If I’m honest, I’d been rather dreading the summer holidays; almost everything closes down for two months; there’d be no patchwork, painting or book club until September, and although the cycle club continues as normal, I can’t ride at the moment. What on earth would I do? How would I fill my time? And more importantly, would I see anybody at all?

I needn’t have worried; I heard that Annie, from the painting club, spends some Wednesday afternoons in the grounds of the library, to provide children with a place  to draw, supplying paper, pens, etc. I went along to help, only to discover several other painters gathered in the gardens to paint together. It seems that I’ve somehow missed being put on the members’ email list, so I didn’t know about the almost weekly gatherings by the lake either. The next day I joined them, taking my paints and contributing something to the”auberge Espanol” lunch; it was a lovely day, very relaxed.

A message arrived from the patchwork club president, inviting anyone who was interested in doing a “twisted log cabin” piece to a special day. I’m not a great fan of traditional patchwork, but it would be a day out and it turned out to be very enjoyable. The bonus was that I now have a new cushion cover for my sofa.

It’s the Marciac jazz festival at the moment, but as it’s a 2 hour drive from here, I didn’t go last year and really missed it; Nick and I went every year from Caupenne, usually for several days at a time in the campervan. So when Mart invited me to join them for the day, to see her daughter Annabelle, who was playing in several student bands, I jumped at the chance. We filled 3 cars; Mart and some of her extended family, as well as several friends. The kids played unbelievably well, the standard was so high, there was some really serious talent among the performers that day. The 4 hours driving was well worth it.

I headed to the lake one day, just for a walk, only to discover an outdoor art exhibition. Yves, my neighbour upstairs was there, with some of his paintings, as was another artist I met a few months ago. Dominique was very keen that I should be part of this world, and introduced me to Reine, who organises this and several other exhibitions in Dax and St Paul ; she too would like me to join them, but how can I, when I’ve currently only got three pieces and am giving two of those away as presents? So I’ve said I’ll think about it for next year and try to make a few more pieces over the winter. In the meantime, it turned out that Reine lives in the apartment block next to mine, so we’ve had a few walks together; so good to have someone to talk to on the way around the lake.

I had a walk to Dax this morning, for a look at another of the group’s exhibitions; there are so many artists that the content changes from one time to another, as different people are available each time. Reine took me to meet all the artists and when one woman heard me speaking, exclaimed “you’re Dominique’s English friend; we all know about you”! I think there must be a certain kudos involved in having foreigners as part of any group, though it certainly seems odd to me that people think I’m quite exotic!!

So, between all that and occasional days looking after Arthur and Emily, the summer holidays are passing very pleasantly. Even the weather is on my side; in common with most places, it’s very strange this year and we’ve only had a handful of days in the high thirties so far. I’m not complaining, it suits me perfectly.