Vets and shopping (and a walk)

A delay in posting blogs, due to the fact that our phone and internet were out of action for over 24 hours – one of the too frequent downsides to living on the outskirts of a small Dordogne village.

 The dog’s paw still continues to bother her; to the extent that I went walking on Monday afternoon and substituted Mary Rogers and Kerstin Wood for Dolly, who was left to hop at the bottom of the garden with Mike.   We went up to Anlhiac through Guimalet Woods and back – probably about 3 kilometres each way.  Anlhiac has a bar that’s usually open so we had a coffee break up there. 

 

Coffee Break

 

 

Coming home we passed the house whose inhabitants tried to assault Mike Bickerton some time ago.  This house is further up the river from ours and I have recently been puzzled by sounds similar to far off thunder.  These are now explained, as a teenaged girl was sitting outside banging a comprehensive drum kit.  If it is the same family who tried to assault our friend, they probably just don’t care.    Further along we crossed the river by bridge.  Mary tried to climb over the bridge for some reason.  I have no idea why, possibly I wasn’t paying proper attention at the time, but here is a picture of her doing it.

 

 

 Tuesday was rather blighted by heavy rain.  As though large holed watering cans were being indiscriminately emptied   I did manage a very wet drive to our local supermarket in the morning.  I don’t wish to speak ill of a supermarket, especially when we do most of our shopping there, but it really isn’t comprehensively stocked.  I think the manager puts stuff out and if he hasn’t sold a certain amount of it during the month, it never appears again.  He did, at one time, have decaffeinated tea which I used to drink a lot of before I converted to rooibos.  When the decaffeinated tea disappeared from the shelves, Mike enquired about it, explaining that his wife drank it.  “Yes,” replied the manager, “My wife won’t drink anything else.  We get ours in Perigueux”.  There were, though, some fresh herbs on the shelf yesterday.  It’s so rare to find fresh herbs here that I pounced on a pack of coriander, although I have no immediate plans for it.  It will enliven a salad.    I also managed to buy a carton of ice cream.  There only seemed to be about six in stock and nothing in the caramel or coconut line.   I annexed the solitary rum and raisin. 

We drove Dolly and her injured paw to the vets in the afternoon.  Our vet is a busy rural one who spends the mornings visiting cows and sheep and is open for an hour and a half in the afternoon for smaller animals.  No appointment system – you just wait your turn.   We shared the small waiting area with three other dogs (on leads), two cats (in carriers) and a goat (in a much larger carrier).  From time to time the goat gave a very small bleat.       

Dolly was mainly good for her examination.  Remaining a dog who detests being brushed, she will not tolerate anything on her body other than a human hand or a towel. So she put up a huge struggle when her paw was shaved for inspection. Mike, the vet’s assistant and I were all holding her down. But she did not attempt to bite anyone, which is a testament to her kind and splendid nature. The paw has been declared unbroken with no immediate problem apparent. Dolly has been prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. Though she is still limping she seems a lot better.

 

Every day I receive an email from a site called Bite Sized French, feeding me a new French phrase. A recent one translated as, “Neither of us are strangers to love. We both know the rules”. I can’t see that I will have any immediate or future use for this (or that I would have used it at any time in the past for that matter). Mike would choke on his tea if I tried it on him. Perhaps I could use it on the supermarket manager the next time there is a lack of ice cream.