Marooned at Morlaix!

   Well, here I am once again at the B and B Hotel in Morlaix, Finisterre  ready to spring out of bed tomorrow morning and rush down to Roscoff ferry port to pick up my Best Beloved at eight o'clock. There's just one snag--she won't be there! Due to bad weather in the channel, Britanny Ferries have had to cancel the sailing, and she now won't be arriving until Saturday morning, 24 hours late.
  To do them justice, they did let me know before I was due to drive up, and I could have postponed the stay at Morlaix a day accordingly. There was, however a snag...there always is! If you book the hotel on line and pay at the time you get a substantial discount..BUT the booking cannot be amended or cancelled, so I would have lost 50Eur including an uneaten breakfast. Bearing this in mind, we decided that I might as well stick to the plan and arrive a day early. On reflexion, the scheme did have some advantages-- it allowed for any sudden delay, like the accursed Bonnets Rouges who delayed my arrival at Roscoff on a previous occasion, and it gives me a day to recuperate from the 500k drive up before undertaking the drive back, admittedly with the benefit of a co-driver. Roscoff is one of my favourite towns and a day spent wandering round is far from a penance.

   So, here I am, footloose and fancy free, but feeling, I must admit, a bit tired. The very helpful girl on the desk advised me to book the extra day on line to get the advantage of the discount, so after logging on the I-Pad, that's what I did, so I can enjoy a sort of Bretagne mini-break. I have never had the advantage of Internet access in a hotel until I was given the Pad, what luxury!

  Bye for now, going to have a shower to use as much of my outlay as possible!

The Charente at Rejallent, my favourite piece of river

As Kim is away in Plymouth, I consoled myself with a walk along the Charente in the late Autumn sunshine, a very pleasant walk with the dogs along my favourite riverside path. We walked along to Moulin Neuf, a mill that did not look as new as its name implies! Warm in the sun, very mild weather for late November as these photos will show.

Beware of the Duck!

  They look so domestic and harmless, do ducks, all fluffy white feathers and yellow feet and beak, no hint of danger about them. However, I have a couple of nasty cuts on the back of my hand to prove there is an unsuspected element of danger in handling them!

   When I let the two Muscoveys out of their enclosure into the field on Thursday, I found that instead of walking across the grass, one duck took off and flew over the hedge into the next-door field, where she is allowed, but how much further might she fly? a wing-feather cutting session clearly indicated. Accordingly, we went to grab them from their nest box at dusk the next day, but I failed to take the duck around the wings merely lifting her by the neck. Bad scheme, she flapped her wings and scrabbled her feet, raking the back of my hand, blood everywhere! Few people realise that ducks have small but sharp claws like a cat on the tips of their webs. Not deep cuts, but looks nasty, I shall be far more careful next time!!

  Bye for now, at Morlaix taking Kim to ferry, going to feed the dogs.

Hospital visit for Noah, Ark drifting!

Last Tuesday, I had to visit my Doctor for a series of vague tummy symptoms, I didn't see my usual one but the other Doctor in our Centre. She diagnosed a bug and prescribed loads of remedies which didn't banish the mild tummy ache just under the ribs. During the night the pain intensity increased and it moved to the right groin, Classic appendicitis symptoms. Back to the Doc I went,whose examination confirmed what I had feared. She gave me a note for the Urgences at Niort hospital, and I set off there immediately towards midday, having asked our neighbour Ian to look after the animals if needed. my idea was to check the diagnosis , return home and pack some requirements and get Ian to drive me in.

  However, the Hospital's ideas were quite different. They took my cover details, basic cover and complementary insurance, whipped me on a trolley and to an emergency room, where I was asked to put on a sort of nighty, buttoned up the back, having stripped off my other clothes. The afternoon was spent in complicated tests and examinations and eventually the admissions Doctor confirmed that it was indeed appendicitis, and said I would be assigned a surgeon and proceed to operate that very night! They don't hang about in France!!

  Luckily I had my mobile and was able to keep Kim in the picture, and the poor girl had to make emergency arrangements to catch the ferry back from Plymouth to Roscoff and the train from Roscoff to Ruffec, where our friends Jan and Steve had offered to  pick her up. She also arranged a house sitter to mind the animals, and all sorts of other arrangements which I was too preoccupied to notice. I was very pleased to know she was on her way, as Kim could organise for Britain, even though she wouldn't arrive at the hospital until Saturday . Our friends, Clive and Christine would bring her, and she could pick up our car to use from the car park

  Anyway, I was put to sleep and woke in an enormous recovery room, minus the appendix. Later, I was transferred to a two-bed ward, which I had to myself. My Surgeon, M. Delaplaque,told me it was a ' belle appendicite' and even was ulcerated as well. I Had to stay in until Wednesday, until the drain and tube could be removed. Each day, the nurse would tug 3 centimetres of the drain out of the wound, not my favourite time of the day.

  Still, all's well that ends well and now that drain has gone I feel much better, especially having come back home  with Kim to fuss over me. I really can't fault the care Niort hospital have provided, I would recommend it to anyone. Our complementary insurance covered all extra costs, even food. Even the hospital car parks are free, at Plymouth they charged seven quid a day and I expect they would have towed the car away if I'd abandoned it like that for several days! You pay for health insurance here, but you get good value and prompt effective treatment, I'm not complaining!

  Bye for now, going to let Kim stroke my brow....

Telephone Advertising--It's driving me nuts.

Is it just me?  You know the scenario, the phone rings, you run to answer but either there's a silence, or an enthusiastic voice introduces itself as Collette, speaking for the firm of..... With a special offer of something which you have no interest in buying. It's starting to make my phone practically useless as a quick response medium. My neighbour, Ian, tells me he doesn't answer the phone when it rings, lets it go to answerphone to filter the calls. What the Hell, I didn't install a phone as a sort of bulletin board for advertisers. It really annoys me.
   I take what counter measures I can. I tell all advertisers that I NEVER buy anything advertised by phone. I have told callers that my phone is prohibited for publicity, but firms are impervious to insults and regard all phones as a cheap route for advertising their products.
  Right, what can we do? I have been considering how we can make a difference. What about using the power of the Net?
   If we responded to the call sufficiently to identify the firm, or to obtain their phone number, we could publish it on the Net and ask everyone to ring the number and put the phone down,it would cost nothing and would swamp the firm's switchboard, play them at their own game. Is anyone interested n setting up a site?

  Bye for now, breakfast calls.

