The association of local mayors had their quarterly meeting in the Salle de Fetes. Lights burned until gone midnight. On our close of day perambulation across the village green ( after watching Scotland beat France in the rugby final ) we counted sixteen cars and five vans. As expected the meeting room windows were firmly closed and masks were not to be seen. Wine and 'nibbles' were provided by the ladies of the Beautiful Bye Ways Committee. Thank heavens the virus knows not to travel into the countryside. It seems one of the topics under discussion was the possible imposition of a new nationwide lockdown due to the surge in case numbers. Go figure.
The electronic bell engineer showed up late in the afternoon and adjusted the church bells for the weekends time change. This means the chimes will be out of synch until the clocks are moved on Sunday morning.
With the temperatures now in the 20's Sophie has had some hair trimmed from her undercarriage and her flanks. The end result may not look professional but we console ourselves with the view that she must be much more comfortable.
The new pontoon that has been installed on the river is again checked but PONette prudence urges caution. It is sniffed but no attempt is made to walk along it.
Back at the Rickety Old Farmhouse a dead robin comes tumbling out of the sky. A victim of the pair of magpies that have taken to roosting in the orchard. I've gone through my entire life without ever seeing a bird fall from the sky and now I've seen it twice in the space of a month. Last time it was a small bird of prey after a run in with a kite. This time it's the plucky little fellow who stood on the gate pier and checked the Rickety Old Farmhouse inhabitants in and out.
The smoked salmon arrives. It was scheduled to take 36 hours but made it in 39 . Angus has also ordered some Arbroath smokies which will be tomorrow mornings breakfast. The salmon smoker in Scotland has got round the Brexit blockade by shipping a truck load of salmon to a middle man in France who packages it and couriers it on.
7 comments:
After a whole year it's hard to understand some attitudes to the virus.
Very wise of Sophie not to set foot on the pontoon - they seem to have a mind of their own when you walk on them, and bounce about alarmingly!
The poor Robin, I do hope you were able to give it a suitable burial. It's so distressing to find a bird that you know has been savaged by either a cat or another bird.
Glad to see that the salmon has arrived safely - that looks quite a scrumptious haul! We used to be able to buy Scottish smoked salmon and kippers at our local Iceland. I haven't shopped there since before Christmas, so no idea what's available now, but have heard that all their dairy produce is now coming from Southern Ireland.
So sad to see the fallen robin. But well done that Scottish salmon exporter. Nicola will this morning be wishing she could so easily export a Salmond... Yesterday was unquestionably a good day for Scotland supporters on the rugby field, and (?)a good day for supporters of the Union on the political front.
Cheers, Gail.
It's very sad about the robin, especially if he was someone you'd gotten to know. We don't seem to have robins in Tokyo, which takes some of the zing out of spring. But good news about the salmon! I think I tempted the fates last week by posting about Charlie's cast-iron stomach. He is now having his first round of real gastric distress and has been to the vet. We're not sure what caused the problem, but maybe his diving into the decorative pond at the building next door? We were planning to take him to the park this weekend, with a pond where the water seems like more of a sure thing, with ducks and turtles and koi living happily, but now that will have to wait.
Universal canine logic - the ranker it is the tastier it must be. Viz why drink from a bowl of clean water when you can drink from a puddle or pothole ?
Interesting link regarding the statue. One wonders if she would have survived the Suez Crisis in 1956 or the six day war ten years later had she originally been put in place. The lighthouse put up instead has since been abandoned and is currently endangered.
Poor wee robin. Dottie Dog considers it her profound duty to chase the neighbors C-A-T-S away from our bird feeders each day lest we suffer similar casualties. Like Sophie, she never comes close to actually catching the dastardly things, only left to ponder where they've run off to. So glad the Salmon arrived...it looks delicious!
Hari OM
I had notifications from Scottish Ballet and a theatre company I subscribe to that performances they had both planned were now being postponed till next April... any tickets booked would be transferred to that 2022 date. Very sensible of them.
The rugby was a fine match to end on - not just for oor win, but because it did provide lots of entertainment. Right to the overtime scoring... edge of seat stuff.
I would now go so far as to say, Angus, that given the propensity for things to occur in threes, that walking with your eyes on the sky might now be required! You photo honours the life that was. Did you know that Victorians sent Christmas cards with dead birds? YAM xx
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