Characters

OK, so I have very little time these days to do blog posts and quite frankly posts all about 'we have done this and we have done that' become quite tedious after a petit moment for you, the reader. But the daft thing is that our new life here is made up of so much more than 'doings'. This is a whole new 'experience', made all the richer by the characters that make up our community here. I still can't put a name to them all, although of course the introductions have been made. Give me a chance.... it's still early days! But suffice it to say that I have never felt so 'at home' in France. Allow me to just give a nod to the characters who have contributed to this feeling. I'll start with the Maylins. Other characters will no doubt form the basis of future posts.

Monsieur Maylin no. 1;
One of three Maylin brothers who live in the next three houses down the road from us, all aged in their 60s/70s. No. 1 is the chappy who held the key to our new home ... literally. He opened the door to the agent and ourselves when we visited for the first time back in May. He is also the owner of the 5 horses that I invited to feast on the lush grass that was preventing us from creating my longed-for potager. He is a quiet, unassuming, patient, hard-working chap who is worth his weight in gold. He is also the owner of a bonkers boxer (dog) who is confined 24/7 to the house or (if he is very lucky and the wind is blowing in the right direction) to the little yard/garden. Said dog is still 'intact' which could conceivably explain his totally manic/frenzied behaviour whenever anybody passes the gate, behaviour which reaches fever pitch should Taff decide to tease/taunt him with a playful bounce as we pass by on our morning walk. I have suggested castration as a possible remedy for his seemingly intolerable behaviour. M Maylin was unimpressed. On the other hand, I could just accept that said dog it just bored out of his mind. It is not for me to conjecture. I comfort myself in the knowledge that M Maylin 1 has a big pile of well rotted horse manure that is going to render my fledgling potager the most productive potager in the hamlet. Thank you M Maylin 1.

Monsieur Maylin 2
This is the second of the Maylin brothers. He is also the most rotund. He has a strong regional accent. He apparently suffered a stroke a few years ago which explains why his speech is almost unintelligible to myself and even more so to Andy. Fortunately, M Maylin 2 is very aware of the communication problems that this generates and apologies incessantly for being so incomprehensible but the important thing is that we are able to communicate and besides,  M Maylin 2, you have given us the use of your fantastic, ancient, still fighting, 6 blade rotavator (which you get going with the aid of a length of rope, I kid you not) which has allowed us to turn over the patch for my potager, which M Maylin 1's horse manure is now nourishing and in which the most delicious winter greens will be grown, I assure you. M Maylin 2 also has two of the most delightful grandchildren that you could ever wish to meet, although I have no idea of their names. Suffice to say that the young lad (around 10 yrs old?), is made up when he is allowed to take the big quad bike out.

Monsieur Maylin 3
This is the third of the Maylin brothers. He has a cat that gave birth to kittens behind the tractor. His wife grows lovely lettuce. Apart from that, he is, so far, an enigma to me. But it's still early days, early days