Sink Problems

You know how it is. Yesterday I had planned all sorts of tasks to do, but when I reentered the kitchen the kitten had upended a plant pot from the shelf above the sink and the mangled seedling and the potful of compost were dumped in the sink. Now our kitchen sink, as you can see above, isn't the most modern of equipment, yet it is an improvement on what was there beforehand. This would have been a stone basin installed in a recess, with a round porthole window above. The earlier sink's waste pipe debauched through a short pipe into the gutter, allowing the water to run away down the road as was the norm in rural France. The 'new' sink was simply installed on top of the stone one, and its waste  discharged into it. All this I have more fully realised as a result of this little accident. I cleared up the majority of the soil, but didn't worry about flushing the rest down the plug hole as this compost wouldn't be objectionable. We normally wash up in a bowl and carry any dirty water through to the bathroom, adding it to our septic tank by flushing it down the loo.
  However, my action did have a consequence on this occasion, as it blocked the sink. The stone sink underneath overflowed, and water poured out of the cupboard under the sink.
  Unfortunately, my usual standby of a sink plunger didn't work, as there was no connection between the two waste pipes. The wire from a coat hanger, my second standby also failed, the more so as the top sink's waste turned out not to be opposite the hole underneath....it was time to call in a snake.
   A snake is what plumbers call the long length of coiled spring you feed down the plug hole to clear it when the caustic soda fails. Unfortunately, I didn't have one but Weldom supplied this very posh version at 22Euros. Scarcely had I fed the end of this up from the bottom of the waste pipe when a gush of muddy water showed the money had been well spent. All's well that ends well and I shall surely find the tool useful in future blockages.

  Bye for now, pet feeding time!

Roscoff, gateway to Plymouth.

   On Saturday, as Kim was en route to spend a few weeks with our daughter Alyson, we drove the 560 kilometres to Morlaix, where we had booked in to spend the night in the B and B hotel. Normally, we break our journey at the Formula 1 at St Brieuc, an hours run South of the ferry terminal at Roscoff. However, after my previous traumatic experiences with the infamous Bonnets Rouges, who blocked the road and prevented me from catching the ferry, we had decided to install ourselves at a nearer spot, which would be nearly impossible to barricade.

    We spent the night fairly comfortably at the B and B, which does have the advantage of en suite bathroom, rather than than in the corridor  like the Formula 1. After a lavish and very copious breakfast (I try to eat at least the cover charge for the unlimited breakfast) we drove on the few k's to Roscoff.
 Roscoff is an amazing town; people who arrive at the ferry port , which is located a kilometre away from the little town and port, and just drive off towards their southern destinations miss a real treat. The town is a little gem, granite houses, some with amazing carvings, narrow cobbled streets and a thriving fishing and leisure harbour with a huge tidal range so it changes from lapping water to an expanse of weed and sand in a few hours. It is a prosperous little burg, too, mainly based on servicing the trade brought to it by Brittany Ferries, so it supports loads of restaurants and little shops. The country round about is charming also, little ports and inlets many with sandy beaches and several offshore islands. I always enjoy a visit even if it is to put Kim on the ferry. I shall be back to fetch her, and to make a short crossing to Plymouth myself in a few weeks!

Note the onions for which Roscoff is famed!

A strange year for weather.

   This is a pic of our courtyard taken a few years ago, and is the normal aspect of the grass on this very thin-soiled former farmyard. Indeed, our daughter Alyson, who normally visits in the summer was AMAZED to see it green when she came in the spring. Although looking as dead as a dodo, it revives almost instantly when the autumn rains resume.
   Not this year, however. It has remained green and verdant all the summer, due to increased rainfall in what is normally high summer, though I must say the weather

is redeeming itself now with a lovely dry, sunny autumn. It does look far prettier, I must admit, but it has needed cutting throughout the summer, normally that chore ceases in May. On the up side, the garden has not needed any watering. Hey ho what you lose on the roundabouts.....

  Bye for now, off to strim the orchard!

Taking the P--s.

   I'll tell you what, I bet you won't see this prohibition sign in the UK!  Not only are we much more prudish than the French, who are not shy of calling a spade a spade, but it would probably not occur to 90 per cent of the English populace that we need a sign to inform us that the practice is illegal. Any policeman seeing someone doing this would take action to arrest or at least severely warn the offender. We saw this nicely designed graphic behind the hall at Sauzé Vaussais, where Kim has started going to a Zumba class on Monday mornings.
   Frenchmen regard it as their inalienable right to relieve themselves on any vertical surface and a sign is a necessity in vulnerable spots in the interest of public hygiene. In the countryside this does little harm but can be offensive in town even to the inhabitants!

  Bye for now, going to take a short walk....

The Ark changes some of its equipment.

It's been an expensive time for the Ark! A week ago, our washing machine went on the blink, refusing to move on its programme. It would wash but only if you stood over it to say that's enough, time to continue... I tried the magic switch-cleaner without success and it was clear that either the repairer had to be called in, or we should replace the machine. As the old machine was nine years old and starting to rust around the base, we felt a repair would be counter-productive. A repairer would charge fifty Euros or so to visit, a new programmer probably 150Eur. We went to see some new machines at Weldom, as Kim felt it would be best to get it from a local supplier, who would deliver. However, their attitude was so unhelpful, almost truculent, (they wouldn't deliver either)and their choice was so poor, that we went on to Leclerc at Ruffec, and found a very nice top-loader with horizontal drum for 300Eur, a configuration that Kim had wanted for ages. Agreed, they didn't deliver, either, but with the Berlingo it wasn't much trouble to take it away. It's all installed now and working well. I did have to adapt the work surface to be hinged, but that was a minor job for a genius bricoleur like me....
   While we were in Leclerc, I took the opportunity to change my pre-paid mobile phone. The Orange scam was beginning to annoy me, you have to buy more credit than I need and if you don't use it in a limited time they cancel it unless you buy some more, and so on. The Leclerc credit lasts indefinitely and you just pay a service charge of 1.50eur a month. I bought a new mobile, very basic in the clamshell style I like, for 30Eur, a 10Eur start-up card, 5 of which was call credit and an extra 25Eur of credit so I'm in business and should save a lot in future.

 Bye for now, going to play with my new phone!

Are we less trusting nowadays?

