menthe

....does not suit me, not my mind or my body. It confuses me no end and upsets my daily routine. I think about all the living creatures that this shifting about between winter and summer time who are affected adversely. The premature babies in their incubators who wonder when the nurse is going to give them their syringeful of food, the baby birds thinking about the next chewed up worm to be put in their mouths, the poor early morning workers going to work lacking sleep and motivation and so the list goes on. Would YOU welcome an end to this madness?

Don't know, Wools, she didn't reply to my last email sent several months ago.

AnOther, I wish TeamedUp (or idun) could be here to look at your photos. I reckon you two could be the first forum members to star in Forum MasterChef. Or maybe Forum BakeOff?

Lucky you! I'd have given anything to have met Claire IRL but I did meet Coops and I spoke on the phone with a couple of others.

betise, how you have brought back memories! Yes, 5 element and Catalpa and the others you have mentioned. And how could we not have mentioned Claire? Then there were the other French folk: Frenchie and ericd some while later. Are there any French people left on the forum? They were so patient with my efforts to learn French and always so ready to correct errors without making you feel a dunce! betise, besides you, wasn't there someone else called maybe Emily who helped Coops with all that health stuff? Then powerdesel with that wonderful swagger of his....ha! ha! You always knew who to ask about specific things, eg Sunday Driver about anything to do with driving in France. Those were truly the days......

Not that name but I remember someone who sounds like your man! What was his forum name? I do remember another Chris, Chris Head but he sadly had a lot of mental health problems, BEFORE it became fashionable to have these!

AnOther, your move to Spain has obviously been a happy one and one that suits you....so félicitations on that. Must admit the restos sound incredible though I am sure Mrs A's cooking (from memory of the scrumptious treats you posted photos of) easily surpasses any of those restos' But, don't mention fuel bills, ours are literally through the roof! I am very envious..... So happy to have heard from you, I see you will stay forever YOUNG (ah...couldnt resist that one!)

Same goes for the Acte de Vente....no need for anyone to "displace" themselves. BTW do you still need to appoint someone to have power of attourney the way you did in the "old days"? We were told this signatory could be a clerk or some such from the notaire's office. What is the current procedure, DL?

Damn thing got posted before I'd finished. I meant to ask how is life treating you and Mrs A in Spain?

Oh, how lovely to see you back, AnOther, even if briefly. Must remind you yet again, I STILL have my VALID French paper driving licence thanks to your timely advice😀 Not to forget all the other times you gave me excellent and much needed advice. How is life

DL can I make an embarrassing confession? I had to google the Four Tops!!! Sometimes I think I stopped noticing things round about 1955.....

I hope that this thread will remind the oldtimers (me? 2006) about how important a part this forum has played in their lives. And I hope the newbies will realise how the forum used to be lively and, yes, fun! Can we all make a huge effort to keep it going? After all, you don't need to be an expert in anything, you could have an opinion, a joke to share, a discovery to reveal to others. It's really not that difficult, is it?

Agree with you totally about Cooperlola....I missed her posting here for years afterwards.

YES, I noticed it only this morning.....drives me mad too;

Wooly, you just leave us walkers out of it, OK?

How could I have left off "reach out"? I've only just remembered this ghastly expression in the last couple of days when the Princess of Wales gave her speech about her cancer diagnosis. In no time at all, all sorts of bods "reached out" to her....including, naturally her brother- and sister- in-law. As though the poor woman doesn't have enough to contend with without all and sundry reaching out like that....uuuggghhhh! If I were her, I'd make sure I am well and truly out of reach! Can't people just approach or even contact someone instead?

Yes, the forum is nothing if not a bit prissy! Recently I mentioned walking on the Offa's D.y.k.e and blow me, if it didn't "disallow" the second word!!

Haven't done Hadrian's wall but I did the Offa's ****. Started on the sea front in Rhyl then to Conway and so on all the way down to end up in the mud flats under the motorway bridge at Newport!

Oh rowland, you have reminded me of something and I absolutely HAVE to tell you this. Loiseau might be interested too and it's completely off topic for the thread so mods, PLEASE let me ramble on and tell rowland? Well your post brought memories of that incredible experience of the compostelle even though that was nearly 13 years ago. As you have said, I was posting and building up my courage to go and a member of the forum gave me a virtual introduction to a friend of his. This friend then sent me a poem to get me going on my way. I took the poem with me, it has such wise words and so here it is:

I love magnolias but it is a very big tree so I have never had my own.

Good heavens, you two make me feel positively young in forum terms!

!Wow! 80 grand? I am in total awe. Yes, Galicia is known for rainy, misty and cold weather. But, as you say, it is a great experience and you and your friends must have worked very hard for that money. Bravo! Don't worry about hijacking any thread. You could say that October was your favourite time of 2023!

rowland, I have learned something from you. I have just looked up bergenias and I am going to clear a patch of ground for them next year.

Spring is here, even officially. Today is the first really warm day with the sun shining bright and a cool light breeze. I love the first days of spring when the lizards are coming out and the birds are singing their hearts out. It's one of those days when the garden is irrisistible and I just have to step out into it, even in the midst of cooking lunch. I stroll around looking at all the signs of life in the greenery underfoot as well as overhead. Every year, after the murrier has been trimmed back, OH says I hope they haven't killed the tree. And I answer irritably why would the tree have been killed, it's never been killed so far has it? Oh well, that was just a blip and even glorious days of unreasonable hope need to have one small irritant or you'd think something's missing, wouldn't you?

Harder than ever to support their strikes. Yesterday, I was walking with a large group of mainly French walkers (maybe excusively French as nobody else ever seems interested) including a couple of hundred primary school children in a part of the Dordogne I have never visited. This was part of the Grande Randonnée vers Paris as part of the JO. I mentioned the possible strikes to some people I didn't know but were on the same walk. There was a lot of anger (including mine) that the strikers should even consider action to disrupt the JO. How could they have the heart to do this with the whole world's eyes on Paris and France? This is their country that they profess to love? On the plus side, you should have seen little kids some no older than 5 years old, turning up to walk their own little bit of the randonnée and the elderly people coming out in their salles des fête and mairies and leisure centres, dispensing drinks, refreshments, friendship and encouragement to the walkers.