Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Explosive .





The Old English roses that were planted above the septic tanks have suddenly grown . In fact they've not so much grown as exploded . Last week they were a couple of feet high . This week , thanks to a combination of rain and sun, they're suddenly five or six feet tall and bent double with blooms. Three centuries of French plumbing clearly having a hugely beneficial effect on their root structure.

'The font' heads off for the Diamond Jubilee in London .  Angus has to stay behind to talk to men in dark suits. A late night text to tell me that the Archbishop of Canterbury seems to have been somewhat bemused by the revealing red and black latex outfit worn by Grace Jones for the Jubilee concert. The Queen looking every so slightly sad being there on her own.

Angus is left to fend for himself. At the supermarket he buys a fig dessert. It looks delicious on the packet . How wrong can you be ? A strange, slightly gritty, hyper-sucrose, concotion with a taste quite unlike anything found in nature.  Think liquid violet creams with added sand.

A new dispensing machine in the shopping mall car park . First, you pay €0.30 for a disposable plastic bottle. Then you take the bottle, insert it into a second machine and pay another €0.50 for a litre of milk. Isn't it easier, and cheaper, to just buy a quart of milk in the store ? The advert says the cows are fed on flax. Maybe this gives the milk a special taste . In the half hour I'm there no one uses it .

To the greengrocers for strawberries. The end of the season fast approaching. A small dog sits by the door. Unmoving , eyes focused on its mistress inside. People come and go. Some talk to the dog. Others pat it on the head. The dog ignores them all. Amazingly , it doesn't blink once. Canine devotion .

After last nights storm the little waterfall over the stream clogged with petals from the wild dog roses. Twenty dragonflies sunning themselves on the grass bank. Monsieur Bay tells me this is a sign that we'll have a ' scorcher of a summer '.

The pace of life in deepest France Profonde. 

26 comments:

  1. Better stick to the coconut ice-cream in future.

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  2. It has been said that the grass is always greener over the septic tank. Hope the strawberries made up for the fig dessert.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  3. Greetings folks and thought id stop by to say hello. Richard

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  4. It sounds like life in France is as idyllic as always! I don't think the words "fig" and "dessert" used together would entice me to try something...

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  5. Another dose of the diaries of French Profonde, with a little British flair thrown in...Always intriguing! I sure would like to have some of that "French Plumbing" in a bottle to spill around my roses for an explosion!! ;-p Beautiful...Maybe the dragonflies are simply congregating for a village meeting and that scorcher prediction will NOT happen...Here's hoping! Someone predicted that Iowa was going to have a scorcher based on much less credentials and signs...hoping they are wrong too!!!!! Have fun with the unique meal plans!!! (love the devoted focus of the little dog)

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  6. Perhaps you'll share the font's thoughts about the Jubilee with us when she returns.

    Joan and the Barkalots

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  7. Milk from a machine; I wonder how long it will stay fresh in there?

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  8. Liquid violet creams? I remember those when we took a trip across the Atlantic to visit, but I don't think sand was added! Yikes! We are just starting out with the strawberries here on the prairies, we are slow to start and quick to end, sadly, with our short growing season. But! I do have berries on my plants. I just hope the birds don't get to them before I do. Enjoy your day!

    With love from your Canadian pals,
    Dianna along with Tor, Willow and Tucker

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  9. Lovely descriptions of your dessert, the wonderful roses - and I am sending the milk machine onto friends to read. Such things as milk from flax fed bovines in a spigot - something not quite right there.

    Nancy, Dozer and Cooper

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  10. It is amazing that the dog would sit there for any lengh of time waiting for the owner to come out. I would never leave my dog out like that, someone would come along and take the dog. I read a story in the paper about this happening to a lady in New York.

    Love the picture of the stream, so peaceful looking.

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  11. I saw on the news that Prince Philip had been hospitalized. The Diamond Jubilee looks so grand, glad the Font is able to enjoy some of it. I just love to see the hats and fascinators.

    The milk contraption reminded me of the wine bar contraption we experienced in the Whale's Tail bar at the Hotel Captain Cook. You buy an overpriced wine card from your server, take it to the wine dispensing machine, select from a confusing array of prices and choices, then hope you get what you select. Terrible thing! After the long speech from our server about how this procedure works, I just opted to order a glass from him. I was the winner of our group!!!

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  12. i used to be uneasy whenever you left to talk to men in dark suits.
    mainly because i knew wilfee would go through such a time of
    missing you desperately.
    but now... rest his little soul and his brother's...
    i find myself wishing you could talk to all the dark suits in the world!
    they need your wisdom!!!! and your calm way of looking at things.
    come to washington. if you could get that idiotic bunch to listen...
    ah well. calm down yourself, tammy j. life's too short.
    enjoy the explosion of roses in the france profonde.
    ok. i will.
    love to you both!

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  13. I enjoy Tammy J's and Ina's take on things here and in Britain. Our tv is not yet installed...do we miss it? Not much. Saw a bit of the jubilee at the house of friends in the hamlet, so we're not missing much, except Lilibet's stoicism through rain and cold. She must have credit for that. Our cherry trees have exploded...trying to pick them as fast as I can! Thanks for another lovely post, canine included, from your part of France Profonde.

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  14. Love the roses and the wee devoted dog; the fig, not so much :). Here's to Prince Phillip's recovery.

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  15. He has all the freshest fruit in the world and he goes to the store and buys fig in a cup??? I'm so disappointed! :)

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  16. I do not like milk at the best of times, I mean yuck it comes out of a cows udder (but I love milk and cheese, as my American friends would say: go figure) so that contraption sounds vile to me.

    I have no idea what you speak to men in dark suits about (and are there ever any women) but I am hoping it is dogs. I have a feeling it is something much more international business like though.

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  17. Hey Mongoose,
    Glad to see that life still chugs along in your neck of the woods. It sounds very different from the spectacle at Roland Garosse.
    Sending lotsaluv to you all.

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  18. What is the name of this beautiful rose bush? It looks much like one I had and tried to dig up and move with me. The poor thing was mislabeled and nothing I've bought has been anything like it.

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    1. They came from David Austin roses . The US branch has an online catalogue. It's a Mary Rose Standard . We've planted 60 and they've all taken .

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  19. Just realized, after complaining about your "capcha" that I had one on our blog and didn't realize it. But now it's gone... no more robot tests for cherished visitors.

    Joan and the Barkalots

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  20. Uh oh, Angus is on his own. That dessert sounds terrible... and the mild machine in the car park sounds like a bad joke! Despite those things, it sounds like an idyllic summertime in France. I have to admit - I miss Wilf. I really felt like you and he were teaching me every day. Now, I have to remember those lessons on my own, as our life is becoming more like his was near the end.

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  21. It's so sad that Prince Philip was unable to be at the Queen's side during the Jubilee celebration. Not that I really know him, , but I actually like the man. But then I like violet creams. And rose creams too.

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  22. Hello Angus! I so enjoy a quick escape to read about the pace of your life in deepest France Profonde. I hope 'the font' has returned safely and your week is ending on a good note.

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  23. When do you think this "scorcher" of a summer will arrive? Probably the day I leave to work in the UK for 5 weeks!
    I am enjoying sharing your views of La France Profonde. Thank you!

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