Judith-aka-Judith

Cornemuser, all your postings are there, worry not. The forum sometimes takes time to  post them.   Lovely choice of instruments.  Me, I can't get a sound out of even a recorder ... so I use my voice instead ...

Lori, Don't know what size place you are in, but I find my washing dries overnight, using a standard clothes horse, no heating at all ... stands in the lounge .. where, OK, we do still have heating on. In London, I had an airer which was pulled up to the ceiling, likewise dried overnight (and you could exercise your arms when pulling it up!).  As for people going out when they are ill .. well you know that there's nowt so daft as folk (as well as queer!). Common sense went flying away long ago it seems to me, to answer other posters ...

What gets me in all of this is that the message to stay at home is being totally ignored in several countries, the UK is not the only country at fault.  The Mediterranean countries, where so far at least the spread and deaths are worse, asre all touchy feeley places, in pretty constant tiuch with their families, who live close by etc.  Less so in the UK but the palaver about not being able to see your mother is a farce, for year's we ignored it, got in touch as and when needed, hadn't lived near my family even then for years (jobs taken away, not fall outs!), and now I see my family once a year if I am lucky, but we email, ring each other, do facebook, etc et. I keep saying, it's not rocket science, you won't die if you don't see your family for a while, but you might die if you do at the moment.  Or what would be worse, they die because you've been in contact. As for the politicians, they have been slow to take on board what has been happening, and this is all countries, even China. What I do find heartwarming in all of this is the complete international co-operation amongst scientists and pharmaceutical companies to find a vaccine, or in the case of the malaria drug, a possible short term treatment, as soon as possible.  The fact that ALL are sharing the information they find immediately no matter what regime / political colour they are, is what is going to win this war in the end. But only if people do as they ask, and stay at home, so that the scientists have time to do their work correct and prove that the vaccine is viable and safe. And South Korea has gone the testing and tracing route, which seems to have worked very well indeed.  Their curve is much lower than any other country's.

I can't say whether it is essential, but from memory everything I have had back as LRAR has had a stamp on it.

I am wondering if, as is their wont, in about a fortnight, give and take a few days, people will get fed up and life will slowly return to normal ... once the virus is in the community there is, in fact, little you can do to stop it spreading, particularly in these touchy feeley countries .. obviously it is sensible to stop non-essential meetings, but I feel for the small restaurants, shops and such, as there are more things essential in life than the very basics.  Gardian has just given us a good example with his car. And I must go to the pharmacy tomorrow for my repeat meds, hope they have not run out in the panic.  Places have been much quieter even before this shut down, and  I think much could have done without total shut down, it's going to put a few businesses out action .. cash flow and all. And transport is being kept going - another absolute incubator of germs! It's all mad!

I thinkk I'd settle for a good cook ... fed up on having to cook all the time .. and he's not that good around the house either ... mmm, bad choice by the sound of it!!

Mint, yes, I saw a bit of that doctor, such a sensible and easy to understand response.  Now that, along with how properly to wash your hands (gosh, indeed so thorough) is what we should be doing, not wearing silly face masks ... and what the adverts should be saying.

Yes, sometimes you get a disc, sometimes paper, sometimes the film, I've had them all over the last couple of years!

Pickles, I use Vinci (now called Ulys) for my transponder, and I have one where I pay 1.50€ a month (from memory, but it's a very small amount) if I do not use it, but not in the months when I do, when of course I pay the tolls instead!  I am not sure if the same package I have is still available, but with what I have I can use it in the same manner now down as far as Barcelona .. and it is recognised by the Spanish tolls which makes travelling that far into Spain a doddle.  Since we are at that side of France, of course, trips into near Spain are not unknown!

I am much of the same opinion, unless it is mandtory, it will be of little use ... and whilst in theory having all your records in the same place should he a good idea .. I get no idea of the doctors in hospitals, surgeries, cliniques etc sharing ... whilst ever there remains a level of clerical / administrative ignorance, even occasionally incompetence ... I don't see it helping that much!

Well, now been and checked the date, in fact it was 21st May, but my diary doesn't tell me who we saw, just that we did see it!!  How annoying, it was somebody opening or presenting something because we saw them later in town ...

Yes, that's him, saw his residence in Phoenix Park last year when I was there ... plus a very posh cortege leaving .. now who the heck was there then, have a feeling US, but I could be entirely wrong ... we saw the whole caboodle later in the day when back and touring Dublin, but never saw the man himself.  May last year, anybody??

Just back from the repas des aînés, and both sides of me had problems with their hearing aids and the surrounding noise ... you would have thought that after all these years, the manufacturers could have come up with something to help ....