Yesterday, as we were feeling in need of a short outing, we decided to visit the grounds of the Chateau de Javarsay at Chef Boutonne. There is a huge fishing lake and park there beside the picturesque gatehouse  with a well- kept park around which is very pleasant to stroll around. Afterwards, we left the park by the rear entry and walked down the narrow and charming Rue de Judee ( is this a reminder of a Jewish  quarter of Chef?) and re-entered the park by the alley next to the large church of Javarsay. There was an information board about the church, which I had not noticed before, which gave some surprising details of the building.
   The board stated that the church was an important stop on the route of pilgrims to Saint Jacques de Compostella, and that the visiting pilgrims were invited to venerate the fifteen relics stored in the church. These included a piece of the Cross, part of the Crown of Thorns, and the dress and veil of the Virgin Mary! Well, I am a believer in Christ but I would be hard put to believe that a church in a small provincial town would have acquired these unique relics and I fear that unscrupulous individuals in the Middle Ages have been practicing on the Church or the pilgrims! I am sure that we more doubting Thomases today would fail to swallow the provenance of these 'relics' !

  Bye for now, breakfast calls!

La Rentree- but it`s been a good Summer

Kim and Al talking to a tree sprite

I'm  sorry that I have been what the Cornish call a bit seldom in posting new Arks, although in Cornwall the word is used to describe thinning hair,as in he' s a bit seldom on top.... my excuse is, of course, that Summer is a busy time and more time is spent outdoors than is passed in front of a key-board. I have reviewed my output since June, and apart from an outburst against the greedy French taxman, little has been added to the Ark's journal. That's not to say that we have been doing nothing, of course, rather the opposite!.
   After our usual mountain holiday in the Pyrenees in June, and a short stay in Orthez chez Arlette and  Laurent, we returned to La Mort Limouzin to tidy up before Al arrived to spend a whole three weeks with us. This gave us the excuse to play tourist and this year we excelled ourselves visiting the Futuroscope, the Puy du Fou , Oradour sur Glane and Saintes to mention just the high spots. On these  day-long visits, Al finds difficulty in walking but we were lucky and privileged to be able to borrow a wheelchair from our helpful local pharmacies, which made things much simpler. And aren't the French kind to disabled people! At the theme parks we got free parking close to the entrance, priority in the queues for the attractions and wheelchair access to the various scenes, often in the front ranks. Taking Al was not a disadvantage but rather a plus factor, though pushing the chair up some steep slopes was good exercise... Here again, some helpful French tourists gave a willing hand.
   We have visited the Futuroscope and the Puy du Fou several times already but we never tire of them, especially as they modify and  innovate each year. If you haven't visited them I urge you to go, you won't be disappointed.
     After all this excitement we were sad to see Al go. Mind you, she nearly didn't, she was flying back from La Rochelle on the 16th August the day when all France wanted to go to the Ile de Re. We were 90 minutes covering four k on the La Rochelle by-pass and nearly missed boarding, probably would have done except for Al's status. She said there were fifteen vacant places on the flight from people who had missed it and we saw several people in tears at the airport. Not a credit to the town. we will avoid this date in future!
    Well, after all this furore, we are finding it hard to return to everyday life, but we will manage it eventually. I might even resolve to blog more regularly...

  Bye for now, going to drink a soothing cuppa

Extorting money with menaces

  I'm sorry to have to say that I have been the victim of a greedy but plausible criminal in the last few weeks. This menacing personage demanded my money, which he said he needed urgently to pay off his debts, pay for his medical treatment and for his cost of living, non of which had been incurred at my urging. He threatened me that if I didn't pay over 700Eur to this fund he would lock me up or take even more money.
  In fact, as you may have guessed, this extortionist is the French government. All my income arises in England, and is duly taxed at source by another demanding person but that's another story.. We do have a double-taxation agreement between our countries to ensure people only pay one lot of tax. However, the ingenious but dishonest French have decided to ignore this, and take 'Social Charges' (not tax no, perish the thought) on part of my income arising from letting our former home in Plymouth. This money, they say, will be used to pay off the National debt, repay some of the overspend on medical costs and on general social costs. I feel that the French National Debt is not my business, and my health cost is passed on to the English National Health  so this is sheer extortion akin to a hold-up. I am thinking of ways and means to avoid this daylight robbery. Has anyone any ideas?
  Bye for now,Going to sit and fume...

A Sunsoaked Village in the Limousin

Last Thursday we visited a charming small French town of about 1200 residents, quite typical of many French country towns. It has a couple of cafés, bars, a dentist, two small garages, even a blacksmith. It has a charming little church, with stained glass windows and a sunny grass square in the middle. It also has the distinction of a narrow-gauge tramway to the county town.
   Some time ago, the Authorities in charge of this little burg decided to hold a census and assembled all the inhabitants, men women and children in the grassy town square. The citizens duly assembled, no doubt laughing and joking, were counted and then the men were divided into three groups in separate buildings, while the ladies and their children were gathered in the church. Then at a given signal, all were cut down with machine-gun, rifle and hand grenades fire. Petrol from the garages was used to set fire to all the houses and the church. Only a handful of the citizens escaped....
  You can see what remains of this little place in the following photos.

  Yes, I expect you've guessed, this village is the town of Oradour sur Glane, over 600 of the citizens were murdered by the Nazis seventy years ago. The town was never rebuilt on its previous site, which has been preserved to remind posterity of the dreadful deeds carried out by the SS 'Das Reich' on unarmed civilians in reprisal for an ambush by the Resistance. I defy anyone to visit the site and remain un-moved, I had tears in my eyes several times and we still seemed to smell smoke in the air after seventy years have passed.  A sobering thought is that things have not changed much, some of the scenes in Gaza look very familiar, whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation out there.

Bye for now, trying to wash away memory with a cup of tea......

This little girl's pram still remains in front of the Church altar

Are the Indians all stupid, or what?

For weeks now, the fixed phone rings about twice a day and the following conversation begins ' Good morning, do you speak English' (bear in mind this is a French phone) 'yes'. My name is ....... And I am speaking from the Windows office. I am sorry to say that we have detected that your computer has a virus' ( my computer is an Apple.) no doubt he would continue to offer to fix it if I provided my access code and Bank details but at this point I am rude to him or put the phone down.
Even if you imagine that I am one of the few innocents on line that have never heard of this hoary old scam, it would be truly incredible if I fell for it more than once, let alone dozens of times!

 So, two points spring to mind. Why ring French phones, if you can't speak French, it must limit your audience severely, even if you confine yourself to English-sounding names. And why ever continue to ring when you have had no takers for weeks.
  I can  only envisage that there exists a scam in India/ Pakistan where for a few Rupees ignorant  and credulous peasants are sold a sure-fire scheme to fleece the capitalists and these scammers are themselves victims? Or is my title question apposite?

