Contented donkeys

I pass these two donkeys regularly on the way down to the supermarket past the river. They have some very good grass to munch on. I got the market shopping in town done quickly as someone was coming to give us an estimate on repairing the veranda roof or replacing it. Unfortunately, the veranda faces south. In winter it is too cold to sit in and in the summer it is too hot and the veranda acts as a boiler sending heat into the living room which also becomes too hot. The roof has to be replaced because it is leaking but we might consider replacing the whole thing with double glazed units and an insulated roof so that the veranda could be used all year round. In the afternoon I had my tennis lesson and then went straight on to French conversation. Our resident Francophone, Daniel, who is also a member of our bell team, is excellent. He is very knowledgeable and today we discussed mountains and their air currents and how these currents affect gliders. The discussion was prompted by two or three hang gliders that were circling above the village. Daniel used to be an air traffic controller and then inspector and recounts the time he single-handedly shut down Marseille airport due to safety contraventions. The Minister of the Interior was on the phone complaining within half an hour but Danial had to stick to his guns.