By the village pond hundreds of carefree frogs basking in the early morning sun. I keep Bob firmly on his lead. He seems to think that he can walk on the water lilies.
Overnight the cows from the barn have managed to push down the fence and get into the garden. The lavender looking rather the worse for wear. There's still half a dozen heifers in the freshly ploughed field by the war memorial. They're contentedly grazing on the trees along the edge of the ridge. Bob thinks of wandering over to them but decides against it. He's finally learnt that what's small at a distance can be disconcertingly large close up.
'' I'm sure my dear you're exaggerating ". It can safely be said that the meeting with the mayor in the 'dog show' village did not go well. The mayor seems to think his dissimulating charm has soothed troubled waters. The man has much to learn. ' The font ' did, however, discover that the local bank has given the hunting association a gift of €1500 for their 'maintenance of rural tradition'. Angus is willing to bet that a meeting with the bank manager is on the horizon.
The Old Farmer has returned from his trip to Belarus. The venerable Ford Transit motor home parked on the lane. He's wearing a Canadian loggers hat, a red and white striped woolen cardigan,maroon velvet trousers, beige plastic shoes and and a string vest. 'The font' thinks he must have been shopping in Minsk. Our neighbour appears at the front gate to return a mobile phone we'd given him in case of emergencies. '' Can't talk now. Must go and catch up with my post " he says, twice, before quickly disappearing. The story of his travels and the reaction of the locals to an octogenarian Frenchman arriving in an ancient motor home with a gravestone in the back will have to wait.
Bob and Sophie have had a quiet day. Sophie strips the bark from fallen branches, Bob chases non-existent ( or long gone ) blackbirds in the laurel hedge. A parcel arrives from a neighbouring PON ( Thank you Teena and Merlin ) containing hand made dog treats from Cornwall. One of the recipes contains sprats. From the amount of tongue licking we can safely assume that sprats are an absolute PON favourite. In fact if Bob had his way there would be sprats with everything.
