I didn't manage my day at home.

The boulangère forgot to come this morning so in one swell foop I've gone from having far too much bread to not having enough. That prompted a quick visit into Pionsat to stock up with bread, and to hope that the boulangère remembers me on Tuesday.

Anyway, despite being considerably sidetracked all throughout today what with one thing and another, I managed to finish the Additional Notes for the radio programmes for the month of November. With the Rock Programme notes already completed, I just need to choose a main text for the November programmes. There's probably enough in the pipeline already but it's as well to be sure. And when that's completed I can start writing the Christmas Special.

As there was no football tonight, I had a little pause and watched a footy match on the computer. Now, Oldham Athletic? Isn't that another good oxymoron?

However, not to be outdone, surfing the internet I discovered that the football in the Creuse is organised slightly differently than in the Auvergne, and there are league matches this weekend, not Cup matches. And if that wasn't enough, Auzance's 2nd team was at home against Dontreix-chard in the 3rd Division.

It's probably 15 years since I've been to Auzances and seeing as I think that I should get out more often (a sentiment with which many readers of these pages will agree) I set off into the unknown.

Quite a charming stadium in a nice urban setting - what looked as if it might once have been an old quarry - but the match itself was total rubbish.

Dontreix were awful, but Auzances were even worse. Even Pionsat's 3rd Xi could have taken on both of these teams simultaneously and held their own quite comfortably - and everyone else's too, I reckon. 4-2 it finished to Dontreix, and the big mystery was how come they managed to let Auzances score twice.

Dontreix's fourth goal was a calamity that came out of absolutely nowhere. 3-2 down in the dying minutes and having Dontreix (surprisingly) under the cosh, Auzances win a corner. It's everyone forward, and even the Auzances goalkeeper decides to go up. However, as he is about three-quarters of the way upfield, his team-mates take the kick, not having seen him advancing. The Dontreix players have seen him though, and when they win possession it's the long ball right upfield over the Auzances keeper's head, and Goodnight Vienna. The Auzances keeper throws down his gloves and storms off the field - "I'm not playing with you guys any more". Reminded me of Roxanne at Primary School when she was about 7 or 8.

There's a pizzeria right next to the ground, and so I treated myself to a take-away - second weekend in succession after all of these years. After all, it's a 35-minute drive and who feels like cooking at 22:45? And a nice one it was too, especially the spicy oil dressing.

But never mind the Combrailles - how about the Creuse for The Land That Time Forgot? On the D988 out of Pionsat through St Hilaire and St Maurice, it's a nice two-lane blacktop with clear white lines - a reasonably fast road considering the terrain. But cross over the border into the Creuze - it's like the lane up to my house from the bottom road. Narrow, grey gravel, no centre markings, potholes and patches. It's a whole world of difference. It's just like turning the clock back 25 years, which is astonishing considering that here in the Combrailles we are 100 years behind the times.  

I forgot to mention that I put out the washing today to let it dry off, and this time I did bring it in before I went out. What has reminded me of this is that it has just this second started to rain.