  Bye for now, got to answer the phone....

I Love My Lawnmower

   Here it is, a portrait of my love. I know that in your eyes, it may appear somewhat dingy and worn but it has several redeeming features-- it cuts grass, it collects it in its grass box and above all, IT IS  EASY TO START !
  We have been using a petrol mower for a couple of years, cheaply acquired and reconditioned by a local firm, and very good  it has been, too. But it must be said, it has never been easy to start and this year  needing more and more desperate pulls on the starter cord, and often refusing altogether. My routine ended up by giving it a few pulls to see if it was in the mood and if so immediately cutting the grass while it was going. I didn't dare to stop the motor to empty the grass box, clearing the mower with a stick to avoid the still rotating blades... Not ideal from a safety standpoint
   We had reverted to using the electric Flymow but besides the problem of avoiding the long flex, there was no grass box and cuttings would invade the house on our feet for a couple of days after each cut. We asked our friends Alan and Elaine at the Field Emporium to keep a look out for a cheap mower and Alan phone recently to say he had one taken in with odds and ends which we could have. It was a bit battered but, hey, it cuts grass, has a box to collect the cuttings and starts first pull! What more could one ask? I would like to be able to recommend its make but there is no discernible maker's name on it.

     Bye for now, drinking Panaché aftercutting the cour, it's baking hot today!

Laika--Suspected virgin Birth

   This morning, I had to ring to make an appointment at the vets for two of the dogs. Jill's appt was for her annual  rabies jab for which we have just had a reminder, but Laika's problem was a suspected pregnancy! The other evening Kim noticed that her mammaries were swollen as if she was soon to give birth. Nothing particularly strange about that, you might say, a female dog on heat is endowed with a Machiavellian cunning when it comes to arranging a rendezvous with a male. However, Laika is never walked off the leash as she is such a game-chaser. I was beginning to imagine a new star overhead ( Sirius, the Dog Star perhaps ) or a horde of canine angels coming down. However, Francois, or vet was able to reassure us that she was NOT in an interesting condition and that there was no need to change her name to Mary. We heaved a sigh of relief.
  Jilly's jab went ok, and we bought two new flea collars, as the Frontline Spot-ons seem to be less efficacious than they were. A satisfactory, if expensive visit...

   Bye for now, dinner calls

A busy day at table!

Yesterday, Sunday, was a busy day for Noah and Mrs Noah! We went to Church at Matha as usual, but arrived rather late due to lack of organisation in the morning. Our friends Christine and Clive Charlton have had the inspiration of holding a shared lunch at their spacious house throughout July for everyone in the congregation who wish to attend. All bring a dish or two to share and any not so equipped are welcome to come as there is invariably too much on the table. This weekly party has helped everyone to get to know each other better, chatting around the table, although the weather has not been suitable for dining al fresco.
  However, this Sundays little feast coincided with Loubille's celebration of the storming of the Bastille, the French national day. You may remark that the 14th is the day in question...however for reasons of extracting the maximum of pleasure from the occasion Loubille celebrates it with a dinner at the Salle de Fête on thé 13th. This enables the population  to attend the fetes of our main town, Chef Bouton, or our neighbouring villages on the 14th, thus getting two meals in, clever, eh?
  However, this eccentricity led to us having two copious meals on the same day, both well supplied with beverages, so this morning we are feeling a little liverish... Still, all in all, a very happy Sunday!

 Bye for now, coffee calls!

It's our birthday!

ReYes, fifteen years ago we were in   France to sign the Acte de Vente  which made us the proud owners of this house in La Mort Limouzin. We had been here in April to carry out the preliminaries, but we had arrived in our VW camper to sign re the act of sale and pay the purchase price at the Notaire's.

When we arrived back at the house with the enormous iron keys to open the shutters and the front door, we decided straightaway to spend the night in our new home before returning to the UK next day as I had no leave left.There were no services connected, but we had water in the camper's tank and a Tilley lamp for light. We carried up the cushions from the van to form a bed on the floor of the bedroom and spent the night in our sleeping bags. We had taken siezin of a piece of France!

Of course, the house has changed a lot since then, but we both remember the feeling of pride which filled us that night.

Bye for now, lunch calls

Telephone scam

At nine this morning, the phone rang and a voice with an Indian accent asked me if  I spoke English, not a common phenomenon on a French phone. When I said I did he began the usual spiel that his firm had detected a dangerous virus on my computer, and he would no doubt have offered to fix it if I would tell him my codes and bank details! I did not allow him to proceed called him a liar and a thief and put the phone down...

I expect you are all familiar with this hoary old scam, but I supposes it must still gather some innocent victims, so I will state that you should not believe him, NEVER give such details to a phone caller and put the phone down. However, it is the sheer incompetence of the caller which is astonishing. Why ask for English speakers on French telephone numbers, can't he be bothered to lean some French? Most subscribers must be French, after all. Why not call UK numbers, do they think migrants are more credulous? Kim had a similar call a few days ago, and when she stated in French that she could not speak English, the phone was put down. Perhaps it is an Indian cottage industry....

Bye for now and stay safe!

Paint Job

I have to confess a slight case of misleading my audience, if they have been following the Ark for some time,-- the above header photo of the front of the Ark was taken a long time ago and the paintwork no longer looks QUITE like this... In fact it is now somewhat faded and even blistered off
 in  places, high time for a piece of maintenance. As we had bought the new paint in the UK ages ago, I have no further excuse, and finally set out to repaint the shutters, window-frames and any other painted areas.

   I have been making progress, one shutter already painted and re-hung, and the next one three-quarter done. But it's a long task and I shall have to discipline myself to do a bit each day. Un-hanging the upstairs ones will NOT be easy. I'll let you know how I get on.

  Bye for now, lunch calls, must keep up my strength!

Charlotte, the Apple of our eye

   I told you in my last blog but one, how a tiny kitten had managed to persuade us to bring her back to the Ark. I thought I should formally introduce her, so here she is. Meet Charlotte, new Ark crew.
Arlette's cat, Yoda, had a litter of four kittens, all adorable, but somehow, Charlotte was the one who caught our eye, or rather, our hearts. Against our will, almost, we decided at the last minute to bring her back. Mind you, she wasn't the only one of the kits to try for a place on the Ark. As we were packing the car to leave Arlette's and Laurent's house, I noticed a pair of bright eyes peering out from behind the grill at the very front of the Berlingo covering the radiator! The kitten, I think it was the one we called Lion, had squeezed in somehow and was almost impossible to dislodge. However, Arlette was way ahead of her and a quick spray with the garden hose soon saw a hasty exit. Just as well, 500 k in this  exposed  position would have been very dangerous.
Charlotte has settled in well, though I think she missed her sisters for a few days. We had thought that she and Mounette would play together but we had not realised how much Mounette has grown, she's not really a kitten any more. Besides, her nose was put out of joint by the new arrival,and she has been a bit jealous. We are bringing her round with extra cuddles. Charlotte has compensated by attaching herself to Kim and me and spends much time riding round on our shoulders. And she has the largest purr for her small size that you ever heard!

