Our hamlet, our dog

Our neighborhood, which is actually a hameau or hamlet, consists of nine houses. Five of them are surely more than 100 years old, and a couple might be 200 or even 300 years old. The other four houses are less than 50 years old.

Where we live is a hamlet and not a village because it doesn't have a church. But definition, a village, no matter how small it is, has a church. Our village is about 3 km/2 mi. down the road.

The hamlet, called La Renaudière because, I assume, the Renaud family lived here originally, has a communal well. It is on our neighbors' property, just across the road from our house, but it is for the use of anybody who lives here in the hamlet.

The communal well at La Renaudière

It's not used these days, but my understanding is that as late as about 1970 there was no running water here. When our house was built in the late 1960s, the well was the only source of water. Nowadays, the neighbors have the old well covered and nicely decorated, but if we wanted to draw water from it, we could.

************

Taking pictures of a puppy isn't easy. Collette, our 14-year-old dog who died in March 2006, had learned how to pose for pictures. Callie, at three months, hasn't figured it out yet.

Callie and me, 18 May 2007

Instead of staying at a respectable distance from the camera, she wants to come up and put her nose on the lens. That spoils the picture you're trying to take as well as all subsequent ones, until you find a cloth and clean the lens off.

So you clean the lens off and try again. She sits for a second, but just as you push the button, she gets up and moves toward you. Since digital cameras are notoriously slow to react when you press the shutter release, you get another spoiled picture.

"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille."

Finally, you get the pup to still still for a minute. It has taken 10 minutes to try to get one decent snapshot. And the one you finally get isn't even that great.

I hope Callie grows into that big head of hers.

Yesterday was nice sunny day and it was a pleasure to spend time outside. We are supposed to have a rainy weekend, however. Cabin fever!