After a good night’s sleep I woke to find an increased level of itching on my limbs and back. For the last few days I have indulged in the odd alcoholic drink. I’m not sure if there is any connection between the itchiness and alcohol, but it doesn’t do any harm to stop the alcohol.
Back in La Colle J & R have gone up to the flat, while I sorted out the electric car. I always want to configure the car in English so I can schedule charging. While Maggi has put together lunch I have laid the table. We now wait for our guests to descend for their midday meal.
I always have ambiguous feelings when we entertain guests for a few days in France. I want to have the company but I also want the space. We’ll see how this works out with J&R.
Blackbird singing in the middle of the day. We had lunch in our summer kitchen, a very simple affair, consisting of salad, cheese and bread. Good straightforward ingredients always outstrip fancy cookery.
As we concluded our meal we all noticed the loud bird song coming from our olive tree, Jane immediately identified the bird as a Blackbird. I think we’re going to learn a lot about wild life over the next few days, as Jane has also pointed out a North African Warbler.
Earlier than expected I received a call from AXA’s repair company man who waited outside for me to let him in. He spoke no English so I had to rely on my rusty schoolboy French. I got by. He agreed with me all the ceiling and walls need to be re-plastered and painted. I signed the form he thrust in front of me. I had managed to communicate with him in a basic way and this pleased me.
Despite sleeping well overnight I still wanted an afternoon nap so I suggested we all reconvene at 4 pm for a walk around the village.
There is something refreshing about a short sleep after a midday meal. Some people can’t manage it, but it is a natural phenomenon. Well I’m sure I read that our ancient ancestors would always sleep after a meal and you can see the same behaviour in Chimps.
However, I always thought my mother started to hallucinate because she spent too much time asleep during the day. My theory was that she couldn’t tell the difference between dream and reality. I haven’t crossed that threshold yet.
The day concluded with a few minor raised voices from Maggi about my writing this diary, taking her water (not true) and not having wiped down the table (true). After a very pleasant dinner consisting of a sausage meat dish in pasta with cream and a custard tart for desert we sat down to watch a film. Following a short debate the group settled on a film called Perfect Pitch. This coming of age film about two groups of singers has a few amusing bits, is not over sweet, but follows a very tried and tested formula. At the end of the film we all disappeared to our beds. Goodnight all.