Still Warm and Sunny

 24 - 31 August: The last week of August was much like any other.

Coffee at the bar with Nicole catching up with the news; in other words going over her latest plans for her life. Saturday, Françoise came over for the market inspite of on/off rain showers and on Sunday with the usual crowd this time augmented by Michel and Jacques.

Of course there was the usual sprinkling of invitations to friends. Dinner at JJ's along with Jean and Françoise, Thérèse and Joan. Dinner at Michel's on the terrace once it was cool enough. David and Laura were there, too. I was there again the next day for an apéritif dinatoire with his visitors from the North of France and friends François and Babette from the village. Michel has boundless energy and loves company so is very generous with his invitations for food. Aren't I the lucky one to be on the list of invitees.

As you'll have realised, none of this has rubbed off on yours truly. My invitations tend to come from guilty conscience rather than spontaneous generosity and the love of cooking. The only person to benefit this week was Jacques who came for dinner; well, a cold buffet that fed me, too, for the rest of the week.

I did escape from the village, too. Monday for a routine appointment with the dermatologist in
Perpignan, one of the specialists for whom you don't need a Dr's referral and still be covered by the Health Service. All well. Had a couple of hours to wander masked around the town before taking the bus back to the village. Quite pleasant and not having been able to fire up the treadmill, I made my 10,000+ steps. The following Sunday, Jean and Françoise took me down to Argelès to see the annual outdoor exhibition. There was also a birthday to celebrate so what better way than to install ourselves overlooking the marina with its mountainous backdrop. A little bit of normality was just so welcome.

Weather: Temperatures dipped to 22° on Saturday with the rain but otherwise they hovered between 27° and 30°

Temperatures still High

 16 -23.6.20:

This week started with a nice surprise; Sylvie, Christian's younger cousin, who had spent a couple of days with her husband down on the coast, stopped by for lunch on their way back home via the Dordogne. No need to cook, salad was just what the heat of the day demanded. It was great to catch up with all their news and have a view of the world beyond this little corner.

We did have a couple of days of cooler weather and even a welcome rain shower but temperatures well into the 30's with warm winds led to a lot of inertia on the domestic front apart from a trip to the supermarket with Maggie, who's been supplying me with home grown tomatoes.

Kept my physical health going with my hourly session on the treadmill, everyday bar one and my intellectual health with the daily newspapers over breakfast. Not that all the reports of the Government's continued ineptude and favouritism were good for my either my blood pressure or mental health. Emotions pass through anger, fear and sadness for democracy and those who'll be finding themselves without a job as things unfold.

Much of my time has been taken up with technology ie, the new phone, tv reception and the hifi system which I rarely use. I suddenly took it into my head to try and record some of the cds onto the original "Brennen" cd ripper and storer (up to 5,000) that we bought having been seduced by the publicity at the time that our old one had packed up. Christian who loved gadgets loaded a fair few but even though the manual is in English and after untangling wires, I couldn't cope so gave up. Winter or the next lockdown will be a time to have another go. What I did realise though was that I could play my cds on the dvd player. Can't think why it's taken me over 5 years for this particular penny to drop! I can tell you, however, I was fair chuffed. Every little success ....  Bit between my teeth, I then turned my atention to the turntable only to discover that the belt drive had perished beyond recognition; the internet, the great provider that it is, came to the rescue and found a supplier. 

There's inevitably been some social activity, too. Not the full on merry-go-round of old but enough to stop us feeling isolated. Less than usual trips to the bar for coffee with Nicole joined by Justine and Rosie; the Thursday group, Saturday with Françoise and Nicole while watching the comings and goings of the market and the usual Sunday morning gathering.

Evenings weren't all spent in front of the tv. Monday I met up with JJ, Jean and Françoise for an apéro at the bar, Thursday had a BBQ dinner on Michel's terrace along with David and Laura; stopped off at the bar on my way home for the tail end of a Catalan rock concert. Friday went to a vernissage. The artist is from the village and apparently, her work pleased people as she sold six paintings. It was oh so hot in Christian's room especially wearing a mask that Nany and I didn't linger too long prefering to seek the cool of the terrace downstairs. As restrictions meant that there wasn't the usual apéro after the speeches, it was one way to get a wee refreshment!

Weather: Temperatures ranged from 26° - 35° though feeling hotter. Humid

Height of Summer

15.8.20: Even though today is a public holiday (Feast of the Assumption) sadly there was no music at the market. Joined Françoise from the village for a cuppa and stayed on chatting with Jo for a while after she'd left. Lunch on the terrace as it was not yet too hot and here I am now sitting in front of the computer catching up with Chitchat.

14.8.20: Françoise, Dominic and Maylise were coming for an apéritif dinatoire, so given that Thérèse has not been for a while, I had to do what I hate most ... some cleaning! Still a nice lunch at the restaurant followed before I returned to the kitchen to prepare for the evening. NB. I only had the first two courses; sorry, feeling too smug not to mention it!

 Again there was distant thunder and rain but fortunately it dried up and cooled down a bit in time for us to be on the terrace. Gosh, did I feel tired by the time I'd cleared up. As usual I'd done a larger array of food than need be. Collapsed onto the bed for 9.45pm; don't remember when I last made it upstairs so early.

13.8.20: Had a coffee with a good mix of French and British this morning before the thunder and rain arrived in the afternoon. Not fancying risking an open air concert with Françoise, I foutered at home and achieved absolutely nothing.

