Judith

30 mins from Carca and Beziers here (bewteen the two!) in a small village, at 10am it was reading 14 in the car (which is in an enclosed space, with the sun arriving), but it was much crisper than that once en route to Homps, where the wind blew along the canal as it always does. Everyone arriving for church said it was "cold today". By contract, yesterday, at roughly the same time, the car read 16, but as there was no wind, it actually felt much better, and yes, it seems that for the moment the cold snap has passed over. But the whole of the last week or so has been much colder than usual mornings and evening .. even I had to resort to heating for a couple of nights!

Menthe, you speak sense, as always. The elixir of long life has not been found, and as my dentist says, as he crowns yet another tooth, our teeth weren't meant to last as long as this. Same goes for bodies. We are amongst the first "lucky"generation to be able to think about getting old ....and we see the problems that causes every day. All we can do, is do our best, along the lines you just said.

I've had my "invite" fo reht jabs too, and they are on the same form, but I too cannot see if they come in two doses or one. But what NormanH says about their administration is what I deduced from my form. And yes, the Covid ones are usually batched, as they need to the whole phial at one go (I foudn that out at my first jab as Ihad the last in the phial though they thought I was not the age to be called up( was!), but decided to give me it anyway as it was lunchtime and this one would finish the bottle as it were. It has about 6 shots in it. So it looks as though making an appointment for Covid is the way forward and have the flu at the same ..

The perils of translation indeed .. I now find I say TEP scan even when in England, and have to translate backwards when they look confused .. but I must admit, I had never made the connection with" animal de companie".. silly me!!

Indeed Menthe, they seem to sway between too much or too little .. I am more than happy to get info by email, texts are a pest but becoming the norm .. and a letter which could eaily have been sent by email even less appropriate .. or the alternative .. you get nothing ... Can't win. Letters can go astray, texts are nto always delivered (in spite of what people say), same goes for some emails, but so far they are the most reliable I have found, and unless I am travelling, seen far sooner than texts .. I regularly don't have my phone on anything but airplane mode to stop interruptions when not appropriate .... it's amazing how many times people say, I phoned yo but you did not anwer. I am not a business, so who said I had to be available al the time??? And certainly not at meal times, or when I am doing other things - no!!

I use that almost all the time now, only go to Google (and I don't use Chrome - hate it!) to search if I fail via duckduckgo...

Yes, I now use the system (similar to Doctolib, but run by ano), my MT uses to book regular appointments, but it only works for noon urgent appointments. BUt is works well for those regular appts I must have .. however, I have always found the Oncopole as friendly as it can be considering it's like a conveyor belt .. with one or two exceptions.. the lack their is not telling you if there is a delay or such when you arrive, so that you can make arrangements if need be .. but that is true for almost everyone these days .. communication is not what it was.

Menthe, Noisette, I can concur with both your experiences, down here in the south in NormanH's and my neck of the woods .. I have a choice of 3 cities / large towns to chose from (Carca/Narbone/Beziers, as I live on border of 2 depts, and all are about the same distance away ..plus Montpellier and Toulouse just a little further away, so better than for many, even though we are in the country. I don't use an MT in our large village though there are 2 or 3 doctors, as I go a little further to an English speaking doctor (yes, I know, naughty aren't I, but given what I've got on my plate, it's a big help for this non-native speaker ).. but it's the Oncopole at Toulouse where I go for my melanoma check ups (and yes, Menthe TEPs do cost that much, I have one every 3 months still - just checking all is well now, but even so), so it is not as such the location or the money, but lack of specialists, urgences only in certain places, (though the new Narbonne hopsital is now much closer since it's move), and longer waits for almost every specialist now (previously only dermatolgists and opthalmologists), is becoming evident. Letters from MT's help, cancer is seemingly dealt with much more quickly, and there will be exceptions of course, as wil having a sympathetic and available MT, but it does seem to be getting harder and harder to see any specialist now. Noisette, I know L&G quite well, sister has a holiday home there, and was there only 2 weeks ago, but one year when BIL needed urgences one early morning, they drove to the nearest, probably Marmande, and were told to go to La Reole (or other way round!), and because they'd gone under their own steam and not called SAMU as my sister had wanted to .. he had to wait for ages, but was well treated once he was seen .. their own home hospital is Addenbrookes .. not disimilar when my sister was told by her GP to go in for a gall bladder problem .. but the MT told BIL to drive her (9 miles) as it would be quicker than getting an ambulance.. and BIL knows the ropes there as he is a volunteer driver ... it took a while but she was seen and the problem identified pretty quickly but getting a real bed for her was another problem .. and which she had to occupy for 2 months as things took a turn for the worse when she got sepsis,.. she's OK now but it was a very worrying time .. so not much to chose between the two countries sometimes I feel.

