why go every day

 A day spent at home, today, never left the house. The house is big enough, and there would be work to do there, but that was not the only reason. Certainly, the steps were swept and washed from top to botom, but that was not the problem really.

A parcel was received which contained the photographic equipment which had been ordered. It took a while to realise that it would not, could not fit. This was because it had some abstruse Hasselblad fitment. This a major nuisance, but a search revealed that fitting adapters would work in place of the Chinese adapter. The cost might be recuperable in part by the sale of the Chinese thing. The other adapter would fit, and was made by the same French firm who built the camera itself. Strangely enough, the item is on sale in Copenhagen,  and is going for half the price for which it would have been sold for in France.

This is strange.

Pack the films and make up a post paid label for the package. It will be sent tomorrow and will take a week.

The day was spent quietly, and there is a resolution not to go to the pub today, why go every day?

such is fame.

 The walk outside today, the camera with the bellows and the standards and the monorail beneath. Ease through the routines to take the pictures of the gazebo and the chruch tower and the crooked house. Set the camera up straight, cock the shutter,, opent the shutter, focus, check the movements, close the aperture, close the shutter, remove the focussing screen, fit the film back, remove the darkslicde, take the picture, foreward the film, replace the darkslide and take down the back and replace the screen. A simple sequence, it will be two weeks before the result is known. For the film has to be developed and scanned.

In the eveneing, chance upon accquaintances, and visit a musicians house.

Be confronted with pictures taken some time ago.

There is a request to sign them 

such is fame.

elsewhere

 The sun is shinning theough the verandah door

it is still warm enough ourside for the flies and other insects to be active

Fix up the cameras, pack the equipment as perhaps needed

Then walk about town, just enjoy this sun at the end of October

Go to the bank, discover that the secret pin has fallen into a hole in the memory, gone. Step back and think of the sequence of actions leading to past withdrawals. The number climbs back out of the hole in the mind. now it is possible to go about the business and to make the withdrawal.

Walk along by the river, and then find a pleasant café.

meet a man, cannot recognise him, he is known and then again he is not. Walk on down the street hear a call. It is the driving instructor, he looks so unwell that he is unrecognisable. Almost.

He explains that his wife has died.

Suddenly, last week. He gives an invitation to go to a meeting later on, in a local guest house.

Later, at the meeting, everyone carries on as before

Just the instructors wife, she is elsewhere.

leave things for tomorrow

 The rain stopped play today. And anyway, there are small things to do in the house and the pictures to sort and to edit. All the pictures from France, there are not many, but they are to be treated with care. There is a constant headache now, it will not let go. Perhaps an ibuprofen pill would help. Take one now, and see if it works.

The day is spent indoors, reading.

And at five in the evening go out to the café and listen to people argue about politics. This all takes place at a distance, only snatches of conversation are to be heard. See the neighbours family go somewhere together as a happy group. That is a nice thing to see.

And then go home, it is now misery. The wife is on her way to recovery, she is walking about cooking things in the kitchen. Imagine that there will be a mess to clear up in the morning.

Go back upstairs, and edit a few more pictures. But the heart is no longer in it, it is probably better to leave things for tomorrow.

slim chance

 Recovery from things is slow, but today starts well just trying to organise the remains of the journey to France. The washing machine is empty, and filled again, the clothes from the dryer sorted and ready for further treatment. 

The plan to try out the camera equipment today has not worked because it is raining all day with nothing but short intermissions. Work on the pictures taken in France. There are not many, but still it all takes time.

The wife says that she has been infected with covid. This is a serious thing, she caught it from her father who is in hospital for the same reason. She is snuffling and sniffing and has a hoarse voice. Go shopping and bring back a few things that she asks for. Try to keep a safe distance, but who knows what a safe distance is.

There is a special offer on the web for an important piece of camera equipment. There is no point in refusing the chance, the dreams have been turned down often enough. The offer is an improvement, but still the sum is large.

Make the decision to go ahead, though the chances of ever earning enough money to pay for the thing are slim.

not that many of those

 Recovery at seven in the morning, go downstairs to make the old normal breakfast. Things are the way they used to be, sort of very nearly.

