Something for the Weekend

Crusoe, the greeter. If you are a friend or a stranger with a kindly face and disposition  he will push that door open and greet you with great enthusiasm and a wagging tail, if you mean us ill he will growl and stand his ground and if you are a postman he will rush out, bark and chase your van up the lane.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
XXX

Crusoe's Bucolic Constitutional

Every day here for the last few weeks has been lovely, almost too lovely!  I have been yearning for cold, crisp, misty autumnal days but it is not to be, all we have had is glorious sunshine and temperatures into the twenties an Indian Summer for sure, personally I think it's a bit eerie for November.   Every morning I take Crusoe out for his walk, today I thought, I would take you with me...

I know this herd is a happy herd, they belong to our neighbour Michel, he has a bit of knack when it comes to animals, he is dark and good looking our very own Heathcliffe, he rides his horses bareback and is always willing to lend a hand with his tractor in our garden and won't except payment. Every Christmas we buy him  a few of the finest bottles Bordeaux has to offer and I add add a few interesting home made chutneys, preserves and sometimes when I feel ambitious a special cake, I have learnt that's just the way things are done around here.

A view of the Château, I don't see it as a Château I see it as a Castle it dates from the twelfth century, it attracts droves of tourists and schoolchildren, inside its a museum, where they teach the history of Medieval France, most of the locals see it as a Walt Disney Castle it has been overly restored with the help of European grants and not necessarily remained true, most of the villagers tell me they preferred it as a ruin..they played amongst its crumbling walls as children, much more romantic but they admit it does bring much needed money into the local economy.

Ahhh Crusoe..."Come on, throw my stick"...

Proud dog, valiantly retrieving the stick

I am a clever dog!

Crusoe killing his stick

Eastern view of the Chateau

Can you see that egg shaped thing in the tree, what is it? A nest of some sort but what?

Autumn Colours

At the top of the hill you can see the highest peeks of the French Pyrenees and beyond those mountains lies Spain

The local Pyrneean goat herd, I love them Crusoe does not, I have to keep him on a tight leash when I speak to the goats in his presence, once he jumped into their enclosure, a battle ensued for hours, he would not come out and it resulted in this

After the Constitutional, Crusoe likes to relax in his favourite chair... and me... well this morning I made myself a large cup of coffee, changed the lens on my camera and practised some stylised shots of antique books of which there is more to come...

Interlude

"Well"?

Apologies for my blogging hiatus, for various reasons, I am currently rethinking this blog, will fill you in soon. In the meantime I leave you with THE very handsome, charismatic, intense, charming and extremely wise, the one and only, Crusoe.

This is the face that stares me awake every morning, when the intense staring does not awaken me he jumps on and off the bed and if that fails, he brings a shoe or a boot and kicks it around the room until I get up! Except when it's raining, this is when I have a chance to get my own back, it is my turn to drag Crusoe away from his slumbers and his cosy, comfy bed.

The Big Freeze

With news of freezing conditions all over Europe it was only a matter of time before the cold, snowy weather reached us.  We have had it easy up to now with a very mild winter, lots of sunshine and plants which have no business to be blooming at this time of year, blooming.  This cold spell is set to continue with us for the next week.

I still retain that childish sense of excitement when upon waking the world has turned white.  Here are some Instagram snaps of my morning walk with Crusoe, up the lane and round the Château, the sky is laden with snow and the village is monochrome and very still, Crusoe and I, the only creatures stirring, we could have been walking in a century long past...

Uggie

Still from 'The Artist'

"What a cheek, just who does THAT Jack Russell think he is?  The role should have been mine, MINE! Snatched from under my very nose, by THAT American upstart! And to add insult to injury it's a French made film, good job it's a silent picture, otherwise he would have never been able to carry it off.  I ask you! What is wrong with these casting directors? Don't they recognise true star quality?"

 "What kind of a name is Uggie anyway? Glad I am not named after an Australian sheepskin boot!"

Don't worry, he will get over it!

Here is Uggie's exclusive interiew for The Guardian...

 Wishing you all a fabulous weekend.

XXX

Merry Christmas

Some random Christmas Eve shots, from the Provençal Coast, and of course Crusoe is helping with all the festive proceedings! More soon.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

XXX

Sunset over the Mediterranean, Christmas Day.

Nice, The Friendliest City in France?

