Roses, as in flowers, are lovely but I've alway tried to avoid planting them in the garden as I'm wary of the thorns, the pruning  and generally looking after them.

This is partly because when Mum died my sister and I each planted a rose in identical pots and while hers thrived, mine died off within a couple of years.

So, when the 'free gift ' which came with my last garden order turned out to be two rose bushes I was not overjoyed. They stayed (unwrapped) in the carton while I put in the rest of the plants. Eventually Bear said,

"Do you want to keep those twigs in the box or should I throw them out?"

With a twinge of guilt I took them outside, dug a couple of holes and gave them a home.

Today, M. Jacquet came to help out.

"What's that you've planted there?" he inquired.

"It's a rose bush".

"Well, did you really mean to leave the roots sticking out of the ground?" he asked with a grin.

I admit I'm a crap gardener.

There are some nasty people around and it seems we have a vicious person living near us.

Yesterday this notice was distributed by the mairie:

Avis a* la Population        Notice to the population

Un chat a été empoisonné, rue du moulin. A cat has been poisoned in Rue du Moulin

L'intoxication a été provoquée par une substance convulsivante (du style curater). It was poisoned by a substance which causes convulsions. (I couldn't find 'curater' in my dictionary. Anyone know what it means please?)

Selon le vétérinaire ce type de produit aurait des effets identiques sur un enfant. According to the vet this kind of substance would affect a child in the same way..

Il est donc demandé aux parents d'inciter leurs enfants a* ne pas s'approcher d'un chat mort ou blessé ou de ramasser des substances genre granulés de couleur. Therefore parents are requested to tell their children not to go near a dead or injured cat or to pick up any substance like coloured granules.

(* I know there should be a grave accent but can't figure out how to do it. Character map doesn't seem to work. Sorry)

Now while I appreciate that our village has quite a large population of feral cats this kind of behaviour disgusts me. Apart from causing a cat to suffer a painful death this person has also endangered the lives of any children who might, inadvertently, touch the poison.

In addition, my cats are now pacing the house in frustration because I won't let them out. (Rue du Moulin is only a few metres away). Several of them jumped on my head, poked me in the eye and generally said 'wake up' in their own inimitable way this morning and leaped to the window as soon as I stirred.

But no. Mummy wouldn't open up. I tried explaining it was for their own safety but they didn't understand. Holly showed her displeasure by peeing on the table and Toby vented his anger by chasing all the others. The house was full of hissing, spitting and snarling  for some time this morning and the fur was flying.

Fortunately they have all calmed down now and are snoozing in their favourite armchairs.

The question is; how long can I keep them indoors?

If only it were possible to make a catproof fence to keep them in our garden.

The house is a mess. The contents of the bedroom are sitting in sorry heaps everywhere you look while bits of wardrobe (it fell apart when we moved it) make fetching anything from the garage a bit of a fight.

If you want to open the freezer it means removing a couple of  doors which are leaning on it; if you need more logs there are other bits of wardrobe stacked in front of them; if you have to get at the bottled water it means climbing through the wardrobe frame (which is pretty unsteady) and if you need to get into the car it's rather a squeeze.

And it's going to be like that for ages. We got up before 7 this morning (Saturday) and moved the beds out ready for Pascal. But he didn't turn up. Rang his house - no reply. Rang his mobile;

"No, I'm coming this afternoon. I told CC I had to work for my boss in the morning."

All CC had understood was the Saturday part. SCREAMMMM!

Today is, thankfully, rather peaceful. It's a jour de ferié (Bank Holiday) so I felt justified in having a grasse matinée and didn't stir till 8.30. The cats are getting used to the hour change and also seem to have got the message that going out into the cold morning air is less appealing than staying in till after I've given them their breakfast, so I didn't have anyone eating my hair or prodding me on the nose to wake me up.

Bear has been virtually immobile because of his backache so I made an appointment with an osteopath in town. I telephoned on Monday to ask if he'd see if he could do anything.

"Can he wait till tomorrow at 18.15?" was the response. Can you imagine getting in that quickly in England?

Unfortunately there were complications. The car has been losing power for some time and Jay and CC needed to visit friends in London this week. We left it at our local garage on Friday but when we went to collect it they said the boss was moving house and so hadn't looked at it.

We made arrangements to take it in on Monday, but, once again, they made excuses - 'the boss has family problems. He won't be able to look at it till next week, sorry.'

So Tuesday, I asked our friends if they knew of a garage that would look at the car immediately and, at least give an opinion as to whether or not it would make the journey.

Michel, (aged 80 and just a week after his cataract operation) came with us to the Peugeot garage which has a 'rapide' department and they sorted it out - it was the 'bobine d'allumage' (coil) - just in time for us to make it to the osteopath appointment by the skin of our teeth.

Dr. J tried a gentle manipulation but said he dare not do any real osteopathy. Instead he prescribed some anti-inflammatory  injections. He assured us that the week's dose would not cause too much havoc with Bear's diabetes and slight renal 'insuffisance' but I know our usual GP would have thrown up her hands in horror. I also know that she wouldn't have done a damn thing for his pain either.

Anyway, after the first jab last night he slept well  (apart from my snoring) and seems a little more comfortable today.

He's fast alseep in his armchair, Whale is dozing in bed and the children are in London so I'm going to ignore the chaos around me and catch up on reading my favourite blogs.