How's that going to pan out ?

The sun is up over the horizon by four in the morning and sets a little before midnight. Sophie, finally, seems to have come to terms with living in a land of permanent light. Today, she sleeps in until five twenty at which point she emits a single, concrete shredding, yelp. This is my cue to get up and enjoy the glorious morning with her.

Flocks of Jackdaws and Magpies greet us as we head along the track down to the sea. Three sparrows stop on the stone wall and chat away as if we're long lost friends. On the rocks the eiders are too busy hunting for barnacles to pay any attention to Sophie or her companion. Overnight the badger has returned to munch on the alpine plants.

After breakfast we head into town. The beach by the golf course deserted apart from a lady who ( bizarrely )  has a pocket full of carrot slivers. Sophie isn't overly keen on slices of carrot but accepts them with an attitude that a girl can't look a gift horse in the mouth. 

Give it a couple of weeks and the profile of the visitors to the town will change. At the moment the bulk of them come up from Edinburgh on the shuttle or by train. By the end of the month the seasoned visitors will arrive. They tend to fly in, collect their golf clubs at the carrousel and then head to the car rental desk so that they can get up to their hotels in the fastest time possible. Parking then reverts to being impossible.

The lady in the bacon roll cafe tells me that the junior lecturers are on strike over pay. The junior lecturers mark the exam papers. With graduation a month away this is not a good development. More senior staff are being asked to help out. I wonder how that's going to pan out ? Outside the administration building two young women are setting up a large signs that says ' Strength in Unity '. I'm guessing that the strikers will soon be demonstrating.

 

Windswept

Our normal morning trip to the cafe routine has been upended by the lockdown. The President was on television last night saying that in the big cities like Paris and Toulouse there will be a 9pm until 6am curfew for the next four weeks. Bars and cafes closed. Everyone here seems mildly surprised at the speed with which the virus has returned. It's almost as if they thought it had gone, never to return. The one big change is that people in the village now stand well apart when talking to each other. We foreigners tend to position ourselves at least eight feet away when talking. The locals a more intimate four feet or so. The days of kissing on the cheek are gone.

Instead of curly croissant ends Sophie is getting a lot of walks. Today she heads off for a long stroll on the far side of the village.  Usually we see few, if any cars, but this morning  three with Dutch registration plates pass through the village. Europes new population movements.

My shaggy companion rather enjoys these trips in the car. Attention and excitement. What more could a girl ask for - apart from that elusive start of day viennoiserie?

We walk a couple of kilometres along a farm track and a couple of kilometres back. After a hesitant start Sophie picks up her pace and storms  along.

By the time we return to The Rickety Old Farmhouse she is looking 'windswept'.

 A shortage of fridges ? : https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/10/coronavirus-why-there-is-a-national-shortage-of-refrigerators.html

A great success.

A Saturday morning for venturing down to the canal. In these pandemic times  - 20,000 cases reported yesterday -  not a soul about. Sophie can hurtle down the towpath as fast as those titanium knees can carry her.

En route she also discovers that the back floor of the new dog car is higher ... much higher ....

.... than in the old VW. The window is also lower. This means she has an uninterrupted panoramic view out of the rear . On the journey home she sits bolt upright in amazed silence punctuated by occasional squeaks.

Angus orders some chocolates from London. They arrive in two days. By the end of the year, post Brexit, shipments will take much longer. After dinner  'The Font' has not two but three. A most unLutheran calorie overload. The Rose and Geranium Ganache is tried first but isn't a great success. The Dark Chocolate Almond Cluster is.

A visitor.

Mask wearing now mandatory on the streets of all the surrounding market towns. Here in the village, with a population of 67, two thirds of whom live in outlying farms, a mask is still a rare sight.  The locals think the government has two options. Impose another lockdown and kill the economy or try to control it through half measures. The second strategy seems to be the one that is being followed .

Granny Smith apples make their first appearance in the greengrocers. 'The Font' hates them. Angus loves their acidity. In the UK apples are sold all year round. Here they are homegrown and seasonal.

