Her Reputation goes before Her

We are obviously known in the village as 'those people who open their garden'.  This led to us being approached to help with a group of villagers who want to brighten things up with flower displays for the summer, and there has been a lot of "What do you think Sue?"

We had to wait whilst the Commune passed a budget and then bought some concrete drainage pipes, but today Christiane and Gerard, (the instigators of the scheme), Jose (the man who works for the commune and who knows how everything can be done) and Sue and I met up to decide where the pipes will go.

The proceedings were rather protracted as every time someone passed by we all stopped to greet them, kissing or shaking hands …...as is the French way.

It is only a small beginning but we are hoping that in future years we can gradually add more 'pots' and more colour.  At the moment we have to tread carefully, taking account of what the Mayor wants, being careful not to upset the President of the Petanque Club, and not blocking access for the summer Sunday Market, the occasional Bric-a-Brac Fair and the annual village Fête with accompanying fair and rides … just normal small village politics!

On a more personal note, we have had a pair of Kestrels patrolling around our courtyard for the past week or so and we have tried not to disturb them.  When they first arrived they had a lot of fights with a pair of Magpies who are nesting quite close, but this evening I saw one (the female?) sitting in one of the holes in the rear wall of the house backing on to the courtyard.  We are keeping our fingers crossed as it is now four years since a pair of Kestrels successfully raised 4 young.