Boots and Books

Babeth has lost the plot since the oil in the water incident.  She hangs around in the street getting people to sign petitions.
She's so in need of human company that she sits on the little wall outside her house and cleans her teeth.
Nico finally revolted against the state of the house and cleaned it while we walked. His endeavours required so much approbation I imagined him with a wet paintbrush in his hand, gazing proudly at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  
His big accomplishment was getting the boots out of the house, which was beginning to look like a corridor in Balmoral castle, and arranging them on the trellis.
Josette came round with a dubious bottle of rosé as a present then invited herself in and drunk half of it in a few swigs.  
I got rid of her ten minutes later and started packing my books into in boxes to take to the moulin and spent the evening putting them on the shelves.  
Symbolically this is the equivalent of a marriage and Nico had better not up sticks and leave me now.