A group of German motorcyclists roar through the village at first light. They park their bikes and wander over to look at the swaying Jesus. It's calm this morning so there's little swaying going on. They're on their bikes and underway again within five minutes.
Bob agrees with me that this was a noisy start to our day.
The weather still sultry and stormy.
A dead snake on the lane. It wasn't there when we passed this way twenty minutes earlier. Probably decapitated and dropped by an Eagle or a Kite. Sophie is keen to taste it but is 'encouraged' along. On our way home she stops and glares at the frogs. To get a better view she rests her chin on the low brick wall that surrounds the village pond.
Progress in Scotland. The wee house has been repainted and the front door is having its third and final coat. Each night the painters lads have quietly disassembled the scaffolding so that the nesting swallows aren't disturbed. There may be a problem with the colour. What was supposed to be white has a purplish tinge. Angus will be dispatched next week to talk to the painter. ' The Font' will be back by lunchtime which, as far as the PONs and their master are concerned, won't be a culinary moment too soon.
The young Australian violinist at the 1:10 mark has great self confidence :
Breakfast reading : https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-glass-floor-education-downward-mobility-and-opportunity-hoarding/
8 comments:
Silly me! If I read more slowly I wouldn't miss the first sentence of your last post, and therefore I'd understand that it was the Wee house, not the France farmhouse, you learnt the history of! It did enter my head that mending fishing nets implied close water, and I didn't think you were near the sea in France, but even that didn't get me to reread the post! The snake wouldn't have hurt Sophie, would it? Indigestible bones perhaps not the best for her, but it wouldn't be poisonous would it?
Hari OM
Snake meat is fine bush tucker mate... roaring bikes are not my idea of morning music. The Gael, on the other hand, rushed the blood as the haar lifts from the Bishops Seat... and that reading will suit the second morning cuppa, ta.
Purplish white? Ye gods, another one to solve. All the best. YAM xx
I'm wondering how long the average visitor lingers at the swaying Jesus?
Some linger, in hope, longer than others. I'd say 90 seconds on average. The use of the village hall washrooms perhaps a little longer. Parking, comfort break and sight seeing all in 5 minutes.
Not sure how strict the Scottish historical authorities are, but here in France, we were told our shutters and all outward-facing wood trim had to be painted RAL3075, which is a pale gray. They were very precise about WHICH pale gray. They said we could paint the interior walls any color we wanted as long as it wasn't red, yellow, orange, or anything else that would be bright and visible from the street.
That Brookings paper is interesting. I heard a couple of podcasts last year (On Point and Fresh Air), with Richard Reeves talking about his book, "Dream Hoarders." I've certainly seen it in action--people pressing for legacy admissions to university for their mediocre kids then crying foul about scholarships for financially disadvantaged students. One parent actually told me that anything that kept other kids down helped his own son get ahead.
Dead snake would have been a welcome addition for Sophie, after a couple of days of "Angus" culinary offerings....
I fear our decorator has used some personal judgement rather than a spectrometer in matching the colours. If so Historic Scotland and the Preservation Trust will be writing a strong letter. I'm heading up on Tuesday to sort it out. This is apparently one of those occasions when the Angus 'grizzly bear' approach is called for.
The saga of the cottage seems to have been going for a very longtime.... and required a lot of flights. The joys of distant tenancies. Loved the music-I have a soft spot for that soundtrack, partly because I was at school with the multi oscared star of the film, but mainly because the music is beautiful...
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