255. Nutty in May

5th May. We took Bulldozaire (aka Nutty) along to his second dog training session this morning.. It's held out in a field about 20 minutes from here. Last week, the ground was sodden and all three of us returned home covered in mud. After he'd been hosed down in the shower, he slept the rest of the afternoon away.
The session starts with all the dogs off their leads for about 15 minutes - I suppose it's to dispel all, or perhaps some at least, mutual curiosity and as a bonus - it provides their owners a good laugh! There must have been a dozen or more of them - all "bad lads" who haven't so far been able to respond to the usual incitements to good behavior. They were all more or less of the same age with a few older recividists in the mix to add some spice to the proceedings! Only one - a young boxer - got a bit over-enthusiastic and she was exiled to a field next door to cool her heels for a while. Nutty proved himself to be more or less incapable of following simple instructions. He's coming up to a year old and he's very independent and likes doing things his way. We'll see!
Madame found this channel on the TV (in France it's on Ch 122).. and amazingly, Nutty watches it in rapt fascination.. It's probably targeted at stay-at-home dogs - but he watches it with an unblinking stare!
4th May. Surely this month will see the return of the sun on a more or less permanent basis. Down here in the Pays Basque, we've had the Mother of all Wet Starts to the year - and yes, while part of me looks with some pleasure at how our lawn is looking (I never thought I'd hear myself say that!), a greater part of me wishes that it was shorts & t shirt weather every day. I also want to get out there on my e-bike. 
I had a letter from the Prefecture up at Bordeaux to acknowledge receipt of my application for French nationality and now I'm waiting for the call to go up there for a chat. Hope there's not a 'practical' - like for example, "Finally, we'd like you to demonstrate your commitment to France by showing us how much you appreciate this..".. At this point a flunky steps forward and whips the domed cover off a steaming plate of 'Tête de veau' (calf's head).. That would be my personal Red Line..!
In case you're wondering, the title of this month's post comes from this..