On the storm drain we are joined by a visitor. The farm dog from down in the valley is out and about . He sniffs Sophies muzzle then comes and sits by me as if we're long lost friends. Sophie emits a shriek to remind him that this is her village, that she's a diva and that he's an oaf. She then ignores him. As in completely ignores him. Farm dog has a tickle, discusses the intricacies of Japanese South Korean relations and then heads off home through the donkey field. Sophie watches him go in superior silence. 

Angus has been ordering more wine. This is not so much because our consumption has increased but simply  because trips to the wine merchant are on hold. 

You'd think that in a pandemic people would be watching sport but they're not , Seems that without bars and social gatherings sports lose their magic as a conversational glue : https://danfrank.ca/the-decline-in-pandemic-sport-viewership/

This article by a Spanish think tank is the first time I've ever got close to understanding North Korea. 

http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/ari111-2020-bondaz-the-lull-before-the-storm-worst-may-be-yet-to-come-in-korean-peninsula

An old style event.

From the vantage point above the river a view, despite the clouds, all the way into the neighbouring department. Sophie and Angus are alone at this time of the morning. The school buses have collected the children, parents have headed off to work and the little village is wrapped in a Marie Celeste silence. Yesterday saw 18,800 cases reported nationally so this eerie silence is perhaps not entirely unexpected. People are starting to 'self distance' again.

The homes owned by foreigners remain resolutely locked. Their shutters bolted.  Some of them have been like this for over a year. Others were closed up after Christmas in the belief their owners would be back down for Easter. Maybe this summer ?

It's hard to determine whether the pizza restaurant is open or closed. There are tables and chairs outside but the dirt on the windows suggest the owners have given up the fight. We study the menu and wonder at the liberties the French can take with Italian classics.

On our return to The Rickety Old Farmhouse Sophie opts for a restorative doze in the sun which has started to peep ,feebly, through the clouds. She ignores the central heating mans arrival - no biscuits so why bother ?  Loic  comes to blow leaves and is also ignored. Sophie found last nights debate to be an old style political event - which was just fine by her although she noticed that at the end quite a few folks weren't wearing masks.

 

$25 an hour won't get you very far in Switzerland :https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/switzerland-geneva-introduce-minimum-wage-highest-in-world-2020-10

The hidden world of vending machines : https://thehustle.co/the-economics-of-vending-machines/

If only he'd followed this advice : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RnChOf8RTs

Not quite revolutionary.

Six thirty and it's still dark. In a couple of weeks it will be time to change the clocks. Despite everything 2020 is just racing by. Sophie has her harness put on and sits exuding fidgeting impatience while Angus laces up his shoes. It goes without saying that the weather outside is cold and gusty. Sophie's enthusiasm for a long walk is rather greater than mine.

On our return home she is towelled dry. Sophie loves being towelled dry. Her tail wags and she makes strange little yodelling noises.

We head off to the drive thru bakers.  This mornings croissant a lacklustre 6.3/10 ( although Sophie ranks it as a 13/10 ) .

We sit, Angus on the tailgate, Sophie under it, and watch the rain fall off the bean trees in the car park.

In the greengrocers the first of the Panettone have arrived. A reminder of Christmas on a cold, wet, blustery morning.

Life in near lockdown in deepest, deepest France profonde.

Not quite as revolutionary as it has been made out to be. This treatment is already being used, to good effect, in UK hospitals : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/03/uk-hospitals-already-using-trump-antibody-drug-says-expert

This could only be French :https://youtu.be/I5wcp8mlr70?list=RDCLAK5uy_mCvOm3kQy1RTBwDOGYkNhtHwMO89ffquk&t=55

The French dog charity advert : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHEZQOv4oDQ&list=PL1aQD81ouMUU3YRFQHzy1rWx21QeHFgkv&index=0

Indoors.

