A beautiful start to our day. We're both up and about at five and enjoy an hours brisk walk down to the shore. The dog walkers routine of going for long walks at start and close of day is one that we will retain. This morning eight retired football coaches from Midland Texas ask us where they can get a cup of coffee. They take the news that nothing opens until six with something approaching the 'guess we gotta suffer' stoicism of the early Christian martyrs.
We'd thought someone would choose some nice bright spots and just go ahead and hang them. Not a bit of it. Four gentleman and a lady in a straight skirt discuss relative humidity, the presence or lack of asbestos and lead in the walls and UV light. 'UV light is the enemy of Museum curators' says a gentleman in a Harris Tweed jacket . Security is discussed for twenty minutes. The meeting ends with an agreement that the paintings will go up after the overhead lights are changed to LED's and UV film applied to the windows. They will also install a monitor to measure the temperature inside when the room is full of students. The lady in the straight skirt describes how they will be labelled. This is not as simple a process as you might think.
After toasting 'absent friends' we head out for dinner. 'The Font' observes that the restaurant has installed not one , but three, glitter balls hanging from the ceiling . When was the last time you saw a glitter ball ?
No sadness here about Sophie. Or, to be more precise a little sadness but also the recognition that the decision was made at just the right time. The 'no pain' agreement upheld. Now we've got a large family funeral, a trip to London and arrangements for travel to the US to occupy us. It's also time to decide whether the blog, which has now been going for fourteen years should drift into a fifteenth. Thank you all for your comments yesterday. The world of blog reading dog owners is one of great kindness and civility.
41 comments:
I must say I miss all things Sophie this morning. I am sure others will feel the same way. I will ask will you be looking for two new Polish Lowland Sheep Puppies? I hope you do.They are so special and beautiful. Please, go forward with your blog. I have followed for so many years and look forward too reading each morning. Have a blessed day. 🙏🏻💕
I will miss dear Sophie. Your blog has become a very welcome start to every day for me. I do hope you will continue to post, and I hope you find it possible to find two new POMs to entertain you both and all of us who follow you.
oh ami angus, le depart de sophie me rend triste, si triste, mais continuez votre blog s il vous plait, votre talent d ecrivain est fabuleux amities de lorraine paule caillou
Please continue. I don't think you realise how much we all enjoy reading about a blog where nothing happens. I am so sorry to learn about Sophie but having had to make the same antagonising decision with our beloved maremma Nellie before Christmas, you made the right choice. Maybe, another dog will come into your lives in the future.
Angus, I will have been blogging for 15 years in July, and reading yours for almost as long. While I hate the idea of not waking up every morning to your always beautifully written and delightful posts, I understand that not all good things can last forever. I wondered briefly about whether to start a blog for Nobby last year after Bertie departed and am now glad that I did. Like the other commenters, I do hope you continue.
All the best, Gail.
I would quite understand if you felt this blog had run its course, but I would miss it. Yours is the one blog I read first thing, virtually every day, and have done so for years ever since Pamela talked about you and The Font and I learnt about Digby and Wilf and then Bob and Sophie and the rickety old farmhouse where you lived in deepest France profonde. You have been a part of my life for much of the 16 years I have been here in France. But I also know that blogging needs to be a pleasure and not a chore and to have a rationale, so, here's to the next 15 years (possibly), or maybe not ...
I've been following your blog since the very early days in Italy, with Digby and Wilf. You, 'The Font' and your furry companions have become part of my way of life. Mornings won't be the same without reading about Sophie's antics.
Like many others yesterday, I hope perhaps sometime in the not too distant future you'll find two more PONS to tell us about.
As a relative newcomer to your blog, I hardly feel qualified to comment, but in common with others, I would miss your daily commentary. `
I also do hope you continue to blog - as well as the giggles over the antics of your four legged companions, I enjoy your attention to the details of everyday living, and also to your links to things I'd never find on my own. I hope the business of the next weeks and the holiday in the US are "just what the doctor ordered" for you both. XX
Hari OM
I was reading for quite some time before I became one of the 'com-crew' and am with others that your blog would be sorely missed were it to retire. While, yes, the dogs were the centre around which it has always spun, it is the wider observational aspect that has held the deepest appeal.
Perhaps a 'blog break' for the summer? Just a couple of months to adjust to a different pace for yourself and The Font - to return afresh and keep us all grounded? Yes. We, the readers, are also selfish!
Now, re this post - one wonders what connection Charles 1st had with St Andrews that these folk are so attentive to the care of the paintings... Look after yourselves. YAM xx
Like most other comments today I do hope you continue with your blog. Your observations of everyday life, in the lovely places that you live, are a joy to read each day. I was so pleased to see that you'd written something today. Sorry to hear about your brother too.
Writing again again I am 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
for you both. You both are in my thoughts and 💕❤️❤️ Thank you for sharing with us today and 🙏🏻🙏🏻 you will find it in your ❤️ to continue your life and beautiful village and town. Sharing things we would never see we are seeing through your eyes when you share your pictures. Blessings upon you both and your day and evening. I am sure the love that has been expressed here on your blog for you both has touched your ❤️. Thank you. 🙌🏻🙌🏻
I am in the continue the blog camp. I think I have read since pretty close to the beginning. Again, my condolences on your loss.
