Bonjour
Hope you had a good week!
I am not quite sure where my week went – it seemed to whizz by. It was way too hot to be working on the roof, the paint practically boiled within seconds of being applied so the shutters got shelved and the garden is looking so thirsty I decided to leave it alone. Instead, I retreated to the pig sty to write with two fans on and a big bottle of water.
It’s been a peaceful week here, I reckon half the village are on holiday though the farmers are working flat out getting in the wheat and hay that’s golden ripe in the fields. I think they’re aiming to get another crop in before winter so the roads are full of tractors of all kinds. Some are big and modern, others ancient, popping and spluttering along like clown cars. My favourite tractor belongs to Claude who everyone calls “Claude at the top of the hill”. It is a skinny old red tractor which is about as ancient as him. His son, also Claude, is known as “Claude at the top of the small hill” and lives three farmhouses up from us. There is a big dip in between the two hills. Every day “Claude at the top of the hill” visits “Claude at the top of the small hill” (I hope you’re still with me!), in his tractor, even though it’s probably only 250 yards away. But, his tractor has a broken starter motor, so, he parks it at the top of the hill (whichever one he’s on) and bump starts (push starts) it! I can set my watch by him now – lunch starts 12h down one hill, lunch finishes 14h down the other hill!
Yesterday I was working away, it was all peaceful (just after 12h – nothing moves between tractor bump starts), when I heard a load of squeaking and clucking noises outside. I stopped mid-sentence (I’m on Book II!) and went to investigate. I opened the gate to the road and there was a long line of my neighbour Celine’s chickens crossing the road outside, very neat and orderly, one after the other like they were on a school trip and had just learned the cross the road rules and I like to think they knew the Claudes wouldn’t be by for a while…
Whatever you have planned, wherever you are, I wish you a bon weekend,
Bisous from France,
Janine
Editor
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