It’s great. I wake up in the mornings now and don’t have to think about the jungle or the brambles. What a relief. All I’ve got to do now is get the terraces flattish, rake up all the cuttings, burn them and then we should be in shape for next summer with lush green terraces to look out on. But then I look at my bank balance and the dosh I gave to the gardener and I get depressed again – hey ho!
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| Guy's Scoot in Bits |
So what have I been doing? Well, working on Guy’s scooter to get it back into a condition where he can ride it again. We’ve been fixing the bodywork which was ripped to bits as the thieves tried to get into the various electrical circuits to hot-wire it. We’ve ordered the new ignition system and locks and hopefully it’ll be all fixed when he returns to lyceé next week following the half-term holiday.
I’m pleased to say that Shadow is back to normal after his illness and has resumed walking down to see his pals during the day. He still hates his medicine being squirted down his throat each morning but despite the fact that I tell him it’s for his own good, he still tries to do a runner when he sees the medicine bottle being removed from its box. Even the promise of some doggie treats if he behaves doesn’t work and I’ve just realised after some ten years or so that picking out three different coloured biscuits for him is a waste of time – dogs are colour blind!
As part of his recuperation, we put him on proper doogie food, i.e. meat, which we mixed with his biscuits but the problem is that when we run out of meat, he refuses to eat but we put this down to the fact that he’s French and protests if the slightest thing is not to his total satisfaction.
The cats on the other hand are bulking up for winter and as soon as they hear Shadow’s meat being brought out they go berserk, pushing him out of the way and gorging themselves on his ‘chicken and carrot gourmet meal’. The fact that they have a rat a night doesn’t seem to satisfy their carnivorous tendencies.
Still on the subject of food, we had lunch out yesterday at the Bar des Sports because the Midi was closed (their late summer closure for 1 month) only to find the whole Midi family sitting in their rival’s establishment having a slap up meal. It’s nice to see the village’s rival brasseries supporting each other but they do that anyway by agreeing when one establishment closes and the other remains open. A true cartel if ever there was one.
The weather is mixed at the moment with periods of really sunny days interspersed with days of driving rain but at least it’s not too cold. The fire still hasn’t been lit this year nor has the central heating been switched on yet which is unusual, but if truth be told, I can’t wait until we have a roaring log fire in the lounge. Once it’s lit that’s it for the next six months – those who think the south of France is a sun drenched paradise are mistaken I’m afraid. It’s an easy climate to explain. In terms of UK weather, we have six months of hot summer, two months of a UK autumn, one month of winter and three months of spring. Not quite the 300 days of sunshine many think we get.
I’m hoping the weather stays settled this week as we’ve got some guests arriving for a long weekend and it should be interesting. Nicky used to be a client of mine in IBM and BT and I have a recollection of stumbling out of clubs with her and her fellow directors at 2am looking for somewhere to eat, only to have a kebab and then look for the next club! I don’t think I ever saw my bed until at least 6am but that’s what you had to do in Sales – the customer is always right – yeah !! Those days are long gone thank goodness and so, I hope, are Nicky’s all-night partying instincts!
And ....... I hab a cold.
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