A doggy bit

Both dogs have settled well into their new life. After a lifetime of being an outdoor dog Rambo has soon adjusted to being a pampered indoor dog. Although the house is all on one level we do have a staircase which goes up to the attic from the garden room. Rambo decided, straightaway, that he would sleep at the top of the stairs. Strange as he had never been upstairs before. Perhaps he feels safer up there, I don't know. Luna has a basket under the stairs. During the day they both like to lie in the sunshine by the French doors. Sadly Luna seems to be showing her age although she still runs around and likes her walks. Her eyes are becoming cloudy and showing signs of cataracts. We also think that her hearing is much less acute, thought at first that it was selective deafness but she doesn't hear things like people coming into a room so it seems to be general.

Double Glazing

Our double glazing man had said that the work would be done during the first two weeks of December. However it was quite a shock to recieve a phone call on Tuesday the 4th to say that they would be here the next day. Great excitement. Two men and all the windows arrived at the appointed hour of 9.30am.Windows were installed in the lounge, dining room, spare bedroom, our bedroom, bathroom and the toilet on the first day. Day 2 saw the kitchen door and garden room windows fitted. The garden room has large French windows, sadly one of them is cracked, only a little, but it will be replaced early in the new year. Friday saw the finishing off and tidying up done. So good to have windows and doors that close and fit properly. A great benefit heatwise as well.

Fete des volailles

Saturday the first of December we set off for St Sever to the annual poultry festival. On the way there it started to rain heavily so we decided to leave the fete until the next day. Before returning home we (well N really) spent a happy hour in a new DIY supermarket in St Sever.

Next day the sun was shining so off we went again to St Sever. St Sever is the centre of the poultry industry in Les Landes and is known, nationally, for its free range, maize fed poultry. The whole of the town centre was closed to traffic and the car parking was very well organised. There were numerous stalls selling chickens, ducks, cheese, wine and various handicrafts. Inside the "halle aux grains" was a display of various breeds of chickens (alive) and also several tables beautifully decorated for Christmas dinner. In the square in the middle of town, outside the abbey, we watched a display of stilt dancing. In years gone by, before Les landes was forested, the shepherds used to guard their flocks on stilts. This gave them a much wider view of their flocks and as the ground was very marshy the made mobility much easier. Postmen too, and indeed anyone who needed to cover long distances used stilts. It is a tradition which is carried on and it was refreshing to see that there were several youngsters in the demonstration. We had lunch in one of the heated marquees lined with trestle tables. For 13 euros we had, garbure (a local soup), salade landaise, coq au vin, sheeps cheese with cherry sauce and apple tart. All accompanied with red wine and coffee to finish. We had a very pleasant couple from St Sever sitting next to us and we had a good chat with them. Very good ambience.