May 2024

May 2024

It could have been warmer. We could have had the pool for swimming by now. We could be younger, more attractive and with less aches, pains and feebleness, but it still could not be better than it already is. There is a gentle engaging aura, and this is paradise. Nothing lacks the charm of the place.

We enjoyed the enjoyable presence of Robin of just over two weeks. This was preceded by a brief but fun visit from Pennell and Roger. We all watched a video of Charpentier’s David & Jonathan. Meanwhile, Guy (despite being terminally ill) and Romain have kept the grounds very nicely in order, and Philippe has been magnificent with all sorts of repairs andhandiwork. And after half of the first planting was done in by the cold, the vegetable garden appears now to be flourishing. We have been to the funeral of Petit Claude’s Katie and then to the reception afterwards. And there was no funeral, but I learned from Jessica that Simon John had died suddenly. We have always felt eternally grateful to Simon for his construction of the addition of our house here at the farm.

At Penny’s on one cinema night, it was the disturbing and highly emotional One Life with Anthony Hopkins. On another cinema evening, it was the film Monkey Man. For this I had mixed feelings. It is extraordinarily violent, very heavy and with some but only some more beautiful sections.

We have had a dinner at La Table with Penny and Joanne and drinks at the Calalou with Joanne. We have visited one Sunday afternoon Liliane, Pâris, Lorna and darling little Marius. And chez nous, we had a dinner for Joanne, Yvonne, Marijke and Robin (who did all the dishes after). And I have enjoyed phone calls with Theitic, Gin, Marie-Laure and Gillie.

Soteria this month was Dirk Bruere’s fascinating Emily – A PostHuman Romance. My reading alternates currently between Proust’s Swann in Love and Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. And for the rest, I am engaged with the chapter-by-chapter revisions of Basic Bliss for Everyone. All in all, it is quietly full.