A trip to GUEMENE-SUR-SCORFF and other interesting things

Oh what Joy! Our long awaited parcel from Elmer Bucket has at last arrived and Chief Patissier now has all the sprokets, flanges and wiggets be might ever need plus many more besides! It would appear that the delay was caused by the French railway parcel service being unable to fully decipher the rather abysmal handwriting of Captain Bucket and, judging by the station masters stamps on the rather large parcel it was sent initially in error to Pont Aven via Paris from whence it was forwarded to Avingon, then all along the coast of France via Bordeaux as far as Nantes, at which point the station master redirected it inland to Guingamp.

Elmer Bucket had enclosed a very large gift of donuts with the spare parts but owing to the parcel having travelled the entire length and breadth of the country and endured sometime on a hot platform in Carcasonne, it had begun to fester rather alarmingly and the station master at GUEMENE-SUR-SCORFF sensibly had the box destroyed as it was attracting rats.

Sadly no sign yet of my Titanium white from Paris which is quite vexing as I am eager to commence several new paintings including a portrait of Loic with his new leg, with which he is understandably very happy. I will of course need the white for the bandages on his knees but perhaps if I wait long enough I may get away with using ochre and ox blood red as they are beginning to stain rather a lot now that he has recommenced gardening duties.

Now that Chief Patissier is fully engrossed with the installation of the dough mixer I can not possible ask him to divert his intention to building a wheel barrow attachment for Loics leg so have arranged for Jacques to drive me down to GUEMENE-SUR-SCORFF to purchase a conventional one. I am sure we may quiet easily be able to purchase one closer to home but the village carpenter is still busy making coffins in the wake of the eau de vie disaster and it will provide an opportunity for me to deliver in person a thank gift of some of our own biscuiteries gallettes to the station master there for his quick thinking.
It will also allow Jacques to make a discreet purchase of red hair dye as he is now rather dark at the roots and beginning to look more like the old Henri everyday. He could of course purchase it from our own pharmacist but I know he prefers to shop where he is unlikely to be recognised. That poor man is so excruciatingly shy! It is painful to see him. He wears his livery hat pulled right down over his eyes and his collar high up to his ears whenever anyone approaches which I am sure makes it rather dangerous to drive! I fear for him in the hot weather, as I am sure he may well faint form the heat, so much so that I may have to consider taking Madame Grognonne with us on longer journeys to be on hand to resuscitate him in an emergency! A terrible waste of her time and upsetting for everyone since it is bound to have repercussions on the serving of repas and Chief Patissier can we all know be rather irked when his routine is disturbed!

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The photograph is of Jean Le Gare, the stationmaster from GUEMENE-SUR-SCORFF. His is holding his official tampon or stamp, which he uses to mark all parcels and tickets that travel through his station. Despite his rather unwashed appearance he is perfectly harmless as long as one remembers to stand down wind and keep an eye on his hands at all times. He has a strange fetish for mother of pearl buttons which he snips of the clothes of unsuspecting travellers to sew onto his waistcoat. Many an unwary voyager having passed through his station has spent the rest of his journey holding very tightly to his trousers Jean Le Gare having had his wicked way with his buttons snippers!