After a week of gales, summer has returned. Bright sunny mornings and gentle breezes. A day to get up early and head off to the drive thru bakers. Dog and master stop in the shopping centre car park so that the family diva can have a bowl of water and some curly croissant ends. This mornings offering a 7.8/10. The dough stodgy rather than fluffy. Angus pops back into the bakers and picks up two small strawberry tarts for lunch.
On our return home Sophie has a wander round the village green. This morning the reconstituted and now non-swaying Jesus is looking pristine. The old rotten cement has been replaced, the down beam strengthened and the brick work repaired.
On the village pond we see no less than five Moorhens and two tiny chicks - overnight additions to the village family . A bumper Moorhen year despite the German billionaires 'improvements' to the shrubs that line the pond. The sight of Moorhens in such numbers is an event that scores a full 10/10 on The Rickety Old Farmhouse 'Moorhen' happiness index. In fact I'd almost opt for the Sophie method of calculation and score it a 12/10.
The church is not looking so good. The storms of the last few weeks dislodged some roof tiles and water has covered the altar and formed two small, but now receding, lakes on the floor of the nave. The old mayor comes and opens up the church to let it 'air' three times a week when the weather is good. The new mayor is less diligent. He would prefer the money that goes on the upkeep of the church to be spent on new street lights.
The lime tree on the other side of the lane has once again become bee heaven. As we head out of the front gate we can hear them buzzing away from a distance of thirty possibly forty metres. Every year I make the comment that there must be thousands of bees beavering away on the lime flowers. Every year I am amazed by the presence on our doorstep of this 'humming' tree and its deep basso profundo of noise.
So starts a Friday morning in a village of 67 souls in deepest, deepest France profonde.
6 comments:
I have a lime tree in my bedroom that is currently blooming. Your post makes me tempted to move it outside and see if it attracts any bees on the terrace, but I am pretty sure everyone else in my house would object - bunch of city folk, all afraid of "bugs." I also wouldn't want to disturb the "wa" of the tree - it blooms every years and produces very good limes, so it is obviously quite happy where it is. That second hotel looks like my kind of place!
Great to learn of the moorhens' resilience.
How many pilgrim will want to visit a non-swaying Jesus?
New street lights.....how many does a village of 67 souls need - one each?
Look forward to a photo of the new additions to the moorhen family - no excuses now you have your new phone Angus!
Not too keen on the first hotel - a little too rustic for my tastes, but I could happily stay indefinitely at the Maybourne, even though I have the Med less than a 10 minute drive away. Their croissants should be a resounding 12/10!
None of the farmers in your village have a "shop-vac" that sucks up water? I'm glad the old Mayor is still keeping an eye on things!
Hopefully the church roof have been repaired. Strange that the old wooden pews are still on a damp floor and not moved aside for the floor and pew legs to dry faster but life in your small part of the world seems full of idiosyncrasies!
That was "roof has been repaired".
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