Crusoe on the Promenade des Anglais

A slight intermission in blogging due to a spur of the moment decision for an interlude in Nice. I have driven through and round Nice many times but this was the first time I have actually visited, and yes, I think it possibly is the friendliest city in France.  The friendly, laid back attitude of the locals did not just extend to us, Crusoe has never had so much attention, he was admired and fussed over wherever we went, bar and restaurant staff could not do enough for him, his every wish was catered for, even fellow diners at the local restaurants and cafes were eager to indulge him by feeding him titbits, if like us you like to travel with a furry, K9 friend, Nice is the place to go.

The Royal Salon, The Negresco Hotel

The friendliness, laid back attitude and love of dogs is apparent even in the smartest hotel in town; The Negresco, although unfortunately we did not reside there we did pop in for a look round and an early evening coupe de Champagne.  We headed for the bar but we spied the resident cat in there, fortunately before Crusoe spotted him, now Crusoe positively loathes cats and if we had taken him in there all hell would have broken lose and I really don't think the other patrons of the bar would have appreciated an impromptu re-enactment of Tom and Jerry.  We went in search of the other bar, located in the Carousel restaurant, we were warmly greeted by Madame La Patronne; Jeanne Augier, the rather eccentric owner, she just happened to be dining in the restaurant as we arrived, she is The Negresco. Madame Augier and her hotel have a rather fascinating story; here.  I found the Carousel restaurant slightly bizarre it is just like being on a carousel, with the music and horses to match, we ordered two coupes, unfortunately, the Champagne was flat and my glass was chipped, we informed the waiter, who opened a new bottle and brought us two fresh glasses.  Needless to say without having to ask a very large bowl of water was served to Crusoe.

The rest of the time was spent exploring, with many eating and drinking stops, I especially loved the old town, the colours and the architecture are magnificent, bearing in mind that Nice was part of Italy until 1860, sometimes it's hard to figure out if you are in an Italian town or a French one.

The other highlight for me was the huge flea market in the Course Saleya, held every Monday, I could have had a field day, there were some fine antiques on offer and the vendors were perfectly happy to haggle, so there are plenty of opportunities to bag a bargain, I wondered around in my element until the market just about wrapped up.  Due to the space limitations of a two seater sports car with tiny boot space, my only purchase was a beautifully made mirrored and chrome, hexagonal Art Deco tray (something I have been after for a while) haggled down from 50 to 25 Euros, next time I am coming in a van!

Crusoe, in Nice, working his baby seal impression, he has no shame!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
XXX

Oh The Indignity Of It All!

Crusoe appears to be healing well, he is now able to put weight on his injured leg, however he is proving to be a difficult patient, he is an intrepid, adventurous terrier without an off button,  trying to get him to take it easy and be tranquil is quite a feat.  We have a lot of stairs in the house and he is most indignant at having to be carried up and down, we have taken this measure as now he can put all four paws down, he is attempting to run up and down them, he is not supposed to run for eight weeks.  The promise of rehabilitative  swimming in the local lake after his stitches come out next week, cannot come soon enough for Crusoe, last night he gnawed his dressing off and was attempting to remove his own stitches.  Several hilarious and unsuccessful attempts at tying a t shirt over his rear end, to cover what was left of his bandage, only resulted in Crusoe looking like the dog version of Sabu.

 Sabu in 'The Thief of Baghdad'

  We carted him off to the vets once again first thing this morning, for a new dressing and a plastic collar which prevents him from nibbling his bandages off and trying to remove his stitches, Crusoe is not impressed.

Get this contraption off me!

I can't get through the railings, no hope of escape now!

Blogger seems to be playing up again I have been keeping up with all your blogs but for some strange reason, I am unable to comment.

Crusoe, Nil By Mouth

What have they done to me?

Poor Crusoe we have just picked him up from the veterinary hospital, he went in first thing this morning for an operation on his right hind kneecap.  A few weeks ago after a run in with a goat, he developed a limp, we took him to the vets, they promptly put him on anti inflammatory's  after the course the limp did not go away, so after going backwards and forwards to the vets, X rays, specialists etc.  He went in for an operation today to repair his kneecap, the good news is he should make a full recovery, the bad news is no running, jumping or walks off the lead for eight weeks!  But he can go swimming, (the best form of physiotherapy) after his stitches come out in a fortnights time.

After anaesthetic, morphine and gas he is understandably feeling a little groggy this evening, to say the least. I will keep you posted on his recovery.

Mist

This morning when I woke up, I was overjoyed to see we have the first sprinkling of snow, added to that the mist was rising from the valley below, it was stunning, I took my camera with me, when we took Crusoe for his morning constitutional.

 

 With all this early snow, some of the high ski stations have opened for business, I can't wait to hit those slopes.