Not a mushroom in sight

I knew it was a mistake. I still have painful memories of getting up very early one morning to help Vincent prune his vines. The arrangement was made under the influence and needless to say he didn't turn up then, and he also didn't turn up this morning. Jan and I were up at 04.15 prior to our (the boys) trip up to Lozere to find ceps. At 05.00 there was a knock at the door and there was Alain on his own some. He explained that he had knocked at Vincent's house and phoned his mobile but still couldn't raise him. We waited about 20 minutes but still no sign so it was back to bed. More to the point, what am I going to do with my fancy new knife? I suppose I could try stabbing someone!

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Eric the volet man turned up as agreed this morning to install two new volets on the garage. He's a very nice man and also fixed a couple of other minor problems for no charge. If you need new shutters or your old ones repairing then this is the man for you. Thanks Eric.

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A storm caused quite a bit of mess last night and you can see where 'rivers' formed in the garden and moved a lot of gravel. It won't take much to get it back in order but it does remind you about the amount of rain that can fall in relatively short period of time and the effect that it can have. This morning, the stream at the edge of the property, which rarely has water in it, was 'roaring' with all the water that was flowing down the hill.