Fiona Alderman: One Year Later

I am sitting in the house with Missy, my sweet cat by my side , and reflecting on this past year.

A busy time after Barry’s death. Administrative papers to be sorted out and learning to live alone.

It has been a learning curve and I have certainly learnt a lot. One was asking for help, when I needed to get someone to fix leaking taps, help with computer problems and endless French bureaucracy. I have managed.

Exhibition

Going through boxes of videos and photos from Barry’s long career led me to want others to see and appreciate his work. Which is why I am now going to have an exhibition locally in Salignac . The theme is Travels with Mr Barry. That name started way back in the 90’s when Barry was asked to go to Pakistan to film the political situation there. This was a funny story that began in a little curry shop in Glasgow near where we lived . The owner, Gulzhar, struck up an easy camaraderie with us, and after several years he announced he was going back home and would Mr Barry come and visit him and his family? I never believed anything would come of it but Barry did go and I have the photos to prove it.This will be part of a wide selection of photos from the 80’s when he went to Ethiopia and Sudan as well as Pakistan, Afghanistan and France too. This exhibition will be held in the Mairie with an official opening on the 17th July and lasting for several weeks.

Before that I am going to display some portraits in the large Convent window. Ray Charles, Stephanie Grappelli, Merce Cunningham and Jacques Louissier will all be proudly shown in a long term exhibit.

I am also pleased to announce that the BENCH has also been installed in the cemetery and is looking very good. Just in time for Barry’s day on the 30th May. Some things do need some quiet perseverance?

Florence and the Goats .Part 2.

I did want to continue my story of the goats and of Florence. I went down to the farm and had a proper guided tour which was great. She and her husband, Jean Paul have been there for 20 years and are hugely invested in their work. The 60 goats are inside a huge barn on fresh hay and fed 4 hourly. There is a huge machine on a revolving platform containing their feed of hand crushed barley which sweeps round at the appointed hour to the waiting goats underneath.

A goat’s lifetime she says, won’t exceed to much more than 4 years and they are well looked after.

If any are ill there is a huge cabinet full of alternative medicines and homeopathic treatments.

I went into the area, which is used to make the cheese, and Florence told me of the strict sanitary controls and inspections that are mostly pre arranged but not always.

They are constantly on the alert for anything, which might not be up to standard. Florence is passionate about her work and also about educating the public about pasteurization and methods of fabrication. At the markets she is busy giving out information to visitors as well as locals, on the safety and care of the animals.

We finished our afternoon trying to have an English translation of some of the vocabulary used in their work to explain the process to tourists. We are continuing to work on it !

And we begin again. One day at a time.

May 2023. Fifi’s stories from rural France.

This section: Fiona Alderman blogging from The Salignac Foundation France

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Written by : Pat Byrne

Publisher of Pat's Guide to Glasgow West End; the community guide to the West End of Glasgow. Fiction and non-fiction writer.

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