Warning, danger ahead

Blow after blow; 964, 72 euros electricity bill with 30 days to pay before services are suspended, advised to see the social services about aid, problem being that this step has already been taken and aid rejected.

Today's Diary.

Got up just before 6.30am feeling slightly despondent, drove up to Montroulez with the petrol gauge alight, meaning that any money for photos sold would be soon soaked up. I set up my stall then found a parking space a good way up a hill to get a bit of exercise on my way back which is the best medicine for my diabetes. A few friends passed by, always had good custom from Montroulez having a particular rapport with Ty Coz, some of whom bought some photos, earning me 40 euros, meaning I could buy petrol with some over for milk, cheese & yogurt. Joe, a musician bought a photo and invited me to a music festival at a farm in Brasparts tonight with food and drinks offered but I felt I had to decline, My friend Pascal came passed a second time, having previously bought photos, to invite me to share a barbecued sausage & chips for lunch with him and his wife & daughter. After the meal I drove to the petrol station & shop with fingers crossed, ok, got onto the homeward road intending to drive straight back but when I approached  a roundabout with a sign pointing to Saint Thegonnec I couldn't resist turning off to take photos of their famous church architecture and calvaire. On my detoured return I passed by a village I'd never seen before, took more photos, drove on in glorious weather which was giving me ideas; I'd already got out a book in the basilica or great church of Folgoad/Folgoet searching for some kind of personal spirituality but I found it claustrophobic, this experience came back to mind in Saint Thegonnec so I thought of doing the same thing, only this time not inside the church but in the unclaustrophobic environment of the roof of Breizh/Brittany, the top of the Menez Arrée, so after I finished capturing the panorama I settled down in the calm sunny, slightly breezy atmosphere to participate in the not quite so calm atmosphere of the non-wedding between Jane Eyre & Edward Rochester, I found nature superior for my needs to all the stained glass windows and multifarious church ornamentations. As the sun was beginning to set I closed the book and moved on, this time I remembered another sign and looked out for it, I turned and discovered a menhir then continued to a surprisingly lovely and aesthetically interesting hamlet, every street and lane was beautifully signposted in Breton, it depends on the administering village and the personality of its mayor, in this case La Feuillée (in Plouie/Plouye we've lost out), the hamlet being Kerelcun, beautiful. I took a walk around, there was a huge garden or small park with a large pond and wheeled mill, a large granite rock and renovated housing, there were wells, a lavoir, calvaires, and another garden with a stream leading to three ponds, one of which had a gaggle of geese, whilst another had male & female mallards accompanying my first ever aquatic mammal, which from a distance I took to be a young beaver, swimming around, laying on its back and resting near the bank, unfortunately the battery had run out on my camera, I even spotted an unexpected HB registration which was formerly the Merthyr lettering. I went back to my car and following an old road, got lost, for 10 minutes anyway, before doing a full circle and eventually arriving home far less despondently than setting out.

Rostrenen market

I may have picked the wrong day, but when I see all my 100's of unused tee-shirts in my (chest of) drawers, I think it may be worth disposing of them, so I'll be taking them with me to Rostrenen this morning to sell alongside my photos.

Today's diary

I wish someone would explain this poking business to me. Elise and the family cleaned out the pub today so that the builders can get straight at it as soon as we have the permit. I had my spot at the market in Montroulez/Morlaix where last week I was commissioned to take photos of a church & neighbouring house by a lady who's house it is that never appears on the post-cards, so it was my job to include it with the church for the photos to be sent to her family in the States. This evening was a new experience for me, I passed a pleasant hour or two amongst friends at an 'aperitif-concert à domicile' in the lounge of the home of the poet Christian Carpentier and his girlfriend/partner Veronique Paugam where we were invited to listen to Christian LeMaitre & Erwan Moal playing Breton & Irish airs together on fiddle/violin & guitar respectively; on my leaving the host gave me a book of poetry he'd written with one of his oeuvres entitled 'Ty Elise'.

Glorious & Hellish

Paul Morel has just lost his mother, said goodbye to Clara and rejected Miriam; how do I follow that? 'Sons & Lovers' - D.H. Lawrence. For some reason or reasons I identified easily with it. Now I would probably have not read that if the pub hadn't burnt down; I have one side of me that's reaching to a higher & higher plane, and another that's plumbing the depths. I have to go to the market in Rostrenen tomorrow but still haven't got the money for my car insurance.

Merthyr Town AFC

I'm a fan of Merthyr Town AFC and have been since I could cross the main road by myself, but don't like the way they prefer to play in minor English leagues keeping alive their pipe dream of climbing to the top of the pyramid, when their never went beyond the old 3rd division south, rather than playing every match against other Welsh sides with the chance of going into Europe. They once did well against Italian opposition but qualified through a Welsh competition in which they can no longer compete. In fact they now have nothing to look forward to at the end of the season but dream on as they slip further & further into anonymity. This season has just seen them halting the slide, being promoted from an English nowhere to another English nowhere, so at least avoiding the ignominy of a once proud Welsh club descending to the depths of park football.

Cymru/Wales & the U.K.

What exactly is our Country's status? If the law in Wales Act of 1535 - 1542 has been abrogated so that we are no longer 'England & Wales' but 'England' & 'Wales', aren't we in an anomalous situation regarding the United Kingdom. England & Scotland became parters after signing an Act of Union, Cymru/Wales did not join as a Country in its own right but as a region subsumed to England, as Cymru/Wales was never a partner to Scotland and no longer a part of England, then logically aren't we now acting outside the U.K. and the Queen of England & Scotland is no longer the Welsh Sovereign and therefore the Country no longer has any need to send MPs to Parliament unless or untill a relevant covering Act is signed.

Not a peal of bells

I believe in the expression 'God helps them who help themselves', I don't believe in standing idly by watching everything going to pot, but doing nothing is not negative, it is neutral and cheap, whilst paradoxically, doing something can cost, therefore, as in my case, mainly ink & petrol, expensively negative. More than a year out of work, the money my mother left me has gone up in smoke as has the contemptible contents insurance; I am left with nothing except hundreds of photos that no-one wants. The good news is that on April 9 the pub will be cleaned out ready for work to start on the rebuilding, the bad news is that, if as likely, the bar won't be ready before the end of the year my problems will be almost insurmountable without financial support. I have just bought two new tyres with post-dated cheques, my car insurance runs out tonight, I have electricity & water bills, plus a personal loan to pay back. I need money now! There must be someone out there, benefactor, sponsor, saviour, who can help to keep me afloat; I should have earned enough money at Easter, Whitsun and the Summer, but it looks at present as though that has been put off for another year. Now I've got that off my chest I'm going to try and switch off for an hour or so to see how Sir Percy Blakeney aka The Scarlet Pimpernel escapes from prison, which I suppose he will. Thank goodness for my books & my friends.

Risky tire

I'm up early to go to the market in Callac but on second thoughts the threads are showing on my tyre risking a blowout, which is dangerous in itself, and also I don't have a spare since I lost its sister two days ago; I took a huge risk going to Rostrenen yesterday, I'm not going to push my luck today the way things have been going, it's not as though I'm likely to sell many photos, but I was hoping to build up a routine; never mind, tomorrow Uhelgoad market is on the way to the garage where I'm promised two more, how I'll pay I don't know, and if it's fine I'll mow the grass.

Agenda

I'll be in Rostrenen 'till 1pm if my other front tyre holds out, another expense I can ill afford; I need to sell some photos if only to break even on the ink.