mint

How crazy does that sound?[8-|]  No doubt future generations will look at our present attestion dérogatoire and think we are crazy too. Thank goodness, we now have no plague (though you might argue the coronavirus is wort), no emperor, no guillotine and amputations for gangrene are not every day affairs......phew!

I don't use cream at all for a Victoria sponge.  Just a good thick layer of jam (preferably homemade) is fine by me.  If you do use cream, you'd have to eat up the whole cake the same day?  Bear in mind that, at the moment, you can't invite anybody to help you out?

To have a bit of a light moment in the midst of poor Chessie's serious problem, I don't think, Sue, that she really wants to go down to the commisariat for Plod to knock her down and out as a "light anaesthetic"?

It's not that I won't have it; rather that I'd wait a bit to see what reports there are about the desirable AND undesirable effects. Also, you see, being a self-sacrificing sort, I shall cede my place to the more needy and eager[:P]  So.....after you, gentlemen and ladies.....[:D]

Joining a Zoom meeting is a cinch, right?  No, no, no!!!! So, create account, sign on, put in code for meeting and away you go.  THAT was what I was led to believe. Done the creating bit but signing on was impossible.  My password was not recognised. I reset it, tried to reset it again, not recognised.  Tried computer generated password, no access.  After 6 different approaches, no nearer.  Was then locked out for 30 minutes for 6 fails....blimey just like being hit on the fingers by a ruler by that sadistic nun in my convent school! At the end of 30 minutes, I did manage to sign on with yet another new password.  By that time, the meeting was over but, according to Zoom, the meeting hadn't yet started. Anyone else gets this sort of grief with Zoom?  Or is the whole world against me, much as it is against Trump[+o(]

Sid, if it's any consolation, in the "old days" when you had to send everything to Paris, the cost of the passport was higher than 86 quid.  If memory serves, it was £112 plus, of course, the postage. So Sid, you and Mrs Sid had a bargain!  There, doesn't that take out some of the sting?[:D]

Does come by special courier, Gardian, and you have to sign for it before they hand it over.

 Lehaut, if you mean me with your travelling remark, then you needn't worry.  The last time I travelled was in 2018 and that involved one single trip to Ariège for 4 days.  The other 261 days, I was chez nous[:D]

Wooly says "Are you up for it?" If you mean am I personally up for it, I would have to say that for the moment I am not sure.  It could be because I have in the recent past seen an awful lot of doctors and have suffered one or two mishaps from their ministrations! Thus my faith in doctors have been shaken somewhat.  I MIGHT adopt an attitude of "wait and see"[8-)]

Don't worry, Wooly One, I have read (though with much incredulity) that a vaccine could start rolling out in January. So are you amongst the first in the queue for one?

Piece of cake, take photo, save and upload[:P] Just be prepared to have photo rejected on some flimsy basis.  We were told that OH's photo only "showed the face" ie only part of the head.  But you can "insist" that you want to use the photo and, as long as you can give an explanation, the photo is then accepted. OH explained that, at his age, he'd lost some hair and what was left was white and didn't show on the photo.  No problem after that[:D]

Sorry, guys, just looked in here hence only just read this. I had heard from her but it must have been a month ago.  OK, just checked; it was 18 October.  At that time she was well and busy doing a few things around the house.  She didn't say why she'd not been on the forum. I am sure she will be back when she feels "good and ready", as she herself might say! I don't think there is any need to worry about her[:)]

Oh, Wools, I am so sorry to hear that.....commiserations[kiss] That's a very tough one to get over.....

Yes, there are green ones and geckos and house ones and lounge ones.  Wooly's got some creepy friends?

Spot on, Weegie, once you have passed your 45th birthday, the boxes come delivered by 2 councillers[:D]

Exactly as Weegie has explained except for a couple of small variations.  We sent the identical documents on line as Weegie. For the RV, OH had to produce a justificatif as well as the photos and his passport.  I had to produce my acte de naissance (see, I TOLD you I didn't look my age[;-)]) as well. Didn't get photos from the booths.  Oh no, much too vain for that [:D]; had ours taken by a proper photographer and she measured the photos to make sure they were exactly 45 mm x 35 mm.

Nomoss, I thought that Boris only compared himself to a butcher's dog?  Now don't you think a lizard is a bit of a comedown from a dog?[8-)]

This is in today's Sud Ouest, our "local" newspaper but the news coverage is excellent and is nation wide. [url]https://www.sudouest.fr/2020/11/17/emmanuel-macron-devrait-s-exprimer-la-semaine-prochaine-8087366-10861.php[/url] Don't know about anyone else but any talk of déconfinement makes me nervous.  Surely, with hundreds dying per day, more admissions to intensive care and over 2 million infected, now is not the time to even think about loosening restrictions?[:-))] What about all the previous reassurances about the government's prioritising the health of the French people before that of the French economy?

We too get hampers, one each.  I've only had one for the first time last Christmas having proudly qualified by then[:)] We have a meal organised too but we don't go as it would be too much food for elderly digestions[:P]

Yes, nomoss, hasn't it be said that people get the government they deserve?

nomoss, thanks for the nice, innocent joke[:D]

OK then, if the queen and her husband get theirs, I might consider accepting if it was offered to me[:P]

I've never placed a bet either, lehaut.  It's just that the bookies more often than not get it right more accurately than the polesters[:D]

The UK government has said that the vaccine will be prioritised for people in care homes and the over 85s and then rolled out to others with the over 75s after that and so on down to the youngest. AFAIK, all the volunteering human guinea-pigs are healthy, young adults.  So not tested on the elderly and the fragile.  So, do you think Boris wants to be rid of us, economically inactive, heavy NHS users and blockers of large homes and too- stubborn- to- give- up- the- ghost types?[6]

What odds are the bookies quoting?