[(I met Jenny Rhodes for the first time in 2008, in their deliciously cosy cottage in the heart of Les Angles, just a five minute walk from the ski slopes. Rosy, fun and delightfully chatty, she explained to me that she was in the middle of pickling everything that moved. I stood very still…. and asked her whether she would be interested in providing a ‘gossip in the mountains’ type of column for Anglophone-direct readers. She has never looked back!)]
Sorry to be so late with my May Mumble, the month has flown by and now it is nearly June…….and Midsummer Day and then the days get shorter and it will soon be Christmas. Good grief where does the time go.
What a load of nonsense….it is wonderfully hot up here in the mountains and we are enjoying summer just like everyone else. There is always that tiny wisp of freshness about the air here and up to now the pollen has not been a nuisance. I throw all my windows open and let the sunshine and freshness flood the house. It’s lovely.
Wide narcissus, forget me knots and gentians are covering the fields and roadsides and the scent in the warm air is intoxicating. The gorse bushes are also in full bloom and fill the breeze with a wonderful smell of warm coconut. How lucky am I?
Most people, when they see the fields of white narcissus, think it looks like a dusting of snow and are quite amazed when they see it is flowers. Although yesterday I feel that a couple overstepped the mark when they parked their car and were picking armfuls of flowers. Not just the odd half dozen but vast quantities. It was interesting to see a police car pull up in the lay-by just by them. Oh to be a fly on a flower.
At the minute we have a team of athletes staying with us from Canada and a few weeks ago we had an Irish team. All this exercise going on around me is exhausting . And I work on the words of Phyllis Diller
“Exercise is a good brisk sit down”. I feel tired just watching them, although I am always interested in how focused they in what they eat. Willpower !!!!!!!
Lili is now enjoying her new haircut and doesn’t feel the heat as much as she did. Although numerous people have come up to ask what sort of dog she is and are quite surprised to find that she is a Patou. She looks more like a chuppy greyhound.
I am still plodding along trying to get some sort of fitness after my back problem. I am an impatient person and expect everything fully recovered yesterday, if you know what I mean. I hate having to ask for things to be lifted and carried etc. But I am actually being very good and doing everything I have been told except for the swimming as I don’t do public water stuff so it is going to be difficult to do that. I have always hated communal water since I was a small child and feel it is a bit late to start to get over my little phobia.
Well , if anybody is wondering what to do over the next week or so coming up here to look at the flowers could be a nice idea. Lac Balcere is open and the café is open at weekends. The café/restaurant down by Lac Matamale is open this weekend and the road up to Bouillouse is open but up to a few days ago the Auberge was shut.
So until the next time and next month
Take care
