The Current State Of Play

The Current State Of Play

On the 1st of February the UK had just left the EU and I got an early morning phone call from the Mairie informing me politely that I no longer had a right to vote in the forthcoming local elections. I had to receive a letter formally informing me of this apparaently and as i declined to go to the Mairie to colect it it duly arrived in the post next day. The mayor has been apologetic to the few Brits around about this necessity, recognising what we add to village life.

I’m seeing increasing numbers of postings on the Internet of people who had voted Leave and are now regretting it as the unicorns start disappearing and reality bites. It tkes coueage to admit you were duped or that you misunderstood even such complicated concepts as sovereignty. The difference between the two is important. Because if misunderstanding is the problem anyone could be to blame and any old scapegoat will do. But if people have been duped then they will, or should, become angry and that is what is necessary.

Perhaps our mayor’s stance is why my long-standing request to the Mairie to prune the trees across the road in front of my house finally bore fruit. Barriers were erected around the trees, the woodsmen arrived and I now have the prospect of a lot more sunlight on the friont of my house this summer. The problem has been that the trees threw shadow over the house which, while providing relief from the summer heat, inhibited the flower display. So I’m looking forward to every plant flowering to its fullest over the coming months.

Every year since I have been here we have had one day of snow, except this year, until today. Today we had a snow flurry for about an hour in the morning. The snow didn’t settle and that may be it for the year but there could be some more to come over the next few days. The snow was a surprise considering that we had been lunching in the sun in a temperature of 18 degrees less than a week ago.

My son, Carl, is with me at the moment and undertook to climb the Via Ferrata in Buis. The photos here are of him climbing the St Julien rock face. I’m proud of his having done that; I’m not sure I could ghave done that even had I been more physically able than I am now. Good for him.

Carl has also helped me get my back garden being in some sort of order. The arch holding the climbing roses had collapsed and that is now fixed thanks to some muscle putting in two metal stakes to reassert the arch. The next job is to sort the leaning column that supports a honeysuckle and another climbing rose. I’m now confident that that can be fixed too.