What more could we ask for.

I was right, and I am getting so good at second guessing French logic. I presented myself at the bank and declared I had a problem with my card, which no longer worked. The lovely Anne at the customer services desk, who indecently lives across the road from us in Bucaille,  smiled sweetly and said, “mais oui”, your card has expired and I will go and fetch your replacement. With no evidence of slopey or shruggy shoulders the document for signing and the new card were deposited on the desk in front of me and my crisis was over, which in my darkest night hours included a bundle of French words on the subject of incompetence and ridiculous French telepathy but in a wink of a sleepless night my card was signed for and tucked up inside my wallet.

We took our weekly trip to the depot vends in Auvers only because a visit usually constitutes a satisfying session of  retail therapy without huge expenditure but yesterday I came across a fascinating table which started off as a slim hall table and with the addition of four extensions miraculously turned into a table with enough room for ten people on finger food and eight using knives and forks. I really cannot justify such a purchase but  succeeded in convincing Mike this was a good concept. The table is not old or even very pretty but, it is  OH SO, practical and I sold the idea as an investment for the future because we don’t know what that is yet, but we do know it will definitely be a smaller home and I still succumb to the  famille nombreux fantasy and wherever we end up there will always be the possibility of setting up a long  table to entertain, now that we own this wonderfully clever table..

I had the most inspiring comment attached to my last blog entry and needless to say I have responded directly and formally and next week we will go down to the beautiful house on the Marais at Houtteville and have a hand holding cuppa whist looking out on the flooded plains we live with but still are unable to accept as normal. Every time I see the marais flooded I catch my breath as though it is a crisis before my very eyes but it actually  is there to avoid a crisis in the form of flooding..

Our new neighbours are making their move and cars are in and out, coming and going with all manner of stuff. I wouldn’t say that we are nosey neighbours but, we are interested,  and I am so keen to have the house opposite alive and working with lights on and things happening.  HOSS has been watching over any activity since Annie and the boys moved out in July. He has barked an alarm at any movement over there but now he will have to curb his Head Of Site Security processes, procedures and functionality, and, shut up. We took HOSS for an hours work in the lanes and on the way back we took the opportunity to shake hands with the new owner and in the conversation he mentioned that they had a two year old female German Sheppard and as HOSS is a male we could make many babies and I, crestfallen at the possibilities had to break the news that HOSS is already castrated…so we changed the subject and talked about sharing gallons  of beer together when they are in and settled.  I realised quite quickly that our new neighbour is going to be a barrel of laughs in the literal sense and with his local patois a bit of a challenge to hold a deep and meaningful discussion with, but who cares, at least they are there, French and with a German Shepard dog of their own. What more could we ask for.