A Spring In The Air?

Spring Weather ?

I realise that I go about the weather rather a lot but then I am still English. The point this time is that English weather, in principle, doesn(t happen here. Specifically, the inconsistency that makes weather such a common topic of conversation in England is normally absent here. However, while England is experiencing untypical weather, we have typical English spring weather here. Over the pat two months the weather has varied from warm, sunny days, with the classically Provencal cloudless deep Wedgwood blue skies, to cool, even cold, days of overcast skies and drizzle. Provencal spring, equivalent to early summer in England, keeps promiing to arrive but is still struggling to manage it.

One welcome side-effect is that spring flowers, such as primroses and violets, which normally appear here only in shaded damp places, are all around in abundance. In that and other ways, this part of Provence is experiencing a typically English spring.

However, in the Wednesday market in Buis this week I found the first local asparagus and strawberries, including some wild asparagus. I haven't tried that before but will do this Friday when Steve, Jo and Nick come to eat. Driving along, I also noticed that the fruit orchards are starting to bloom : cherry, almond and maybe apricot. This is welcome as there hasn't been much colour by the wayside apart from the ubiquitous rosemary, which has been in bloom for some time. Coronilla is also starting to break, including the bush in my back garden. And I can finally say that all the plants I hoped would come through the winter have done, the three solanum in the front all now showing signs of new growth.

Joke

I owe this joke to friend Armelle.

A boy is buying a new car and the salesman is impressing him with one that has the very latest radio technology which reponds to speech commands. You can ask it to play any track and, if your request is not precise enough, it asks you for more information. The salesman invites the boy to try it out for himself.

The boy thinks for a moment and then says : « Halliday ».

The radio responds : « Johnny or David ? »

« Johnny » says the boy and the radio duly plays a track by Johnny Halliday.

Trying again the boy commands : « Iglesias ».

The radio responds : « Julio or Enrique ? »

The boy is so impressed he buys the car and drives off. Alittle later on, driving through town, the boy is carved up by another motorist cutting sharply in front of him.

Indignantly the boy shouts : « Bastard, arse-hole ! »

The radio responds : « Berlusconi or Sarkozy? »