I love summertime time. It’s that time of summer in France, when temperatures climb to their peak by mid afternoon.
Early mornings are still delightfully cool, and my favourite time of the day. The peace and quiet before the village awakens to head on its way to work or the other necessities of life. The shutters are open to let the fresh air in.
Time can be told without the need for a watch…
At 6am the tractors begin to head to their respective fields or transport their stock to a new place.
7am the village church bells peel the beginnings of a new day with an extra series of bongs. The bells have a lovely deep quality, so much so that if one doesn’t pay attention it is easy to think they are not being rung.
8am is marked by the increase in traffic noise as people who don’t work in the village head off further afield.
By 9am all is quiet again as people settle into their routines. Only the odd person in conversation walking past my office’s open window wafts through the quiet.
It is time to settle down to work myself at the Pumpjack & Piddlewick Shop