Thanks, I’ll have a look, but I have more things to occupy me this morning. Harper, the blind Beauceronne failed to come back from her late visit to the garden last night and I can’t find her anywhere. Searched fields and forest on foot and all the roads of the village in the car, leaving a heads up with anyone I come across, but it so unlike her and I fear for the worst.
I have my fingers crossed…good luck
Thank you
Hope you can find her safe and well
Oh no I hope she is all right and that you find her soon, safe and sound.
Yes, the real ‘owners’ of Harper ( I am fostering her) are a small association which goes by the name of Jane Marple (the originator is a Christie fan) which specialises in blind dogs and cats, and a search on Facebook for that name shows just how much interested is being generated. In contrast with my own page which is really just for family and close friends.
I have met some very nice people this morning while searching, so eyes are everywhere looking out for her.
Fingers crossed David.
Thank you, I am giving her her own Chien Perdu thread just in case anyone wants to talk about Rural Land Prices again. 
Likewise.
Back to land prices etc. No news from our ‘friend’ who cannot even be bothered to reply and say ‘I can’t make up my mind’, and I have more or less written off that piece of overgrown land.
So I turned my attention to the next parcelle, slightly larger but less overgrown because timber has not been stripped out from it. The owner lives in Paris and it is so long since he even visited this area that a very old resident, though knowing the family, cannot even remember him at all.
I wrote to him asking if he would consider selling and mentioning that I knew well the family name in the commune, good friends in fact, and he replied fairly quickly saying that the older member was his cousin.
Again though he didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no (begins to sound a bit like an old music hall song) but that he would like to return at some point and discuss it with me.
In the absence of any further contact I have been walking Jules in that forest and have got myself involved in improving it without committing myself to any expense or doing anything contrary to good management. The result is that we walk between the trees every day but I long to be able to fully clear the brambled parts and fence it to give him complete freedom (it does adjoin my garden at the corners so possible to walk directly between the 2).
However, this is the experience that I had yesterday demonstrating that every day is a new one:
Hoping to walk Jules, and other future fosters, in the adjoining wood, I have been clearing dead wood and mulching it underfoot for some weeks now and have become rather enthusiastic about the task. Really missing my brother, John, too, he spent some time managing trees in Scotland and I could do with some advice.
This morning as Jules and I were wending our way through the trees I saw 2 trees depressed and hopelessly entangled and decided to come back, free them and point them skywards.
That wood is enchanted, creepy. Even though I noticed the 2 trees in need of tender care, and wondered why I hadn’t spotted them before, I couldn’t find them when I went back. 
But I did find lots of other things to do so still made good use of the time.
But then I heard an increasing roaring sound and at first thought a distant piece of heavy machinery, it got greater and greater and was getting a bit scary and at last it was revealed to be a fast approaching blast of cold wind from the north. The tops of the trees eventually bent at its bidding but, in less than one minute, all was calm again.
I love that wood, but I don’t think you’ll find me there after dark. 
Beware of the Thing!
It really did feel like that Brian. I will venture back today along with my fierce companion and search again for the mysterious vanishing trees.
Only in full sunlight of course. 
You might enjoy “The Hidden Life of Trees - what they feel, how they communicate” written by Peter Wohlleben. I found it a fascinating book.
Peter worked for the German Forestry Commission for 20 years and now runs an environmentally friendly woodland and is working to bring back primal forests.
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“Nous sommes Groot!”
Noted and definitely on the list Sue, thank you. 
@Griffin36 & @NotALot Guy. Those are the ones. 
They are mocking me, still hiding this morning, and the north wind is now moaning, not roaring. 
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Your lucky! Here (47) it’s still ripping a gale across our field. Admitted defeat and come in to warm up.
As we emerged into the sunny field at the top it could be felt, but at least in the trees they kept us shielded and cosy. 
Sadly, Wohlleben’s book is not available in Kindle form and arthritis prevents easy reading of real books. There is a relatively cheap summary of it on Kindle though, have added that to my list for future consideration.
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Sorry to hear that David.
Even the modern Kindles are not so easy. Touch screen technology is the pits. I have to balance it carefully with finger tips on the narrow margins whereas my 1st Kindle had a keypad at the bottom and, not being touch screen, could be held firmly as you would a page. Still better than trying to hold a book, especially a paperback, open though.