This week ...

We've just finished off almost a week of spring happenings with summer weather. The swallows have returned. Orchids are starting to bloom. Bats have reappeared. Grass is growing like mad. Cuckoos are cuckooing. Bluebells are appearing in shady spots. All very nice exept for the hot weather.

Last Monday we went with two other couples for a quiz dinner. Since there were six of us, we split into two teams, ladies and gents. The ladies came in second, but that doesn't get even a half bottle of wine.

Saturday night we went to a Loto Gastronomique, a fund-raiser sponsored by the parents of school children in three neighboring districts. We've seen loto events advertised, but hadn't attended one. Since this one was nearby and featured food-related prizes, we decided to attend, even having no clue what to expect. Loto turns out to be a bingo-like game, very good for practicing our numbers. We bought our cards and found a spot at a table. Each card has three rows and nine columns. Each row of nine squares has five numbers set in the appropriate column, 1-9, 10-19, 20-21, etc. Numbered balls were drawn from a tumbling cage and you marked the square if you had the number. Serious players brought their own markers and magnetic sweepers to clear their cards; we improvised with coins and bits of paper until one of the proctors took pity on us and brought us a dish of markers. Interesting was that there were three winners in each round, the first one to fill one line, the first one to fill two lines, and the first one to fill the card (carton plein). In some cases two or more people would win at once. It seemed that all would get a prize; we were unsure if they shared or got duplicate prizes. We were close a couple of time, but didn't win any of the loto rounds. We did, however, buy nine tombola (lottery) tickets and won four plants on two of those. The event started only 15 minutes late, at quarter to nine in the evening, and we got home just before one.

After our late night, we got up early this morning to fog and drizzle. We'd arranged with our dog-walking friends to go on a randonnée pedestre in nearby Montemboeuf, leaving at 9am. An area VTT club (vélo tout-terrein, all-terrain bike) was hosting a long and short bike circuit, along with a long and short circuit. We opted for 8km (our dog walks are 5-6km). It was a bit damp at the start, but we all had a good walk, especially Pogo, Rosie, and Suzy. We're all pooped puppies around here this afternoon!