Our dear friend Genevieve took a fall and has
broken her ankle so I did my weekly Wednesday afternoon visit with her and
walked our wheel chair up so she can at least get out and about. I spend an hour a week with Genevieve and Jean-Marie
chatting in French and it has given me an opportunity to relate to the everyday
stuff of living here in France in French. Since I stopped going to choir I only
talk to shopkeepers and online complaint centres so this friendly hour to catch
up with the goings on in the village is something I look forward to every week.
Genevieve and Jean-Marie live in the old
village bakery opposite La Colombiere Manoir, now a gite complex and run by
Belgians and the little water outlet you can see on the right of the picture is
our water level gauge. When the fields are water logged the water gushes out
and when the fields are dry it becomes a trickle. We pass La Columbiere on our
way to Carentan and often make a comment about the water levels and as we are gardeners
in the water meadows it is quite important to have a handle on that sort of
information albeit un-scientific.
In the big clear up to make space for Monty we
got really brave and chucked out things we thought we needed to keep, but
actually we don’t. We bought this leather sofa in 2000 for our move from family
home to posh Marina home and 15 years later we still have it but have changed
our seating arrangements in the lounge twice since, but it was still stored in the barn, just in case. We finally threw it
down the stairs and into the trailer and off to the decheterie before we could
change our minds.
As a child growing up with two languages I remember
reading the comic book version of Tintin, Asterix, luci luc and Hublot chien Matalo
when we visited our cousins in Belgum. Mike and I then make our life here in France and
I am always attracted to the book shelf in the supermarket with these comic
books on sale and realised that this style of book is more than just a cool way
of getting a story over, it is a way of communicating to adults who do not
read. I was shocked to see a serious comic book on how to make your tax returns,
and the book that is open in this photo communicates in pictures and bubble
speech, with minimal words’ what the gendarme can fine you for if stopped
in your vehicle…. I can’t decide if this
is a good or bad thing. It undoubtedly
helps those who can’t read, but
should the education system ensure that this basic skill, is at least, past
comic book level before the kids are let free from education……..!!
Then the day came for Monty to come home. I had
been watching the weather forecast for a dry day, bit like our sailing days
when we watched for wind directions and speed, and it was decided that Friday
was the day. John got Monty out and parked him in front of his house so when Mike
and I turned into their drive we both said, awww look at that. John and Lyn are
sad to see him go but they know he is going to a good place.
I followed Mike home in Beryl at a hair
trailing 40 miles an hour and we did turn heads and annoy lorry drivers but we
made it home and then Monty promptly decided to have a little sulk and just
stopped running before we could show him his new garage. Mike fell into master
mechanic mode and got his fault finding head on and started by removing the
petrol pump and looked at the plugs only to find the needle damper in the carburettor
was stuck and here starts Mike’s hobby of keeping this perhaps temperamental
old fella on the road and running sweet.
HOSS sat reluctantly in front of this upstart
who is getting all the attention. As
Mike drove onto the drive I shouted NO JUMPING as HOSS came forward as welcoming committee. I know
at this early stage that a claw scratch on the door would not go down well…..!!!!!
And finally the combination of cut flowers and
roaring fire in the back ground just makes me chuckle. I was boasting to Lyn
and John, when they came over for afternoon tea, about my one daffodil showing its
head at the front of the house. Later in the day Mike took my hand and walked me into the court
yard and behind the camper was a host of golden daffodils loving the shelter of
the camper and the warmth of the sun in the mornings, out of sight, out of mind
and therefore out of boasting range as well. I picked fifty percent of them and
brought them in so we can at least enjoy, the joys of early daffs, on a cold
and blustery day.
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