Do you love it? Do you loathe it? Do you care?

What a dinky watering can! Once Virginia's roots get going, you're going to have to splash out on a 12l arrosoir When you write 'this heat'...c'est combien exactement? We're between 37°C and 40°C every day until, just possibly, it might rain at the beginning of next week. I re-read Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources every year about this time
Ha! A Felco man?

 

Only a few miles north of Loch Ness and about 600 from your good self - not that far really.

Mme Lab is welcome to try and also claim the bike I don't own.

 

Call me Monsieur Jourdain! I had NO idea: all my life, I’ve been a Felco man! I am walking on air. You make me feel like a man who, for 25 years, thought he had an MG and suddenly realises he has a ReBull.

Here they are (you can see by the chipped plastic that they are well-worn; many dead heads have fallen under its guillotine!)


I’ll give them the “treatment” now that I have done my research and even watched this: A guide to sharpening secateurs

And call yourself Tiresias (*) for having sufficient second sight to know my tools better than I do! (Although, if truth be told, it’s Mme Lab who uses them mostly; my Sisyphean task is the lawn, remember? I’ve drawn the short straw there: flowers never seem to cause us much trouble, put them in the right soil, in the right place, give them a little food and some water and Bob’s your uncle, but the lawn!... Och!

Jean de Florette ... Aaah, Pagnol, Raimu, Fernandel ... Les Lettres de Mon Moulin ...

How hot? you ask. It’s been hotter than you here, check this out (although admittedly only for one day – overall, you win by a large margin ... my goodness! every day, near 40°C! Have some parts of you melted?).

Here, the news is full of it:

About 321,000,000 results (0.50 seconds)
40.3 degrees Celsius
UK shatters record for its hottest day ever; London fire service declares 'major incident' Britain recorded its hottest-ever day Tuesday, with temperatures hitting a high of 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in the east of England, according to provisional data from the Met Office.19 Jul 2022
Heatwave: UK shatters record for its hottest day ever

My grandmother (who lived to 96 in St Jeannet – Alpes Maritime - 06) would have been quite chuffed to hear that her “dinky” watering can made it on the prestigious Gardeners Corner Forum; she used it on a daily basis for her indoor plants; it has no “value” but I absolutely treasure it.

St Jeannet and its fabulous Baou


(*) please accept the female connotation; as you know, she was a woman long enough for you not to take offence either at the gender or at Poulenc’s title

 

It all sounds fantastic. I’ll have to start psyching myself up and work out how to cross that Loch on a bike; I’ve looked at Google Maps: there are no bridges over it! Is there a tunnel? And is it safe? It’s got one hell of a reputation!

As you can see, I was traumatized in my tender youth when I was made to think that Scotland was a dour, terrifying, forbidding place, like this:

and that Scots looked like this:

It wasn’t until I was twelve or thirteen that I discovered the glorious qualities of their drink; I was nearly expelled from school, I had to hang on for dear life:

 

Astro Turf?
And of course there are strong historic links between France and Scotland.

 

I am in big, BIG trouble now!



Just like Alan Titchmarsh, I took my Felco to pieces, cleaned every part, sharpened the blade ... and now I can’t put them back together again, neither can all the King’s horses nor all the King’s men!

I had asked Mme L. to take a picture of me doing it; she said Do you really want your friends on the Garden Forum to know what a fool you are? I said: Don’t worry, they already know that.

She then said That was a most important part of my life. I asked: What, more important than me? ... there was no reply.

 

They had me foxed the first time I dismantled mine, too No doubt there are any number of Americans on YouTube who can talk you through the reconstruction, but if not, package it all up and send to the Felco service place in Leicester. Can't help more or even post a link as Livebox is en panne. Courage! :-)

 

Thank you for your positive and encouraging thoughts!

Things are going extremely well here, stimulated by the sharp spurs of Mrs L’s tongue:

Blade being sharpened to a razor’s edge (14:17):


And now the tomato test (14:47):


Then, it’ll be back to the horses and Kings’ men (I am extremely confident!).

And to think that forty eight hours ago, I had to type into Google: "Felco" meaning?

Mrs Lab says If you ever get those back together, you'll have to look up how Alan Titchmarsh sharpens edgeing sheers!

I have made a habit of sharpening Mrs Lab’s kitchen knives ... but am wondering now if that was such a good idea.

Having said that, I can’t wait for her expression of pleasure when I HAVE put back together that most important part of her life!

 

What shall I tell them?

Tell them the truth.

People don’t believe the truth, not even from politicians.

They will, if you tell them I said it.

Alright. Mrs Lab says: That green stuff is grass, and the colour was achieved with diluted seaweed in a knapsack on our backs (*) ... together, of course, with the excellent advice from Liz the Pot. Oh, also tell them that Astro Turf is just about the worst thing for the environment.

(*) we "share" the burden; we’ve only got 83 square meters of lawn, mind you; she does 40 square meters and I do 43.

 

Forgotten what colour grass is suppose to be around here.

 

Pale yellow/straw