We were at Claudette's summer fete talking to Jerome (or Vincent) - there are two brothers who run the next but one farm to us and although I've met them on two or three occasions I'm never quite sure which is which ,,,,.
Our early morning walks started as preparation for Barbara's operation, continued as recuperation after the op and are now just part of our daily routine. We leave the house at 6.30 and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we turn left and walk 45 minutes to Kervaquer and back; Tuesdays and Thursdays we turn right and walk 35 minutes to Bodrefaux and back. We've seen deer, hares, owls ands lots of other wildlife, found a lost new-born calf and we've been seen by plenty of our neighbours, including Vincent (or Jerome).
I was working in the garden when a delivery driver came down the drive - it was Wednesday and we were expecting our wooden floor to be delivered on Thursday ("The delivery company will call you first") so I was a bit surprised when the driver said he had three large pallets for me. I was more surprised when he asked me if I had a fork lift truck but was pleased I got back quickly with "No, haven't you got a hydraulic arm on your lorry?". Bizarrely it was a huge 44 tonne truck with nothing on but our three pallets hiding at one end.
"Hmmm, perhaps you could ask your neighbour the agriculteur if he has a tractor with forks on". Dominique was away but Yoann, his farm worker, looked a bit dubious when I said each pallet was 600kg but agreed to come over and help. Five minutes later Jerome (or Vincent) arrived with his tractor (Yoann said he wasn't sure his forks were strong enough so he'd called in help) and unloaded all the pallets and drove them down the drive.
And last week on one of our early walks a kitten jumped out of the verge and followed us for forty minutes, down the drive and into the house. No-one seems to know anything about him - Monique thought it had probably been thrown out of a car.
We don't know if we'll keep him yet, need to make more enquiries but unless we find an owner the gap left by Smudge's death in June may be filled ....
Funny what happens when you go out walking in the morning!
