Sunday, August 9, 2020

Starved of water.


Storms are forecast for Tuesday night. They can't come a moment too soon. The well water at The Rickety Old Farmhouse has almost run dry. This means the irrigation system for the garden is starved of water.  Thankfully, the village has three large lakes which keep the house supplied.


Sophie and her master have a forty minute walk across country. Then its off to the cafe for a shared croissant. We go with the car windows all the way down. Todays coffee is good. The croissant less so. Much less so. It tastes like a supermarket sliced white loaf. Sophie thinks its marvellous.


A fluffy creamy thing attracts my attention. A good thing to have on a hot summer Sunday lunch ?


We finally decide on a millefeuille for me and a strawberry tart for 'The Font'. Then it's back home with the VW's aircon cranked up as far as it will go,  In the little market town the volunteers are setting up for the old folks weekly 'summer get together' lunch on the square. This is peak holiday season and many families have headed off on vacation leaving grandma or grandpa behind. The lunch is a chance for the more elderly residents to mingle and have a chat. 3 courses and a glass or two of wine - courtesy of the local council.  I count ten closely packed tables. Each table has a dozen chairs arranged around it. There is an element of ' we've always done it this way and we're not going to change now' in this layout. France reported nearly 2300 new cases on Friday. Can a second  lockdown be far away ?



A sign of the times or too little too late ? :https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/germany-plans-to-dim-lights-at-night-to-save-insects/ar-BB17BlkR

I would like to see this but fear that our next trip to DC in September is unlikely to take place : https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/the-new-eisenhower-memorial-is-stunning-especially-at-night-but-is-this-the-last-of-the-great-man-memorials/2020/08/05/100eb90a-d665-11ea-aff6-220dd3a14741_story.html


I sense he's hiding his impatience : 
https://www.wired.com/story/bill-gates-on-covid-most-us-tests-are-completely-garbage/










7 comments:

Lisa in France said...

Hopefully the old folks may decide it is too hot to jam into the tables. You may end up feeling the same way about DC in September, although that will no doubt be an interesting time! I had not even heard about the Eisenhower memorial, but it looks like a worthy addition - my daughter was studying Ike a few weeks ago, and I found it oddly comforting to read about him again. They we got to an audio of Kennedy's Civil Rights address, and I ended up in tears. I suppose it is a good thing to look back and appreciate these men anew. The Bill Gates article was fascinating. Somehow I don't see Mark Zuckerberg making the same transition to wise senior statesman thirty years from how.

WFT Nobby said...

It sounds like the elderly residents should be worried about heat stroke as well as Covid-19. Fingers crossed that they enjoy the lunch and no harm is done. Here in Aberdeen, the cluster that has forced a new local lockdown seems to be the result of young drinkers on a pub crawl. Including several member of the Aberdeen football club. One really would have hoped that professional sportsmen would be more mindful of their own health (and that of others...)
The Eisenhower memorial looks striking and fascinating.

Susan said...

Ironically, entomologists are somewhat concerned about the new legislation. The banning of light traps will presumably mean that neither amateurs nor professionals can monitor nocturnal insects such as moths.

Poppy Q said...

The cakes look nice today. We hope you get your rain, and the tanks filled up.

Angus said...

Although I don't know any I've always assumed professional football players inhabit the ' live in the moment ' quadrant of the moral compass.

Angus said...

Bill Gates seems to be ever more sensible the older he gets. As you rightly observe not everyone in the FAANG universe will age well.

Angus said...

Hot and muggy as the day wears on - hopefully a sign that a moisture laden storm is barreling in from the Atlantic.