On Thursday evenings from April through September, the Comrie Petanque Club meets at Comrie's only standalone restaurant, The Deil's Cauldron. When we can, we go along to play on one of the 3 pistes set up at the bottom of the back garden, behind the restaurant. Many folks go along after they've had their tea (evening meal) whereas others have their evening meal there either before or after they play. (The restaurant serves regular meals but also has some lovely tapas dishes on offer.) Most folks grab a glass of wine or beer on their way through to the garden.
It's a friendly group of folk who gather. We are of all ages, from all walks of life, and we play Petanque with a wide range of skill (from virtually relying on luck to being able to pretty much place a boule exactly where we want it to go). Petanque (pronounced "puh-tonk") is more or less the French version of Bocce, although I suppose the French would say that Bocce is the Italian attempt at Petanque. Our league leader, David Nicolson, keeps us busy by scheduling doubles and singles games which he tracks so that at the end of the season, prizes are awarded. He also sends humorous e-mail reminders each week. During the two-week Comrie Fortnight fesitivies (last week of July and first week of August), there will be a special Petanque evening and/or afternoon (depending on weather, of course).
As you can see from one of the photos, the Comrie Parish Church is close by. I wish I could send sound along with these photos because at 9 pm, just as we were leaving last night, the church bells were tolling the hour. Also for the first hour we are at Petanque each week, we can hear our Comrie Pipe Band rehearsing at the Comrie School not far away.
The final photo above shows the road we take home from the Deil's Cauldron toward the White Church Community Centre. As you can see, it was a beautiful night. There was a light breeze which helped keep the midges away. We weren't so lucky last Thursday night. I came home with a wee red bump on my right ankle, a souvinir of a midge bite.
The painters are here--4 of them. One is painting the outside, one is working on finishing up in the hallway, and two are papering the sitting/dining area. This latter job is going to take at least 2 days if not more, so our lives are disrupted once more for what we hope will be the last time for this renovation. Once the wallpapering is finished, we'll be able to finally unpack all the boxes we've had stacked up around the house, boxes full of books, family photos, knicknacks and vases, CDs, DVDs and videos. We'll be able to empty some of the cupboards in the utility room of items that will go back into the Welsh Dresser in the dining area and perhaps unpack some of the extra household items that have been sitting in boxes out in the garage for the two-and-a-half years we've been in the house.
Sometime this morning Tommy, the fellow from Sideys Doors and Windows, is to come out and take a look at the damage to the paint on our front door. You may remember my writing that someone at Sideys put what looked like masking tape across the exterior top of the new blue front door. When Don pulled it off, the blue paint came with it. Tommy will bring touch-up paint to match and do what he can to correct the problem. If for some reason the touch-up doesn't work, he'll report back to the shop and see what can be done. Fingers crossed the paint works.
Don's playing with the St Fillans Seniors as usual this morning. When we comes home, we'll take off for Perth to run more errands. We'll stop for lunch at Gloagburn Farm Shop and Tearoom since we have no table available to eat on. This is the day we will pick up the remaining 3 brackets so we can get the shelving put up in the utility room. I have some art supplies to pick up and Don needs some drill bits. It won't be an extensive trip but it will at least get us out of the house while the painters/paperers are here.
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