Weather report
Well, we got our snow yesterday afternoon. It was very small flakes but enough to cover everything with a very thin white layer. This morning it had started to rain so it’s all gone.

I decided to settle down and watch “Gentlemen prefer blondes”. I really love that film. Especially the costumes. Marilyn Munroe wears a lovely purple dress at one point. Rob was working at the computer busy with his postcards on eBay when he had a phone call from a Norwegian cousin (not Risa! lol). This cousin has phoned before, she talks for ages, but Rob doesn’t really understand most of it because she doesn’t speak English. He speaks a little Norwegian but conversation is difficult. Then someone else phoned up, so my film was interrupted a little, to say the least.

I’ve put Rob’s postcards on my blogroll, look for Antique Postcards. If you want a closer look click on the card. He has done English descriptions too.

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Long distance:: marathon
   
2. Meant to be:: fate
   
3. Here:: now
   
4. Endless:: infinity
   
5. Resentment:: ill feeling
   
6. Insipid:: limp
   
7. Bunny:: rabbit
   
8. Slogan:: logo
   
9. Naked:: blog
   
10. Sarcasm:: lowest form of wit
    

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Snow is forecast here today. It’s certainly cold and the sky is white. If the powers that be could kindly wait until I come home from taking Dom to the eye specialist, that would be very convenient.

Christian phoned last night, he’d collected his car in the morning. He was so pleased to have transport again. Olivier deleted the photo of his teeth complete with elastic bands. I think it was for the best, not a pretty sight. Dom has had to contact the army, she has exams on the 1st March.

I’m really feeling the cold at the moment, I have a poncho over my shoulders as I write. Do you think it’s age that makes you feel the cold more? On Wednesday I did some gardening. It was a beautiful afternoon. I did too much sawing and now my arms are aching. There’s a lot of tidying up to be done out there. Well, it won’t look so messy with a covering of snow!

Another week has gone by already.

Christian will be collecting a brand new car this week. He’s chosen exactly the same model. The insurance paid out the whole value of the car as it was under a year old. Next year his insurance will be very expensive. Even though he hadn’t been driving long, he really missed being able to get around on his own.

Dominique has a nasty cold and sore throat. She won’t take any time off as there is too much to do. The mock exams will be coming up soon, so there is a lot of revision too. She received her National Service letter, she has to ‘report for duty’ on the 1st March (I think), fortunately it’s only for one day.

Olivier had Monday off, there is a stomach bug going round at the moment, he seems to have got off lightly and was okay by the end of the day. Yesterday evening he went to see the orthodontist, now he has elastic bands on his teeth too. At night he also has to wear one diagonally across his teeth. He was in a bad mood this morning as his mouth hurt. He took a photo with his phone, I’ll have to ask him if I can post the picture here. It’s not his week at all.

Rob is learning more and more about his postcards. Following the bidding is quite exciting and he’s starting to build up a clientele and make contact with fellow postcard enthusiasts. Among the post cards he bought recently was a newspaper article about a lady called “Miss Casse-Cou” (break neck) – Mauricia . She was mayor of her village in the early 60’s, which must have been unusual in itself in those days. In her youth, in the 20’s, she was world famous for her stunts on a bike in the circus. We haven’t been able to find out much more about her, but Rob has put the newspaper cutting up for auction and there is some interest.

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Alone:: peace
   
2. Science:: the universe!
   
3. Deposit:: bank
   
4. Faithful:: friend
   
5. Tender:: steak
   
6. Chocolate:: dark
   
7. Homework:: school
   
8. Tamper:: meddle
   
9. Friend:: friendship
   
10. Wire:: tightrope
    

I thought I’d share this postcard with you. It was sent in 1904. The park hasn’t changed much at all, the trees have grown and some of them were blown down in the hurricane at the end of 1999. The park is two km long and is on top of the filled in moat which once formed La Rochelle’s defenses.

All’s well
I had a check up with my doctor. Everything is fine. I can stay off the cholesterol tablets as I’m keeping the levels in the normal range by eating sensibly. As for the pre diabetes He wants me to check daily and continue eating sensibly though there are the occasional times when I have a high reading. If I continue like that I won’t need medicine. I’m stopping the hormones at the end of this cycle to see where I am as regards menopause, I haven’t had a period for 16 months.

He presented me with an invitation for a free mammogram, it’s the third invitation I’ve had recently. There is a real campaign here to catch women over 50, I was due for one anyway so now I don’t have to pay.

I’ve lost another kilo, slowly but surely wins the race.

Auction
On Saturday morning we breakfasted on the port and went to preview an auction. Rob was interested because some of the lots were vintage postcards. We did a lot of watching as we haven’t done this before; who was looking and what were they interested in? One man was going through the lots card by card, some lots contained hundreds of cards. I think he must have known what he was looking for.

I didn’t go to the auction in the afternoon but Rob did. He came back with some treasures and spent too much. We shall see about that. There were some newspaper cuttings between some of the cards; A little bit of local history as a bonus! Some cards were from Germany, but not too many and Rob thinks he will be able to sell them anyway. One card that we shall keep is a German Christmas post card sent on 1903. The address is just:

Monsieur X,
Lafond Near La Rochelle.

Lafond has quite a few houses built over a hundred years ago, it’s a good job the postman knew everyone.

Unconscious Mutterings

1. Paralyzed:: can't move
   
2. Bossy:: dominant
   
3. Worth:: value
   
4. Breathing:: air
   
5. Uneventful:: quiet and peaceful
   
6. Return:: go back
   
7. Splint:: straight
   
8. Notice:: look again
   
9. Hero:: Super Man
   
10. Vulnerable:: fragile
    

Super Woman
As I said to the Empress, I would be wearing my Super Woman outfit yesterday. It was more of my Super Mum outfit in the end. Olivier saw a phone that he would like for his birthday in the sales. So I took him to the center commercial/shopping center/mall to buy it. He’s having to contribute quite a bit too but I think he’s got his money’s worth. This ‘phone’ is also an mp3 player, can take photos, film videos etc. etc. (you can make phone calls too, I imagine). There were ‘really great’ earphones and a memory card included. Everything a 1415 year old could ask for. So I am a wonderful Mum for taking him to buy it.
As my phone dates back to the last century, I’m having his old one. I’ve got a coloured screen now and can go on the wap if I want to. My new phone (only pic I could find) is half the size of my old one and so much lighter. He also had problems with it a couple of months ago and had it replaced under guarantee twice so it’s almost new!