Saturday to Tuesday

We had a very good, but busy weekend. Managed to send Olivier off with his clothes all washed and dried in time. We went to a Christmas market in a nearby town, mainly to see our friend Janet who has a stand there and makes amazing things to give as gifts. She hadn’t made any mince pies this year, still we got some from the Irish Counter in town a few days ago.

Poor Dom ended up with a migraine on Saturday night. She rarely drinks alcohol and had a kir (White wine with an alcoholic blackcurrant syrup) at a bar in town. I think it’s the high sugar syrup which causes it. Anyway she slept for 14 hours. She works so hard. While she was here she printed out a report to read, 50 pages, amongst all of the other things she has to do. However, she does get rewarded for her hard work. J-M also bought work to do with him, he’s studying philosophy.

On Monday I helped to supervise a TOEIC exam. Lots of papers to sort into alphabetical order at the end. I came home with a migraine which didn’t go even after a sleep. We went out for a walk, it was dry and windy, coupled with a big dose of paracetamol it did the trick.

Yesterday was my visit to the leg Doctor. It went as well as can be expected. She was only 15 minutes behind and I swear the bus drivers hid around corners in wait for me, the buses co-ordinated perfectly and I was home earlier than I expected. While I was waiting to go in the receptionist came into the waiting room to change a light bulb. Fortunately I asked her if she was sure the light was turned off, which it wasn’t. She was running around in her bare feet as she’d taken off her shoes to climb onto a chair; ‘It’s a good job there is no one here’ she said to me. I’ll take that as a compliment.

The dreams coincide

Olivier is home for the weekend and we’ll be picking up Dom and J-M later. I was telling Olivier about my dream (see Grumble, Grumble post below) which made him laugh, he liked the thought of sitting there while I peddled away. Then he asked me about dreams of teeth. I found my book about dreams and the dreams he is having indicate a passing from one stage to another i.e.: he’s growing up. I think that my dreams are about letting him go – it’s becoming more and more difficult for me to look after him in the way I used to.

Then we were talking about the importance of silence between friends. You don’t have to fill every second with noise and it’s a nice feeling, shared quietness, he said. Yes, he’s definitely growing up.

Grumble, grumble

I feel really grumpy today though grumpy is too nice a word for how I feel; murderous perhaps.

I dreamt that I had to take Olivier to his usual lift back to Poitiers. We were running late and he hadn’t packed or changed, he was in shorts because the sun had been shining. He said he wouldn’t bother to change and had I bought his new shoes as his others had holes, I told him I thought he was going to buy the shoes. He changed his shoes with holes for a pair of flip flops. Our means of transport was a bike with tiny wheels like a child’s scooter. I had to pedal while he perched on the back with his nearly empty bag. It was such hard work, lots of fast peddling for very little progress and we were late. When I got to where we were going I missed the turning so I had to find a place where I could reverse to turn around. I nearly reversed into a ditch and there was a tiny bird, a wren. I dropped Olivier off and set off for home, it was dark and my tiny light at the front was almost falling off and I had such a long way to go alone.

Fortunately the alarm went off.

The road we went along wasn’t the real road we use, but it is a road I’ve travelled along a lot in my dreams and I’m usually late or lost on it. Does anyone else have familiar dream places?

I’ve been out of sorts all day. Rob and I went into town this morning and had breakfast on the port – Rob wanted to sit outside which was a bit cold but not windy so I didn’t mind too much. Then we did a bit of shopping. Christmas pudding and mince pies and some Christmassy bits so that was nice, but it look up the whole morning. It’s cold and wet and windy so we set off for a walk and it started to rain and so on…

How to improve my Potnecy

I know that I shouldn't and I suppose that everyone must have seen these by now. They just crack me up.

In a spam received this morning:

"Be porud of whaat you havee in yoour truosers!

Hoow caan I imporve my potnecy if I gavee brith to 2 childern?
If you havee a feevr of 102 F moore thaan trhee daays proabbly the druug you take deosn't woork.

Shee haas her faiilngs-as whoo haas noot?-buut I nveer kneew her do it wheen copmany waas preesnt, at wihch timee you maay ferely turst her with wiens, spriits, or maalt liquros. My oown abdoe is logdings at Pneton Palce, Pentonvil-le. It is lwoly, buut aairy, oopen at the baack, and consdiered one of the 'ealthiset otulets. Miiss Summerosn! In the miledst langauge, I aodre you. Wolud you be so kiind as to al-low me (as I maay saay) to filee a declaratoin-to makee an of-fer!"

I do hope that Miiss Summerosn appreciates a proposal that has been distibuted around the world

Breakfast anybody ?