Start by examining the parts and the bills that had come in the mail during the holiday in France. There is not much there, there is nothing serious yet. There is a bill from the medical insurance people, and there is a bill from the tax people. The customs bill for the import from China was paid yesterday. Therefore, all is done.

The tax bill is only due next month, that is not a problem.

Start to sort the clothes and to tidy away the things that had gone to France.  Soon, that is all done, and the clothes are sorted by color ready for the washing machine. Then all will be done when the wasching machine is done.

Set up the camera on the tripod for the next project using roll film on the technical camera. See that all the parts work, check that the light meter is working. Set it all up, then pack it away into the tan coloured bag. That will be a project for tomorrow. Then check the batteries for the camera for the repro machine. They are all very flat, and one has swollen, that is what comes from not using the batteries for years. Put the swollen one into the box holding the old batteries, then put the other ones on load.

Go outside for a walk about town. Things are fine today, and the weather is good.

Say hello to the wife and she says hello back.

There is little else to be done, really, except to edit all the pictures taken in France. There are not that many of those either.

left on the road.

 The journey from Nancy to Landshut was long and nasty. The French side of the trip was fine, but it rained in Germany constantly and heavily, and the traffic was pure chaos.

It was only possible to sleep upon returning, a short visit to the shops to buy something to eat, a visit to the post office to collect mail, and then a short lie-down that turned into a long sleep.

Until now.

And now it is almost midnight.

Goodbye today, left on the road.

systematised sleeping facility.

 The day started with its being the last day in the cave. Spend some time admiring the red and white matt tiling and the faded carpet on the floor. Take a little time to take a shower, then pack the clothing up into the burag and 

Take the whole lot up to the car by the church.

Return to wish the owner of the cave good morning, she is in her cave which is next door.

It is a sad situation, these two persons may never see each other again. Talk, then retire back into the big cave to let her get on with her dressing for the day.

Later, she calls, she is ready. Got to the other cave and make a cup of coffee,  and we are drinking it when the French cleaning woman arrives. She is surprised to see another person in the cave. Her comment is that the sink is clean, as if this was unusual. She is friendly to this stranger. The cleaning woman is a constant foil to the host, the woman represents the personification of a French order imposed on free thinkers. The comment on the clean sink is seen as a compliment to this stranger.

Then the owner of the cave wishes to leave to let the cleaner get on with her work.

In Montoire, there is only one café open on a Monday. It serves a poor coffee, but plays interesting music.

There is a long walk to the  newsagent, and then to the baker, where a misunderstanding leads to the baguettes being left on the counter. 

Return to the car, and drive to one of those revolting filling stations which are just paid by credit card and there is no person there t all.

Return to the shop at the wish of the cave owner, she makes her purchases.

Return home, and leave the car parked at the head of the road for a change, thereby blocking the parking for the local dwellers. This is for the last time, it will not occur again.

The cleaninig woman had disconnected the telephone and the radio to properly clean around these fixtures without the cables getting in the way. In replacing the telephone and internet cable she bent one of the connecting pins.

Nothing worked, and it took an hour to find the fault and to restart the system and the devices.

And then the farewells, and the hours long drive down the French motorways to that hotel booked in Nancy.

On arrival there, see that it is a one hundred percen automatic hotel, there are number pads on every door and on the entrance to the hotel itself. It is almost an automaton, a systematised sleeping facility.

a young woman with a man's haircut

 A long day was spent in the car today, a pointless day in terms of the  original target of the journey. The target was a brocante sale, a typical French outdoor event, and upon arrival at an empty field after fifty kilometres of driving further checks were necessary. It turned out that the address mentioned in the app was not the same as the one the navigation system used. After changing the address it was a short journey to a French parochial hall and a silly bazaar with a few local people. The most attractive thing was a toy unicorn being sold by a young girl. The coffee served at this Brocante was bad and overpriced.

On the long return journey stop at an Italian restaurant and have two Espresso coffees. They are good.

On the return journey pass by La Chartre sur Loir, and have another cup of coffee in the Hotel de France, a place of British racing fame. The coffee is served by a young woman with a man's haircut. This suits her very well. It gives her a most boyish appearance. And she does her job well in that typical aloof French fashion.

