"It's that Brisket I reckon - what a carve up, I expect he can't think of anything else, poor lamb …"
"Huh, more likely got carried away with that new-fangled Fibrous Optrex if you ask me …. he was always lured by bandwidth …"
The photos of the work above look a little grim - but it was February! We had some rain in early March, but since then the weather has been progressively sunny and warm. We're not ones for keeping records of weather year to year - we keep meaning to and then sort of 'lapse' and so rely on memory and that post-memory stage that becomes an unreliable mix of sentiment and wish-fulfilment. Anyway, we reckon we have not had such a warm March since 2014, when we welcomed our first guests to the Chambres D'Hotes - friends from Finland. The warmth (temperatures up to the mid-20's) has brought out areas of magnificent blossom on trees and shrubs, but interspersed with trees and shrubs that are still stark and bare:
We'll keep you 'posted' on how the 'commune' develops.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN LE BRUEL!
You may recall, from the February BLOG Post that we were about to launch the 'Le Bruel Film Club, with the first film, in February. We're very pleased to report that the first screening, of Vittorio de Sica's The Bicycle Thieves, was well attended - 16 people came, and we had a very amusing Italian-made short animation film before the main film; then after the show we had bowls of spagetti bolognaise, with an Italian wine, and then panettone and coffee. The next screening, in March, was Claude Chabrol's The Beast must die, with an animation short from the School of Visual Arts in Poitiers, which was really enjoyed for its wit and artwork. A selection of vol-au-vents was served, with a good Muscadet, with eclairs, meringues and coffee. 20 people came to this screening, a 50:50 mix of French and English/American neighbours. So far it seems ot be a successful idea - and in April we'll be showing the Spanish film Pan's Labyrinth, and there'll be something Spanish to nibble and drink afterwards. The 'season' will close at the end of May and then, if there's a consensus that folks like the idea, we'll start up again in October.
To close this Post we'll hold on any comments on BREXIT, and instead give you a poem that may provide something far more sane and comforting:
Sitting quietly, doing
nothing, Spring comes, and
the grass grows, by itself
(Basho, Matsuo)