Another cool morning today, followed by the unbearable heat. Today the temperature reached 30 degrees Celsius (92 degrees Fahrenheit). In other words, very very hot.
I was up and out by 8. I joined Paul, Lydia, and Jim for breakfast. Lewis joined us a little later, followed by Kim, and finally Vicki. Minjie and Therese were still asleep, still exhausted from their trip the day before.
After breakfast, Jim and Lewis put on their suit of armor (long-sleeves, gloves, and hat) to tackle the woods—mainly the underbrush and the thorns. Their job for the day (and perhaps the remainder of the week) is to make a clearing in the woods. The shade from the trees and lots of cold water saved them from getting overheated. However, they weren’t so lucky when they came up against the thorns. They returned from their work with a few pricks. C’est dommage!
Lidia decided that she would trim the hedges. She soon realized this task was a very tall order. Being 5’ 2” (give or take half an inch) and sans ladder, she could not reach some of the highest parts of the bushes. Thus, she switched her task to trimming the patch of grass that she cut the day before. I’m not so sure, however, if this was an easier task, as she trimmed the grass with a pair of scissors—a painstaking job indeed. However, we now have nicely manicured grass leading to gite #2.
After our 10:30 break, Vicki and I biked down to the village to the butcher’s to purchase some chicken for tomorrow’s dinner that I will be making (Yikes!). After packaging up the chicken, the butcher offered some advice on how to cook the chicken (add a little oil, salt, pepper, and bake at 200 degrees Celsius). Très gentil!
We ate lunch again outside. However, the sun was bearing down on us a little more today due to the fact that we did not have as much shade today because we ate a little later than the day before. However, the heat couldn’t keep us from enjoying the leftover pork roast that Kim made the other day. This time we had it cold. You could put a gun to my head and I wouldn’t be able to tell you which way is better.
Shortly after lunch, Paul left to attend the funeral of his very dear friend. Vicki went to prepare the dinner—beef stroganoff. Everyone else went back to their respective tasks.
Paul, along with the cool breeze and shade had returned in time for dinner. Conversation was good and steady as we ate Vicki’s wonderful meal.
After dinner, Paul took Minjie and Therese down to St. Bernard’s to introduce them to some of the locals. Lewis also joined them. They returned about 10:00 that night and found their way into their respective gites to get ready for work the next day.
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