Americas other export.

High summer in deepest France Profonde and it's quiet. Very, very quiet. The supermarket in the nearest market town is still open for business but the bakers, butchers and newsagents have all shut up shop for their four week annual holiday. Even worse is to come. The absinthe and beer drinkers cafe closes tomorrow - what will Wilf do when his morning routine is turned upside down ?

Aude , the bi-polar decaratrice. has also gone, leaving the hallway strewn with the detritus of her profession . Walking into the rickety old farmhouse is now like entering a challenging obstacle course. Wilf of course loves the scaffolding and stacks of paint pots - he can charge in, around and through everything.

It's August, there's not a cloud in the sky, the heat is melting the tarmac outside and 'the fonts' mind has turned to buying a stove. Yes. you read that right. Yesterday afternoon was spent chosing a new stove. Never one to prevaricate , 'the font' has decided that if we order a stove now it might be installed by mid-October - leave it until after the holidays and we'll be lucky if it's in for Christmas. Memories of the arctic winds that sweep through the old farmhouse in winter come rushing back. Fancy finding an American stove amid all the strange sounding Norwegian, Danish and Swedish makes. Boeing, Apple and now Vermont Castings.