Idun - Germany - I think it used to be Honnecker, but only because I had a good German friend, and I might be wrong.  Agree, some Presidents (cf Ireland) are hardly known ...

Paul, I don't entirely agree with you. Anybody who has to pay tax in the UK for whatever reason, they are not always full blooded civil servants, will be affected.  Those pensioners on S1's will be affected by the state of the NHS (they get free treatment courtesy of their S1's as was discussed on here recently), they often have family there who it will affect, and this reflects on them too, plus the fact that we now have no where else to vote, thus being completely disenfranchised scorns the struggle that has gone on over the years, and makes a joke of universal suffrage.

Not using the web to do anything on a weekend (ie Friday night until Monday morning) which involves officialdom, financial serves, and even orders, seems sensible, I've fallen through that loop before now too. Even orders sent to Amazon at the w/e are never moved on as quickly as when you order during the week.

And it seems that what they doing in Tenerife reflects what they did on the Diamond Princess, and we know how that speeded up the catching it rates, don't we?

Indeed it's a shame, as PatF was always a good source of advice and as you say the before and after.  I do know the problems of being locked out, I suspect nearly everyone on here has been there at some point or another.  Loiseau, when you are next in touch with PatF, do please tell here that we shall miss her too.

Mint, all I can say is that foil can often be recycled, just wipe clean if needed first, whilst I am pretty sure that cling film cannot.  Swings and roundabouts as to keeping things fresh, but another advantage of film is that it can be used as a cover in the oven or elsewhere if needed too ... Just my twopennorth, can't say which works best though.

Excellent, makes many things make more sense now!  I won't mention the "B" word, but yes, even there!

Mint, as ever, in spite of your own difficulties, you are so supportive.  The good news is that this morning, having not slept well I must admit, I did manage to get an appointment to see a doctor (come between 9.30 and 10, I was seen about 10am .. not bad, nit my own, I  knew she was on holiday) and yes, it is infected ... came back with antibiotics to take, antibiotic ointment and antiseptic to clean with .. such is the French system, overkill, if onlythe surgeon had prescribed anti-biotic ointment to start with!! To return to the real subject of this post - accents.  I can manage those 4 nasal sounds quite well, it's those sounds we don't have in English - as in "pu" that I struggle with.  Never mind, the doctor understood me well enough this morning, and said I spoke good French.  It always helps to apologise for your poor French as you speak to them, it always pleases them!

Thanks Mint, Simonfly .. keeping a watching brief today, less inflammed as far as I can see this morning ... annoyingly back on painkillers / anti inflams, temporarily ... but so far seem to have helped ...

Mint, my apologies.  You are quite right, I mis-read what you said ... mea culpa, been an odd day .. never got everything done, I'd hoped to do. Thank you for asking after my leg, sadly today when the nurse came, to re-dress it, it was looking a bit unhappy, pink again, having been quite clear on Thursday, so to say I am slightly worried is an understatement.  And of course, it's a weekend so nothing I can do now till Monday .. so hoping I am strong enough to cope ... I was really feeling so much better too, yesterday.  But that, it seems, is life as you get older!

We sometimes get dancing plastic garden chairs, which usually end up in the pool, and tables, which don't but do end upside down with broken legs and chops out all round.  Never been awake to see it though. After the flood we found one missing plastic green chair in the pool, but days afterwards as the pool water was so muddy we couldn't see it. That wasn't wind though ... but the rain.  And on the same occasion, sadly, in the lower fish pond, several little fishes swam and swam, right over the dam, as it were, and were found scattered, dead, of course, around the garden.  Of course, at the time, the garden was the least of our worries, and we didn't bother with it until we'd made the house liveable again ... at least in  part.  Weather, indeed, when angry, can be disastrous.

Ha ha, Mint! Don't like northern accents?  That's me sunk then!  No, to be honest, I can put on a good Yorkshire accent when I want, but I don't use it in normal speech, and though my vowel sounds will always be broader than my southern husband's, (how we pronounce Bath, for exmaple, much differs) I can and do use whatever goes for RP these days .. those elocution lessons came in useful I see! And no, I don't use a strong accent in French, we were taught by English teachers whose french probably came from the Loire area ... and I agree that those who speak French with a very strong English accent (and I know one or two here) grate remarkably.  But they do seem to make themselves understood, which is the most important thing. I have, however, learnt to pronounce ends of words in the Midi way, vingt-e in our telephone number, for example or else no-one understands it ... but I still cannot say "vin" like "vent" which is what they say for "vin"!!!