Everyday Fay

Yesterday was very pretty and lovely Emma's last day at work before going on holiday in Thailand.

And it was so frustrating because we were on different shifts this past week and could barely see each other for we didn't even have the same breaks. Thus, I went to say goodbye at half past four every afternoon when I left and she had still three and a half hours to go. And on Thursday, I left a letter --I intended it to be a note; I'm a writer, I couldn't help it!-- in her lunch bag, and found a beautiful card in mine, with even sweeter words. And these, amongst expressions of gratitude and profusion of little hearts, jumped at me and filled me with joy.

The month she was here flew by, and I immensely enjoyed her company, and I shall miss her; but I'm glad she wants to keep in touch.

*"(...) You're adorable and your letter makes me very happy."

Mr. Butler had placed a large lump of commercial ice in a washtub on a chair, and directed over it the breeze of the tall electric fan. Phryne sank down supine on her bed and let the cool air flow over her."

-- Ava quoted to me, last night, from Murder on a Midsummer Night.

We do that very often, read to each other; especially from favourite books, and Phryne Fisher Mysteries are particularly dear to us.

She chose this novel because she knows my room, my own boudoir, my blue haven gets really hot in the Summer and that the current heat wave is not improving things. She also knows that, inspired by Mr. Butler's ingenuity, I devised a similar, albeit humbler, contraption by placing a frozen bottle of water in front of my small fan. "And I know," my love added, "that you're laying naked on blue or sea-green sheets letting the cool air caress your own gorgeous body, and I wish I could magically appear by your side like Lin Chung, and caress you myself!" Naturally, there was little my fan-and-ice device could do to help with the other heat wave that flooded me then...

Voilà l' été

Voilà l' été

Voilà l' été

Voilà l' été

Voilà l' été, j' aperçois le soleil

Les nuages filent et le ciel s' éclaircit

Et dans ma tête qui bourdonnent

Les abeilles!

L'entends rugir les plaisirs de la vie

C' est le retour des amours

Qui nous chauffent les oreilles

Il fait si chaud

Qu' il nous poussent des envies

C' est le bonheur rafraîchi d'un

Cocktail

Les filles sont belles et les dieux sont ravis

I've been humming and singing Voilà l'été oftener and oftener over the past couple of weeks, as the temperature rose, the skies cleared and Summer neared. The title from this 1980s hit song by Les Négresses Vertes simply translates to "Here comes Summer", and is about Parisians staying in the capital over the Summer and pretending they absolutely don't envy those holidaying in the South of France!