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Morning June,
So, the curry tradition continues J .
I guess the dates for the Farmers’ Market have been etched into your diary for the rest of the year. The Spanish style rabbit sounds lovely and it’s good to hear all is well in the garden.
I’m glad the cemetery provides a nice walk. It can make a big difference to have an air of tranquillity when visiting.
Linda & I went for a 10 mile walk together on Thursday. It took much of the day while the young uns were at school. We enjoyed the changing terrain along the way.
Linda’s mum is getting more poorly. She is in a Residential Home & has Alzheimer’s. She suffered with a mouth infection. Although it cleared up it has returned. Last week a doctor visited & has said she has kidney problems. I’m not sure of the detail, but she isn’t processing enough liquid. We’re now wondering if she could have nursing care at home with her husband & family supporting her.
On Saturday the youngest boy’s footie team had their summer tournament. Despite not losing a game they didn’t get through the group stage, cos they had too many 0-0 results. They need a goal scorer. Also, they need a goalkeeper for the new season. Apart from that they have a decent team J.
'Lo all, sorry not to have been in but you know what it's like getting ready for hols.
June, it's great that things are working out so well with the new job. Although I must say I think it's unfair that there's food involved: your cooking would enable you to bribe your way into almost anything, even if you weren't good at your job!! (Which you are, of course, so it's an academic point, but still...;-)))
And your new walk through the woodland sounds lovely. There is something very precious about being able to associate the continuing presence of someone you love with a beautiful place that you know he would have liked. As for being able to attend a whole concert season----what bliss! Enjoy every note!
Sluggie, I'm afraid we didn't make it to GUM...but I really don't think we could have packed any more into 48 hours than we did!
G&T, what a marvellous result for your school! And what an incentive to the kids now. They will never forget that, and it may just have awakened a love of gardening in at least some of them that will last for life.
Jim, sounds like your lads are going at full tilt again---hooray! And good that your back seems to be getting better, even if it is hard to ease back in. It's worrying about your MIL, though. I think Alzheimers is one of the very toughest things to contend with, because the person himself becomes unreachable. It's very isolating for the family. I do hope you will find a way to care for her that works out best for her and for you.
It's lovely to be on hols at last, even though the trip down was a nightmare. We left on Friday at 6.15 intending to do it in one day (we thougth 12-13 hours, with us swapping off driving) but we hit appalling traffic north of Paris, really stop/start, and it just went on hour after hour. By 5.30 we hadn't even made it halfway and Mr C made the brilliant executive decision to ditch. We managed to get into a hotel in Orleans where we've stayed often before, and I was really glad we'd decided early, because by dinnertime they were totally full as more and more people decided to stay overnight. It turned into a pleasant evening, dinner on a terrace and an early start the next day with an easy trip down, far more enjoyable as we'd all had a night's sleep.
And it's so good to be here. This is just such a beautiful part of the world. There are lovely hills with woods and meadows, and old houses built of honey coloured stone with graceful Perigourdien roofs that flare out a little at the bottom. It's a very agricultural area, last night we went to the local strawberry farm and got heaps of different strawberries, including the tiny fragrant mara des bois, all for a pittance. And it's lovely to see old friends and catch up on everyone's doings. (Our house is in a little huddle of about 10 houses on a hilltop, on a road that hardly anyone ever drives on, so everyone knows everyone else very well!) It's been very hot (it's about 35 out there now) but at least we're on top of a hill so we have some breeze, and we'll have heavy rain and thunder tonight that will freshen things up.
I'll pop in again and see how everyone is getting on, because our new internet system is also working--hooray! Mr C didn't want it at first, but he gets so cross when it doesn't work that for Christmas we all poooled our pennies and gave him a satellite, and luckily it seems to work fine. (We are too remote to have any hope of their laying down ISDN phone lines.) So I shall see you more often this year than in the past
))
Morning,
Jim, sorry to hear about Linda's mum. It's so tough for the family i this situation - hopefully, the 'patient' is happily confused, although I have known a few peeps who were permanently distressed
.
Chuggy, glad that you finally arrived in 1 piece.