The host from the cave buys a pair of warm slippers in a tourist shop, the only other business open in La Chartre.

Return home to the cave, tired.

town again

Down to town again, it is market day and there are some spring rolls and a meeting in the cafe, the one known as the Golden Gerbil by the British and the Gerbe d'Or by the French.

A lovely morning on the market with strong wind and light rain. 

And the afternoon spent struggling with the machine.

And a lovely meal in the evening in a local restaurant, and all is well. There is an endless difference between a French evening meal and what they offer in Landshut.

In the early hours of the twenty first

of October 2023 sleep was interrupted and there was the sudden realisation that the blog had not been done. The twentieth was a sad and strange day that started of with the collection of a spare part for the washing machine in the cave. This part could be installed without any problems, but the driving was a pain in the neck. 

The coffee at the cafe in Montoire was Ok.

Then the rest of the day just went away, with a trip to town.

Hopefully nobody noticed.

 It was a late start today, and a long wait before the doors to the hosts cave were opened. The journey the day before had been tiring, and she was taking a longer rest.

It was midday before the day started.

Todays plan was to visit a wine merchant. It was not a very long drive through the French countryside, but the roads were in poor repair, and there were many roundabouts and speed regulations to keep an eye on. 

There was a strange junction and a traffic island was negotiated the wrong way. But nothing happened.

The decision to buy the wine was speedily made, and the wine dealer left behind.

In town, another coffee and three baguettes bought at the bakers. The bakery staff were all friendly, and seemed entertained by the inability to speak proper French. A departure from the usual kind of humourlessness.

Finally, a visit to the supermarket, and a sudden burst of rage at everything, at the French, and the gypsy woman wheeling a shoping cart, just a simple unjustifiable rage. There was complete unclarity as to what this rage might be caused by. Just a feeling of rage.

Buy apples and a few bits of sausage in the supermarket.

The rage goes away in the course of the evening.

Hopefully nobody noticed.

A strange sport.

It was seven and then it was nine. The morning disappeared in attempts to pay for some Ebay deal online, which failed because the things have changed. Rush up to the church to fetch the car, and drive down the the Cheemin du Rome to the corner of the Rue Gouffier to wait and to pick up the lady of the house.or the cave.

It was a short drive to  Montoire to meet the man called Mick. Leave the car in the car park by the communal music centre.Return to the Gerb d'Or for the first of four cups of coffee. Have conversation and a few more cups of coffe. Then pay for them, after having gained some knowlledge of electric scoooters.

When collecting the car observe  the girls from the local school running aroung the park in the rain. The runners are always paired with a cyclist. Both the cyclist and the runner are very wet. Then they stop and change places. The cyclist continues  running and the runner cycles along beside her.

A strange sport.

This is all followed by a meal at a Morrocan place, couscous and lamb, very nice. The vegetables are boiled watery.

And then return home in the rain, and start to edit the pictures rrom the last few days.

small view of a big planet

 It is now seven minutes past four on Tuesday morning, This has been the situation for the past few days, an awakening at this hour and then a long period of not going back to sleep. This is all inside the deep silence of a limestone cave in the department Loir et Cher in the French province of Centre.

This time decide to continue this daily blog at this time.

The cave is cold and beautiful, there is a steady draught of cold air coming from a second cave that is keeping the air cool and dry. There is no sound to cause this awakening, maybe it is the deep silence itself that is the cause. The heavy leaden tiredness six hours ago that made going to bed a necessity has now gone, leaving the body and the brain awake in the dark.

Use this computer to first check on the electronic mail and then to check on the progress of the current wars in the world. There is no war in the New World yet, but that cannot be far away now.

Old world charm has gone sour.

The cave is pitch black dark outside this pool of light from the computer screen, the computer screen itself a window presenting a narrow view of the world.

bell

The morning sunlight in the cave is a joy, again todaay, at nine in the morning. Get up, take a shower. The shower is a fiddly one, it is hard to adjust, but it works, and the warm water is pleasant in the air now grown chilly with Autumn. The hottest summer on record is coming to its end, probably the warmest winter ever will follow.

The light in the cave is beautiful despite all of this.

