A Week Away

We have just returned from a week in the UK meeting friends. Of course we spent a few days with Betty who struggles on despite her 94 years. Whilst there we went to Surrey to see Paul and Jennifer who have just moved there from Manchester and the next day we had lunch with long lost friends Moira and Bernard. When I say "long lost" I mean it, I have not seen them for 54 YEARS!!  Moira contacted me last year after a junior school reunion. They have a house in Brittany and are Francophiles like us, so we got on famously.

 Wednesday saw us off to Birmingham for a couple of days with Bob and Jenny who were also at school with us.

The UK weather was predominantly grey and dull, well it was January! When we returned home it had apparently been the same (lots of moaning from locals) and the rivers had risen yet again. However we could not believe how the garden had changed in just a week despite the inclement weather ... I actually mean the weeds had gone berserk, although the same could be said for the bulbs. We are fearful that if this trend continues everything will be hit by late frosts like last year. Nothing we can do!!

Yesterday evening residents of the village were invited to have a New Year drink with the Mayor in the village hall. Never ones to spurn a free drink we went along. We were astounded how many people turned out. We knew about half a dozen and had never even set eyes on most of them. The Mayor gave his annual report and then two speakers from the Lot regional council addressed the assembly. These latter speeches were v..e..r..y  v..e..r..y long not only for me who couldn't understand a word but for everyone else who ended up shuffling, muttering etc. Perhaps they had also just come for the food and drink!!