Chuggy, lovely to catch up on all your travels and doings, and that you can stay in touch a bit while in France this year. You have inspited me to try & get to Moskow. My Australian cousin made it there this year, and posted some enticing photos on Facebook too, so I'm doubly inspired!
We had a lovely but hot 2 weeks in Crete. Our friends' party was wonderful, out in the garden of their local kafenion, with over 50 friends gathered, most of whom had travelled from the UK. They also came down to where we were staying on another day, and we had a lovely shady lunch in a taverna I'd picked out, which got the thumbs up from all, so very successful. I was pleased to find lots of traditional dishes, including lots of veggie options - loved their green beans in tomato and garlic.
Lots of June's news to catch up on. I'm glad to see you are already reaping the benefit of the social hours with your concert bookings, and reviving the curries for colleagues - bound to make you a popular member of the team from the start! The garden is obviously flourishing, and it was lovely to hear about the cemetary woodland walk. The cemetary where my grandson in buried is near a tide-mill, and there is a lovely walk along a boardwalk through the rushes and things by the water - a beautiful place to reflect and remember.
A real worry about your MiL, Jim - hope you can come up with the best possible solution under the circumstances.
Welcome back, Diana! Sounds like a fab time in Crete. But (excuse my ignornance) what is a kafenion? Must have been lovely to be there with so many friends and friends-of-friends, and my very limited experience is that in that part of the world people like and understand large groups of family and friends, so lovely that it worked out that way for you!
I didn't realise you had lost your grandson. It's terribly hard to lose someone who is so young but having a peaceful and beautiful place where they feel close does over time soften some of the pain.
If you do get a chance to go to Russia----go! I only had a couple of days, and wished I had had much longer----although I think that even after years you would still have lots and lots of things to see and to try to understand!
June, hope your garden isn't getting the extremes of weather that we've had this week: fantastic thunderstorm on Monday, 35 C yesterday, heavy rain and 15 C today (about 11 C now, a drop of 24 degrees in a few hours!). But even if it's not great for gardens, it's nice for people: that heat is OK for a day or two, but it's lovelywhen it's cool enough to sleep properly
))
Which is what I'm going to do now! Sleep well, all!
Bright and blowy this morning, though whether it will stay dry......................
A kafenion is more of a cafe type establishment, traditionally I think Chuggy, though this was pretty upmarket for the title, with a lovely garden area where all our tables were, and VERY good food. I think our friend had done a lot of work to prepare the tables herself, so it looked even better.
5 reasonably leisurely miles in the forest yesterday evening, and we avoided rain but got wet feet.
Ooooh, sounds really lovely, Diana! Beautiful gardens, great food, Mediterranean.....doesn't get much better than that!
It's cool and showery here today, which is a real relief after the 34 degrees on Thusday (and the same predicted for Tuesday). Heat is OK in small quantities, but it's hard to sleep and I really like having the break (especially when you know the warm weather will return soon
)
This morning we went here, a magical subterranean son-et-lumiere that always fascinates me. I don't know anything about geology, but I always wish I did when I see this kind of thing.
Morning June (et al),
A beautifully sunny day here
, tis a shame to be indoors at w*rk.
At home we've lost contact with the outside world (ie t' internet)
.
Linda's mum is looking very frail in the hospital bed. She leans heavily to her right & keeps asking to be lifted up in the bed. Then she leans forward for a while & then moves back. We were joking that if she goes any further forward her nose will soon be touching her knee. She seems much brighter, mentally, but physically is very weak.
Our children finish school this week. Hopefully the weather will improve. Sometimes it seems we're getting a winter allowance of rain fall. On Friday night the wind was particularly fierce. The branches on the Silver Birch were swirling in every direction. I heard a noise outside & went to investigate. One of our patio umbrellas had toppled over. Linda had stood them behind the garage for some protection. When I went out to it I discovered the other one was missing, although the heavy base was still there. We've had problems with people nicking stuff so I was really cheesed off. On Saturday morning I rang the police cos they like to know what's occurring even if they don't get the culprits. Anyway, on Saturday evening I learned the umbrella was in the garden next door. It's 7ft 6ins & had cleared a 6ft fence. It was closed not open. I rang the police to call off the man-hunt as I didn't fancy being in the local paper for "wasting police time". Thankfully I was able to speak over the phone rather than face-to-face which saved some embarrassment
.
