"Blouski"

I'm very hesitant to do what's called a blog, so I'm just going to call them little letters or notes.

I plan to share some observations on our life in France. Some will be interesting and some will no doubt be dull, but that's life, isn't it? The things that interest me the most are the common, everyday events that shape my life over here.

For example, the other day, Marie-Jo stopped by to say hello. Now Marie-Jo is a wonderful and energetic woman, who lives with her husband on their farm just outside the village. She is paid by the French government to help in the homes of the elderly in the village. You see her little Citroën car everywhere, as she stops by to clean, organize, help with chores, or do whatever is needed by some elderly person. Its a great service, and helps to keep people in their own homes for as long as possible. She also does housekeeping for people that have second homes here. She has worked for us for several years, while we were in Florida and this was our second home. We love her. She had been next door at "the English people's" house to pick up the sheets and towels they left after their last visit. She will wash and dry everything and bring it back to their house before they come back. A lot of people love Marie-Jo.

Anyway, I have been doing battle with the vacuum cleaner that we bought a couple of years ago. It is one of the Earth-conscious bagless types. I hate it. It gets clogged with dog hair after a short time and then requires a lot more care than I am interested in giving to a vacuum cleaner. So, I asked Marie-Jo what kind of vacuum cleaner she had. Oh, she said that she had gotten one at Carrefour (the local giant grocery store), and loved it! It was called a 'Blouski". OK. I was ready to get one. So, today we went to Carrefour and they had several models on display. I looked all over for a "Blouski". Pierre asked a really nice lady that worked in that area about the various models and we chose the Carrefour brand, which was on sale, and is called Blue Sky. On the way home, I commented that I hoped ours would be as good as the "Blouski" that Marie-Jo had, and voilà!, it hit us...we had gotten a "Blouski" too.

The above photo is of Mr Truffles taking Pierre to market in Uzés on Saturday morning. This dear little dog, who bravely flew in the bottom of the plane to come to France, is happy as a clam. He adores French cheese and can wake from deep sleep at the slightest sent of cheese. Every evening after dinner when we get the cheese from the refrigerator, he thinks its Christmas morning all over again. He is easily pleased, and so are we.