The latest news at the chateau.............

It`s been such a strange week and I am exhausted by it all!! Last Saturday it was my birthday - which ended with me dancing until 2am with a wonderful batch of friends, one of whom was intent on teaching me to dance a 1940s jive!

This was followed by Miss Frou Frou`s birthday (on the same day as Bastille day!) with a long leisurely lunch in the garden in the glorious sunshine in the heatwave we are currently enjoying. I didn`t purposely give birth to this wonderful mademoiselle 25 years ago on a French national holiday  - but it is quite good that there are a host of firework displays taking place here each year on her birthday!

She has recently had a friend staying with her from the UK on a short break. Miss Emily (known as "La la" )is a real charming girl who has just no idea how beautiful and talented she is! She ran around the chateau like a whirlwind with her camera and the two girls set off to visit Paris with Mr Frou Frou as their chauffeur.  She has an eye for detail and is so hungry for life - much like me 40 years ago...but wow - I never has those long legs! We had such a giggle when we realised her thighs were actually higher than my waist.
La La has her blog here  and her photographs are simply divine.

http://emilysafetravels.tumblr.com/

Mademoiselle Lala crashed out after lunch!!

Monday morning started with me experiencing a strange pain in my side which got progressively worse. Tuesday I telephoned for a doctors appointment which was booked for Thursday. Each day the pain increased until finally - in the middle of the night on Wednesday - I could bear it no longer and Mark took me off to A and E at 5am. Several tests later revealed nothing serious, just muscle damage in my back possibly with trapped nerves in my ribs. I was given strong painkillers and sent home with orders to rest. How can muscle pain be strong? !!  I took the doctor's advice to rest because, on Saturday, I had planned to be at one of my favourite brocantes of the year - and our hotel room had been booked.

Then....... the worst possible thing happened.  Sir Digbert fell ill and became lethargic. You all know from reading my blog that this divine boy has been with me constantly, either at my feet or by my side, for the last ten years. I do not know his true age because he was a rescue dog - but I do know he must be at least twelve years old. When Burleigh our old lurcher died he took himself away and hid in the hedge and could not be coaxed out. It was almost as if he knew it was "his time" and he went away quietly.

On Friday morning (the day we were to leave for the brocante) I awoke to find Diggers missing only to finally find him under the hedge refusing to come out. When I did finally coax him out he could hardly walk and was clearly not his usual self. I know he is not indestructable and will not be here forever  - and I would never see him suffer just to save my own feelings. By the way he looked I thought it was "his time" having had the most wonderful, cossetted life with us I knew what was to come.

 I had arranged to go out to lunch with an old friend who is returning to the UK after the sudden death of her husband at the beginning of the year, so I went off to the lunch, leaving Mark to take Diggers to the vets. I said my goodbyes to him before I left and I sat at that lunch trying not to think about what was happening knowing that I would otherwise have cried all the way through it!

 I rushed home only to see his lead on the kitchen top - with no sign of Mark or Diggers. Needless to say the tears started. I then found them both in the lounge; Mark had seen that Diggers had perked up and had not taken him to the vet after all.

I phoned our friends who always looked after Digger whilst we travel and they said that they would care for him for the one night we were away and we arranged to drop him off as usual before we set off for the brocante. Then Diggers appeared to take a turn for the worst and we rushed off to the vets. I couldn`t even bear to go in, afraid of what the result might be, so I sat outside in the car and cried so much that the front of my shirt was soaked. Then Mark came outside to tell me all was ok; Diggers had  simply spent too much time in the hot sun and was suffering from the canine equivalent of sunstroke - and the vet had given him several jabs and some medicine to take.

So we decided to stick to our original plan, returning home to pack an overnight bag and then drove off to our friends house to drop Diggers off.  As we arrived I was still crying and our friends rushed out putting their arms around me saying " It`s okay, he had such a good life with you"  but I managed to blub out " No...no..he is okay, he is in the car"!!! DUH! [note to myself ........get a grip woman!]

We have now just returned from the brocante. As I write this the car is full of some gorgeous treasures which I shall unload tomorrow, Digs is asleep  at my feet back to his old self  - and normal service at the 'chateau' ( whatever that means!) shall resume on Monday.

A la prochaine mes belles
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