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This lily looks as though it is enjoying the sun in the garden. I managed to pick a few flowers but it’s so dry that nothing is lasting long. I bought a nice Bergamot plant yesterday. I've never seen one before; I thought at first it was a dahlia that was past it’s best but I like the look of the slightly ‘gone over’ flowers.

I'll find a place for it in the big bed. That was really the only thing worth buying in one of our so-called farmers markets; so-called as round here there don’t seem to be enough small producers to support a proper market. So we end up with a few stalls selling bread or sausages and a random collection of ‘craft’ sellers, but I don’t go to the farmers market to buy a lampshade!

It feels like not much is happening; maybe because it’s so hot and no one’s doing much and everyone’s on holiday. I had my older nieces Clare and Alice visiting this week so we made a couple of forays into some local antique places. I never knew I needed a Georgian egg holder but persuaded by the shabby chic contents of the barn I now have one.

I'm getting ready for our holiday which I’m now starting to look forward to, although I hope the temperature goes down before we get there. Bordeaux is around 36c. We are near a lake and the coast so it should be cooler. It feels strange going on holiday when I’m not working but I’m sure I’ll manage to do even less than usual including reading half a dozen books.

I don’t even have enough energy to get angry about much although whenever I read a Facebook post from WASPI I am infuriated at the way we’ve been denied our pensions even though we’ve paid in.

Brexit continues to make me angry although I feel more despair at the direction the country seems to be going in. ‘Seems’, because who knows what’s true any more? Is there really a huge force pushing us ever further towards the far-right or is it the media creating the reality? There is clearly a dark influence in Steve Bannon but why is he given publicity? Why is the convicted criminal who goes by the name of Tommy Robinson given so much press coverage? Is Boris aJohnson going to be PM?! Where is the opposition, or is the media just skewing the news? Whatever, there is no effective opposition in plain sight and there is no-one seemingly leading any anti- Brexit campaign apart form the Lib Dems and the media pay them little attention. Depressing times.

More troubling, I have nothing to wear! Whose wardrobe is prepared for such a long spell of heat? And why are decent (cotton) summer dresses so hard to find? Unless you want to wear a linen sack?

Nearly time for hols though where I’ll be able to wear the shorts that I won’t here due to not wanting to expose my legs in this country. There’s something about being on holiday that makes it ok to wear things that would otherwise be a no no. Fashion pages are always warning against our tendency to keep a pile of musty rags that we drag out for 2 weeks a year; I have bought some new ‘paper bag’ shorts so at least will be in fashion although I know nobody in remote campsites in southern France either knows nor cares. I may take the opportunity to stock up on olive oil and tinned tuna in preparation for the predicted food shortages that Brexit will bring.

This week we have all the carpets being taken up in preparation for floor sanding. If i'm not smothered by the dust and mess I'll post again before my holiday!

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