Blanot cottage

When I arrived, there were pale pink peonies in one of Mireille's tall pots. They were so perfect that I assumed they must be a fake decoration so I set them on the fireplace mantle.

When Mimi and Harriet Ann arrived two days later, they commented on how nice the peonies looked and I voiced my belief that they were artificial flowers. A few days after that I had to revise my thinking. Petals were beginning to fall!

It turned out that Elisabeth, bless her, had put the peonies in the cottage to greet my arrival. The next time we were at the Cluny open market I bought a small geranium plant which is now blooming in the windowsill.  She has picked several wild bouquets for us; the current bouquet is lily of the valley. Flowers definitely make a place more inviting and we have them inside as well as outside.

The "great" room acts as living room, bedroom (I often sleep on the futon), dining room and kitchen. The bathroom and a bedroom are down a short hallway next to the fireplace...

And yes, my dulcimer made it across the pond and I've enjoyed playing it. I also brought the books on the mantle. Having no TV is not a hardship.

 It's really quite comfortable for the three of us. I keep my laptop at the end of the dining room table.

 It may be a tiny kitchen, but we have managed to serve a number of dinners. The Godon's came one Sunday. I had made so much stew that here the table is set for Anne to join us for leftovers.

Here are Elisabeth in red and Mireille in blue on their walk...Mimi had joined them after Bone Builders.





This time we held Bone Builders in the Mairie, the town hall which has a large room that sometimes even serves as a gym.

Anne is sitting on the left, then comes Denise, Elisabeth, Francoise and Mimi. The counting is 1,2,3,4 etcetera and then 2,2,3,4...3,2,3,4,...4,2,3,4. The pattern goes on and I can do the counting in English without a problem. Switching to French, even though I know the words for those numbers, is more than my brain can handle! I certainly added amusement to the exercise!

I'll end this post with the propane truck that woke me up this morning. It looked so cheerful on this rainy day that I just had to take a picture! Noel and Mireille are chuckling over my choice of subject.