It's all go

August,as you probably know is holiday time for the French and nearly everyone fits their annual vacation in somewhere during this month and as a result of this there are fetes and festivals all over the place.One of the biggest in Brittany is the inter-celtic music festival at Lorient. A ten day extravaganza where the town is filled with market stalls and every bar (and there are loads) hosts live music from traditional accordian players to solo folk singers to full heavy metal bands. There is something for everyone and we spent a happy time bar hopping on Friday. It's all free if you stand and watch from the street, as most sets are on the pavements outside.
You eventually get drawn to a band you want to stay with and for us it was a band called 'What' We took our seats at a table and of course it's only right to order drinks from the bar hosting the band. Two cokes and a small beer cost almost a tenner! but then the table is yours for as long as you want.The band were brilliant and my logic reckonned I would gladly pay a tenner per ticket to have stage side seat to watch this band. Suddenly the drinks didn't seem so expensive.
So we had some more! and in fact stayed there until the small hours.

There was a huge food village catering for allsorts and the market stalls were varied and interesting.
Although there was one knitwear stall that made me wonder that when choosing a company name they had'nt really thought it through!

 

  

Alpaca News. We decided, a little late perhaps, to shear the two suri girls after all. It's a constant battle here trying to keep suri fleece free of debris,and one we always loose! Too many trees, most of which they manage to create a rolling dirt bath underneath and are soon knotted up with twigs and all sorts of rubbish.

We enlisted the help of a new Breton shearer who had learnt his trade with Colin Ottery the best shearer I know. 

Although he's not of Colins calibre, Pascal, whilst evidently a little nervous and new to the game did a reasonable job considering it was his first Suris!

Unfortunately French lass got a small cut under the armpit and we are checking and treating it daily. There are a lot of flies around at the moment and they mass around any open wound. Fly strike is not something I want to deal with later so it's definately prevention rather than cure.

And we've had a baby!

Charisma unpacked our final Columbus cria for this year. Another boy!  7 kilos and just slightly undercooked.. Could have done with another week in the oven. He was a bit slow to get going but a dose of glucose and electrolytes later and he was up and about. He's a grand little chap with a promising tight curly mop.

We were pondering on a name beggining with  I when a new lot of guests arrived for their holiday stay . As we made our introductions the two boys anounced their names. Silus and Isaac . So it had to be didn't it . Isaac it is then!

Rain forecast for tomorrow; Oh please let it rain.

Sod the holiday makers,we need some grass!!

 

Late night contemplations of the troublesome kind.

I have just been made aware of the recent and ongoing riots spreading through the major UK cities.
Yes, I know it started days ago but haven't watched any telly for a while.
Truely horrific images of buildings burning, town centres destroyed and shops looted. Why?!
How do you get to such a state of lawlessness.(if that's a word)?
I saw it coming. For twenty years England has been a role model of mis management.
The signs were there alright, they started when we prevented schools from disciplining pupils and therefore erroded respect that children have for any authority when they were just infants,and then we prevented parents from disciplining their children and reinforced the belief that they can coast through life with few consequences to their actions.We destroyed family values, choosing instead a diet of reality TV and violent video games. The latest cell phone is king. Social support networks  are in place that enable people to live comfortable lives without ever having to work, entirely supported on the state with no obligation to take any responsibility for their actions or their life. It gets worse every year as this underclass of undereducated, under disciplined irresponsible individuals continues to have more children born into a ghetto culture where underachievement is celebrated, criminality is glorified and parental responsiblities are ignored and abdicated to the state. Police forces are pared to the bone,their working disciplines making law enforcement nigh on impossible and at the end of it all judges are handing out derisory sentences. Where's the deterrent? ASBO's  CCTV? Political correctness is out of control. Gang culture is rife. Britian has become afraid of it's own children.
Unfortunately there's no easy fix.The disease is in it's latter stages.The damage is done.

 Anyway, I don't live there anymore so here's some pictures of Hennebont where we had a particularly enjoyable Sunday with the happy peasants of medieval Brittany.