12.8.20: Coffee with Nicole, cooking and computer before going with Michel to have an apéro with David and Laura. They like cava, too!

11.8.20: Coffee with Jacques who's back for a couple of days and supermarket with Ann. Originally I'd said I'd go to Céret with Jacques to see friends of his in a clown troop perform. Ended up chickening out as it was far too hot outside to sit and watch for over an hour. I turned also down his invitation for him to collect me to join them for something to eat.

10.8.20: Coffee with Françoise and some time on the computer. Still too hot to do anything more energetic.

9.8.20: By the time I made it for Sunday morning coffee, Martine was just about to mount her bike and peddle off home. She tethered it once more and joined me for a cuppa which as we had plenty to talk about, became a glass of wine. There was an invitation to join her for a bite to eat in the evening so walking there and back took my step total up to over 14,000. A bit of a counter balance to what I'm sure any reasonable person would think is my excessive intake.

8.8.20: After two days swinging the lead, I got myself back on the treadmill. There was music in the square to enliven the market. Joined Penny and her husband for a tea and then JJ and his family who invited me for lunch. In the evening Nicole suggested that we meet for a drink and needless to say we ended up having a bite to eat. Don't laugh, I had egg, chips and salad.

7.8.20: An early morning call from Françoise to meet her as she was coming to the village to participate with her grandson in the treasure hunt organised by the Tourist Office. Every week during thesummer it's in a different village of the Community of Communes. Alas, 9h30 was too late; the "treasure had already been found even though the clue wasn't that easy. Françoise played the game anyway to keep her grandson occupied for the morning and as I'd left Agnès sleeping, I stayed on at the café to catch up with the papers. By the time I arrived home, Agnès was just about ready to join me, so back we went for a coffee and to wait for Bruno, Christine and Florence who'd gone off to Spain to do some supermarket shopping. Down to my last three bottles of cava, they came back with enough to keep me going for a little while more. The twitching can stop! After an apéritif we came back to mine for a salad lunch which with 40° on the terrace, we ate inside! Just flopped for the rest of the day.

6.8.20: These next two days I had the pleasure of the company of the the Normandy folk. An apéritif at mine and then dinner in their gîte before coming down to the square to hear the music close up. Only thing was, that the singer had just that minute finished his last song. Nothing else to do but give him a clap, find a table and have a cuppa. Rather than drive back to her Aunt's, Agnès stayed over.

5.8.20: These last couple of days have all been about ordering, collecting, signing on with a provider as as "Sod's Law" would have it, mobile reception with my internet provider is rubbish and then eventually setting up my new phone. Went with Michel to Perpignan to do the business. It was really too hot to queue outside the phone shop so no sooner than I paid my money over than we headed for a cup of tea in a shady courtyard with this elegant statue. Nothing else would do for me than a Lapsang Suchong. Agghhh! have just looked up the spelling and found conflicting information as to whether black teas and Lapsang in particular are good for you or not. Think I'm drinking too much. Need to stick to rosé!!! 

Couldn't linger too long though as Michel had to visit friends to help sort out a computer. The couple are well travelled and the appartment is like a museum with artefacts from all over and the appartment itself on the top floor of an early 20th century building is a fabulous. A huge terrace and only a stone's throw from the centre of the town. Eric, who's an internationally appreciated painter wasn't there. Couldn't help but feel a little jealous of such a lovely home as I settled down to feast my eyes on my surroundings while Michel worked.  Michel is the "go to person" for a number of people and as you can see is mine, too, coming the next day to get me up and running.

3.8.20: Spent a lovely. Full but relaxed. No treadmill this morning which was just as well as I needed time to revive myself before meeting Ann, Lynn and Dani who had bought cake and biscuits to go with our coffee. Michel stopped by too. Rounded off the morning with an apéritif and then it was onto Jacques' for lunch. He'd prepared all my favourite things; guacamole, duck breast, sauté potatoes and green salad, chocolate dessert and of course, a bottle of cava. Had thought that I'd spend a quite afternoon but Agnes, from our twinned town, was here staying with family nearby so came up for a cuppa and catch up. No sooner than she had left than it was time to meet Nicole at the café for apéritifs. More cava and a grazing board. all very simple, all very good. What better way to spend a birthday than with friends.

2.8.20: Usual Sunday morning coffee by the side of the fountain, a lazy afternoon and Michel at the house early evening to talk mobile phones with me. Yes, finally I'm going to ditch the one that's always lying in the bottom of my bag unloved and unanswered. He didn't fancy listening to music at the bar (Kevin singing and playing "light" blues) so it was just Jacques and I. It was busy but we were at one of the far tables and not eating so there was no table service. We decided to go along to the resrtaurant to see if we could get a drink there and lo and behold Jacques proposed a glass of champagne. He'd remembered that it was my birthday. As the restaurant would be closed for the next 2½ days, the patronne gave us a half full bottle to save her throwing it away. Imagine! Needless to say, we were happy to oblige. at midnight, Maud brought out a dessert with a candle out and sang "Happy Birthday". Mindful of people sleeping, we tried not to make too much noise and carried on chatting. Was surprised to arrive home and find that it was 2.30am!

1.8.20: Once again we ate tapas and drank rosé at the restaurant after the market so that we could sit and listen to Jacques and three friends provide this Saturday's entertainment. They had hoped to play last week which was why we went and ate tapas but the banda had beaten them to it and they couldn't play. Hence our action replay.