The art of being wise .

The gardeners arrive bright and early to carry on with the landscaping . This time they bring a new toy - a pneumatic drill .The plumber and electrician arrive shortly after to put right what the gardeners had destroyed the day before . Wilf gives the gathered multitude a quick ' don't forget I'm here ' bark and then settles down for a long sleep in the orchard .

By lunchtime the new cypress trees along the drive have been planted . Even better - the impromptu lake on the lawn has largely drained away and the electrical system is once again safe . The family fellow treads warily across the waterlogged turf en route to christening the excavator .

'' The font '' has sensibly headed off to the UK on the first flight of the morning for ' granny fonts ' ninety third birthday . Upstairs , Aude, the bi-polar decaratrice , has started to put the lime render on the bedroom walls . She chats happily away to herselves .

Angus spends his day in fearful anticipation of what disaster might come next. Whatever comes next certainly isn't the third DHL parcel which remains elusive . The French tracking centre completely uninterested in its whereabouts . ' Maybe tomorrow ' the default reponse .

As Wilf might say : " the art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook " .