A Fresh Start?

Should I – shouldn’t I?  That is the question.

Oh well, lets give it a go again. At least the ‘new post’ page looks a bit more like it used to and there is even a button to publish at the bottom.

2011 was a strange year: there didn’t seem to be time to do anything yet not much seemed to get done -and didn’t it fly by?

December was a sad time because our dear friend, Michel, died on the 6th and I found myself playing  for his funeral because he didn’t like CDs played in church and wanted to ‘hear HIS harmonium’. Marie is being very brave and  fortunately she has many friends and neighbours besides us who are looking after her.

Christmas and New Year were cheered up by our friend from America, Adrianna, who came to stay provided we let her do most of the cooking. That was an offer I couldn’t refuse!

We had turkey AND boar on Christmas day, capon on Boxing Day,  salmon AND monkfish on New Year’s Eve (with the left overs the next day). Whale requested beef stew for his 8oth birthday on December 28th and then we had venison last night as a finale before Jay and CC took Adrianna to Paris for a final ‘fling’ before her flight back on Thursday.

Meanwhile the plumber is here to install a new boiler at last. He has been promising to do it since October!

Right, now lets see if I can publish this short post.

Giving up

It seems to be more and more difficult to find the time to write regularly and ever since WordPress changed the format YET AGAIN I can’t figure out how to do a new post except by using the ‘Quickpress’. Will still try to come and ‘visit’ all my friends though.
Love and hugs to all of you.

Medical news

Life seems to have revolved around hospitals recently.

Whale was admitted to the Centre for Re-Education for intensive physio on April 27th. However, during his stay he was taken to Casualty not once but twice with a severe urinary infection. The first time he spent 10 days in bed and so undid any benefits from his exercises and the second time, although he was only bedridden for half that time it still feels as though all the previous weeks in the Centre have been achieved nothing in the way of progress.

Not only that, but his 60 days (per year) of insurance cover for a single room have just about been used up with nothing to show for it.

It seems he will be coming home for good at the end of next week (but he does come home at weekends) and we have an interview with the doctor on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite the fact that the Centre is nearing the end of its renovation Whale has been moved about from rooms in the new part to rooms in the old section. All the new rooms have private facilities but in the old wing it’s a case of sharing the toilet which is not very convenient at all.

Then there was the problem of getting up in time for the physio sessions which normally start at nine. On several occasions he missed his slot – or was late – because the aides soignantes didn’t get around to helping him until very late.

For the first week or so the phyios didn’t seem to know what to do with him and some of them didn’t seem to take much interest anyway.

All in all, although I’m grateful for the ‘holiday’ I don’t think Whale has had any benefit at all.

I know he can be irritating and maybe that’s why they tend to ignore him a bit but the standard of care leaves much to be desired.

On a more humorous note I leave you with a ‘Whaleism’:

He has his own telephone with a direct line but always rings unnecessarily each time he has a thought instead of saving it up for a good chat once or twice in a day.

After many times of trying I thought I had finally got through to him that it would be better to make a list of the things he wanted as he thought of them and then to ring after lunch so that we could get everything ready before visiting.

So the next morning he rang at 8.30:

“I’m making my list and I’ll ring you later to tell you what I need”.

Brussels Sprouts

As I may have mentioned, Bear and I like to have lunch at the local bar/restaurant once or twwice a week but over the last few months we’ve noticed a gradual lowering of quality in the meals offered.

It always used to be excellent value for money and I suppose the ‘patron’ doesn’t want to put up his prices in the present financial climate so his only choice is to cut costs.

Today’s menu really brought it home as the choice of plats du jour was:

Entrecote (at extra cost)

langue de boeuf

choux de bruxelles (!!!!)

I thought I had misread the third option so asked Fabienne what it was.

“Yes, it’s Brussels sprouts” she explained, “and he’s added some pieces of bacon.”

Bear wouldn’t eat steak or tongue and I was intrigued so we both had the sprouts.

The plates arrived with a large quantity of very overcooked (from frozen) sprouts laced with lardons (small pieces of bacon) , some boiled potatoes and one thick slice of streaky bacon.

It was edible – just.

What a shame that our favourite eating place is reduced to this. It’s no longer somewhere we could happily take friends and family when they come to visit and I’m not sure I really want to eat there more than once a week – if that – but it would be a shame to abandon Hugue when he’s only trying to make a living.

Le Magnétiseur

Bear has been suffering more and more with pain in his legs recently. The only tablets that give any relief are anti-inflammatories which are forbidden because he already has some kidney damage.

Our GP says he should take six  100omg paracetamol tablets a day but there doesn’t seem much point if they don’t help the pain.

Philippe at La Fontaine suggested we went to see a Magnétiseur. He had seen one in Deauville and it had done him good. Unfortunately he didn’t know any local practitioners but Arlette knew a customer who might be able to help and, sure enough, a couple of days later she rang me with details of someone nearby who was a magnétiseur.

I made an appointment and we went this morning at 10 o’clock.

Bruno is in the throes of moving from a modern house in a beautiful village south west of Charleville to a tiny hamlet further away so the rooms were pretty bare apart from some chairs and ‘medical bed’.

He made us feel at ease immediately but explained that curing arthritis would be impossible. He couldn’t even promise that he could relieve the pain but he would do his best. Then he sat down opposite Bear and tried to persuade him to relax. He used a kind of small pendulum and checked his chakras one by one. Then he asked him to lie on the bed and continued the treatment by passing his hands over Bear’s body from his head to his toes,  pausing at each chakra and sometimes making gestures as though he were throwing something away.

This might seem crazy but Bear said he could feel his hands moving over him even though he never touched him and both he and the Magnétiseur had their eyes shut. He described a sensation like bubbles moving and bursting and at the end of the session he said that although the pain was still there it didn’t hurt in the same way.

Bruno apologised for not being able to offer us a drink but said Bear should have a large glass of water as soon as he got home. He might feel a bit dopey for a day or two but this was normal. He said that if Bear felt the treatment was beneficial he would need another couple of sessions. If, on the other hand, he felt it hadn’t worked then maybe he’d like to try another Magnétiseur as they all have their own methods.

I asked him how he had become a Magnétiseur and he explained that he only started a couple of years a go and felt it was an ‘obligation’ – I suppose he meant a kind of calling. Training is free if you have the ‘gift’ and ongoing in that you spend time with more experienced practitioners every so often to learn from them.

He said that he didn’t look what he was doing because his hands were guided. He asked if I believed in God and when I replied  ‘not the God of religion’ he went on to say he was guided by a ‘higher power’ -  whatever you believe in.

It was also interesting when he said that sometimes he is ‘not allowed’ to alleviate suffering because it is part of the lesson to be learned by the person concerned and if he took away the pain the lesson would not be effective.

When I reached for the chequebook he asked if we had cash.

“How much is it?” I asked.

“You give me what you think.” was the reply.

We had no idea of a suitable amount so Bear asked him to make a suggestion.

“Would 20 euros be alright?” he asked.

So that’s what Bear gave him and it seems to be well worth it.

Measles

I have been told that there is a measles epidemic at the moment, although I’m not aware of any cases in our neck of the woods.

Of course, people will blame Dr Andrew Wakefield for warning parents off the MMR vaccine but there is evidence that he was right all along. Dosing babies with more and more chemicals at shorter and shorter intervals must cause some sort of overload and may even inhibit the development of their immune system instead of boosting it and in certain cases it would seem, it has lead to autism.

All the same, measles is not a pleasant experience and can be a serious illness for some children.  My mother always maintained that it was measles that caused my very bad short sightedness and she may well be right.

There will soon be an ebook available free from this website . Beau Carrel produced an excellent book for treating ‘flu homeopathically some time ago and I found it very useful for warding off the dreaded lurgy last winter.

Although homeopaths are wary of the overuse of antibiotics he does not advise people to dispense with allopathic treatment and like all serious homeopaths he advocates working with your doctor to alleviate the symptoms.

It’s a shame that so many doctors throw their hands up in horror at the very mention of alternative remedies   and refuse to work with complementary therapists   but it’s good to see that many  GPs in France are more than happy to use a combination of  treatments.

If any children in your family catch measles (or any other childhood illness) I do hope it will be a mild version and they will soon be back to normal health.

There are cases of shingles among the adult  population here and this could be due to vaccination against chicken pox. The immunity from the vaccine doesn’t last forever (but immunity from having chicken pox itself is usually for life) and this makes people more susceptiple to the more serious version of chicken pox. This makes me question the wisdom  of suppressing a pretty harmless childhood illness if it leads to a more serious problem later on.

But then, they are bound to come up with another vaccination against shingles sooner or later aren’t they? And I’m not getting involved in the pros and cons of that. . . . . .

In need of a rest

Rosemary’s visit was a bit of a mixed bag.

I was really worried that she would be bored by the fact that we couldn’t go out much for various reasons including Bear and his painful knees plus moodiness and the fact that Jay’s car broke down and was only just ready in time to take Rosemary to Paris to catch her train.

On the plus side, we had ample time to talk and relax and also enjoyed a few good family meals, especially CC’s birthday, but also the delicious dinners Jay produced for Rosemary’s first and penultimate nights with us.

The few outings we had into town were mainly necessary ones because CC  found that her card had been used fraudulently and this meant reporting the fact to the police ( not once but twice!) and waiting on a very hard seat for well over an hour to speak to the officer concerned.  Rosemary also accompanied us in waiting in  queues at the bank. It wasn’t that there were lots of people in front of us, it’s just that it took ages to deal with one or two customers.

When the car broke down there was a frantic call from Jay but I was glad Rosemary opted to stay at home with a good book as it meant waiting around in the hot sun in a busy road until the police came to push us into a safe position. The chap from the local garage went with Jay to tow it back to the garage after lunch but they couldn’t deal with the fault because it was electrical.

They had to take it back to town to the electronic specialists who reported that it was a ‘vicious short circuit’ which took a very long time to track down.

We were on the point of buying train tickets to Paris when they announced it would be ready on time – just!

Whale has finally been taken into the Centre for Re-Education for some intensive physio. Apparently he will be there for a few weeks but can come home at weekends. It would have been an opportunity to go away for a few days if Bear were more mobile and painfree but it just isn’t worth it in his state of health.

Did I hear you suggest that I might go away on my own?  Fat chance; he wouldn’t like that.

Visitors

Now that Winter is (hopefully) nearly over we can look forward to visits from family and friends  in the coming months.

It looks like a busy time ahead with Daphne and Johnny due to arrive tomorrow – together with the chimney sweep, who was supposed to come on Tuesday morning but he rang at the last minute and changed his rendezvous to Friday. Oh well, it saved me worrying too much about (not)  dusting the living room.

Bear is suffering from a bad back. Something clicked when he lifted the toilet seat, and he can hardly move without yelping in pain. I’m also concerned about his driving now that I realise how bad his eyesight is getting. We went to the opthalmologist last week and I was stunned to find that he couldn’t make out a rather large E -  he thought it was a square.

It means that I’ll have to pluck up the courage to take the wheel when we go out with Daphne and Johnny. He drives all day at work and doesn’t like driving during his holiday. However, if my driving makes him nervous he’ll have to take over.

After two days of almost Summer temperatures – 21 degrees – it has turned cold again. The short burst of enthusiasm for gardening has been blown away by the chill wind and so there’s no hope of clearingthe enormous pile of branches in the middle of the garden – which is all that remains of four conifers  – before our visitors come.

It was a shame to cut down the trees but Willow, our youngest and most agile cat learned how to climb up them and jump over into Claudine’s garden. The only problem was that it wasn’t so easy for her to get back and it meant going next door to rescue her.

I don’t like the idea of chopping down trees withut replacing them so I’ve bought two more fruit trees. Hopefully I’ll be able to get two more next year.

At Easter we’ll welcome Rosemary and in May Wendy is coming over with her husband, son and his girlfriend so that means I’ll see all three of my sisters.

In June we’re expecting a friend of Jay’s from America and in July a friend of mine from college days and our friends from Norfolk who come every year (but not all at the same time).

It will be lovely to see them all but I may be ready for a ‘holiday at home’ in August.

Food related items

Firstly the good news is that our local ‘superette’ has reopened after sitting there dismally neglected for well over a year. The previous managers got into financial difficulty  and upped and left all of a sudden, although it was clear things were rapidly going downhill. The meat and vegetables were left on display long after they were past their best and the cheerful people who took over the shop became rather surly and bad tempered. The customers voted with their feet and didn’t go in unless it was a dire necessity.

The new people have completely gutted the interior and transformed the shop into a clean and spacious area where there is a small but comprehensive selection of  all the basics. Unfortunately they have a large number of  ‘Grand Jury’ products – a ‘cheap’ brand which is cropping up in all the supermarkets and is noticeably of inferior quality.