Lovely reports on here from people's hols, keep em coming.
Good heavens, Jim, that must have been some storm, to have pitched a full-sized garden umbrella right over the fence! Did you have rain with it? I hope you didn't have flooding on top of everything else!
Especially with the kids hols, I hope you get some warm weather. Up until a couple of weeks ago it was just roasting in Chester, at least, cos C2 came home so tired he could hardly stand up; for over a fortnight it had been so hot at night he couldn't sleep. Maybe the weather has now done all the extremes and will settle down to be nice for you!
It's been very changeable here this week (we're between Bergerac and Perigueux). On Thursday it was 30 C, on Friday 34 C; on Saturday it was 21 C during the day and 11 C at night. Amazing. But actually rather wonderful, because after a few really hot days it was lovely to have some cool weather.
And it was nice for the fete votive in our little village. Well, it's not OUR village: that's just a hamlet of about 10 houses. The commune also has a 'larger' village that has about 12 more houses: I think the commune has about 150 people all together. The mairie is right next to the old church (burned by the English in the Hundred Years' War) and there is a little area beside it where they set out about a dozen long tables and folding chairs. The mayor flips the steaks on the barbeque, the local builder's wife makes a gigantic pot of the most wonderful haricot beans, there's fresh bread and cheese, and crepes for dessert. And of course wine and soft drinks. Everyone wanders around and chats and laughs and someone sings over a loudspeaker system, and it's just a great way to spend a summer evening.
Tomorrow our older lad's girlfriend, who has been here for a week, goes home. He's loved having her, but confided that it would also be nice to have 'just family'. Bless!
Chuggy, I'm glad that your fete was able to go ahead, I know the weather had been a bit 'iffy' beforehand.
We're waiting to see what it's like this evening as it's our club BBQ. There's a lovely community hall that we hire, overloking the beach and it's wonderful if the sun's shining - but not the place tobe if it's wet and/or windy!
Jim, it sems odd to hear that kids are only just finishing school - SB finished uni 2 months ago!
Fingers crossed for your BBQ Slugsta - it does seem rather unsettled down here, and very windy (though currently dry).
Chuggy, in my experience, the French do know how to hold these events where all ages and types are happily included. It sounds a lovely occasion.
Sluggie, I do hope your beach party got to go through! All over Europe the weather seems to be odd this summer. I know it's been carp in the UK since the end of June (and even then the 'good' weather was oppressively hot in a lot of places) and this morning down here we were waked about 6 am by the mother and father of thunderstorms. Rain came in through the roof again etc. I'm just hoping that we have distracted that storm down here for long enough for you to get the BBQ in before the storm gets to you!
Diana, I agree. In France social events are for the whole family, and kids are expected to come, enjoy and behave. (And if some of our yobs tried their shenanigans with a French maman, they'd wish they were back at home with their ASBO's!!)
Last year C2 spent 14 july with friends in Paris, and they went to a giant party at the fire department (which seems to be the centre of these occasions). He really noticed that everyone was drinking cheerfully, but hardly anyone got drunk; and that all ages were there, from grandparents down to babies. He said the atmosphere was fantastic.
Jim, hope the weather has improved up your way, now that the kids are home!
June, how's the new job going? Still good? And what about the garden??? Is it surviving this weird summer?
Morning all,
Managed to spend an hour or 2 at the BBQ, stayed dry and not too windy but not too warm either. Some of the kids swam - and came out of the sea with a distinct blue tinge! Deputy mayor, who seems quite a lively lady, joined us for a while as mayor is president of club. Typicaly though, I wanted to go home long before MS did as he's much more sociable than I!
Afternoon June (et al),
I'm afraid it's not good news from me today. Linda's mum passed away on Friday morning at 11.45am.
Although we knew the end was coming the timing was a bit quick. Linda had left her bed only half an hour earlier to come home. We had a call to say she had deteriorated & arrived just 5 minutes after she had gone. Linda's sister was there at the time, with one of the nurses.
We're thankful for the 87 years she had & so much that she did for many others during that time.
I do hope all is well with everyone else on here.
