drum roll…………………
POORPAWS !
Yeh ! All on the podium please for the dog refuge anthem ‘You’d be so nice to come home to’ !!
Actually we possibly (very probably !) didn’t home more than other refuges, but we had a bumper of a month. Harry and Holly have both gone to good homes, the lovely Golden Lab has gone to neighbours of Captain Hastings and Hercule, Flocon is making a little girl very happy in Toulouse, one of the Tibetan pups went, along with Youpi, to a great home (making their new owners very happy as no rabbits have been eating the lettuces since they arrived !) and Fanny has gone to an ideal owner who is bringing out all of her potential talents – and Fanny’s too !! But, we have to save the best for last. TINA HAS BEEN HOMED !!!!! Tissues were out all over France this weekend I can tell you. We were many refuges very eager to get her out of Carcassonne where she had, very unfairly, been for far too long. The great news broke just before this newsletter was typed and we couldn’t be happier. She has gone to a great home not far from Carcassonne so the lovely Rowan who loves Tina so much, will be able to visit and from the photo above, you can see Tina is pretty pleased with herself !
So, what part of “reserve a table before you go to a restaurant” didn’t you understand ??!! This month, amongst others we had a group of 15, yes 15 English people just turn up for dinner and as for the 12 French who arrived just ten minutes before we were going to start clearing up well, mots fail me. Well, they didn’t fail me actually ! It’s been a pretty rotten month at work actually, 12 hour days being the norm and things got worse but more of that later. I can also give you tips on how to be a good hotel guest. Don’t make your beds thinking you are being helpful, you’re not – unless you want to strip the bed before you leave ! The most important plea is to please check the loo before you leave the room !! We chamber maids have many stomach churning moments early in the morning when braving the bathrooms. Nothing more guaranteed to make sure you have a bad day than guests who don’t know what a loo brush is for !!!
Our clothes stall at the Montcuq Vide Grenier was again a huge success. I think I can safely say our stall is becoming legendary now (can something become legendary after just three years ?!) with people going through the bags before we could even empty them ourselves. The secret to our success is that everything is sold at just one or two euros which ensures a crowd round us nearly all the day. We raised 654.24 euros which will be shared between Poorpaws, Twilight and our local refuge in Cahors. My very good friends Danielle and Lesley again devoted their whole day to helping me and we had great fun. My partner, Ernst, manufactured an amazing table for us which incorporated two sunshades and he also turned our trailer into a clothes rail transporter. Thanks also to Lesley and Virginie for spending many hours helping me sorting out the clothes beforehand. All the clothes that were not sold went to Emmaus the following day, so you can be sure that if you donated, your garments went to very good homes.
My high spirits following the Vide were dampened and crushed when I went in to work the next day. I walked into a stream of shouts and screaming abuse because I had taken the day off. This was so unfair, I had booked the day off at the beginning of the season back in April and had reminded my bosses the week before that I wouldn’t be in. It was not my fault that they hadn’t bothered to get cover in. They shouted at me that they didn’t care about the Vide, they didn’t care about my private life (at least I have one !) I had no right to take a day off in August and I could just “degager” (get out). I didn’t because I didn’t want to leave my colleague on her own to do all the work so I went to fold towels and have a good cry! My contract there ends on the 21st October and usually it is extended for the Winter but this year I’m not going to accept an extension. After eight years at The Auberge de la Tour at Sauzet, I will be outta there ! When I think that I turned down another job because I didn’t want to let them down during the season, how stupid am I ?!
Good news on our house, Ernst has taken the insulation panels off the sides of the mobile home and used them to insulate the kitchen floor, so I’m hoping this means we really will be in the house for this Winter after ten years !!!
It’s nearly Barn Book Sale time again. This year it will be on the 20th October at the usual venue, Lesley’s lovely barn at Beliben near Sauzet and there will be the usual yummy scrumptious cakes to eat there or take home. So sort out your books and give me a call or send an email if you want them to be collected. Then please come along on the day to replace them. We had a super sale in the Spring and hope you will need to store up for Winter.
I want to say a HUGE thank you to Alexander, a lovely young man who has been running the Poorpaws website for me, putting up with my confusing emails and photos and managing to get it all out every month in great order. Alex is off to University and will be too busy having a great time whilst studying to be great doctor. Dad Colin will take over for a couple of months and then he is going to (try to) teach me how to do it all myself. Well I’ll be out of work so should have time but I fear there may be a few frustrating moments, computers and I don’t get on too well !!
Well that’s about it except to say ……….I’M GOING ON HOLIDAY ON THE 29TH SEPTEMBER !!!!!!!! As usual a week at Ernst’s sister’s house on the Cote d’Azur with close friends, playing cards, reading and generally relaxing. So the next newsletter will be a little late, forgive me !
Enjoy what’s rest of the Summer !
Sue x
PS did I happen to mention that TINA HAS BEEN ADOPTED !!!!