Issue No. 14

What a mad few months it's been here in the middle of nowhere France!
On Christmas Day, the other half decided this was the right moment to start
building a bathroom. So while most normal people were sitting in front of the
TV, eating chocolates and generally relaxing and over indulging, we were
ripping out very old cupboards from what has been the utility room and will
be the bathroom!
That is exciting enough (I've been without a bath for eight years now though
I do have a shower!) but something else even more thrilling has happened -
for me at least! I've written a book about my life in France and it's going to be
published on May 4. I'm supposed to keep it quiet but I can't help it, I have to
tell someone! I'll of course tell you more once it's formally published but you
can find it on Amazon now. I don't think I've ever been more nervous about
something than I am about revealing all about my life in France, my
neighbours, and how I came to be here!
I'm less happy to tell you that we had a loss in the animal family. Poor Ginger
Roger, the deaf stray cat I took in three years ago succumbed to an illness.
He seemed to rally after a trip to the vets and a massive dose of antibiotics.
He was, I am very sorry to say, extremely badly behaved at the cabinet of the
vet, attacking all the staff. In fact he was so terrible the vet told me never to
bring him back. He was a very feral cat and had to be sedated just to be
given antibiotics. Alas it didn't help in the long run.
Strangely a few days later another stray turned up - I think the cat grapevine
is strong in my village and they knew I had a vacancy. We call her Fat Cat as
she eats absolutely everything I put in the food bowl and she's enormous.
She has a seriously grumpy face but is very well behaved and not at all like
the other wild cats. I did promise no more pets, but it's hard to say "non" and
besides, I've got plenty of love to share with them!