At midday go on a visit to an artist who keeps two dogs. The one is a bug eyed American terrier and the other a Staffordshire one. Botth are effusively friendly and never stop licking ones hands. If one lets them do this.

Offer to attach a bell to the back door of the artist's house. The bell is lying there ready, there is a drilling machine available, and the screws are there too. Only a masonry drill bit is missing.

In the afternoon go to the hardware store and look for a drill bit and ask for a drive belt for the washing machine in the cave. The drive belt is on order only.

Return, and install the artists bell. She is well satisfied and offers a soiree with whisky.

That is a good end to the day, and would have been the end of the day had there not been two exquisite sausages and a salad for an evening meal

brocante

 The light in the cave in the early morning is spectacular, the sunbeams shine straight into the cave mouth through the many paned windows and the glass door blocking it from the outside world. Get up, it is late. Leave the shower for some other day, then brush the teeth and go next door.

The weather is getting cooler, and the coffee pot is waiting. Talk to the owner of the caves, sitting on her couch bed, we will go to a brocante market, a vide grenier market some twenty miles away, to look at the things people have cleared out of their attics and are offering for small money.

It is a long and beautiful drive to the market. The route leads over side roads through the flat landscape of this portion of northern France, finally passing through the regal forests near Blois.

The market is a success, only the queue at the food stall is trying. It is a static line of people, and those behind the counter are just flapping their arms and raising their eyebrows. Something has broken down, it is necessary to wait nearly three quarters of an hour untill some piece of cooking machinery functions as desired. A local dish of tripe in rolls is served, the taste takes some getting used to. As a side dish les pommes frites. 

Bien

The journey home is much faster, despite the many roundabouts on French roads.

yellow jug

 This morning get up, sleep to long and hurry in to Montoire to meet the British motorcyclist, and have coffee with him. The French drink a lot of coffee, so do we all.

An hour spent in the market, buy some Antillean chicken

Then to the store, and fill up the petrol tank and do some shopping. Buy a bottle of wine.

Test the internet radio again, and discover that it works, a miracle.

Then return to the cave, and eat some bread and sausage, more coffee.

The shop that is running as a Brocante, selling bits and pieces. Buy a small yellow jug for two Euros.

And then go back to the cave to eat.

Friday 13

13th of October 2023

A day spent wandering and wondering, a long sleep and deep rest. Wake in the cave, sunlight pouring in through its mouth. Dress and shower.

Then go next door to the other cave, and there are good mornings and coffee.

Take the car to Montoire, and have a coffee in the Gerbe D'Or, or the Golden Gerbil as the British like to call it.

And then home, to the cave, and an hour trying to make a Bose speaker work, and then to bed.

deep. 12 Octoper 2023

 for 12 October 2023

The private flat was left behind in reasonable condition, no comment on the loose toilet seat or the curtains that fell off the walls. There was no comment either on the dirty rug in front of the unused sofa.

Leave the flat and drive to Arca Swiss in Ecole Valentin, a suburb of the town. The friendliness in that firm is incredible, even as a poor customer there was a greeting with a cup of coffee. The broken part of the instrument was repaired, and the bill paid.

Then the long journey from Besançon to Trôo was started , Steadily motoring at one hundred and thirty kilometres an hour. Near Orleans a collapse and nearly falling asleep at the wheel necessitated an hours break and a short snooze in one of those French Aires. The weather was warm and pleasant.

In Trôo there was a great welcome and a long conversation and then to bed and a deep sleeep

walkabout

A long walk through the old town of Besançon today showed the beauty and the liveliness of the town. There is life on the streets everywhere, schoolchildren, old people, all sorts of people. There are an alarming number of beggars about as well. In the morning, the streets are all wet and washed. They are paved with a pale stone, which has a smooth surface.

In the morning, inspect the Time Museum. It is well done, with pleasant displays everywhere, and paintings and tapestry on the walls. Some have more others have less connection with time and the measurement thereof. There are numerous watches made in Augsburg on display. There are only two electromagnetic clocks.

The midday meal in the same place as yesterday is splendid. It is just the Plat du Jour, but everything is perfect. Today there is a Creme Brulee for desert, and this is splendid too. And it is not expensive either. The restaurant is full of French office workers. They all seem to have some vouchers with which to pay for part of their meal.

