Morning all. Bright sunshine and already feeling warm. With tonight's opponents I am reminded of my first away trip to watch football. It was to the Den, which already had a dreadful reputation, and I was warned that there were thugs waiting to beat me up. As a lad who was going with the school to see Hertfordshire boys take on Middlesex boys I didn't feel that threatened. A school trip to watch football was not an everyday event, but Freddie Bunce, later of Watford fame was at the school, so it was thought worthwhile. I have no idea what the result was, but I returned home safe and well. Have a good day everyone.
Afternoon all. An early start for Mme's physio, so while she had her first session on the exercise bike, I waited for 40 minutes outside. My phone was going bonkers with the updates from Downing Street, and by the time we arrived home it had increased the unread messages dramatically. It is a god job that I was given loads of extra data when I was without the internet. Have a good day everyone.
Morning all. Sunshine currently, but showers forecast for this afternoon. It seems strange to be in the second half of October and still need to have the aircon on sometimes in the car. Yesterday it stopped working, so I guess it needs a recharge. A couple of months ago several garages were having special offers to do this, but it looks as though I have missed out. Have a good day everyone.
Morning all. Bright and breezy, but quite a lot of cloud overhead. I trust that the gloom that hung around last week has been removed after the display at the Vic yesterday. I am not sure when in the week the doubts about our trip to Wigan will surface, but bubble up they certainly will. Have a good day everyone.
Good morning..... a trip to the local gp today..... booked online at 9.00 ...face to face appointment at 11.00. Only one person in the waiting room before me when I arrived. Dr made time to chat.... Everyone satisified
Morning all. A decent day, mild and some sun breaking through light clouds. You pop out for a short trip and find that the traffic lights at the roadworks change to red just as you get there. You complete the errand and on your way back find that you are stuck behind a convoi exceptionnel pottering along at 50 kph, and for 10 kilometrs there is no way to pass it. Then you arrive at the roadworks again just as the lights change to red once more. "Thought you had got lost" is the greeting when you finally get home. Good job I can take life as it comes. Have a good day everyone.
Morning all. A lovely autumn day, blue sky with jusr a few fluffy clouds overhead. It still puzzles me why flights and ferries charge more if you wish to stay in your destination more than three days. One price for three day, a higher one for up to ten days, and higher still for more than that. You are taking up the same amount of room no matter how long you stay, so only can assume it is a way to extract a little more money out of you. Have a good day everyone.
Morning all. Sat in a little market town square while Mme is with Brigitte the coiffure. Lots of activity with people going into the bar for a coffee or something stronger. The boucherie has a steady stream of customers and the boulangerie is still baking judging by the smell. One restaurant that was not very good and overpriced is for sale, but a new one has opened. Everyday French life. Have a good day everyone.
Morning all. Very warm despite the breeze and it is expected to rise to 27°C this afternoon. I had planned to sow some peas that can over winter and provide an early crop. Put them in during October when the conditions are cooler it says on the packet, but protect them against mice. Looking at the forecast it will be next week before it cools down, but then it is also expected to be wet. It looks as though my plans will just have to be put on hold. Have a good day everyone.
Morning all. Still warm, but breezy. The wind turbines I had to pass on my way to the post office were spinning at quite a fast pace, different to most days when they hardly move at all. There was a lot of traffic on the road as well due to it being the large monthly market. Not so many English and Dutch registered cars now who turn up in the summer months. Not everything is a bargain there, as you can find the same items in the supermarket cheaper. The fruit and vegetables though are a similar price, but really fresh high quality goods and worth the money. I do wonder how much trade the man does who makes headstones for your grave? Probably not as much as the man who sells a spare for your tractor. Have a good day everyone.
A horrible start to the day for us - our boiler spat the dummy in an unusual way - well, unusual in that I'd never encountered it before. We had the central heating on last night for a couple of hours, set on a fairly low temperature - and switched it off before going to bed. Woke up this morning to find it had switched itself back on - at a far higher, and near tropical, temperature. The remote control wouldn't work for some reason - even after putting new batteries in I couldn't change any settings - so I used the buttons on the boiler to switch the heating off. Ten minutes later it switched itself back on. Unsure what to do, I utilised the old PC trick - switched it off at the wall, waited a few minutes then switched it back on. That worked for about 45 minutes - when it switched itself on again. The extent of my technical knowledge having already been surpassed - I called for professional help, only to find that heating engineers here apparently don't work on weekends - and won't speak to customers or interact via email either. Had to submit a request via his website, outlining the problem and selecting a choice of appointment dates. After doing that, I found that I couldn't log out without paying his £102 call-out fee up front, and have to wait until Tuesday for him to appear. I'm now thinking of installing an Aga or similar wood burner - but suspect that if I did, all the trees here would disappear overnight.
Morning all. Bright and breezy, but still warm. Plenty of people still wandering around in summer shorts. I do not like this clock changing, but then I don't have to go to work at seven in the morning. It must be quite strange living on the Spain Portugal border where there are two different times. Perhaps we should ignore clocks altogether and go by the sun. The problem with that is that a shop I need to buy something from would be shut for lunch. Have a good day everyone.
Afternoon all. Hope all's well. Mexican things a run here as per. Mexican footy final later too. Take care y'all.
Morning all. Bright, but showers expected this afternoon. One of the locals who earns a living as a gardener has been hard at it all morning pruning my neighbours shrubs and bushes. There are three different ones providing this service who come to our hamlet. One looks after the garden for the couple who live in Paris, and another one keeps things things under control for an ageing couple. In these rural parts many of the houses come with large gardens, so there is plenty to keep a contract gardener in work. Have a good day everyone.
Morning all. A bright and sunny public holiday here for La Toussaint. Very much a family past and present day, with people going back to the areas they grew up in, and placing flowers on the graves of the departed. Bernard who along with three brothers owned this house after his parents died, died himselfs in the middle of his Sunday dinner, and is now alongside his mother in our commune cementary. His father remarried and is in the ajoining commune cementary alongside his second wife. Being a Tuesday many people have been making this into a long weekend, and some businesses that I passed yesterday had not opened. I suspect if like BB you needed a plumber then you might be lucky to find one willing to come out this holiday. Have a good day everyone.
Very confusing here in Germany Frenchie - today is All Saints Day and is a public holiday in NRW, Baden Wurtemburg, Rhineland Palatinate and Bavaria but not everywhere else. Yesterday was Reformation Day which was a public holiday in some mostly Protestant states of Germany - so yesterday the shops were closed in Osnabruck (Lower Saxony) and open in Münster (only 30 miles away in NRW) and today it's the other way around. Bavaria has nearly twice the number of public holidays than Berlin or Hamburg
