Autumn has most definitely arrived, yet although the temperature has dropped by a fair few degrees, it is still mild considering we are heading towards the end of November. And the rain cometh, a lot. Mind you, the terre has a long way to go before it reaches soggy point – a plus for running through the vines. The bougainvilla is bursting with colour and roses popping up everywhere, a stark contrast to the bare trees and the Virginia Creeper has once more turned into its seasonal red – always a spectacle at this time of year. Luckily, with the temperature, we haven’t had to whack the heating up, my idea of putting the thermostat low in the main house last month has benefitted Mumo as the thick walls retain the heat. She feels the cold.
The week started with Denis and I popping over to L’Horte to grab a few more plants. His idea was to dig up the giant climbing rose that crawls up and over the terrace, easy he said, impossible I said. We borrowed Roy’s trailer as Denis’ is a little on the small side and loaded the camionette with digging tools before taking the short drive over. Nicolas and Severine were there when we arrived which was a nice surprise as I rarely get time to catch up with them. Nicolas and Severine are what I would call ‘the guardians of L’Horte’. They rent the land to grow their market garden, keep goats and generally look after our bit of the property. Having chatted for half an hour or so, mostly about what the commune are going to do with the houses – not a lot so far, I think the ivy will pull the big house down long before they decide to demolish them, Denis got to work on the massive climber. Of course, he couldn’t get it out, the thing has been rooted there for a quarter of a decade but boy did he try. Hellbent on finding something to fill up the trailer aside from a couple of plants we easily uprooted, Denis went in search of fulfilment and found a somewhat prickly bush which he preceded to wrap a rope around and attach it to his camionette. Apart from the fact that we are both widowed and have a love for the outdoors, one of the best things about being with Denis is his ability to make me laugh. Everything we do together turns out to be an adventure, and go wrong at some point. Suffice to say, I had a stomach ache from chortling so much and after discarding the now frayed rope, Nicolas came to the rescue with a chain. Said prickly thing is now happily ensconced in one of our flowerbeds, we had to put something in the trailer to make Denis happy.
There is as always, work to be done here and with Roy and Nick up on the top floor of the main house, creating a bathroom suite for Simon and his wife’s bedroom, poor Mumo has had to deal with all the dust. It was just as well that we both had an appointment with our family doctor, Mumo for a repeat prescription and me for one of those cancer-testing kits (something that the French medical care ask you to do every now and again) as it turned out she had a bacterial infection from inhaling it all. She is feeling much brighter in case you are wondering and Nick and I have made sure that we vacuum regularly to keep her that way. Nick’s wife, Denise, popped over at the end of the week to discuss plans for the space above the apartment. Denise is an interior designer and a flipping good one. We both have very similar tastes when it comes to colours and styles and recycling what we can. A girl after my own heart.
Friday night saw the P’tit Bistro’s annual general meeting. It was wonderful to catch up and kiss cheeks with those I’d spent the summer partying and although I couldn’t hear much of what the ‘council’ were saying because Denis and I were late so got stuck sitting at the back of the school hall (something familiar about back of rooms and school me thinks), I did manage to get myself signed up as a volunteer for next summer. I’ll probably be moving tables and chairs or clearing up at the end of the night but I’ll be doing my bit for our little community. Naturally the evening finished with a few glasses of wine there followed by a few bottles at mine. I think I made the right decision moving here…
“I hope I can be the autumn leaf, who looked at the sky and lived. And when it was time to leave, gracefully it knew life was a gift.” (Dodinsky)
Widow plus woofs 