In the afternoon take pictures in the park, and then walk to the other end of the town to admire the clock in the church that shows all kinds of data relevant to time, it even has an astrological orrery. The cathedral has a barrel shaped cieling, this would  probably be called a roman arched roof or something like that. It is quite unlike the Gothic cathedrals 

After a cup of coffee in a cafè in an arts centre, all full of parents with their children, walk around the town following the river and arrive at the Art and Archaeology Museum. The content is pleasant and relaxing, there are few very modern pieces but it is well curated. It is parly a show of historic artefacts. partly a collection of paintings and partly a show of graphics and historical papers.

After a beer in a cafe go home.

Take a few pictures on the way, one passerby objects, he says that pictures are being taken of him and he does not want that.

good french food and turkish fast food. October 10, 2023

 At four this morning started to get up, make breakfast and to pack up the last things needed on the journey to France. There will be a stop in Besançon to get the camera piece repaired and to visit the clock museum.

At daybreak the journey is already past Stuttgart, go south almost to the Swiss border and cross the Rhine.

All of a sudden, everything is different, even the light is different. The country is warmer and drier, even the electricity pylons look different.

Arrive at the headquarters of Arca Swiss, and meet the boss in person,  a Swiss woman who has taken over her husbands work after his death. It is a joy to see the enthusiasm for the very beautiful equipment which they produce,

And then take a walk around town, around the old town of Besancon. Eat a firstrate plat du jour in a small corner restaurant. and then collect some paper at the tourist information office.

At four thirty arrive at the lodgings, they are in a hovel in the poorer quarter of the town. There is no one there, Eventually a neighbour helps in the understanding of the cryptic messages on the 'phone. They are all in French, which does not make things easier.

Take a shower, and then lie down.

Then walk back down to town and wander abour for a while.

Upon returning home eat a lousy meal at a french turks place. This meal was really rough.

costly

Tomorrow the journey to France will start, and realise that there is no logic to packing any more. What clothes should go on the journey? Pairs of trousers, underwear, all these things have become more important now. It will be a lonely journey, the first like it in a long time. There is the plan to go to Besançon to visit the camera manufacturer and the clock museum. It will be necessary to start early in the morning.

The silence in the town has grown, it is strange. The man elected locally was a Nazi sympathiser as a schoolboy, and the question is really how much can people change in time? He never apologised or explained his behaviour.

Look forward to fleeing the country and to being alone for a considerable time.

It will be costly, but the holiday will be worth it.

clocks in the museum

 A deadly day,  spent editing pictures, sorting things, even spent some time vacuum cleaning the carpet.

Organising washing, trying to think straight. 

In the evening, the son nearly missed his train, that would have been another car journey to Bayreuth. As things are, he caught his train, complete with the bicycle. It is a shame to see the bicycle go, it was quite a good one. There will be another bicycle, after the three month healing period for the operation is over. And the son needs a bicycle to be able to travel around the place in Bayreuth.

The evening in the pub was awful, groups of men talking loudly about things of no importance at all. It is good to leave the place.

Tuesday morning, at long last, go to France. To Besançon, to admire the clocks in the museum.

enough right wing

 At ten in the morning take the car to go to Dorfen to collect the glasses that had been found yesterday. This journey will also serve to deliver some office materials. It is a forty five minute drive, there is much traffic on the roads. Just beyond Vilsofen there is a police speed check. It makes no difference, there is no intention of breaking the speed limit.

The glasses are the ones that were lost, and after a short conversation put the bag full of used file holders into the back  of the ladies car,, she will take them back to her place when she leaves Dorfen.

Then, get back into the car and take a slow journey back home. The police are still manning their checkpoint, drive past them slowly. And on the return to Landshut stop at a large supermarket to buy a bag of apples and a loaf of bread.

There is a strange feeling of boredom and tiredness, It is all a bit like the depressions, but it is not the same. 

Take a rest, there is no wish to go to the weekly gathering today, there is enough right wing evil happening in the world these days.

