn't until we got the permanent plumbing done and our plumber asked us what pressure we wanted him to set the regulator at that we realised what the problem was (he suggested that about 3.4 bar was good).
The cakes look particularly lovely today.
Thank you for Edelweiss.... just beautiful.
And your trimming of Sophie inspired me so Poppy is now too looking svelte again. :)
I know that I have the attention span of a goldfish but I could not do with all those 'footnotes'. Your book must be work not pleasure.
Thank you ANGUS for the beautiful Armenian girls' perfect voices - singing Edelweiss. Much appreciated - from this Armenian girl herself, living on the Westcoast of Canada. What a wonderful gift to listen to........as we sign off for the evening, and go to bed. Thank you.......or as
we say (phonetically) in Armenian - "shod shenor ah gahl lem."
Interesting book. Recently, I was researching another corner of the Caucasus, and the geography and history are mind-boggling. How people thought it was a good idea to settle in such mountains, and then, despite being so isolated from each other, how they still manage to fight....
La Capitole is looking quiet.
Hari Om
Thank you, Angus, for the parakeet piece. Sublime. The red cake with the cherry on top please... oh, and hot showers for the ROF. YAM xx
Another thank you for the link to Dr. Lanham's article. I read every word and was sorry to come to the end. It left me a bit melancholy, though. Googling his name, I see he has written a memoir which must be a good read.
No prizes for guessing where the PONs will insist you take your morning coffee in future. It will mean the start of a best day ever, every day !
Perhaps The Font met your comment regarding the cold shower with an "icy" silence? Her composure is commendable. I probably tend to respond in Sophie-style. And Sophie is looking remarkably pared-down since her encounter with the clippers. The pastries are especially appealing today (or any day to be honest). Wishing you a swift return to hot running water and also sending good wishes regarding the Old Farmer's upcoming date at the hospital. Stephanie (Jo) in Northern California enjoying a brief respite from the rain
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