Oh Jim, I'm so sorry to hear about Linda's mum. There isn't really any way to prepare yourself for it: no matter how 'expected' it is, when your mum goes, the world changes. I hope Linda doesn't feel bad that she wasn't there when her mum actually passed; I'm sure that her mother knew she had been with her.
She clearly had a long life, full of warmth and goodness, and had a very close relationship with Linda and her other daughter. I hope the goodness of her life will give Linda and her sister comfort in these very difficult days.
Thinking very much of you all. xx
Sorry to read your news, Jim, but glad that Linda and her sister had been able to spend time with their mum, and can look back on a "life well-lived". As chuggie says, there's something about losing your mum that does change everything.
Hoping to manage a run before the wether deteriorates. We have daughter #1 and family coming for the evening meal - will be nice to have the family gathered.
Morning June,
The funeral for Linda's mum takes place today. We think the forecast is for 'sunny' which is preferable to the downpour we had yesterday. That does make a difference at the graveside.
"Thank You" to Chugger, Diana & Slugsta for your thoughts, they're appreciated.
Morning June,
No posts for a while now from you. I've forgotten ... have you been on holiday?
I'm back at w*rk for a few days. The laptop at home hasn't allowed me to reply to the forum postings. I haven't really had the energy to figure out why not
.
The day after Linda's mum's funeral I took my dad to Corby in Northamptonshire for a cousin's funeral. He had had a triple heart bypass & died 3 weeks later after a stomach infection.
Hopefully a few days working for Linda & I will help to get us back on track.
Tough times Jim. Take care.
I know from Facebook that June thinks she has contracted swine flu, so wishing her a very mild case and speedy recovery.
Jim, Sluggie is absolutely right ( as usual). With so many sad and tiring things going on, you won't have the energy to fight the minor irritations of life like computers. Your attention is needed elsewhere. Lots of supportive vibes to you, Linda, your father and your whole farmily. And remember to take some care of yourself; times like this take a lot out of you.
Diana, hope you had a lovely family dinner together. It's specially nice when kids who are old enough not to 'have' to come home, still come because they want to! (And a big, and well deserved, compliment to you and Mr D!)
Awfully sorry to hear the June has the swine flu! They do say that in itself it's not a serious illness and usually passes quickly, so I hope it does for her. Knowing her, I imagine the annoyance of not being able to be in the garden will be almost as bad as the flu itself! Lots of vibes for a speedy recovery.
Sorry to have been out of the air, we had a marvellous time on holiday but the last couple of days I was laid low by a nasty case of food poisoning and I'm just starting to feel normal again. But at least there was a silver lining: not being able to eat for a week or so has gone a long way toward remedying the results of all that wine, cheese and French bread
))
(((June)))
LOL at the idea of Chuggy being 'normal'
.
Morning everyone - sorry not to be around but I have had a very busy run up to being laid low with what everyone is convinced is swine flu and so therefore probably is. It is not what i would call proper flu, having had that 3 times in my life (every occasion memorable for its severity), but they won't let me back to work until I am 100% fit (whatever that is). Occupational Health are paranoid about it, although how they can stem the tide of a pandemic is debatable. It comes and goes in waves so one day I will feel fine and the next I have the sore throat, nausea and temperature back. Knackerd a lot of the time though....
Jim, Linda - I am so sorry to hear about the death of your father/father-in-law. There is nothing anyone can say or do to make it better but we are all here for you, as you all were for me. And do whatever you want to do, while bearing in mind that you are more fragile emotionally than you think.
Chugs, I am taking the opportunity of having time on my hands to potter in the garden (between rain showers), catch up on reading (Sarah Waters "The Little Stranger" is unputdownable) andwatch the birds. The cats think its great I am around all the time too - demanding attention and treats
Afternoon June,
Thanks for your posting. I'm getting to understand a little of the fragile state which you mentioned. To be honest it's mostly about the effect for Linda than myself. Tis indeed early days yet though.
Linda did a 4 hour shift on Sunday for 'friends' of those who have the dreaded lurgy. The age range was from baby to 94 year old!
Your cats must be on top of the world at your continued presence at home
.
"All the Best" for improved health (& return to w*rk
).