Not amused.
The shriek that wakes the village has nothing to do with C-A-T-S. This young hedgehog has the affrontery to be sauntering slowly across the courtyard gravel. Sophie is unamused. She is even less amused when her nose comes into contact with the sharp spines on the young hedgehogs back . Our visitor is carefully picked up and deposited, gently, in the long grass that leads down to the wild flower meadow. This brings an end to the morning' theatricality '.
Down on the valley floor our pace picks up when we pass the field with the cows and their calves. Sophie may be the ruler of all she surveys but prudence is a valuable tool in her armory.
The vaccination centre doing a roaring trade. 12 -18 year olds can now get the jab. This means they will be allowed into cafes and restaurants as of August 1st. The fact the car park is overflowing at seven am indicates that a lot of mothers have applied 'pressure' on their offspring to conform. For some reason there are five gendarmes, four firemen and two corpulent gentlemen from the municipal Police standing guard .
The picture framer has made a new surround for our Fauvist painting. The framer wears a mask but is of the 'position it under the nose' school of mask wearing. I tell him he doesn't need to take it out of the bubble wrap. Dog and owner are in and out in four minutes. Sophie's good behaviour is rewarded with a shared croissant and a bowl of ice cold water. She also gets an ear scrunch from the young lady who serves us. Not a bad start to the day.The flags that went up on the war memorial on July 14th are still out. Will they come down in the next week ? In many small ways the village, under this new mayor, is a very different place.
6 comments:
Hari OM
The picture looks perfect... and my good friend in Northumbria has had a hedgehog (maybe two) visiting her yard so has set up a camera trap and has been filming them taking the food from the shelter she has set up - it's becoming quite the little hobby!
Half-masking is one of my teeth-grinding gripes. Why bother at all??? As for the vaccinations and Aug 1... has the concept of having BOTH jags and wait two weeks before mingling to ensure uptake of efficacy not a thing in France? YAM xx
At first glance I thought the tiger was also wearing a mask!
We love hedgehogs and are surprised that Sophie hasn't previously encountered the spikes. Are there not so many hedgehogs in deepest French profond?
Could the over abundance of "those in authority" at the vaccination centre have anything to do with the fact that all the stressed out mothers of tykes may be taking their reluctant offspring today?
My parents had woodland at the bottom of their garden, and over time they encouraged hedgehogs by putting out plates of food each evening. It always caused amusement if the food wasn't there at a certain time - the hedgehogs would rattle the plates until they were filled1 They would just amble to the shrubbery and watch carefully until the food was laid out! Such sweet little creatures - I wish we had them here, but I fear over development has driven them out. My mother fed urban foxes too, and over the years acquired quite a menagerie of wildlife.
Love the picture, but find the Mama tiger's stare a little intimidating.
I tried and tried to get a vaccine spot for my kid as soon as under 18s were allowed, but it wasn't until 8 a.m. the day that age group was actually open that vaccine spots were bookable for them. The first slot available was two days later.
The government is wisely removing the requirement that both parents sign authorization for their children's vaccination. I'm not so sure the reluctance is from the kids.
My surprise when we went was how many older people were there. They were eligible months ago--what were they waiting for? And this was before Macron's speech about vaccine passports.
The Font has discovered the reason for so much security and the large early morning crowds was the presence of the Prime Minister. Have a jab and your picture taken with the man from Paris !
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