Considering I grew up in a time before mobile phones were invented, spending almost a week without mine nearly sent me to the la la farm. You see, not only did one of the woofers eat through my charging cable but on having gone to the shop for a replacement, I discovered that the device itself wasn’t working. I really didn’t want to have to buy another one, not just because of the heart-stopping price but even if I did, I wouldn’t have a clue how to set it up without Callum’s help. So, I left it with the experts to hopefully sort out the problem. Surely a few days without it wouldn’t be an issue? Ha. As if. I spent most of last week in a foul mood save the couple of days spent with my dear friend Heidi who had stopped by on her way back from Spain to the UK – the best kind of therapy for a miserable mobile-missing gal.
It wasn’t that I used the thing very often other than to play music, WhatsApp Callum or message Denis at the beginning and the end of the day – the latter was the hardest as I know Callum is working ‘out of contact’ at the moment. It’s stupid, D only lives around the corner but one gets used to these little things and doesn’t realise how much until you can’t do it. Luckily, with the potager’s onions needing harvesting and the soil turned over again, there was enough work to keep us both occupied sans technology. And boy, were there a lot of onions. Our freezer is now packed to the gills with bags of the freshly picked and sliced veggie and so are several of those of our neighbours – I have suggested to D that we buy a few less next time.
Finding things to do to distract myself from the absence of contact wasn’t difficult. There are chairs to be stripped and painted for the new petanque pavilion and a half-filled pool to keep clean but with the weather changing every two seconds, I decided to crack on with drawing the village map that I had promised the Mayor. To be honest, I thought it would be easier than it was, after all there are only two main roads in Rouffiac but the number of wiggly tiny streets that lead off them is very confusing especially when the photocopied map in front of you doesn’t show them all. Still, after spending several hours painstakingly filling everything in, I went to bed feeling quite proud of myself. Until I woke up in the morning with the realisation I had drawn the whole thing the wrong way round – that is to say the left was on the right and the right on the left if you get the gist. So, I’ve had to erase all and start again, this time with a mirror over the copy – D’s bright idea.
As I mentioned earlier, Heidi and her dog, Tiffany dropped in on their way back to the mud island (no offence England but I gather its been a bit wet up there) so I could put the cock-up to one side and spend time just chatting and chilling on the terrace with an old friend. The woofers graciously allowed Tiffany to join us although their presence can be quite over-whelming for a single and rather beautiful Standard Poodle – Sherman was particularly taken but his amorous advances were put down with a paw, literally. Mind you, it was just my love-struck Border Terrier that fainted at Tiffany’s feet, a visit to our local vet to have her passport stamped for re-entry caused quite a stir. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog being checked so thoroughly. Apparently, according to my vet, they only have one Standard Poodle on their books and not nearly as well-turned out as Tiff. As we walked out, I swear I saw the young Mastiff in the waiting room faint.
So, I’m off now to a birthday bash for D’s son, Yoan, complete with mobile phone in hand once more. I really really missed not checking the weather app every morning. It’s going to be hot hot hot next week…
“We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works” (Douglas Adams)
Widow plus woofs 