  Bye for now, nearly time to feed the passengers!

Oh, no!

   I told you yesterday that our long drive back from the mountains had passed uneventfully, but in fact, yesterday an unpleasant shock awaited in the post. A thick envelope contained the news that I had been recorded driving at 9kpm over the 70 limit near Angouleme, and a fine of 45Eur was to be levied, together with a point deducted from my licence... This is the first time this has happened to me after many years of driving but it was a bit of a shock nevertheless.
  I was organising things to send a cheque, when I noticed that you could pay on line by bank card, so I decided to do this--I didn't fancy sending off by letter with the risk that it might go astray. I signed on to the French government site, which was very easy to use and was even in English, without my
asking! The site thanked me for paying on line and gave me a receipt to print, avoiding any future argument. A painless( well, nearly) process to put this thing behind me but will be paying even more heed in future, they are not catching me again, I hope!

  Bye for now, going to mourn my missing Euros!

Home again, home again.....

Laika looking at the Lac de Soum

At the top of the Mont de Gez

   It`s been a fantastic holiday in the Pyrernees and subsequently at Orthez. A complete change of life-style and surroundings, from the plains of Poitou-Charentes to the cooler climes and high peaks around Argeles Gazoste . We had climbed to the top of the Mont de Gez, clambered up to the Lac de Soum as well as strolled around the more gentle paths around the Lac d`Estaigne. You can read more about our stay in the Cente de Vacanceś Vers les Cimeś in my previous  blog ' Mountain Air'
  After taking our leave of old and new friends, we set off to spend a few days with our friends Laurent and Arlette at their farm near Orthez. Although only 100k north of Argeles, it was much hotter at the lower altitude and shorts had to be unpacked! But a new temptation was to await us there, Arlette`s cat had a litter of four kittens, that immediately started to cultivate us. We held out til the last morning when we succumbed to temptation and packed a small tri-coloured kitten in a cardboard box for transport to Deux Sevres....

  After church on Sunday, we set out for home stopping on the way at St Sever, near Mont de Marsan, to have lunch with our old friend Roseline, who was one of the immobiliers who sold us this house and has remained firm friends ever since.

 After a long but uneventful journey, we arrived back home rather tired but glad to be back. in fact, the journey did have one surprise to be discovered but I`ll tell you about that next time,

Bye for now, going to see where that kitten has got to!

Interlude- a cut-off point

  I had promised you a further episode on our mountain holiday, but an urgent task was undertaken this morning, Toto the ram needed his annual shearing. Ségolène the elder ewe has already been done, but the hot weather since we returned has made the task of shearing the other two sheep urgent. As Toto is the easier of the two, we tackled him first. I believe Aussie shearer  scan rip a sheeps fleece off in seconds, but we take at least a couple of hours to do each sheep. We have never succeeded in standing them up on their bum, so I hold the sheep still, while Kim shears off the wool. At least Toto has horns which do provide a convenient handhold, but every now and again he makes a sudden lunge for freedom, especially when one is doing those little delicate spots... Still, all is now finished, he is comparatively crew-cut, washed, rinsed and liberated to his wondering harem, who seemed reluctant to welcome a soaked sheep, shorn of his crowning glory. Just the youngest, Rosie, to do tomorrow when we have regained our strength.

  bye for now, drinking a cooling Panaché.

Mountain Air.

Well, we're back home after a fantastic week in the mountains near Argeles Gazost in the Pyrenees. As usual, we were staying at the  Centre de Vacances ´Vers les Cimes ´ for the Camp des Aînés. We spend the mornings in a Bible study, among other things, and in the afternoons, we set off for a hike in the incomparable scenery of the mountains. The holiday camp is owned by the Protestant Church at Orthez and is used most of the summer by young campers, often in tents, but for many years a camp for the older campers has been organised before the main season starts. The centre is high up in the hills behind Argeles and, as you can see from my header, the high peaks of the Gabizos mountains dominate the site, what a view to see in the morning when I open the door at the end of our corridor to walk the dogs. yes, we did take Jilly and Laika with us, leaving Toffee with our house-sitters, as he is getting a bit elderly to walk in the mountains. The dogs sleep in the car as they are well used to and as this year we have the Berlingo, rather than the much smaller 106, they had more room to stretch out.
   The weather was a bit mixed this year, but it never stopped us walking, though we had to re-arrange the programme some days to take the walk in the morning when a storm was due in the afternoon. We didn't have much actual rain in the day, though. We did have a couple of hairy storms at night.
    And didn't we eat! One of the attractions of the camp are the excellent but volunteer catering staff. If it were possible, I would have put on stones. It was also very pleasant to meet again all the other campers, some of which we have known for years now, together with some new faces who blended in well, a real feeling of a shared community with similar interests.

Instant Cake Recipe (Well almost)

   My friend Christine at Matha recently introduced us to an amazing new recipe which only takes ten minutes to produce a delicious chocolate sponge. I have always been in favour of cooking that produces the goods in a short time, I cannot stand recipes which take hours to prepare to be eaten in five minutes. I have invented a term I call the Preparation to Eating Time Quotient, which divides the time to eat by the cooking time .If  this is negative, I am not impressed.
   So when I tried out Christine's cake I ' Felt like some watcher of the skies,When a new planet swims into his ken'  Well, after this build-up what is the recipe, I hear you ask. Well, here it is in all it's simplicity.


     100 grams melted black chocolate
      100 grams marg ( melted)
      100 grams sugar
      100 grams self raising flour (or flour plus half a sachet of  chemical yeast.
      3 eggs

    Stir all ingredients in a bowl, turn into a plastic box lines with cooking paper and cook on full power for 4 minutes (5 if your micro wave is 750 watts like ours ).

  That's it, your cake will be ready to eat when it cools. From start to plate in 12 minutes!! And it does taste delicious...

Of course, I have already started to play with the basic model. Try omitting the chocolate and adding one and a half table spoons of Nescafé  for a coffee cake Mmm. According to Christine, the cake freezes well, too.

