A large white van shows up outside The Rickety Old Farmhouse. A man in orange overalls gets out and hammers a sign into the grass verge opposite the far gate. The hammering wakes Sophie who immediately lets us know there's someone outside. She does this 'enthusiastically'. Any villagers hoping for a lie in on a Sunday morning will be disappointed. There is going to be a major cross country race coming through the village. By major I mean five or six hundred competitors. Someone, somewhere, has done their homework and found the most isolated spot in South West France for an outdoor gathering.
Angus opens the doors and windows to let the early morning air in. Sophie helps in checking the garden for signs of C-A-T-S.
The Old Farmer emerges onto his balcony and we have an across the lane 'chat'. He can't get the hang of the new controls on his television. The buttons are too small and too close together. ' When I press the button to turn it off the volume goes up '. Now that the weather is getting cooler he is once again spending more time with his lady friend at her house in the little market town.
Sophie is loaded into the back of the car.. She settles down on her blanket and is soon asleep.
Down by the river the sun is burning away the mist. Sophie absent mindedly wanders into the river, gets her paws wet, and then emerges to give Angus the unmistakable ' How could you let this happen to me !' look.
We halt while Sophie watches a young couple reverse their small boat into the water. The man parks the van on the waters edge and wanders along the pontoon while his companion starts the outboard motor. Sophie is completely engrossed in this land/water interface. When Sophie becomes engrossed nothing, but nothing, will move her. Standing and staring is an integral part of PON ownership.
6 comments:
I can totally empathise with the Old Farmer and his problems with the TV controls.
Will Sophie be cheering on the marathon runners?
Here in Scotland these events are waking up again - as I was loading my car to head to Torridon yesterday morning, my next door neighbours were setting off for Speyside to compete in the Aviemore half-marathon (1000 entries).
Angus, TV controls are proof of EVIL in the universe. I've sorted our ridiculously small controls... I bought some little stick on dots designed to stop china scratching furniture. I stuck one on each On/Off button and one on the MUTE because they are the two that get used most. Problem, if not totally solved, certainly vastly improved.
What excitement for Sophie - she'll be able to let her encouragement be known as each runner passes her gate!
We too have had some excitement on our walk this morning. A sweet little puppy we stop and chat to, managed to escape from her garden by knocking aside unsecured protective wire mesh, and wriggle through the bars of the gate! Fortunately I had Inca's slip lead and we were able to catch her. She made such a fuss of us both, and was clearly ready to play, though Inca was not impressed. It took a good 15 minutes to get any response from the house owner, who didn't seem very happy that he'd been woken early (9:30) on Sunday morning. I pointed out the problem, but somehow, judging by the state of the rest of the garden and house, it will be some time before any remedial work is done. In the meantime, unless we change our route, we may find ourselves with puppy day care, once the owners have left for work!
Hari OM
Perhaps this year for Christmas, Angus might buy THIS for TOF instead of a bottle of wine? Mind you, if he falls asleep with it in his hand like my father used to, that volume is going to rise and fall anyway!!! YAM xx
This is brilliant! An invaluable suggestion.
Wise Sophie lives in the moment
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