Compost and Conversation.

From time to time a lorry load of compost appears at our local Recycling Centre (la Decheterie). This is a free service and it's amazing how quickly the grape vine works! As soon as we see a new delivery of compost we hitch the trailer up and go down to the decheterie; and we normally have to join a queue! However, we now realise that this is where you go to broaden your circle of aquaintances. We generally end up chatting to someone else loading up a trailer of compost. Everyone accepts it as normal to pass the time of day with anyone you meet. So far we've met up with a retired army doctor, and a pleasant retired couple who have to fill plastic bags with compost and take them home in their boot. Yesterday we were talking to the mayor of the next village, Peyrille. He was a charming, intelligent man who was only too ready to welcome and help 'us' English. We do enjoy these little incidents of community life.

When we arrived home we 'all' then spread the compost on the new beds in front of the house.

We had snow yesterday after we'd spread our muck, and the temperatures are low. We've had a couple of days of -8 at night. This morning we had an amazing sunrise. It was very dark and quite cloudy, and then the sun started to rise over the hills and shone from under the clouds onto the hill the other side of our valley. It was very impressive.