  Bye for now, going to eat a slice of cake....

More Cry than Wool

  It's that time of year again, a bit late, in fact, due to the wet and cool weather this year, for shearing our sheep. I hasten to add, for the benefit of those new to the blog that the header photo isn't of our flock, which consists of only three sheep, Toto, the ram, Segoline the oldest ewe and her daughter, Rosie. As Sego is the most tricky to shear we started with her yesterday, finished cutting off her fleece by the evening and returned to her this morning to wash her down and snip off forgotten tufts. We also dealt with a wound to her ear which she seems to have cut on the fence somehow and clipped her over- long claws. The next will be for tomorrow, when we have the energy.
  Shearing is hard work, although we have been given an old set of electric shears for sheep by a retired shepherd. A real shearer can do a sheep in a few minutes but I confess it takes us hours! The professional flips the sheep onto its backside and leans over it to shear but we don't have the knack and carry out the job with the sheep standing with the spare personnel holding her by the collar, an item not often seen in wilder sheep! Kim finishes off the awkward spots with her dressmaking scissors....
  Well, Sego is now short-haired, clean and smelling strongly of Dettol, so we are drinking a well-earned cuppa and looking forward without much enthusiasm to the other two. Organic mowing doesn't seem so labour-saving at this time of year!

   Bye for now, going to massage each others' aching backs!

The sky's the limit

Earth Station `La Mort Limouzin`

I tell you, the Ark is getting more and more up-to- date! Not to mention our two superannuated Apple computers and Kim's more modern lap-top, we now have my I-Pad as I told you a few Arks ago and recently we have actually invested in a satellite English TV! Not that we invested very MUCH of our finances, as we obtained the second- hand Sky-box and an old-fashioned CRT type TV from Alan and Elaine at the Field Emporium, which I can thoroughly recommend. They helped us fit the new units and now our Ground Station receiver dish, firmly attached to the barn stares fixedly at a point just above next door's palm tree where the satellite floats 35,700 km above us. We can thus get five UK television stations, which is quite sufficient for our tastes. Why, when I was a kid, you could only get one, and that was black-and-white!
   We have resisted getting English TV since we came here twelve years ago, as watching French TV, especially the news, is excellent for learning French and increases fluency and understanding amazingly. However, we felt we were reasonably fluent now and pined a bit for our favourite programmes, so we sold out but will still watch the French set quite often.

  But then, a couple of days ago, disaster struck and our enjoyment was put at risk. We were sitting watching when Mumu the half grown kitten caused chaos, for with a noise like the crash of doom, the set fell from its TV table onto its face on the floor!! I doubted if it could survive the impact, but on being put back and the various leads put back in, it actually powered up. However, something had shifted inside for the colours were disturbed, towards the bottom half of the screen, faces turned a strangely cyanosed blue. Watching was not the same at all....

   Well, it was a question either of getting a TV engineer to call at 50Eur an hour or locating another old English TV, no contest really. Kim went onto Facebook and quickly located two fairly close to us. We collected the first, which had been stored in a barn and had no remote. The price was right, though, free! We did donate a bottle of wine, though. However, when I connected and turned on the unit, it ran for a few moments and quit... Not the donor`s fault, they did say no guarantee that it was working.

  We therefor collected the second TV yesterday. This was a more hopeful unit as it had been used in a spare bedroom and was indoors and with a remote. Much to my surprise, the set worked straightaway, without any need of tuning so all the TV characters have regained their normal colour faces. Hooray, we were back in business at a cost of two bottles of wine. And as a bonus, we were able to visit two charming families, I am tempted to invent another `want` to enable us to meet more!

     Bye for now, going to watch the telly....

Laïque or not?

   It's strange how France is a country of charming contradictions. The  French pride themselves on their lack of religion in national government since the Revolution, but they have more religious public holidays than even in Britain, nominally Christian! Easter, of course, but also Ascension on 25th of May, Pentecost on June 8th, Assumption on 15 August and All Saints on 1st November. You can ask people to give up their religion, perhaps but steer clear of suppressing their hols!
 
 Bye for now, pensioners are always on holiday, they say!

Water, water everwhere...

Yesterday, we bought two second-hand water tubs to collect more rainwater for later in the year when it might get dry. Luckily, the Berlingo is ideal for transporting these large objects, we would have had to tie them to the roof of the little 106. Again luckily, I was inspired to place them in position yesterday evening, inspite of it being hot and dry.
  In fact, since then it has scarcely stopped raining and the first tub is already full and the second is well started.! Kim's plants will not be parched later on.
 Kim and Sophie have been furiously planting out the seedlings we bought at Lezay market a week ago, so we shouldn't lack for something to water!

  We've had rain, thunder and lightning all day, but it's finally calming down. Long may it continue.

 Bye for now, going to see if that's really sun I can see outside!

 

French tax form What a struggle!

  Maybe it's me, but I really dread this time of year when the annual tax return drops through the door. Even the English one is no piece of cake with three small pensions and a letting to detail, but the French one is an absolute nightmare. The tax years are different for a start, so P60 details have to be apportioned, and the French of course want it quoted in Euros, for which you have to ring up for the approved rate from an office whose phone is perpetually engaged. All in all several days of hair-pulling calculations.

   And the final straw is that all my income arises and is taxed in Britain, we do have a double-taxation agreement between our two countries so really there should be no need to complete the form at all. Usually, though not always there is no tax to pay.

  This was the line I used to take when we first came to live here permanently. I didn't bother them and vice versa. Sadly, when Kim decided to take out French Nationality, the first thing they asked for was her last five years tax returns, and this was our first introduction to the system... Now I have  risen above the radar, and get a return each year. The lady at the Impots office explained that they had to check to see if we paid less tax under the English regime in which case they would want to collect the difference. I do have a sneaking suspicion that there would be a vast reduction in jobs in the Impots office if the sensible thing were done...

   Still, it's no good kicking against the pricks, so we will just have to put up with it. I have finally finished the wretched thing, hooray!! This afternoon it will be posted by hand through the Melle tax office door and I can finally relax.  Unless of course the dragons in the office are not happy with what I have put and ask for an interview...

    Bye for now, going to wind down with coffee and some chocolate!