Thank you again for taking us along on so many calming walks, allowing us to see your world through innocent eyes. I love reading your daily posts, and would love it if you continued. Take care of yourselves.
The morning started out the same, coffee and reading your post, yet it wasn't the same. One of our flock is missing. Your daily walks with Sophie, sharing those little things that make life, life, have added so much to the "big picture." Thank you for sharing them with eloquence, humor (or humour as you spell it), and grace. Onto wonderful new adventures!
Like everyone else, I do hope you will decide to continue the blog in one form or another - although at the same time, I have marveled at your discipline in posting daily through thick and thin. Some of the posts I remember best have come at the darkest times, but there has also been such a wonderful cast of characters, from Madame Bay, Loic, the Old Farmer and the Old Mayor to the men in dark suits and, more recently, the kind French chef in Saint Andrews, Arthritic Archie and the wonderful folks who'd been setting out the water bowls for Sophie. I've mentioned before that I first found your blog when you were still in Italy and my husband and I were arguing about whether to cut Cherry's bangs. I had read some of the purists' views on this and was reluctant, but I googled around and found one of your posts about how much happier Wilf and Digby were when they could see. I was persuaded by your voice of experience, and Cherry's bangs were clipped from then on (you were right, of course). So you've been part of our daily life for a very long time. I'm the reader but everyone in my family knows about you and understood why the tears were flowing yesterday. And then today's post about the art once again resonated. We've brought a lot of Japanese prints with us to sunny southern France, so we want to have UV film applied on all our windows. We had this in Tokyo, but here, we had a very hard time persuading our temperamental window guy. After he suggested mirrored glass and bulletproof glass as possible alternatives, we realized he just hated the whole idea, so we gave up and asked him just to put in "the usual." And then the UV film will be applied by a separate company (Yacht Wrapping Services!!) about which he will know nothing. Now perhaps we could have negotiated this without the benefit of all your posts about the idiosyncrasies of French service provides, but then again . . . And now my son's decided to spend this next year at the University of Glasgow . . . So I do really hope you will continue, but while you are deciding what to do, I send my best wishes to you and the Font.
I've admired you for keeping your blog going on a daily basis - Something I continue to struggle with to even get a weekly post done. But life is sometimes about not resisting the change that comes, something I know you know all too well.
My continued well wishes and condolence's to you and your family as lives continue missing those 2 and 4 legged family members who have gone on ahead.
The bargain we make with dogs for their loyalty is that we will not let them suffer. A peaceful sadness.
I will continue to check each morning to see if the last wee cottage before Denmark has any observations.
Many thanks!
I'm a relative newcomer to your family adventures, having tumbled into your blog by way of Life at Golden Pines shortly before Bob's sudden loss. As many have already noted, your blog is read early each morning and would be greatly missed should you decide not to continue.
I am so sorry about Sophie but we do have to keep our promises to those in our care even when we hope for more time.
Along with Yamini, I wonder if a break might be in order or perhaps posting on something less than a daily basis. I do so hope you will continue. The loss of gracious civility and keen wit and observations would be deeply felt. I would also dearly miss this community of commenters. I have been looking at some older posts of Bob and Sophie in France; what happiness. The world did feel a bit empty this morning knowing that Sophie wasn't in it. May God bless you and The Font.
Like so many others, your blog is the first thing I turn to each morning, and have for years. Sophie's energy is missed, but I hope you'll continue.
I have read your blog since Wilf and Digby were having their adventures. I watched Bob and Sophie grow and flourish. I have taken your advice on books to read, or avoid. I have laughed at the lovely characters in France and Scotland. I shed tears at the losses. While I would miss your blog if you stopped, I would completely understand the need to do so. Whatever your decision, thank you so very much for the joy of reading your blog every morning.
Have enjoyed your blog since the move to France. Having been lucky enough to vacation in France, with some great interactions, always enjoyed your Anglo Saxon outsider views of France. Like paphosmuseum I wondered where the rickety old farmhouse was, and over many cups of coffee, and some wine, I looked at a lot of village churches, to no avail. Then one of your posts had the town bulletin board, showing some fetes in neighboring villages, and splitting the distance, found your village. Then a ‘drive’ thru town, pass the church, and your house via Google. All the best!
Dear Angus,
Your blogs will always be dear to me and if you decide not continue, I'll be so sad. I found you just about a month after Digbys passing and fell in love with Wilf. What a fellow.
Then came squiff and squee. Where has that time gone. Goodness me.
I wish you and Mme Font all the very best for the future.
Have a few well-earned trips, finish the house and then maybe another fluffy friend? I can but hope.
Like every one of your follower friends I hope this is not the end.
