A bit of the lovely Amy for you this Monday morning with Tears Dry On Their Own
I never hear her any more without the profound regret of a huge talent gone. I loved Back to Black. Some lives are too short. I can’t listen to Janis Joplin without the same feeling either. You’ve got to love a bit of heart and soul first thing on a Monday.
Truth is that it’s getting busier and busier, though I shall be glad to get back to a routine of lessons since my diary can’t cope with changes and alterations. I’m too old to make sense of it any more.
Last week was a bit of a mad one – trying to get the refuge website sorted out with plenty of photos. I’m kind of there. A few more and I think I’m ready. The Notorious Bob reached seven million people in the end. He’s on a trial adoption about fifteen miles away. Nobody flew in from the USA with a private jet to come and pick him up, but he certainly reached the nether edges of the globe. At the end, I started getting all the sad messages from people who had lost a dog and were convinced it was Bob. It does make you realise how hard it can be to recognise a dog from a photo in a pound. I’m sure many people look at photos of lost dogs when they are searching for their own and they end up thinking a dog is not theirs when it really is. It is tough when you are so desperate to find your dog that you wonder if he’s made his way over the channel or over the Atlantic. Stranger things have happened, I guess.
I’d picked up a book when I was on my brief UK holiday… Arne and Carlos’s ‘Knitting Scandinavian Style’ which has some amazing patterns in it. I’ve started on a pair of socks (because, yes, winter IS coming, Game of Thrones geeks)
7 
7 colours of wool, innumerable changes of colour, complex knitting patterns, DPNs, heel turns and watch me go! I do like complex knitting. It gives me something to think about. I do about three rows a day once I’ve had my lunch – so it’ll be Christmas by the time they’re finished.
I’m also putting the finishing touches to the book I’ve been writing – hopefully I’ll have a September 1st release. It’ll be on Kindle, but you can download the Kindle app to any smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop so you’ve no excuse not to buy it.
The final preparations are also underway for the Dames de FER foire on September 13th in Condac. I’ve got a to-do list as long as my arm for that. I’ve set the 14th September as an intermittent goal post after which I can slow down a bit, but I can’t see that it’s very likely. It’s more like a milestone to pass rather than a finish line. This evening is going to be nothing but Dames-y.
Last week, there were quite a few festivities as well. Lots of lovely evenings with friends. It felt almost like a mini-break to get out and sit under umbrellas or pergolas of an evening and have a bit of company. My Friday evenings are not normally quite so lovely these days, and I had a most marvellous time, including picking up a goodie bag including this very lovely item.
Any guesses?
Nik uses it to plant strawberries, but I shudder to think of its origins. I was admiring her planter collection some time ago and she’d obviously thought she’d pass it on. At the moment, it has Marmite and Angel Delight in it. In their packets of course. Even I am not so strange as to eat Marmite and Angel Delight in one sitting. I’m very much going to miss my Tuesday lessons at their house, let me tell you.
There were storms a-plenty this weekend and one of my cypresses has lost a huge limb. A plum was uprooted as well. Today’s going to be a tidy-up job. Bloody weather. In fact, it’s as gusty today and I’m not looking forward to trying to get anything done out there. Don’t know what happened to August. To be honest, quite often it’s a catastrophe in France. I think it upsets the universal harmony when all the Parisians move out of their home and make for the coast. I blame it on them. They’re all returning northwards now so fingers crossed that September ends up better than August.
I’d better go and batten down the hatches!
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