Visit to Lezay Market, 13th May

It`s a lovely sunny morning, and Kim needs tomato plants, so off we go to Lezay market in the picturesque town of Lezay, some 30 kilometers from us. It`s our favourite market it the area, much bigger than our local market at Chef Boutonne, and always a pleasure to walk around. You can get all sorts here! A new herd of goats, plants galore, great wheels of bread and exotic sorts of sausages....
  We chose several tomato plants and some other seedlings for Kim to plant later, the slugs will be delighted! I visited the cutlery stall, but restrained myself from buying another pocket knife, not seeing one that I did not already have an example. I did buy three wooden spatulas, to replace those that Laika has chewed.

 we also looked into the loca[ Protestant Temple, a very pretty building, though unfortunately the services are not every week, as  the ``pasteur has to cover three other churches.

 We returned home well pleased with our purchases, and now ready for lunch!

Alas, poor Eeyore!

   See you later!

She's Back!

Every year Lilloo goes walk about, for as much as three months at a time. At first, we had almost given her up for dead before she strolled in, fat and sassy as if she had never been away. So when she had not been seen for over a week we were not really concerned. Still, we are always pleased and relieved when she re-appears, as she did two days ago. Welcome home, Lilloo!

Don't bank on it!

  Like most ex-pats, each month we arrange for our monthly finance to be sent from England to our French bank, converted into Euros. At first, our bank in the UK did this direct, but we found  that as they charged a fee and then also offered a low exchange rate, a currency transfer firm worked much better. Our bank has a standing order to send the monthly sum in Pounds to the firm , who convert it into Euros and pass it on to our French bank. However, this month an inexplicable delay caused problems. Although the firm sent their usual acknowledgments the money didn't arrive at this end by the seventh  and there was also a problem with the on line site of the French bank, which did not like me logging on so frequently looking for our money.
  Accordingly, we descended on the local office in a bad mood to chase things up. However, the girl in the office was so helpful and charming that our mood soon improved, the more so as when she eventually got through to the bank, our money had been paid in. Apparently the problem was due to the French practice of ' faire le pont'  As there were two public holidays closely together, the staff had gone on hols en masse, causing a delay in the transfers. Although a little upset at this, it seems to be inevitable and is, perhaps, part of the ' charm' of living in France.... However, I have decided to change the date of transfer of funds in future to the twentieth of the month to give a bit more lee-way to the arrival of our money!

  Bye for now, time for lunch!

I-Pad a new convert

Now, I'm not really a computer buff, I have never wished for the latest machine before the old one has worn out. Indeed  there's much to be said for buying the discarded and now unloved machines discarded from those who are. Up to recently, my computer was an antique Apple Leopard bought from our friend Ade, who buys up and re-homes Apple computers rendered obsolete by progress. True, sometimes systems on these machines don't do all that the latest model can, but think of the money you save!
  However, Kim has bucked this system, as she and Al very kindly bought me for my birthday in February this new I-Pad on which I am typing this Ark. Although touched and surprised by their generosity I must admit that secretly I wondered whether I would use it much as it was very different to the desktop computers on which I was accustomed to work. However, I soon came to realise that the new machine did nearly all that the Leopard did and was so much more convenient!
  Firstly, it means I can write this seated in our kitchen diner without the necessity to isolate myself in the salon where the big machine is situated, how much more cosy! And the touch keypad is much quicker and easy to use and it corrects my spelling mistakes as I go. It will run video clips where the Leopard struggled... I am still finding new things it will do.
  Sorry if I am boring you with the enthusiasm of a new convert, and I hope that Apple won't use me as a testimonial!

  Bye for now, coffee calls!

Hare today...

My favorite local dog- walk is up what we call the Phillipe track, an unsurfaced track running from the other side of our local road into the countryside and eventually to the Couture to Loubille road if you care to follow it for a couple of kilometers. It is opposite Phillipe' house, hence our name for it. Gravel surface, large hedges on each side, ideal for a quiet walk where the dogs can run free. Except for Laika, whom I retain on her wander- lead as she has a tendency to rush off and not return for a couple of hours, giving us much worry.

One of  the track's major benefits is the wild animals and birds you can see. At present, it is a riot of wild flowers, or weeds as they are sometimes known... Deer can sometimes be seen but this morning it was a large, ginger hare that came running towards me and the three dogs, apparently intent on ending it all!  I have read that hares, with their eyes widely separated cannot see immediately in front of them, and my experience seems to confirm this, as this is the second time this has happened in a couple of weeks. The hare obviously suspected something was wrong, as it turned broadside on to bring it's left eye and ears to bear. After an aghast pause it turned tail and raced off much faster, disappearing round the bend of the track in short order. Laika set up a ferocious howling, but couldn't chase because of the wander-lead. Jilly rushed after it, but perhaps rushed is the wrong word for such a lumbering pace and she was quickly left far behind and soon gave up. Laika continued to bark for a couple of hundred yards but could do no other. If loose, she would have tracked it for a mile or more until losing hope.

It certainly enlivened our morning walk!

Bye for now, nearly time for lunch!

Busy, busy, busy...

   This has been an eventful weekend for the Ark. On Saturday morning, we were off early to take coffee with Clive and Christine at Matha before choir practice at ten thirty. Then it was back to La Mort Limouzin for a quick lunch before heading off to Mairé Levescaut near Sauzé Vaussais to collect two dogs from the kennels there. We have started to help out a local dog rescue organization be transporting rescued dogs from their temporary stay in the kennels to a Famille d'Acceuil at Gencay. we collected the two dogs without problems, one a handsome Golden Setter/Labrador cross the other a cross collie/Beuceron. They were bizarrely called Haustin and Happache. I suppose this is an 'H' year for dog names. Haustin, the Golden, was said to be shy and the other, Happache to be boisterous. The slight problem was that they had never lived together so it was not clear if they would get on . After taking them from the pound, we took them for a little walk and decided to separate them in the Berlingo, Happache to go in the back and Haustin in front with Kim. Both got into the car with no hesitation. Haustin showed no sign of the reputed shyness and spent the hour's journey wagging his tail and kissing Kim on the nose, he had obviously thought to ingratiate himself to the maximum to gain a permanent position with us! He would have done, too if we didn't already have three dogs... We were able to walk them again at Gencay, before handing them over to the couple who will be lodging them until a forever home is found for them. both lovely dogs, difficult to imagine how they couldn't have been loved and wanted..

  We wanted to have dinner out in our local restaurant after our drive, but the Canton was fully booked. However if we could persuade Ian and Sarah Macdonald, our neighbors, to let us join their table, we could be accommodated. Luckily they welcomed us, and we spent a happy evening with them and their other two friends, Val and Paul.