Much Love
Teena, Lala, Lily & Bella (and of course Merlin)
xx
A few days ago, when we learned that Sophie was so ill, I scrolled back through your posts after you lost both Wilf and Digby. And while the absence of those two lovable fellows was sad, your posts...from India and elsewhere ...were still fascinating. Which leads me to share in the hope that you will continue to gift us with your unique perspective on the tiny details of life that make it so memorable. Like others, my mornings for the last 15 years, thanks originally to the recommendations of other dog friends, have begun with a trip to Italy, France profonde, or the wee house in Scotland. I don't know how it feels from your perspective to travel through life with so many virtual friends, but from my view, this special sharing with you and getting to know your other commentators as well is a profound joy. With love. Joan
..
selfishly I do hope that you carry on to the fifteenth year, your writing is delicious, your perspective is refreshing, your adventures are inspiring.
When you come to the states on your trip be sure to wear your six shooters! Never know where errant bullets may fly.
You are far too kind to express this sentiment so allow me - when a blog follower shares the extent of their efforts to “search for and find where you live,” it’s just creepy. (A fan in the US)
There aren't many blogs worth reading everyday, but yours certainly is one I visit every day. It's like reading a letter from a friend and it's always nice to read up on interesting articles that would not be in my orbit otherwise. As a very tolerant person, I feel you should do what you want and I'll understand if you end the blog. Thank you for communicating your thoughts instead of just disappearing. That said I hope you continue writing.
Please do come back to us soon. You and the Font are a big part of so many lives, and we shall miss you terribly. It was never JUST the pups that we adored from afar! XXX
I have been reading you since Wilf and Digby. Please keep a blog going, it was such a relief when you posted the address for the Rickity Old Farmhouse. If not daily, how about a few times a week?
We will miss the fabulous Sophie and her diva outings, she had a big spirit.
I can understand why you feel this may be a natural end to your blog but I would miss it as you write so beautifully.Although I am just a more recent reader- late to the party! I plan to go back and read you old blog posts.Have found it so poignant reading about Sophie's last days as our dog is more or less exactly Sophie's age and have been telling my husband each day Sophie's ok still but then one day she wasn't.That was a lovely last picture of her he said oh she still looks really good. It was the right time as she did not suffer at all it's a hard decision for you both to make but you judged it perfectly.
Do please continue to blog. I’ve been following you daily since shortly after you arrived in France. A wonderful read first thing in the morning. You are a very talented writer Angus and it really feels like we are right there with you as you relate your observations and experiences.
Actually what Jake from Florida aka Joan said expresses exactly how we feel as well.
You definitely know your paintings are being loaned to a good place what with all the fuss and care about them by the University.
An interesting blog post and am amazed by the complexity of hanging your very historical portrait safely and securely in the classroom as you and the Font so wisely require.
Beautiful scenery and commentary as always. I know I am not alone in missing your dear PON.
I join all who hope you'll carry on blogging. We'll be here!
Hugs!
Please do continue your blog. I seldom comment but I read you every day. I'm sure a lot of other readers do too.
Edited for errors.
Angus, I stumbled on your blog not long after you moved to France, next door (relatively speaking) to my own part time pied à terre. I was so taken with your writing that I went back through all the previous posts, including those in Italy. I still grieve for Wilf.
Yours is the only blog I follow. You write so very well, and evocatively. You capture us. Last summer- my first driving to France- I planned to pilgrim through your village with my friend and dog and see if Sophie was on her stump seat. (I stumbled on the location through the war memorial posts). And then an Aberdeen van came and whisked you away.
All my close friends know your story. I regale them regularly. And I spent yesterday with a retired St Andrews Prof who met you at a garden party last week "what's that you say? Former finance person? Lived in France? Came back last year? Sick dog? I think I met him"- couldn't really be anyone else.
I guess what I mean to say is that you owe us nothing. But we love your writing and hope you will continue.
Angus, your various blogs about “The unimportant important little things” have become part of my daily life since you lived in Italy.
I have enjoyed being transported to your world, reading about dogs, travel, the characters you meet, food, seeing your photos, and following links to interesting things. I have laughed, smiled, and then shed tears when your PONs inevitably departed for further adventures without you and the Font with them. Your writing style, which is similar to how my grandmother used to describe daily life last century in NZ, has allowed me to virtually travel to places unknown.
I hope your blogging will continue, but if you feel it is time to stop blogging then THANK YOU for the last 14 years, and I wish you and “The Font” all the best for your future adventures.
Please do continue to blog - there are few places on the web or otherwise that are soothingly nothing in particular and with no alarming world happenings. I do hope there are further "friends" added to your family but a report on other walkers and everyday things would be much appreciated.
Please do continue to blog, Angus, we shall miss your daily account of Sophie's adventures, but the other things you touch on are very interesting as well.
Add my voice to those stating the obvious-- you would be greatly missed. I do not read many blogs. I searched forever for a gentle, measured commentary on the seemingly insignificant daily happenings that constitute a life. There were many times when I sat alongside you and Bob as you reminded him that he was viewing his country. For some reason, that made it seem as though all was right with the world. Be as generous with yourself as you are with us, but I hope you will continue. I need to know that the kitchen gets fitted.
Please please continue. I have loved reading your blog for several years and so identified with your life in France. It's so interesting reading about your new life in Scotland. I just love the everydayness of it too. Bon courage. Helen in France.
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