No, I’m NOT going to moan about the heat !! I love it ! I love feeling the sun get warmer as I walk the dogs in the early morning – the only time possible at the moment – and I love sitting outside in the warmth of the evening enjoying a glass of cold rosé before going to bed. The dogs sleep all day in the shade of trees, bushes or their kennels and don’t even want to go out. Old Rik our 15 year old German Shepherd has to be dragged out of the stifling heat of the mobile home across the garden to the cool building which will one day – ha ha – be our house.
Of course there are downsides, work is ghastly ! Serving tables at 35° is not pleasant, certainly not for me and I wonder about the poor customers having someone with the face as red as a beetroot trying to take the order before the perspiration drips down the side of the face. How can people eat cassoulet in these températures ?!
I give here my annual plea, PLEASE don’t drag your poor dogs round fetes, vide greniers and other such manifestations. It is pure torture for them, leave them at home in the cool and whatever you do, don’t take them and leave them in the car. Someone tied up his dog to a tree behind me in the market the other day whilst he went shopping. The poor animal was in direct sunshine and gratefully gulped down the water I and my market neighbour gave him. Of course, big mouth me couldn’t not give the guy a piece of my mind when he came back and I got the expected response – “mind your own business” !! I’d love to have tied him to the tree for half an hour.
It has been an up and down month for me. Adoptions have gone well. Boy do I miss Ivor and have to stop myself calling every day to see how he is doing. Very finely apparently. On the other hand, there have been many abandons. I got four calls in one day about various dogs . This was towards the end of a very stressful week and I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t behave well and risked losing a friendship I hold very dear. Luckily we have come through it due solely to my friend being an absolute brick and very understanding.
I did agree to take in a very old Brittany Spaniel who was found in Montcuq. This was only because there was a space left when our Sukie died. 12year old Jilly, as I have called her (in memory of a darling dog owned by the friend mentioned above -yes I know, crawler !) came to us with tumours, a hernia and a severe heart murmour, so I was expecting a feeble old thing. Not so ! She celebrated her arrival by coming on heat immediately and, remember the song “Haven’t stopped dancing yet” ? well, substitute barking for dancing and that is Jilly !!
Dear Aunty Betty, the 93 mother of my very best friend, died in July so I went over for the funeral. A very sad occasion but one which gave me the opportunity to stay with my ‘old’ mate Shelagh. Shelagh and I worked together at Lloyds Bank in the seventies and have remained friends ever since. We had a lovely couple of days together and I revisited Leigh Broadway which has changed slightly (!) and is now a haven of lovely little shops and eating places. I was amazed that we could go out to eat at 3pm !! Can’t think of anywhere you could do that here – except Macdonalds I suppose ! The flight over was a bit nervewracking. We were all on the ‘plane by 9 am and trundled off to the runway where we got faster and faster and faster and then ………a strange vibration and screech of brakes ! Back to the terminal where we were told there was an unexplained problem and another ‘plane would come over from Dublin or England for us. Ten minutes later a delighted pilot said the problem had been identified ( wonky front wheel prop) and a local technician could fix it. Well, I don’t want to be mean but I kind of would have preferred another aircraft !! Then we didn’t have enough fuel – having kept the air conditioning running – then we missed our departure slot, so we finally took off at 11.30 when I decided that it was past coffee time and had a bottle of wine instead to calm my nerves.
A little bit of advice, if you go to a really splendid village fete – at Trebaix for instance – and don’t get home until 4.30 am, give your ten o’clock Pilates class a miss and definitely don’t go to an eightieth birthday lunch – you’ll feel absolutely awful, end up parting company with your lunch and crawling into bed at 4.30 in the afternoon !!
We are still collecting clothes for the sale at Montcuq vide grenier, so get in touch if you have any. Please, please, please, clean saleable clothes only !!
Oh yes, cats !!! I’ve had lots of calls about cats and kittens and am sorry to say I can’t help you, but Lynn at Chats du Quercy will be happy to so please call her for ANY advice or information. 0563947397.
Finally, a very Happy Birthday to Pat and to Gabi who will both be joining me in the sixties this month !!
Love,
Sue x