Our host left during the night to catch her flight to her holiday destination for the next two weeks. She was pretty excited and very relaxed about leaving us with her precious pets, particularly because Mick had won over the trickiest one, who apparently doesn’t like men.

She loves Mick!! She wouldn’t leave his side last night and her owner could not believe it. She even called Mick a ‘dog whisperer’.

Meanwhile, we were blissfully dreaming until our ‘wake up call’ from three eager dogs ready to be let outside around 6.00am. Our sleep-ins are obviously over!

The girls sleep in the huge kitchen, and when I went downstairs to let them outside, I was almost bowled over by over-enthusiastic tail-wagging, each one trying to out-do the other. They are so friendly.

The routine here is very different to the one we had in Provence. Actually, they are always different.

The dogs do not need to be walked first thing, and there is no set feeding time. We just have to make sure the bowl is filled with biscuits and they eat when they want, how much they want.

So, Mick and I enjoyed our breakfast before heading off on our first solo walk. We have to walk 500m through the village before we get to the open walking space. That first 500m is the difficult part, and within the first 50m we almost had a major disaster.

The dogs were each pulling hard on their leads excited about their walk. Mick had two and I had one when one of Mick’s dogs broke free of her lead (we’d connected her lead to her name tag and not the correct ring on her collar). She ran straight across the road, heading on what was obviously another walking trail she knows, just as a car came along. Thankfully it wasn’t going too fast and the driver slowed down, missing the dog quite safely. But it gave us a very nasty scare.

Off again, a further 50m only, when we had a second disaster. One of the girls decided to poop, and I’d forgotten the poo disposal bags. We rushed on, hoping we hadn’t been spotted, to get to the field where there is more freedom, greater safety, and no need for poo disposal bags.

The walk is much easier than the one we were doing in Provence – mostly flat, soft ground.

We were able to give the girls some time each off the leads.

But never all at the same time, just in case another dog appeared.

The walk follows some farmers’ fields and detours through the woods. We have spotted blackberries here as well and will gather some on future walks.

The walk back home was much more controlled. Mick and I actually looked as though we might have been in charge. Once the girls were back in the yard, I returned with a poo disposal bag to collect and dispose of the evidence of Mishap #2.

We are also caring for a cat. We met her (very briefly) when we arrived yesterday but did not see her again until late this afternoon.

Turns out, Mick is also a cat whisperer, because we decided we’d go for an explore without the dogs ……

and the cat tried to follow Mick.

The dogs hate the cat!!

There are also three chickens, but that is easier here too as they do not have free run of the whole yard, as in Provence, where we were always on the look out for ‘surprises’ we might step in.

The chook pen is located inside a fenced off orchard and is automatically operated – the doors open and close depending on the sunshine. We only need to collect the eggs and sprinkle some food pellets around each morning.

There are quite a few interesting and cute sites to enjoy.

We walked past these cottages on the way to the village cafe and butcher shop.

The butcher shop was located behind this very well maintained, massive, freshly-painted barn.

Not only did the butcher sell meat, it was also a delicatessen, with all the things you’d expect to find in a deli, and more, like bread and cakes. Mick bought some pork sausages for his dinner.

I’ll write more about the village after we do some further investigating.

Meanwhile I can get some much-needed piano practice in.