Wet and windy. In fact it's very wet and very windy. The long summer drought has been replaced by heavy rains and autumn flooding. For Sophie a perfect day for lingering over fresh scents and having leisurely drinks from puddles. A very large puddle has formed by the far gate. Sophie walks through it, then drinks from it, then walks through it again.  Angus is less keen on ambling along slowly in the downpour. Thankfully, by the time of our second walk the sky has lightened and there's a patch of blue sky directly overhead.  The villagers are sensibly all indoors. The smell of wood fires fills the air.  Usually this is the time of the year when we head off to Carmel to see family and friends. Perhaps next October ?

Difficult to decide if its the audience or the musicians who are more enthusiastic :https://youtu.be/KLGY_htXtPI

A peculiarly Scottish  take on an international event : https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/1312334553902702593/photo/2

Not this morning.

We're up late watching the debate . A  nerve jarring way to pass some time. On the bright side you'd have to say it gave a good insight into the characters of the two men. In that sense it did what it was supposed to do.  After the excitement Angus sleeps in and our walk round the village is twenty minutes delayed . There is much for Sophie and Angus to talk about at the storm drain.  By the time we return home from the morning walk the post lady is at the front gate with a parcel from America. Three bottles of Zymox. A must have for owners of long eared dogs. French customs have chosen to add $30 per bottle import tax on something that should retail for $7 or $8  -  presumably to safeguard the French domestic dog ear cleaner industry. 

The good news is that Sophie doesn't have her ears cleaned this morning. She is not a fan of ear cleaning.

Great excitement in the village yesterday. The municipal  painting team arrive for their annual 'refurbishment' of the villages three speed bumps. One is outside The Rickety Old Farmhouse, one outside the chateau and a double one in front of the war memorial. The speed bumps do not seem to deter French drivers who view them as a challenge to be slalomed over at high  speed.

Sophie spends her afternoon guarding the house against possible intrusions by the gentlemen of the speed bump painting team. A PON girls life is one of high adventure and constant vigilance

Things I learnt today (1) - https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.4589

Things I learnt today (2) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mnSDifDSxQ

Things I learnt today (3)  -  https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/sep-26-tailings-pond-detoxification-baboon-friendship-and-longevity-ancient-dna-in-dirt-and-more-1.5736876/tickling-rats-to-improve-animal-and-scientists-welfare-1.5736889

A squeal.

Wet and cloudy. With the number of Covid cases in France still rising we decide to alter our morning routine. We skip the cafe and opt for the drive through bakers instead. This is the first time we've done this.

Dog and master enjoy our morning croissant in the car park. Angus moves to the passenger seat and Sophie sits on the tarmac by the side of the car. We chat happily away although to passers by we must appear a bizarre sight. Angus pulls a muscle in his neck while trying to take a photo of the croissant and cup of coffee. The older you get the fewer things you can do in a car without straining something. Sophie finds the car park to be a place of great interest. She think's she sees a rat under a bush. This is a cause for a head back, tail high squeal. Before this can be confirmed Sophie is attached to her lead and 'encouraged' back to the Volvo. The croissant is a lackluster 6/10. Although far from flakey it still manages to produce crumbs that cover the seat and the carpet.

A quick detour to the fancy greengrocers. We're the first in and the first out. Angus notices lemon flavoured yogurts. They don't seem to be selling.

The greengrocers shelves have that first thing on a Monday morning empty look. There are however masses of radishes.

Back in the village 'The Font' has found four rather sad looking sunflowers. The breakfast table enlivened by what are truly the last of the summer crop.

So starts a Monday morning amid the strange routines of a pandemic. Sophie of course is ignorant of human concerns - she's just determined to get on and enjoy life.

A longer walk.

What a difference a week makes. Warm summer nights suddenly replaced by non-stop downpours and temperatures that would make any Hebridean feel at home. The central heating is switched on. It makes a banging noise not unlike the noise made by the AMC Pacer that Angus and 'The Font' attempted to drive across America in when they were impoverished students. The noise soon stops.