  Finally, today, after morning service, it was the day for the Annual Repas des Aînés where all the church members of a 'certain age' are invited to share a copious lunch in the church hall. After a well-lubricated lunch and a chat followed by a film show, we are looking forward to a quiet evening.

  Bye for now, going to digest...

A home of your own

One of the advantages of being over seventy is a perspective on the past. Where the twenty-something's are running around crying 'the sky is falling' we oldsters are saying 'Ah, this is like what happened before and we're still here...' What goes around, comes around. And I feel that one of these cycles could well be arriving soon.
   We were in on the first major emigration of the British into France. The reason was that house prices in Britain had shot up while French prices were still very low. At the time you could sell an average house in Britain for one hundred thousand Pounds and buy one in France for ten thousand. In London it was even more advantageous silly prices were being realised and London house owners were thinking of moving out here and living the good life on the proceeds of the sale of their modest semi in Tooting. It was perhaps the only time in our lives that we took the right action at the right time.
   Of course it couldn't last. The canny French soon cottoned on and Papy's old barn, which was moldering away and could be bought for a few hundreds was soon advertised as a property ripe for conversion at over 100,000 pounds, once they realised, or hoped that the Brittaniques would perhaps pay such silly prices.  Around the year 2000 we can recall country houses with the roofs collapsing not being worth the cost of a repair. The British can at least congratulate themselves on saving and restoring thousands of doomed properties.
  I feel that perhaps these days are returning. House prices in Britain are, it appears, booming and we have seen prices in France dropping as the British aren't buying for the moment and people are having to reduce their prices on a forced sale. For example, our neighbor Stephane is selling an almost completed small house tacked on to a large but decrepit barn for 16000 Eur a real bargain for someone seeking a holiday home or even a retirement cottage. We have noticed that prices in general are becoming more sensible, with bargains to be had if you have the money. Anyone for a breath of French air?

 Bye for now, see you soon, perhaps when you have completed your French language course!

The dangers of the internet

 I have always had an on-off relationship with computers and the Net. In the last years of my career with CIS insurance I developed an aversion for computers, blaming them, perhaps unjustly for the catastrophic deterioration of my working conditions. With hindsight I can see the this was more due to a combination of continual staff reduction and a lack of proper training  on computers, allied to the general belief of computer experts that anyone can quickly understand them, a belief still completely mistaken in my case. Later, my interest in photography led to a renewal of interest in a computer as a means at first of displaying and improving images and then in a developing interest in what the machines could offer. The starting of this blog helped in the process and I have now changed to being an enthusiast, albeit a rather ignorant one. The ability to talk to anywhere in the world, to inform oneself on any subject or to put one's comments before a global audience is truly fascinating.
  However, in the last few weeks I have become aware of a couple of snags in the system. It can easily lead to offending people and even to losing friends, upset by comments which, if made verbally , would have passed almost unnoticed. A comment made on Facebook will likely be brought to the attention of the person mentioned, even if the remark was made to someone else in a different context. And a remark in back print, which can be read over and over and which is paraded before all the world has an impact far greater than a throw-away remark made in a face-to face conversation.
  It is truly said that everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I have seen this proverb extended to read 'as long as he keeps it to himself' and although humouristic there is some truth in this adage if the opinion can upset a friend. I recently made a comment on Facebook which contradicted a friend who is passionately committed to Scottish Independence: I had thought my comments were just  a commentary on the political process and was amazed at the heat of his response. I apologised humbly for upsetting him and perhaps for commenting on affairs which I knew little about and our friendship was mended after a brief rocky period. I had not counted on how my comments could upset someone so wholly committed. Kim lately has had the same problem in commenting on local politics and a valued friendship has been put at risk by a difference of opinion , the more so as she was also upset by a remark made against church goers which she took personally.
   What to do about this problem? Should we refrain from all comments which could upset friends? Seems a shame and could well reduce the content of the Net very considerably. Or should we 'publish and be damned'  I haven't yet found a satisfactory answer. The only thoughts I have been able to crystalise are that we should think twice before putting a comment on line, to be sure that what we are saying is true, that we know about the subject, and we bear in mind that what we say can upset people and that sometimes the proverb 'least said soonest mended' might take precedence. So much so, that I may well not publish this blog...

Bye for now

In the Vet`s

  

• Yesterday was a very worrying day for the Ark. Two of the passengers were going to the vets, Toffee for attention to his teeth and the kitten, Mounette for her sterilization. We had to take them in for 2.15 and as usual, we stayed until Mounette was asleep. Then it was an anxious afternoon before we could go back to collect them at six.
• 
  
•   To our relief, both were recovering from the anaesthetic well, though still sleepy. Francois showed us a gruesome heap of teeth he had removed from Toffee while Mounette had a wide bandage around her tum.
• Today, both are doing well both eating although poor Toff is taking longer to chew up her breakfast. We hope things will continue in this manner. I have taken a few pics of the convalescent patients last night.

Mounette has to return Wednesday to have her check-up and perhaps her bandage off, if she hasn't removed it herself before!

Bye for now, coffee time!

Straws in the Wind

Last week, I was wanting to buy hay for the sheep, not that they need it now, but they will do later in the year and during the winter. I had found in the past that you have to buy, or at least reserve, hay in season or risk it being no longer available. Accordingly I rang M. Migné, our previous supplier, to arrange some, only to find he had retired! I asked if he knew anyone else and he recommended another farmer in Villemain. However, he was not happy to deliver so we had to borrow Ian and his trailer to collect the bale. M. Migné had supplied round bales, which, although heavy are at least movable by rolling, but the new bales were the square ones, not the little bales we are used to but the great big bales the farmers use now... We went to fetch it on Friday and  M. Michenaux put the huge bale in Ian's trailer as lightly as a butterfly landing-- but he did it with a Manitou front loader. Returning to Mort Limouzin it was by no means obvious how to get the enormous, heavy bale out of the trailer and into its stowage in the open barn... All the more so as Ian has cracked a rib and couldn't help. We unhitched the trailer in front of the barn and left it overnight to ponder. We had the idea of asking Phillipe to help/advise but began to realize that even his muscular frame couldn't lift half a ton of bale.
  In the end Kim and  I decided to do it the long,but safe way. We cut the lashings round the bale and peeled off successive layers of the hay to place each in its place. An hours hard work had the fodder transferred  and all was sorted. I really don't think there was any other way, the barn being too low to get a tractor and front- loader in. All's well that ends well, and the sheep will have plenty to eat next winter!

   Bye for now going to rub each other's backs!