Sunday, September 16, 2012

Designer wolfman.






The three chain smoking  young ladies who are restoring the frescoes in the village church pack up their vans and leave. They won't be back for a month. Called away to deal with an outbreak of damp spores in the plasterwork of a gothic  church near Bordeaux. A restoration emergency.  Their fluffy canine companion leaps up happily into the front passenger seat of a battered white Peugeot. From the enthusiasm of his tail wagging  it looks as if  he can hardly wait to get back to the excitement of the big city. Clearly a cosmopolitan canine.

In the market place the ' shade installation ' has miraculously survived the summer winds and thunderstorms. Will  the council workmen come and take it down before the first of the winter gales ? I'm glad it's not attached to the less than secure guttering on the rickety old farmhouse.

Who knew travel agents still existed ? On a side street a travel agents office. The doorway filled with stacks of summer holiday catalogues . Above a rather handsome building, its balconies heavily ornamented . On the first floor three Caryatids from the Parthenon look down impassively . How many people must walk past and never look up at these exotic creatures?

The supermarket lobby has an end of season sale. One childs garden umbrella and seven plastic umbrella stands. Ludicrous enough to be a piece of installation art.

Loic the gardener arrives. One of lifes uncomplicated and permanently happy individuals. He has dyed his hair a deep maroon colour. His eyebrows have also been dyed to match . The combination ever so slightly alarming. Designer wolfman in bifocals.  Has he done this by accident or design ? He blows leaves from one side of the garden to the other side of the garden for three hours then leaves.

9 comments:

  1. Well at least you can take comfort that leaving the job unfinished with the words "we'll be back in a month" is not something that only happens to foreigners....

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  2. i must confess... i too doubted their survival but i really like those white flying shades!
    ... the speed with which things are done there... you may see them as staple accessories of the
    square year round. until they rot, or catch too much snow and dump it on unsuspecting people below!

    three hours blowing leaves around. lol. france profonde! or maybe just in your domain! trying not to laugh.
    love,
    tammy j

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  3. Those are rather large bunches of garlic, aren't they? I would be cautious about the new "look" on Loic. Halloween is right around the corner!

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  4. The shade sails we have around here will and do survive winds that uproot trees..
    What is it with hair dye! Locally, a 90+ year old Chinese lady has tried to recapture her youth by dying her hair jet black. Very jarring.
    I love garlic braids. There is just something so cheery about them. A bit of summer to carry into the cool weather. The ones at your village fair were gorgeous.

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  5. Before I read the post I too thought the green umbrella piece was an art installation

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  6. Autumn has come to your part of the world. The sky, light and shadows are gorgeous! I love those transports from the temple of Athena!

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  7. That shade installation is so unique, even if it does seem a tad out of place.

    You have such beautiful architecture there! It seems a shame that people would take it for granted and fail to notice it. I'd be late wherever I went, always looking at the beauty around me!

    I hope the restoration emergency is over soon!

    You mean the umbrella wasn't installation art? Who knew?

    There's someone else in the village as colorful as Madame Bay and the Pork Pie Mayor? How can one little village contatin them all?

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  8. I really like the shades - hope they last....have you decided on a car? How about a Subaru? They have a dog friendly one :).

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  9. Your gardener sounds like another wonderful and interesting character. Never a dull moment in your part of the world.

    B&L,
    Janelle, Maggie Mae and Max

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