The smile said it all

[Henry100]

We live near a small village "You could say the dead center of our area ," Now the locals started a few selling points in the village selling anything from clothing to bits of this and that, Most of the goods come from people passing away and their once treasured home furniture etc rather than bin it is collected sorted and sold by a group of people who give their time for nothing,

These few old buildings have over the years got known by the locals and now 2023yr has grown to better buildings all being done up by the funds of these sales,

Now because i like restoring old cycles/motor bikes etc I found myself both riding to the village to test my efforts and at times enjoy the 3 km walk back (pushing the odd motor bike that has decided to play up, And this is how I came to stop and shop at these sheds/Old shops, Like most men i like what i call the rusty counter's or as my dear dear wife (she who must be obeyed) say's junk counters, You'll find me searching the rusty old spanners/ etc and wondering who owned this or that once ?

Now you soon get to know the ladies who look after the counters and stall's  "But not long ago while bending down to look at some jars of screws (all sorted to size and taped up by someone who spent time doing this much needed task) I suddenly found two eye's looking at me from under this stall, (No it was not love at first sight, But it was the very start of two old farts becoming the best of friends, The other eyes belonged to an old very soft coated dog called "POMME" 

Now anyone who knows me will tell you i prefer animals to a lot of humans i have met over the 74 yrs i have been on this earth,

Every time i visit these sheds i take biscuits for my friend and he looks for me to arrive and i have shown him a trick he just loves a biscuit in each of my hands I then cross my arms and ask Pomme to choose !!!! He never looses and picks his prize every selection

and then gets a bonus from the other hand, Well i have spent three nights this week making him a wooden (strong ) feeding bowl holder on legs so he can eat /drink without bother (he is 16yrs old,  Well the smile on the old lady owners face when i gave her the wrapped

 gift was more than worth all the sanding down/edge removal & varnishing the name plate and the carving out two bone shape carrying handles I'd spent making Pomme's gift, And Pomme?   Well all he wanted was the cuddle and back to the trick "choose the hand and get the biscuit.( bowl in the stand is full of biscuits + a bar of chocolate for his lovely old owner,

It is the simple things in life that matter and memories are made of these.

[menthe]

I love your story.  Perhaps you could take a picture of Pomme's present to show us?

[Henry100]

Hi menthe,

I must admit i never thought of taking a picture And i have already given it to the old lady,

I am not sure if the bowl stand will be used in the old shed building or if she intends to take it home and use it ?

But we'll see and if it is in the shed the next time i visit then I'll take a picture and put it on the forum,

Thanks for your interest and i am pleased you enjoyed the story,

[Henry100]

On 24/12/2023 at 12:14, menthe said:

I love your story.  Perhaps you could take a picture of Pomme's present to show us?

Hi menthe,

Well today i did pop into the shed to see my friend  Pomme and his owners grand daughter came up to me and thanked me for the bowl stand and said it was a smashing gift and she thought the bone style side hand grips we're a great idea,

Then she said the stand was in their kitchen by Pomme's bed, so i can not take a picture of that one,

But i have started a second stand for a friend and i will take a photo of that one, it is more or less the same idea "just the dog's name is "Rosco"

It is a shame really because this dog is younger the Pomme  But has liver problems and the vet has said it wont live very much longer, It really is such a nice dog and the owners are really nice people,

So all i am waiting for is the wood dye and when that arrives (Monday so i am told) then i can both dye the frame and varnish it and with a bit of luck and the help of my wife get some photo's off to you,

Talk to you soon,

[menthe]

Poor Rosco!  Happy New Year, Henry, and many happy hours making Rosco's bowl🙂

I wish you could have been on the forum when we had Jonzjob.  He used to make the most beautiful and useful things from wood and treated us regularly to pictures of his creations.

[DaveLister]

12 minutes ago, menthe said:

I wish you could have been on the forum when we had Jonzjob

I well remember Jonzjob's pics. I wonder what happened to him. Maybe he's one of the ones that didn't survive 'death by software'.

[menthe]

DL, he did sell up and moved back to the UK.  He'd post now and again but I suppose that, after a certain amount of time, and you have returned and rediscovered old friends and places and affection for the previous life, you feel your time in France no longer seems relevant.  Thus, after we, people or things, become superfluous, we fade away?

 

[anotherbanana]

Jonzjobs returned to the little island and has faded into that world. He was fun and his carpentry brilliant.

I wonder what happened to woolybanana’s sister?

 

[menthe]

Wools, I seem to remember that some time ago, you committed sororicide?  But sometimes, I think I see the ghost of poor old Randy.

Still, I daresay she had a nice old time before she passed😫

[anotherbanana]

Where do you think all the shooting stars come from? She is having a right old time I expect.