Day of the tent

An early start today as I had to take Rambo to have a blood test at the vets at 9am. He has been chipped and had his rabies injections so once the blood test has been done he will be able to travel, if necessary to the UK. A cool morning but a nice drive through the village and the forest for about 8 kms before joining the main road. Saw some swallows lining up on the telephone wires getting ready for their long journey to warmer climes for the winter. Just at the point where we meet the main road there is the big Bonduelle, vegetable canning factory, where the sweet corn that was harvested here is being processed. The vet is in Grenade sur l'Adour, a nice little town on the banks of the river Adour. The vet was charming and chatty and we were with him for 40 minutes. Talked about horses, hunting, English in France, thought we were going to be with him for the morning! Put Rambo back in the car and went to get a morning paper and was tempted to buy a pain aux raisins for Nigel and a croissant for myself. Back home and we sat outside and ate the goodies along with a cup of coffee. The sun is shining and the temperature rising quickly.
Last week we bought a trailer tent that we saw advertised. Although we are within day trip distance of the sea thought it would be good to have the tent so that we can spend 2 or 3 nights at the beach in the spring and autumn. So the weather being good we thought we would have a practise at erecting it. We bought it from friends of the owner and had tried to put it up at the time but the chap who was showing us how to do it didn't have a clue. Well, it did take us most of the rest of the day to work it out but now that we have done so it should be much easier next time. It is very spacious and has a sitting area, a kitchen area, a bedroom and a large awning. It has another awning that fits onto the side but I doubt we should ever use that. As I was making lunch I also mixed up some bread dough so that it would be ready for the magic hour of 2 o clock. We have low rate electric from 2-5p.m and from 2am to 7am so try to use the oven, the dishwasher and the washing machine during those hours.
We finally finished "playing " with the tent and had it packed up again by 5.30pm. A good feeling to know that we can do it! Not too many cross words either!!