Friday, June 10, 2022

Another sign.


A perfect day. The lightest of breezes, a smattering of cloud and just enough warmth for it to be shirt sleeve weather. Angus heads off up the hill. Sophie follows along behind but is delayed by a duck that has the sheer effrontery to waddle across the road in front of her. She gives voice to her displeasure.

The grass in the orchid field has been cut. The farmer feeds his herds on the grass containing the wild flowers and sells the milk to the local cheese maker. The locals swear blind that they can tell the difference between cheese made with wild grasses and cheese that isn't.  Angus can't tell the difference but is delighted that in a Cracker Barrel world the old way of doing things still survives.

After the excitement of dealing with an audacious duck the best - indeed the only - thing a girl can do is position herself for a restorative nap at the front door. The uninitiated might think she's asleep but Sophie knows that behind that slumbering demeanour is a diva ready to risk life and limb to defend her flock.


Yesterday Angus took the big car in for its annual service. The traffic into Toulouse a nightmare. There's been an accident and what should take an hour takes two and a half. The garagiste tells me the car will be ready in six hours. ' It's a big job. The joint behind the engine needs replacing'. Angus has no idea what the 'joint behind the engine ' might possibly be . At moments like this the best thing to do is frown and nod. This hopefully obscures his innocence and the possibility of being overcharged.

The courtesy car is a stick shift with one of those gearboxes that can best be described as 'sloppy'. The bill by the time tax has been added is just shy of 2,000 euros. When quizzed the garagiste reminds Angus that it's the joint behind the engine. In other words they've had to take the engine out, repair the joint, and then put the engine back in. Angus is still none the wiser as to what an engine joint might be but he'll run a mile if the term ever comes up in conversation again. Angus feels like telling the garagiste that surprises like this are a reason to buy Japanese - but he doesn't. Instead he makes a harrumph noise. Another sign that I'm turning/ have turned into my father. 


The worlds oldest tree. How cool is that ? :https://www.livescience.com/possible-oldest-tree-found-chile

The French Navy playing the bagpipes :https://youtu.be/tyR9Ux4yoAs?t=141

5 comments:

Lisa in France said...

I'm not sure which is cooler - the world's oldest tree or the French Navy playing the bagpipes. In either event, just the ticket after watching three hours of January 6 committee hearings. And then attempting to renew my husband's Global Entry, only to be informed he needs a "promotional code." From whom, from where, no clue is provided.

WFT Nobby said...

To my thinking, just the idea that the cheese comes from grass containing wildflowers makes it taste better!

Coppa's girl said...

Ditto Nobby's comments on the cheese made from grasses containing wild flowers.
But where would we find such a thing here? Any suitable land has either been covered in polytunnels or used to build sky-high hotels or blocks of apartments! Such a sad demise to the countryside. We do have wild flowers in the verges but not enough worth harvesting, so they are safe - for the moment.

Diary of a Nobody said...

When speaking to my husband who knows about these things he doubts that the garage took the engine out and replaced it in only one day , I hate trips to the garage it results in me having to listen to said hubby moaning for two days about the work that was done and the cost in general .

Travel said...

Always with one eye open, and ears set just right, the protector of the flock is on duty, even when not. Should have taken her to the car place to watch out for danger.