Previously: Pam (my lodger) and myself are in Le Touquet. I’ve been stressed recently and Pam suggested a couple of books, which I ordered and were delivered to the farmer who owns the land we have parked the campervan on. He’s a nice guy and speaks fluent English which is useful as Pam only speaks a little French and mine is limited to ordering a beer and coffee with milk (not at the same time).

The farmer came into the field to have a chat:

“I see you’ve met ‘Edith’. Lovely dog. Unfortunately, his owner can’t look after him any more and he’s a stray now. I feed her but she won’t come in the house. She seems to have taken to you.”

“Edith, that’s a funny name for a dog.” commented Pam.

“His owner was a big fan of Edith Piaf”

We both looked blank.

“You must have heard of her, probably the most famous singer in France, if not the world.” added the farmer shocked at our ignorance.

“Maybe I’ve heard some of her songs. What did she sing?” queried Pam.

“No, I don’t regret anything.” Said the farmer, which I guess is a song name.

“Not heard that one.” replied Pam.

“The Crowd.”

“Sorry. I’m sure she is great.”

“Was…. sadly, passed about sixty years ago.”

“Ah! Have you seen Camile, I mean Edith. She loves the snow. We could look after her if the owner can’t.” Pam volunteered.

“Unfortunately, he can’t. He had to move into care and had to leave Edith behind for the town to look after.”

The farmer excused himself and wandered off to do something for his cows. He did explain, but it was something farmerish, which was as familiar to us as Edith Piaf.

“Really, I want to keep him.” said Pam.

“Bit awkward, we’ll have to go back to England sometime.” I countered.

“Don’t stress. Anyway, how are you now Oliver? You were a bit stressed and anxious last week.”

Secretly, I was in favour of adopting Camile. She is smart. I think she knows her new name already and it’s amazingly calming walking and playing with her.

I am sleeping better thanks to the books and meditation Pam recommended last week. The issue is though everything seems to be going pear shaped. First of all, I felt I had to leave my job, then Mal Evolent (another lodger) blew up his room in my house. After that he was arrested for cybercrime and I feel that I may be arrested if I go back to the UK.  The campervan broke down and we stayed in a derelict Gite pursued by wildlife. I don’t feel I can return home and finally I lied to my Mum who thinks we’re in the supermarket down the road from my house. There are also the walkers who stalked us, after they physically tussled with the campervan down a narrow lane. Then there was the guy in the garage in Barnsley who thought I was trying to steal his car! Oh and the French customs guy who took a dislike to me and the cyclist who tried to run me down in Amsterdam.

Pam, told me to ‘Shut Up, Move On’ which was one of the books Pam recommended (in last week’s blog). She has dealt with her own stress for years and suggested that I was attracting all these bad things and that if I adopted a positive attitude, good things would happen to me all the time.

I just didn’t get it but she told me about ‘The Secret’ and how I could start attracting better things in my life.

She pulled out the DVD and a DVD plyer from her ‘Mary Poppins’ bag.

Also extracted from the bag was “The Secret – Dare to Dream’ which was more of a drama / romance about ‘The Secret’. Maybe later.

We watched the first film and whilst I was doubtful about it, it was very convincing. What if it is true? It can’t hurt to give it a go. I will and I’ll start right now. I’ll stop stressing about telling Mum why I’m in stuck in France with my lodger. How bad can it be? I picked up my phone and dialled the number.

Check out the short story of Oliver Sudden before the blog.

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