Why we still love weekends

Saint of the day: Ste Audrey
Yesterday's weather: Miserable - 19 degrees, showers and sunshine
Message of the day : Beware the cat with the cobweb face

Funny, isn't it? You'd think that for those of us who are fortunate enough not to have to do the Monday to Friday grind, one day would be much as any other. Strangely, it isn't. We actually enjoy the fact that most people aren't working today and the area takes on a more relaxed feel.

Some of the larger towns have big markets on a Saturday, we might just potter along to one of them some mornings - depending on what time we finish breakfast! We wouldn't dream of doing this in July or August of course (unless we were showing them off to visitors) as that is high tourist season and it is almost impossible to park unless you arrive before 10am. So we have just two more market days before the crowds arrive until September.

Sundays are lovely. There is a unspoken agreement that no-one uses a mower, strimmer, chainsaw or has a bonfire after midday. Even the farmer generally leaves his tractor in the barn on a Sunday but he does pop by to check that the cows are all still in the field. He comes along and counts them before their extended family gather at his house for lunch. At midday everything in the valley goes silent until maybe 3 or 4 pm when people start heading home again and we hear the swish of cars rolling down the hill and off into the distance.

Lofty ambitions

Today we have been looking at the loft again. We are still trying to decide where to put the access, how much work we really want to do in there and what it will be used for. We think we are coming to a sensible compromise (watch this space!). Jon has cleared out the strange aperture which is going to become the only window for the time being. He is currently above my head sawing away to make a fly screen which will hopefully deter any further infestation of flies which then work their way down to the bedroom/study in spring. It is extremely dusty up there, hasn't been cleaned for years, and I suggested we get a couple of dust masks before we clean it deeply.

It is a big space and will make a super room when it is finished but don't expect that too soon as nothing works very fast over here and it is soon August when France closes for the summer holidays - so why start something now? 'Normalement' is a common word in French - normalement something will be done tomorrow, or next week, or even next month but don't expect anything and it may be done eventually.

Figgy came up with us and, of course, couldn't get back down again he eventually managed it by climbing on my shoulder and being carried down the ladder. He is now in the garden clearing off all the cobwebs that were attached to his whiskers (very fetching!).