Michael Wright's C'est La Folie has been making me chuckle over the last few days, even though I have no desire at all to follow the mass exodus of Britons to France, Spain etc.
Michael Wright, in his 30s decided he wanted to grow up and do something heroic. So he and his cat, Eva, bought a tumbledown farmhouse in France known locally as La Folie. The book is the story of his first year or so in his new home and how he learnt to look after sheep and chickens, deal with snakes and other unwelcome visitors and the cat learnt to catch mice even though they spoke French. I found it compulsive reading.
Websites
I had a very unwelcome e-mail this morning from a lady connected with the Fenland Preservation Society with an address in Norwich - which does not appear to have a website itself:
'After some discussion we have come to unanimous agreement that this is the most dreary and poorly written site we have come across this year.
Is there something you can do to jolly it up a bit? And improve the grammar and standard of the pictures?
You do our lovely county a disservice.'
Thanks guys for the no confidence vote. You seem to be at odds with the people from all over the world who have contacted me over the last few years to say how interesting they found it. If we're going to start throwing bricks over grammar then maybe you ought to rephrase your e-mail. This obviously elite organisation only has a snail mail address shown on the e-mail - apart from the Yahoo e-mail address which was used to contact me.
The formatting of my site has gone a little haywire because it has been archived a couple of times recently and not restored quite how it should be and I do want to add to it. Reading it through today I have found some very minor typing errors which I am happy to hold my hands up to. I'm intending to venture out with a camera and take some pictures for it over the next few months so it will be improved.
Neither of the pictures on the site relate to Norfolk and most of the Fens are in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire in any case so I'm not quite sure why they are complaining. While I accept if you put anything on the Internet you must expect to be sniped at I think this is a shade OTT - especially as they don't have a website themselves. I haven't yet decided whether to reply.
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4 comments:
I can think of a number of responses to your oh-so-rude correspondent; most of them include the word "off"! If you can be bothered to reply - and I'm not sure I would - you might suggest that as they can't even write a website they don't criticise other who do.
Or maybe you just write "I propose to waste no time on contempt for your incredibly rude email."
How very rude! I hesitate to say it's typical Norfolk, but it's ... um ... typical Norfolk.
As I'm from Essex, they will no doubt throw their mean-spirited hands into the air that I've dared to voice an opinion at all. Harrumph on your behalf, big-time!!
==:O
Axxx
I wouldn't reply to them at all, frankly. I always wonder why anyone thinks this sort of entirely negative feedback is productive of anything but the desire to respnd as kcm suggests...
I responded in the end and suggested when they can be bothered to produce a website themselves I might take their criticisms seriously. I also said I did not think they had a monopoly on what should be written about Norfolk and as I had lived there myself I was fully aware of what the county had to offer. As I've only just read the comments here it seems we were all thinking along the same lines!!
I had considered not responding but thought a carefully worded e-mail might be the better than no response. I'm afraid as you say Anne this is typical of some sections of the population in Norfolk - though not all.
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