Menthe, thanks, I might have a go - soometime .. currently on hols - so no baking at all!!

I've seen some wonderfully knitted pictures, including, once, Sandringham House, but never embroidery in this style. Quite brilliant!

I never thought of using oil instead of butter or margariine in cakes, Menthe. What sort of oil? I wonder if that is why my cakes always sink in the middle?? Not that I nake that often, but couldbe useful to try sometiimes!

It's summer, we're all on hols!!! Always quiet at holiday time, no matter the season! And in many places it's been too hot to think! I've only beenn popping in, too busy on hols to do any more!

Happily was othrwise engged, recovering from grotty roads all day .. M25/M11/ etc all at standstill. I was meeting one nephew and eating .. much better than watching a rain drenched opening ceremony .. in the dark with automtions which didn't work as far as I could see on morning re-running whilst having breakfast in the hotel!!!

Well Reagan did!

Aimed at getting the sympathy vote, perhaps??

Haven't played that for years!

Dear Chessie, I know you have been though the mill, and I sympathise, and hope that you are beginning to come out of the nightmare now. I've been trying to tell this to my OH for some time - a cancer diagnosis concentrates the mind particularly well - even when the outcome is as you'd hoped, and with your permission .. I'm going to take this on board. And ALBF, your comments too make interesing reading .. I'm adding that to my pile of information too.

Exactly my thoughts Menthe! Better things to worry about, espcially not being able to affect the vote at all with not vote! In fact, I'd almost forgotten about it today until I was parking my car for (English speaking) church, and realised. We use the car park of the hall (with permission of course) where the vote was taking place!

There is a list of what illnesses are "allowed" for an ALD. I once had a copy, but it is available if you want to search for it. Your GP will ask for one if it is appropriate. They are usually for conditions needing life long medication, but not all such illnesses are in fact covered eg high blood pressure, thyroid meds, most usually needing lifelong medication .. don't ask me how they decide what is an what is not ..

To the best of my inadequate knowledge pork and chicken should always be cooked right through. Beef is as Lehaut says, except that mince should also be cooked properly. But living in a household where OH won't eat any meat underdone, everything always très bien cuit, no matter what the chef thinks, it's never been a problem for me!

Thanks Dave, that explains it. I'n pre-Brexit, so as I thought, I'm still covered! I've only had to us it once, when I rang out of tablets, but it's nice to kow! Phew!

I must say, that if you are not already over here and with a withdrawal card, I'd give serious re-consideration to your plans. For one thing, what is your French like, many regions have similar problems to the UK, and the healthcare, though usually excellent, can be very patchy as Lori has said. Very few medical people speak much if any English still one in teh country and outside very large towns and cities. For your situation though, whilst there is improving assistance for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, that again is patchy, and the number of residential homes with special facilites limited. As the disease progresses language could well become more problematic too. Since Brexit, there are many more considerations to take into account, some of which have been outlined above, and though on the whole we all hope for better weather than in the UK, it cannot be guranteed, as you must know as you have lived here before. As others have said, the grass is not always greener ..

"Thirdly, you should know that, if you receive an S1 from the UK govt. it no longer gives you the right to treatment from the NHS. You would have to apply for an EHIC to cover emergency treatment should you wish to visit your family in the UK. " NormanH - are you sure about this? I am pretty positive that at least for pensioners living here and whose healthcare is ultimately paid for by an S1, making the UK their competent state, NHS care is free. At least it was the last time I looked into it.

Banana, I lost 10 stone when I stipped drinking alcohol on medical advice, though do take the occasion small glass of something alcoholic when I out it if I feel like it, occasionally. I've always limited my carbs, especially potatoes, but am happy to have a largish amount of pasta in a bolognese or similar from time to time. We've eaten at lunch time with a snack in the evening, ever since we retired almost uniquely. I've always been able to eat my way through salad with no problem too, just wish more places would serve meal sized salads especially in summer! I don't exercise overmuch, but we have a long house, so between my study and the kitchen and going up and downs stairs keeps me moving. Arthtitis is the problem really, and more limiting that peple realise. You lead an active life, espeically with a dog, so I am sure you'll make your target soon enough!

Happy to say, just got notificaton that my poll card is now safely with my proxy! One worry less!