Less motivating .

Good mannered weather . It rains at night but come sun-up it's dry and bright . Wilf able to enjoy his daily saunters across the fields. Perfect growing weather for the local fruit farmers . This morning the greengrocers stall weighed down under punnets of strawberries . The spicy Gariguettes considered a speciality . Another week or so and then they'll be gone . Replaced by fraises rondes , the sort of Strawberries we grew in Scotland .

Sunday . For some reason all the old fellows melanomas decide to play up at the same time . A random event or some common cause ? We debate the pros and cons of giving him another bath . In a short haired dog you could apply a bandage but with Wilf this would be difficult. As always the best solution a long walk to take his mind off the irritation. It works. He comes home and falls into a contented sleep.

'' The font '' is delighted to discover that the graduation ceremony for the Mandarin language course will be held in the Palais de Versailles . Angus reads the entire e-mail and finds out that it will be held in the Palais de Versailles - Conference Centre . Somehow less motivating .

Time for the garden at the Rickety Old Farmhouse to get some attention . It looks like a war zone . The transplanted tree peonies doing well, the areas seeded with grass less so. Loic, the bifocaled gardener , stands, arms folded, watching three hundred finches feasting on the newly sown grass seeds . He presumably thinks it would be futile to chase them off.