Thursday, July 29, 2010

The excitement mounts.





The quiet folk from Walla Walla were rather taken aback to be joined mid-breakfast by an ample figure in black bicycle shorts, a lilac fluffy angora jumper and a lime green coloured fabric turban. Yes, Madame Bay has returned, safe and well, from her trip to Croatia with Monsieur Bay and the retired septaguenarian gendarmes. For once there was little time for small talk. 'Could she borrow some baking trays ?' Saturday is the day for the firing up of the long delayed pottery kiln, large crowds are anticipated (why?), and Madame Bay is responsible for making pizzas. God spare us all from honey, anchovy, goats cheese and ground beef delights on a crunchy whole meal base.

Tonight, as part of the pre-firing up celebrations for the kiln, there is to be an exhibition by the art class in their atelier. Their atelier is otherwise known as the village hall. Long time readers of the blog will remember that the art class is populated by a number of French ladies with an eye for the male form. An invitation addressed to me had a hand written comment on the bottom saying ' You'll be most welcome'. Frightening stuff. The junior members of the family can deal with that one - good practice for those whose greatest aspiration in life is being a 'greeter' at A&F.

The perfect excuse for not joining these gallic harridans lies ten metres away on the other side of the village green. Oustric, convener of the beautiful highways committee and the villager responsible for the kiln, has invited us to a reception for a master potter from Perpignan. This gentleman is seemingly an expert on sixteenth century kiln technique and will be test firing the marvellous contraption on Friday ahead of its formal unveiling on Saturday. Riveting stuff. How the master potter will deal with the design flaw posed by the juxtaposition of the smoke from the chimney and the tiled roof covering remains to be seen.

Closer to home , Aude, our chain smoking, decaratrice with the bi-polar conversational habit is getting on swimmingly with Wilf. After a slow, somewhat suspicious start , Wilf has now come round to the view that she is talking to him. He settles down in his corner of the hallway and listens intently while she discusses the topics of the day - all day. He will not move apart from following her outside when she pops out for a quick roll your own . Most of the hallway now has an undercoat apart from a Wilf shaped area by the office door.

14 comments:

  1. So Madame Bay made it safely to Croatia and back!! Wonders never cease.

    Beautiful sunflower pictures.

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  2. Once again I marvel at the beautiful sunflower pictures!

    But oh the questions that your post has brought up all the way from how Madame Bay & Aude are getting along under 1 roof, to wondering if the pizzas will have "spume" on them and was the invitation from the art class a ruse to find a model or someone to merely turn on the heat, I mean air-conditioning! ...Thanks for getting my imagination going!

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  3. I'm glad your guests weren't denied the pleasure of Madame Bay's company! Good heaven, please teach the woman about the wonders of tomato sauce! What she is making is NOT pizza!

    Oh, why do I suspect you'll be lurking outside the village hall as the youngsters go to visit the art class? Now, the picture of those faces would say a lot more than a thousand words! Even better when they find out you were asked to be their model first!

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  4. My gosh, the sunflowers are spectacular! So happy to read that Wilf is getting along with his new friend.

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  5. Aaaah, the sunflowers! I'm having Tour de France withdrawal. I usually don't watch TV much but, during le Tour, I watch many hours a day, with lots of fields of sunflowers interspersed. Thanks for helping with my withdrawal!

    You make village life sound absolutely hysterically funny! Oh my. I giggle almost every day.

    And, for some reason, Wilf's visage makes me smile every single day. Part of it is his "haircut" that looks so much like a human hair cut!

    Thanks for a smiling start to my day!

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  6. Send Wilf to the art class! He's a male who is quite comfortable with his nudity and if they talk to him about the promise of a Jaffa cake, he'll probably be more than happy to hold a pose. When Petey was modeling collars and leashes, all you had to do was hold a tennis ball in front of him and he'd freeze in a pose of pure anticipation for minutes at a time.

    Now, can't the pre-med fellow at least aim to be a greeter at Harvey Nicks? Or does he see himself like the satiny chested half-naked young male models lurching right inside the door at the A&F flagship on Fifth Avenue, causing mobs of camera-wielding 13-year old girls to swoon and completely block the sidewalk in front of the store?

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  7. Aude is lucky to have such an attentive audience! :)

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  8. Well, it could have said 'Please stay away!' :)

    I just realized that I love Wilf's eye in almost every picture you take of him!

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  9. awww...the Wilf shaped area :-)

    I sometimes make my bed 'around' the cats, too.

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  10. Those rows and rows of sunflowers are splendid. It was great to hear that M/M Bay are back and ready to roll. Wilf looks quite chipper - glad to see it!

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  11. Was the, 'You'll be most welcome,' an invitation to model for the art class?

    Wilf has made friends with Aude but has Madame Bay? I'll have to read your archives to see whether or not they get along.

    Glad Madame Bay has made it to Croatia and back safely.

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  12. thanks for posting more sunflower pictures! :)
    i am somewhat scared by what madame bay considers to be pizza. bleh.

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