However, the bright smiles and welcoming attitude of the ladies who have taken over make you want to support them and wish them well in their  new enterprise.

The second news item is that we have a market on Saturday mornings now.  Nearby villages only have a market once a month so we are being spoiled. It’s strange though, that some weeks there is quite a good selection of stalls but at other times there are only a couple of fruit and veg merchants and  the fish van. But on March 12th we are promised an extra special market including lots of local products that we don’t normally see on our doorstep.

Now, the final bit of news is that today I plucked up the courage to try ‘steak tartare’ at the local restaurant. It appears as one of the ‘plats du jour’ from time to time and I have often asked myself if I dare give it a go. Yes, I’m usually game to try anything edible and there aren’t many things I really dislike – oysters and tripe come to mind – so it was high time I gave the raw mince a chance.

“I’ve never eaten steak tartare so I’d like to try it” I  said to Fabienne when she came to take our order.

She nodded approvingly,  “with chips and salad? That’s how it’s usually served.”

“Yes please”.

“And a side order of sick bag” whispered Bear, but Fabienne doesn’t understand English.

Actually, Bear was quite concerned and assured me that I didn’t have to eat it. He even offered to get me a second meal if it was awful.

The restaurant was busier than usual and we had to wait a bit longer for the meals to arrive so I’d drunk half my wine by the time Fabienne appeared carrying three plates.

She put down Bear’s ‘boeuf braisé’ and then there, in front of me was a plateful of meat (with a raw egg on top) and chips and another plate full of mixed salad.

“It will take me all afternoon to finish this!” I exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, we’re not closing” quipped Fabienne.

Well, it was much better than I’d expected:  already seasoned and the texture was softer than I had  thought. In fact, it was quite delicious.

There were just two small problems: why did they put the hot chips with the raw meat and serve the salad on a separate plate? And, why was there so much of it?

It was very good but I simply couldn’t finish it all. About a third of the meat found it’s way back for the chickens and cats (by way of a small plastic bag) and I had to leave half the chips on the plate. But, I was a good girl and polished off all the salad.

Would I choose it next time it’s on the menu? Well, I’d be tempted but I wonder if they do half portions.

The Kitchen

You may remember that way back in July CC made a start on giving the kitchen a makeover.

Well, I’m pleased to report that it is 99% finished as of yesterday (well more like a week ago as I started this post last Wednesday!) when the dresser was finally assembled. But thereby  hangs a tale -  another tale of Bear and his moods. He’s never been good at DIY so I asked Jay if he would put it together. However, when he started to undo the packages Bear was not happy and made it clear that HE was going to assemble it.

Jay went off upstairs while I tried to calm Bear down and we agreed we’d leave the parcels done up for the time being.

But later, unaware of this little fracas, CC attacked the boxes. Bear came along and went mad. He started shouting at CC; I tried to remonstrate with him; he became more and more insulting and finally Whale came out of his room and shouted back in CC’s defence.

It was quite noisy for a few minutes but eventually CC persuaded them to grow up and discuss things calmly. We left them exchanging insults in a slightly more civilised manner and went into the garden. It was all peaceful again when we came back.

It seemed politic to accept Bear’s offer of lunch at the local brasserie to give everyone time to get back to normal and,  sure enough, he came back after lunch as though nothing had happened.

I offered to help him put the dresser together even though it might mean more arguments as Bear does not like to be corrected. However, he took it in his stride when I pointed out one or two minor errors and even seemed relieved when I suggested that Jay might put the drawers together.

CC joined in as well  so in the end it was a joint effort – all four of us!

The final wall was painted a couple of weeks ago but we had to pinch the doors off the spice cupboard to put on the new cupboard under the worktop as we couldn’t find any others to match. You will notice that the new cupboard (far left) doesn’t have drawers either but the gap for the wine rack should, hopefully, detract from this slight discrepancy. CC also decided to change all the knobs to finish off the effect of a new look.

There is one visible place that is still waiting to be  finished off though. I wonder if you can spot it in this photo:

 

It’s in the arch on the left of the doorless spice cupboard. The wallpaper has been stripped off but some of it refused to budge without taking a substantial amount of  plasterboard with it. CC wants to find some more wallpaper to paste over and then paint but Bear insists several coats of paint will do the trick.

There are still a few little bits and pieces to do before it’s really neat and tidy everywhere but I’m more than happy to see it just about completed at last.