Into the newsagent to buy the local paper. The shop is quiet. As I get to the counter to pay three hunters, without masks, come and stand behind me. They are in the midst of a lengthy and loud conversation. As I turn to see what the noise is one of the men has a coughing fit. He doesn't think to cover his mouth. A reminder that there are a lot of folks out there who just don't get it. No wonder case numbers here in France are soaring. French hunters, it has to be said, are a particularly arrogant breed. Angus is incensed enough to say something. They look surprised but unrepentant. ' We don't need to wear masks. We live here'.  The inference being that I'm not local.

The wind whipping the water out of the gutters. What a morning. Angus gets soaked. While he changes his shoes and trousers Sophie, who has been towelled dry,  makes it plain she's ready to head off for a longer walk.

 Who'd have thought it ? :https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/scientists-identify-new-species-of-truffle-thanks-to-bonobos/

Who'd have thought it (2) ? :https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176520303554

Who'd have thought it (3) ? : https://ldmce.wordpress.com/2020/09/09/thingifying-the-world-ii/

Barks and whimpers.

No mistaking the PONettes ' Get a move on ' look. The temperatures this week now down into the high teens. What a change from just a week ago when summer still lingered on. The central heating man will be here on Monday and the chimney sweep some time later in the week. I'm less confident about the chimney sweep showing up - ' I'm very busy but I'll be there by Friday'.

As Angus laces up his shoes Sophie positions herself to make it clear that tardiness in getting out of the front door is not an option. Non dog people sometimes hold the opinion that dogs only communicate via barks and whimpers. How wrong they are.

A real red sky in the morning start to the day.  Village goats, donkeys , chickens and horses all greeted. Time for a lengthy drink from a puddle in the road in front of  the house at the crossroads.

Another must read book arrives in the morning post.  New Blogger opts to insert this photo of it upside down which must be some sort of reminder that technology has its whimsical side. The story of the UK's previous ambassador to the US and his dismissal from office for a somewhat  'candid' view of our closest ally. Interestingly, despite being brought up in social housing, and from a troubled home he moved seamlessly to the top of the diplomatic corps. His subsequent treatment reflects badly on his political masters .

 Wooly mammoths in Herefordshire. Thank heavens for things like this : https://www.herefordshirewt.org/news/national-lottery-funding-restore-and-explore-herefordshires-ice-age-kettle-hole-ponds-0

A golden oldie translated into French :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZSIBzHt3wg

Those two words.

A fresh bowl of water to start the day. The leaves falling thick and fast. It's decidedly raw and chill this morning. The time of the year when those two dreaded words spring to mind - ' central heating'.

Angus can't help but observe that this morning  the family diva is sporting a rather 'wild' look.

We stop on the storm drain and put the world to rights. Sophie leans into me and has her chin tickled. She squeals with delight and leans in closer to make sure I don't stop. The locals passing on their way to work have got used to the sight of a strange foreigner sitting with his legs dangling over the storm drain talking away to a furry companion. This may explain why 'The Font' is treated with great sympathy by all the locals.

Angus has been ordering more wine. He views this as practical preparation for a long winter lockdown. Three cases are delivered just fine. Three others have liquid stains underneath - a sure sign something is awry. I refuse to accept them. The  young lady courier driver  says ' I'd refuse them too '.  That makes life much easier. Let the courier company deal with the hassle of explaining the breakages. Angus estimates that ordering wine online costs 20% less than buying from the wine merchant . 

Shortly after the wine delivery woman goes the post lady arrives. She looks at the wine but says nothing.  Perhaps she thinks I talk to Sophie on the storm drain then return home for a breakfast bottle of Burgundy ?

This is a book I've heard good things about and will start reading today.

The young garagiste has become a father. We've seen him graduate from motorcycle to motorbike then to sporty little Citroen with a raspy exhaust. Now he has a practical if ageing BMW four door saloon with a baby seat in the back. This music blasts out as he passes and waves. A tune that can be heard everywhere in France : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivYpJuA_3zc

This is a question I'd never considered : https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-humanity-discovered-its-possible-extinction-timeline/

 'The Font' informs me about this over breakfast. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02717-3