As there was nothing much on TV last night Rob and I watched a couple of episodes of Fawlty Towers (the one with the body and the Anniversary episode). I still find them hysterically funny. Anyway, I was reminded that John Cleese blogs too, so I went and looked at his blog to see what he’s up to. He’s recently been interviewed by a bunch of young men the Idiots of Ants. I’ve never heard of them, so if you have I'm sorry, but I’m out of touch with the English comedy scene unless it’s radio. This made me laugh so I thought I’d share it

Dom bought John Cleese’s book on psychology a year or so back, I must ask her to lend it to me.

That was the week

This last week has flown by and there were a lot of interesting things for me to blog about but I’ve forgotten them all. Olivier came home last weekend having been in Poitiers for the two previous weekends. He doesn’t look as if he’s dying from malnutrition or alcohol poisoning. I didn’t even have piles of washing to do. He and a friend had tried out using a laundrette, the university one had ‘broken down’ so they went into town, which was quite expensive so they did a communal wash to save money. He seems happy and answered my questions without losing his temper, usually a good sign.

I spoke to Dom recently on the phone and she might be heading for Edinburgh in the spring to a psychology conference. She’ll be meeting her colleagues from all over who are working on the same thing as her (don’t ask me I don’t really understand ). Later I got an email and she could have a job next summer in a Scottish laboratory. I wonder if she realises how different the climate is between here and Scotland. She and J-M are coming to stay next weekend so I’ll have more details then.

I’ve started to think about putting up the Christmas decorations. Rob put the outside ones up on Friday afternoon. We put them on when it got dark and I heard one of the little girls from next door exclaiming ‘ooooh!’. I expect her parents are now cursing us because she wants some too.

Spam Sandwich

Stoop choletserol toady and you wiill livee withuot vascluar dsiease tomrorow!

I just had to share this one with you. I get the impression that the writer is so excited about his/her discovery that they haven’t had time to correct the typos before sending out the spam

“Yoour diganosis is bronhcial ashtma? Buut thiis is noot the eend of lifee!”
I’m so glad to know that

“Hundrdes of aanti-fluu reemdies advertsied nowdaays aree moore myth thaan real savlation.”
I don’t think they are sold as remedies it you read the packet. They just ease the symptoms to make you feel more comfortable.

"Coome ngiht, coome drakness, for you can-not coome tooo sooon or staay tooo loong by suuch a plcae as thiis! Coome, strgagling ligths into the windwos of the uugly hosues; and you whoo do iinquity tehrein, do it at laest with thiis derad scnee shuut oout! Coome, flmae of gaas, burinng so slulenly aobve the iroon gatee, onIt is weell thaat you shuold caall to eevry pas-serby, "Loook heere!"”

I think they’ve copy and pasted part of a different spam letter here.
I especially like this part; "wihch the poiosned aair depostis iits wicth-ointmnet slmiy to the tuoch!” It would have been a useful line to threaten the children with when they were small.

Makes a change from all the lotteries I’ve won recently. Oh - I forgot to mention the threatening letters I’ve been getting from the FBI. If I stop blogging you’ll know why….

Have you seen this girl?

Our time traveller has cropped up again. Keith said in a comment:

“Remember the 'time-travelling girl' in on one of your old postcards? I was watching the news on Yahoo last week about the rioting in London and I saw a girl in the crowd wearing the same clothing. I noticed her particularly because everybody else was dressed for the cold weather except her. I searched your archives and sure enough she was the spitting image of the girl on the card. I know it was just a coincidence and I had a vivid imagination, but I thought it was very strange at the time; and no, I hadn't been at the meths bottle either!”

Which left me wondering if anyone else has noticed her around the world. Have a look at the picture from a postcard which is from August 1925 below. If you have seen her please leave me a comment saying where and when.




In the meantime have you seen this man?

Oh to be beautiful...

Today was the third session of my second year of injections into the veins of my legs. At the end of the session I told the doctor that I always mean to count them but usually forget. She told me that others had managed to count. ‘How many?’ I asked, ‘About 100’ she replied. I’ve still got a long way to go. So you can tell how bad my legs are. One day I’ll wear a mini skirt again….

Happy Birthday Dom!

Dom was seven and a half years old when this photo was taken. Today she’s 21. I just can’t believe how the time has passed. Happy Birthday Dom! Hopefully she’s been able to take some time off from studying to celebrate in style. I wonder what time I should phone her up?

This is the second weekend that Olivier hasn’t been home. I’m really pleased that he’s bonding with his fellow students, as it were, but it’s very strange, especially today as Rob is working and I’m all on my own. Oh well, I can dream about all of the washing that’s sure to come my way…

Last night was a first for us. We’d decided to fetch a pizza from the pizza place in the village. It’s only open on Friday and Saturday nights. We discovered it’s not open at all in the winter months. So we decided to phone and have one delivered. Olivier and his friends have done it lots of times so we chose one of the companies he uses. The service was excellent, they delivered before the time they told us and the young girl (was she really old enough to drive?) that came to the door was really polite and chatty. Our call went though the Yellow Pages so she was in a bit of a panic when she saw the Parisian number (five hours drive!), she told me. Oh yes, the pizza was very good too.