Ed has joined a small choir, in nearby Montbron, that practices on Thursday afternoons. There are 30 people, and it's apparently a bit, um, weak in the men's voices department. The men first practice for an hour by themselves while the women have tea and a chat. Then they all get together for the remaining time. Kaye is curious to hear the results before too long.
Over the last weeks, Sophie has brought us a mouse and a shrew and a mole, none of which survived the experience. It's rather fun watching her play with them, but not a nice experience for the animals. Mr. Mole was especially beautiful, with his plush gray coat. We suppose if he was one of our yard moles, we shouldn't complain.
Last week we walked Pogo down the road and took a dirt road that lead to a large field. Just to see what there was to see, we walked the edges of the field. At one point we stopped to look at a tree that seemed to have been burnt or struck by lightning, we're weren't sure. Then Ed noticed a skull on the ground at the same time that Kaye noticed a skeleton hanging from the tree. It seems that someone caught a fox and hung it on the tree. Only bones remained. We suppose foxes (reynards) are not farmers' favorite animals, but we find them beautiful. Sometimes when we return home late in the evening, we've seen them near the entrance to our hameau.
Walking in a little patch of woods just off our one of our normal walks, we found tracks and diggings and poop that we think must be boar. There had been hunting in that area the weekend before. Pogo is surprisingly uninterested in the boar, or even deer, possibilities when we see their tracks. Shrews and dead salamanders seem more to his tastes.
Still no news of our new stove. Today we ordered a crédence to go with it, that's the bit on the wall from the stove to the exhaust fan (hotte). We haven't found a hotte yet. The matching one, very powerful, with the same width, costs more than twice what we expect to pay, although we haven't looked that hard yet. Ones of the same width as the stove may be difficult to find, so Ed has suggested installing two. Whichever way we go, we'll probably have to drill another hole through the wall for the exhaust.
Ed discovered that he could add even more insulation to a bit of the north bedroom wall (which is especially cold), so he removed the wallboard that he just installed, added insulation, and closed it up again. What remains now is the trim, molding and window sills.
One of our neighbors had a lamb in their garden plot for a few days. It disappeared and when we next saw them, we asked what had become of le petit agneau. She looked a bit puzzled before she said Ah, le bébé mouton! Like English in many cases, French has different words for the meat you eat and the animal it comes from; although we do eat lamb that comes from lambs, we also eat veal that comes from baby cows, etc. It seems they moved le bébé mouton to the field behind their house, not visible in the village, where there's shelter.
It seems like the weather has finally turned to spring for good. All the snow has melted and the temperatures have been in the double-digits. There's even been a bit of sun, although today was quite stormy with only moments of sun (and a beautiful rainbow this afternoon) between heavy rains and lots of wind.
No comments:
Post a Comment