Tableaux

Gale force winds forecast. Angus does a tour of the garden to make sure everything that can be battened down, is. Sophie watches me anxiously. She's not bothered about the brewing storm. She's rather more concerned that I've forgotten to take her off in the car for her morning croissant ends. When you're a nine year old PONette routine is all important. PONs have faces that tell you immediately what they're thinking. She is reassured and loaded into the back of the car.

The bakers display cabinet covered in chocolate Easter 'tableaux'. The bakers wife tells me that Christmas is their busiest and most profitable time with Buche de Noel accounting for 45% of their annual sales. I query this number - 45% sounds high. It seems that all the local firms order Buche de Noel for their staff so they churn out literally thousands of them. Easter is big on chocolate but the cost of buying moulds for the 'creations' is high and the volumes are lower.

I buy a fruit tart and a black and white chocolate cow. The bakers wife informs me the cow is named 'Bella'. Over breakfast with 'The Font' I discuss how odd it is that the bakers wife should give names to her 'creations'.

Sophie has a trip to the river to glare at cormorants and have a lengthy drink from the water. The council workmen have cleared all the flotsam and jetsam away so she has an unimpeded access to the water side.  Eagle eyed readers may observe that Sophie had a trim last week. The cold weather ( that was not forecast ) has prevented any subsequent 'tidying up'.

What do you make of this ? : https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/948031

Last night we dined, virtually, in Ocean City - a town chosen at random on Google : http://www.thehobbitrestaurant.com/menu