August mumbles in the mountain

3 With Jenny Rhodes 3

3 Sunday 15th August 2010 3

Yesterday was the 14th August. And if anyone had asked me I would have told them categorically that Hell had definitely frozen over. It was so cold up here that I spent most of the day wrapped in a blanket.

Why? You may well ask…. I was participating in the Les Angles Annual Vide Grenier. It must have been the coldest summer day in living memory. There was a brisk wind that sliced down the back lanes where we were positioned which chilled any cuppa we was brought by my dutiful husband along with bacon and egg sandwiches .

So after wearing half the stock and shivering our bones loose for nine hours we finally went home to a warming log fire. OK it was all good for trade. Bex and I sold fleeces and gloves even blankets like they were going out of style and they were quickly worn by tourists who had only t-shirts and shorts . Grandparents bought gloves for grandchildren, even the pair I had been wearing. Absolute nonsense for the height of the summer tourist season. But everyone, including the French had taken up the wonderful hobby of discussing the weather and there was I thinking it was only the Brits that were obsessed with the state of the climate .

The best bit of the day was when I was told by a lovely English lady that she reads my Mumble. How nice was that? I often think I’m maybe just mumbling to myself but now I know at least one person reads it who isn’t a relative.

Summer has been really busy for us and I am now waiting for some time off so I can gather my self together and do some remedial work on the barns. It’s always nice to freshen paint and this year we are going to sand the woodwork and put a light sealer on the beams. We were given advice when we first re built them that you should leave the wood for some time without sealing for it to dry out slowly and therefore not crack and warp. Well after five years we can’t really say any longer that we are waiting for it to dry. It was a good excuse to leave a big job but the time has come to “do it”. Hmmmmm

For the past three weeks our daughter Bex and our grandson Jordan have been down here with us, which has been great. Jordan has canyonned ,rafted and climbed his way through they summer. It is always lovely to see the many children out and about and “doing” things and not just glued to the computer. I often wonder how many appreciate the terrific things that are on offer these days.

Bring out the violins] In my day, catching tiddlers and damming streams was my stable entertainment. Skimming stones and just generally mucking about in water was all I needed. Or was it? It never entered my head that it was possible to skim over the water on an inflated something or other or throw myself down a waterfall but I think given the opportunity I would have been first in line.

Now I don’t bounce so well, and the thought of me in a skin enveloping wetsuit is just too much for the mind to cope with. And boy oh boy have I seen sights on river banks over the last couple of weeks that have made me reach for my copy of Moby Dick. EEEK!

Good for them I say. Let them enjoy themselves and it’s only me who is a great big softy not going and joining in with them. I’m only saying that so I don’t offend any of the big blubbery blobs who have Hydro speeded over the past few weeks.

So I say to you enjoy the rest of your summer, in or out of a wetsuit and just chill out like we did yesterday. Ha Ha

Til the next time, a grand bisou to you all