Lily Update

Lily Blue arrived at her new home almost 4 weeks ago. She's doing famously! There are so many French holidays in May, she's had a lot of time to bond with us. She's completely integrated into our happy little family and she's gaining admirers in most everyone she meets. Here she discovers Henny's magic hands. I'm sure massages will be demanded on a regular basis.

Pou and Lily are now getting on quite well. They're fine in the house together, though outside Lily's enthusiasm can be a bit overwhelming. When this new coffee table arrived, Pou hoped he was in for a little peace and quiet.

But the hound will track you everywhere!  She doesn't like being excluded from site meetings. This door to the new bedroom is just under a meter off the ground. Lily takes it at a running leap, no problem whatsoever. Then she patrols the addition as if she owns the joint, not really fazed by the builders.

Here's Lily with her favourite toy Ezel (Dutch for donkey). Sometimes she still looks like a puppy.

And other times she's a poster girl for Field and Stream magazine. 

Very best of all, she's our girl now. You've come a long way baby. Here's to you Lily Blue.

Major breakthrough!

Today was a momentous day. Known for 6 years as the hallway to nowhere, today it became the hallway to somewhere. They broke through the tower into the new extension, thereby connecting two areas of the house that have never before met. Quite the undertaking; the walls of the tower are over 70 cm thick. The house shook. The noise was deafening. There's dust everywhere in the addition, but a neat plastic barrier saved the part of the house we live in.

No hard hats, masks or ear plugs, and no sign of an acro prop. Enormous boulders seem to hang in mid air. It's rather terrifying. We'll be relieved when the lintel comes tomorrow. We can't fully appreciate our connection to the new space yet as we're still hermetically sealed from the dusty action, no longer by old pierre de Pézenas, instead just by a plastic sheet. Complete integration is still some weeks away.

On the terrace today

I've always wanted a municipal bench for the garden of the iron and wood variety.  In Pézenas there's a showroom that displays outdoor furniture for mairies, various seating, climbing frames for kids, etc. We once called in to price a new bench of this type. The price was a cool 'are you kidding me' even before tax and delivery. I hoped one day we'd find one second hand, and I'd search from time to time. Forward 4 years. This week we found it! Bought from an ex-gendarme who used to protect a government minister. The gentleman put us through our paces before agreeing to the sale. Seems he didn't like my surname, and when he spoke to Henny and detected a foreign accent, we had to go overboard to convince him we were honourable folk! He did apologise when we came to collect, and the deal went without a hitch. Beauty and the bench.

Also on the terrace today sweet little Lily who's finding herself more at home each day.

And a cat who's decided, for now, it may be safest behind the poubelles from which his name was derived. The relationship between Pou and Lily Blue is easing slowly. Pou actually allowed his head to be licked by hound tongue. He looked disgusted, but he didn't run away!

We are a Dog Mother!

Introducing Lily Blue, my dream come true.

She's an 18 month old Griffon Bleu de Gascogne from the animal refuge in Carcassonne. I fell in love with her hang dog expression when her pictures were first posted in March. She would never be Henny's breed of choice, but I've been agitating for her ever since. The inspirational woman who runs the refuge recently wrote further information about Lily on a blog. I renewed my campaign. We had her tested in the cat house, where she was completely non-agressive. Henny said, Damn. I knew she'd be okay with cats, now I suppose we have to meet her. The decision to have a dog is a huge, life-changing undertaking. And we're very worried about the ruling monarch here, Prince Pou. He's almost 11 now and has never had to share. He just about accepts me after 6 years. 

Nonetheless, we went to the refuge to meet Lily (or Greta, as she was then known). When she was brought up from her kennel, this shy little soul came padding up to us, head bowed, tail wagging, both Henny and I had tears in our eyes. Love at first sight. Again she was taken to the cat house to demonstrate her complete disinterest, then we went for a walk. She's timid and afraid of sudden movements and loud noises. However during the course of our walk, we could see her relax just a little bit, so we thought maybe she'd be all right, with a lot of love, care and patience. Caution was thrown to the wind; we adopted her.

We brought her home on 30th April, the day the Netherlands got their new king and queen. Lily Blue proudly sported her new Dutch orange collar. We're all getting used to each other, little by little. I write on day 5. We've seen lots of progress, sometimes followed by a step back, but Lily is eager to please and seems happy in her new home. Pou's not at all sure. He's staying in his apartment much more than we'd like. Keep your fingers crossed for him. Lily's going to be just fine.

 The former Greta at the refuge

Lily Blue at home in her garden!