We had a bit of excitement on Tuesday. It was the last Milhac Loisirs event of the year – an apero dinatoire / choir concert at Sophie’s. It being the height of summer, she had a number of guests staying there, so they padded out the crowd. Apart from the choir, a few other members of ML came, and some friends / neighbours of Sophie. Thankfully, the rain had stopped a few days earlier and it was a nice warm day.
We all brought something to eat, and had a drink and some nibbles before the concert. It went as well as expected, which is to say not very well. We’d been working on California Dreamin’ all year, and it still wasn’t concert-ready. It’s just as well that no one paid to hear us sing. Overall, it’s been a disappointing year with most of the experienced (that is, the good ones) having drifted off. There are only 11 of us when we’re all there, and most of them have zero previous experience. Anyway, I’ve decided to give ML one more year and then call it quits.
The excitement came after the meal and concert. Will and I noticed a commotion near the house and it turned out to be Carol, our neighbour who had fainted. She was very groggy and wasn’t really coming around so they called an ambulance. A couple who were staying there were a nurse and an EMT, so they provided help until the ambulance arrived. Bryan wasn’t there that evening and Carol’s mobile was dead, so we couldn’t get ahold of him. Carol went by ambulance to Brantome and then on to Perigueux. We came home and tracked down Bryan who was somewhat aware of the circumstances, if not a bit tipsy from the party. Will agreed to accompany him to the hospital the next morning.
We got a call from Bryan at 8 when he was meant to get Will saying he was in Perigueux already. Carol was fine – it turned out to be a sudden drop in blood pressure, which apparently, is fairly common. Will’s uncle Barry had the same thing not too long ago. Anyway, Carol was fine and we went around to see her that evening. She was mainly just tired from lack of sleep, but was otherwise in good form.
On Thursday, we had dinner at Richard and Bridget’s who are here for two weeks. It was a lovely evening and we sat on their terrace the whole time. Richard made a tofu stir-fry with rice, with various nibbles to start. Dessert was fresh melon with mango sorbet. They are both well, and really looking forward to living here full time. They are waiting to sell their house and then Bridget will join Richard in retirement. The housing market has taken a downturn in the UK, so it’s taking longer than they were hoping. But it’s only been on the market 6 weeks so they’re not panicking. We’re having them over this week.
We also socialised on Saturday when we had Benoit and Virginie over for dinner. They are trying to cope without Eva, their daughter who just left for a year in New Zealand. We had chips, salsa and margaritas to start, followed by roasted chicken with mexican rice and beans, then a bit of cheese and salad and finally nectarine crumble for dessert. They we giving us lots of advice re: the wedding, having had theirs not too long ago. They also do catering for large events, mainly for friends, so they had lots of questions about Sophie and our plans in general. They stayed until 2 and then we crashed shortly after.
Work is about the same – busy for me and not so much for Will. The weather has turned funny again after being nice most of last week. The garden is doing well between the sun and the rain although some of the plants are looking better than others. And that about covers it for this week.