Back on track

As much had been said about the beauty of the surrounding countryside, I decided this week to take up my neighbour’s offer and join him for an early morning run. Whilst I’m no stranger to the need to exercise regularly, I have to admit running is not one of my favourite ways to firm the flab. However, having a couple of acres of garden to charge around is clearly not enough for Arry and since I was eager to see what Rouffiac had to offer, I gamely put on my running gear ready for the challenge ahead. Unfortunately my neighbour’s dog was taken ill so I decided to take to the road anyway along with Arry and Alice (she’s getting fat). Not far from the house I found a track which seemed to favour a good run and having got the two dogs into some sort of vague rhythm, off we went. A few minutes into our stride, I noticed a man and loose dog ahead. Not wanting to interfere with their bonding time, I decided to nip up through a nearby vineyard which appeared to have a similar track running parallel, albeit a little steeper. Note to self, never attempt to run through a vineyard when it has been rained on overnight especially uphill. By the time I got to the top, my trainers were thick with clay which I had to stop to remove, only to have to repeat the process as I was dragged by two eager woofers back onto the track below. The only blessing was that the chap with the dog must have thought I was completely nuts and had moved out of sight. Trainers now free of clay gloop, the three of us took off in the correct direction breathing in the miles of endless woodland and rippling streams. Arry and Alice were in heaven and apart from Arry almost ripping my arm out of it’s socket when he spied a desired rock, we managed about 5 miles and my legs didn’t give way once.

Completing the run was not the only achievement this week; I managed not only to put an Ikea bed together almost single-handedly and to finally get my car . Getting the bed had become a necessity as the lack of sleep being allowed by the previous one had started to make me extremely tetchy. I don’t cope well on less than 8 hours of deep slumber which had been noticed by both the woofers and my Mum so the delivery of cardboard boxes was gladly received. Those who are familiar with the construction of Ikea furniture will know that it is essential to a) count all the fiddly screws and bolts before embarking on the task ahead and b) take no notice of the picture that shows two men are needed to put the bits together. Well, I’m a woman and an impatient one at that. Six hours and many expletives later, I had made a bed with a little bit of help from my nephew and his muscles. Okay so the headboard is on back to front but I got the best night’s sleep in a long time and so did the woofers. It’s a big bed.

I finally got to go and pick up Josephine on Thursday from the Mercedes Jeep showroom in nearby Carcassonne. At the age of nearly 54, I have bought my first brand-new car and a Jeep Renegade Hybrid at that. The dashboard looks like the cockpit of stealth bomber (she is incredibly quiet being a hybrid) but I’m sure I’ll be able to translate all the manuals into Sophi speak eventually and figure out how to keep the interior clean once Arry sets a paw in it. She is beautiful though, named after Josephine Baker (an amazingly tough and very beautiful woman) and Napoleon’s Josephine (because she’s a French car), I can’t wait to take her on many an expedition through the French countryside. Avoiding vineyards though…..

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I’m possible” (Audrey Hepburn)