May is here already!

1.5.22

 

Will Summer be a-coming in, too?

 Well, the neighbours' cats seem to think so! They at least treated the public holiday with respect.

To think that I avoid household chores where ever possible and for some odd reason I chose Sunday (day of rest), 1st May (workers' holiday - not even papers are published today) to break the mould by scrubbing the floor. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Went to up to Jeanne's for tea. No walk as we'd planned; she had a sore back. Sat out in the garden which was pleasant. And to think rain had been forecast. Perhaps tomorrow.

Weather: 23°, sunny 

5.5.22:

Haven't done anything much during the intervening days apart for a meal at the bar with "Les Anglaises"; as usual a sedate affair. Did Wordle in 2 one day and failed miserably the next day! Well, "homer" for me is a proper name or a job done on the side for money under the table.  Amercanisms don't figure in my vocab. Also had a couple of coffee dates, sent off my completed tax return (phew!) and thanks to Daniel, I now have a back up gas bottle. 

 And Jean, Françoise and JJ came for an apéritif chez moi.

6.5.22:

 

This evening's vernissage was not very well attended. Shame as a number of the artists from the South Catalunya group had made the effort to attend. One couple had come from near Barcelona. Only got "talking" to them at the endbut despite having language difficulties we exchanged addresses. Joan played and sang in Catalan, Jacques strummed Che Guevara helped out by Anita and Manuel on vocals during the time that Joan oiled his throat and instead of there being three of us for dinner, there were six. The councillor responsible for culture, one of the artists, a French artist/writer living in Llança and one of the Mairie staff joined Anita, myself and Jacques our host.  What a lively, interesting evening we had; discussing and laughing till we cried. And yes, it was a late one.

Weather: 21°, sunshine, some cloud and very strong wind

8.5.22: Just in time

Another public holiday and while I didn't do any housework this time, I had to change the gas bottle which ran out while I was cooking lunch; not a fun job. Otherwise, it was a pretty lazy day; went to the ceremony (end of 2WW) only to find that I'd got the time wrong and the parade was on its way back to the Mairie as I arrived in the square. Didn't feel it was right to just go for the apéritif. There's no photo but there are already endless "patrotic ceremonies" already on the site so you haven't missed anything. Had a coffee then a quick walk around the vide grenier organised by the tennis club and spent the afternoon reading in the sunshine.

Weather: 25°, sunny with some cloud later

9.5.22: 

After a layoff of 3 weeks, oldies gym was back on so I had a good excuse not to tackle the treadmill. My goodness we found a whole lot of thigh muscles we didn't know existed. Felt I merited some time sitting in the sun with my latest book, "Daughters of Mars" by Thomas Keneally set during the 1st WW charting the experiences of Australian nurses. 

After that it was round to Linde's for this month's meeting of the Soup Club. The fish soup was delicious and eaten on her roof top terrace in the evening sunshine yet another pleasure. JJ was invited this time but managed to sidestep the idea that he could host the next one with a chilled soup. Came across Jacques, Suzette and Yves, a friend from Montpellier, on my way home and was invited to join them for a cuppa before a relatively early night. This 7 hours sleep thing is sinking in.

Weather: 24°, sunny 

10.5.22:

 Artisitic spiders have been at work in the village

Weather: 26°, sunny 

11.5.22: 

Lunch at JJ's. Martine cooked the steak, JJ opened a couple of tins of green beans, I brought strawberries and cream and laid the table. I wish I could be so laid back!

Back home I followed my newly established habit: papers, puzzles, book sitting in the sun over a pot of tea. 

Weather: 27° and getting hotter, sunny 

12.5.22: 

 Jacques, JJ and Suzette joined me for an aperitif on the terrace before heading over to the restaurant to celebrate Jacques’ birthday. Delicious as usual.

As if we hadn't eaten enough, a number of us joined Jacques on his roof top terrace for a BBQ and a lot of cava. Another late night!

Weather: 28°, sunny

14.5.22:

 Fountain, friends and sunshine are just the thing to raise spirits. A simple stress free way to spent a Saturday morning.

Weather: 29°, sunny

15.5.22:

Plants are flourishing, too.

Weather: 29°, sunny