Peter Hemming's Diary 2008

R.A.I

Pam had unexpectedly met one of her French friends from the days when she was involved with the Chambon-sur-Voueize twinning. He and his lady friend had been to my exhibition and we were invited to tea, high tea that is, in Montluçon. The previous week I'd been on an r.a.i. but the outing to tea put the kibosh on that, as Pineau de Charentes, red wine and champagne were served, in that order; Pam drew the short straw and drove.

The r.a.i. is still in force but with the recent heat it's quantity of liquid that's important, so I'm drinking lots of water, tea, some wine and the occasional bottle of real ale that Sheila brought over from England. The problem is here is that because the French wine is so good it's easy to drink so much; but now with the occasional r.a.i. it's well under control. What's R.A.I. you ask? = Reduced Alcohol Intake. And while I'm on the subject of alcohol. One of my new friends in the village has recommended wine from the Bourgogne region. I'll try anything once; or twice.

When we bought our house the intention was to move into a liveable dwelling straight away. It's ok buying cheap and then spending a fortune doing it up; if that's what suits some people, great; but that's not for us. The work that needed doing here was superficial, and the last job on the list was for the electrician. He turned up on Wednesday, as agreed. So now we've got new light fittings, a few sockets and new strip lighting in the Atelier that I can actually see to work by.

I didn't think that it was time for apple picking yet, and as far as we're concerned we won't need a ladder to 'top out'. But for some odd reason however two of our apples decided to leave the tree of their own accord, Pam found them so we ate them; two down five to go.

French lessons. There's a new set of language cd's on order. The teaching method suits me fine; it's just listen and repeat. But if I'm still listening to them in 5 years time I might just ask for a refund.

Aston Villa news: We've progressed to the next round of the UEFA cup, beating H.F. 5 - 3 on aggregate. We've also spent a lot of money buying new players.

Weather Word: Glorious heat, but not at all like the heat in Kefalonia, which, our correspondents tell us has been unbearable; at times, for example 30c at 11pm.

And finally, some reflections on Savigny mornings this week. Incidentally, drop the r in Allier, it then becomes Aliay.

The morning dew lies heavy on the grass,
Sparkling, like ice on a frozen river;
That was this morning, then the sun rose to burn it all away,
And we felt the warmth of another beautiful August Allier day.

That's it for another week, take care and all the best, Peter and Pam.

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