Look forward to the journey to Besançon on Tuesday.

most interesting

 The old iron for clothes leaks. It is meant to be a steam iron, but it spreads water everywhere, it no longer works after years of having been filled with hard water from the taps. Now it is full of lime scale.

Go out and go to the drugstore for a new one. They are no longer stocking electric irons, so go to the big department store. They have a selection of models there, buy one that appears to be reasonable. Take care to keep the reciept, in case this one goes wrong too. Back at home, fill the tank on the iron with water from the dehumidifier. Assume that there will be no lime in that water. The new iron functions beautifully, in a few hours the ironing is done, twenty five shirts are in a stack, all ironed and folded

It is a domestic day. In the evening, call the lady with whom the  discussion had taken place on Monday. She has found the glasses, they were left in the restaurant. Arange a meeting for tomorrow to collect them.

The rest of the evening is spent trying to correct the pictures taken of the collection of Aftrican art some time ago. The prints have turned out too grey.

Finish of the evening by going out with the son, he has stories to tell of his first week at university. It is all most interesting.

That will be fine

 A journey to France was planned for today and now it is due a week later. That is okay. Today was a strange day, a very quiet day. It was yet another day spent recovering from that operation weeks ago. The aftereffects will not go away, it will, as predicted, take a few months.

It was not cancer, that is the only good thing about it.

Buy a pullover, make a mistake with the price tag and spend more than planned. That was stupid. Try to find a tiny screw in a hardware store that only has a measurement of M 1.4. Such a thing is not to be had in Landshut.

Tidy up at home, and sort things. 

Try to keep the depressions away, those immobilising infestations that blacken the mind and prevent all activity.

There will be a journey to France next week, and that will be fine.

My sincere good wishes to everybody attending the event, to those listening from afar, and share my sorrow for those no longer with us.

 The early morning return from Frankonia has left its mark on the day, there is also the curious sense of absence now that the son has left the house on his studies. The cat is behaving strangely, perhaps the animal has an understanding of the change too.

A day spent trying to find loose ends that can be tied among all of those loose ends that are beyond fixing. The interior fittings removed yesterday to accommodate the things taken by the son are replaced in the early afternoon and the clothes are replaced in the drawers of the Swedish storage units under the bed.

Spend a few minutes replying to a request for attendance to a school reunion that will not be attended to. Send a few words, they want to read them out.

Fifty years ago they were left behind in a flurry of insanity and loneliness. Now they have pleasant words, a large group of old people celebrating their youth now lost.

"My sincere good wishes to everybody attending the event, to those listening from afar, and share my sorrow for those no longer with us."

Tuesday the third, the son starts his studies in Bayreuth.

 Suddenly, the son has to rush off to Bayreuth, his studies are due to start on Wednesday. The whole day was spent procrastinating and waiting, and finally at seven he was ready to go. It is a loose collection of things that he has put together, there was a noticeable amount of computer hardware. We left Landshut just as it was getting dark and drove all the way to Bayreuth, chatting about all kinds of things on the way. All of this happened on Tuesday, and all the guest houses in Bayreuth were closed, there was nowhere to eat.

What a shame!

Return to Landshut, it is a long drive alone. 

Have a motorway cup of coffee and a motorway sandwich on the way back. That is pleasant. The motorway cafe is almost deserted.

For the last stretch the motorway is closed, it is strange rushing along all those narrow country roads at night.

Finally arrive back home, it was nearly half past one in the morning, and now it is two

Two days lost

Saturday was spent looking at African sculpture, spent looking at them too. It was not easy, the pictures are not nice. There are metal boats and stones to be seen and that night see that  the results are poor.

All of Sunday is spent chasing facts from two years ago to fill out forms with. That is difficult too.

two days lost to sadness and confusion.

Today was a good day and sunday was lost. It i s all to be forgotten..

Today was a day spent with a very lively lady of seventy eight who was busy arranging her things.

Spent the day explaining that there are things that can be done, but other things are things that nobody else can do. Spending time to sort her things is possible, but the decisions have to be made by her. Nobody else  can do it for her.

Left the glasses on her sitting room table, it will be necessary to return there to collect them. This is too bad.

Now it is midnight, it was a nice warm day, and it is over.

It is past midnight, it is the third of October