mint

Yes, ET, I wasn't talking about the emergencies and 24-hour jobs.  THEY certainly never stop. I was just thinking about routine stuff which all seemed to stop for days on end in the UK.  Leaving medical people aside, I remember people such as office staff, who would be off from Christmas Eve to after New Year's Day.  The anglos- saxons, UK and US people, appear to love Christmas, spend a lot of dosh and a lot of time eating and drinking.  Don't know about the Germans, they seem to go to great lengths to celebrate Christmas though not this year of course.  I have a German friend who lived alone for years (though she now has Papa Peter chez elle) and her house at Christmas always made me stop in wonder.....the trees the lights, the way the table was laid.....just lovely and never seems over the top to me as I have often been a guest of her hospitality[:)]

Judith, don't you admire how the medical people in France work till Christmas Eve and then restart  Boxing Day?  They even do that in the big hospitals and clinics. The year I was having radiotherapy, I had an appointment on the 26th to have my tattoos and the treatment started a day or two later. BTW, are you doing OK with your treatment?  I will get round to emailing or PMing you er.....after Christmas is all over[:D]

Does anyone else think that?  Or is it all lights and baubles and bubbly where you are? This all feels very strange, even weird.  I have done NOTHING and I mean not a single thing towards Christmas.  Well, no, not quite correct.  OH got out the ceramic tree given to us by the talented potter we knew decades ago and wanted to put it in its usual place on our rather nice chestnut "bahut" where it goes to enable its lights to be reflected in the large mirror on the wall behind.  So, my contribution was whisking off the embroidered cloth on the surface and dusting off all the dead flies and other insects and I even polished the mirror.  Can't remember when I last exerted myself so much[:-))] Forgot all about Christmas then until this afternoon when, after my kiné session, the man said he couldn't see me next Thursday as it would be the 24th.  Imagine my shock and horror, how could I have got to today in my state of stupor?  Oh well, still have Idun's moist fruit cake recipe and I daresay I could whip round the shops in the next few days. I also think it's not just the peculiar year we have had, we are now threatened with a troisième vague of the virus.  I darsay the head of the French health service is a reliable enough source of that information?

Yes, I remember that incident and the enraged but clearly frightened wife posting on here.  She was sounding desperate.  If my memory still serves, I believe that Sunday Driver contacted the wife and gave her some advice. Idun I wish you bon rétablissement[:)]

I was watching part of a docu on how the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine was developed.  Alas, couldn't watch it all because it was past my bed time. Certainly the first half an hour or so featured a team of brilliant women; head of research, head of manufacture, head of testing etc etc.  The whole set up however seemed to have a man at its head!  Seems to be like that quite often.  For example, there was a man who headed the General Nursing Council in England and Wales and this, of course, is a profession that employs predominantly women

[quote user="Loiseau"]Sherry varies widely, from dry fino, like Tio Pepe, via amontillado, to oloroso. Does the original recipe specify which end of the range? I would have thought something drier than Marsala would be best with a savoury dish. Supermarkets sometimes sell those small, fairly flat quarter-bottles of things like kirsch. I wonder if you would find something suitable among those? Actually maybe port (very popular in France) would be appropriate? Can you get the light colour? I suppose the tawny might impart a weird colour to your sauce.[/quote] But, Loiseau, Marsala doesn't taste sweet once it's in the sauce.  It adds subtlety and depth.  You know, same as if you are doing a stir-fry, you always add a small amount of sugar.  In fact, since I heard Carlucci said on tv that tinned tomatoes are too sharp for many Italian sauces, I now reduce the amount of the tinned juice and adds about half a teaspoon of sugar.  Can't taste the sweetness in that either. It's just something I do, do it for curries and all and nobody has ever said this tastes a bit sweet!

If you could get marsala, that would be the BEST choice in my opinion.  Used it a lot in sauces and it really enhances the flavour.  But I have never used it in France so don't know how easily obtainable it would be.

My gmail account accessible again.  I have replied.  Lovely message.  I was talking to my kiné this afternoon about Vengerov's appearance on Arte yesterday evening. I think he is doing good work on my scars but it's very nice to talk to someone about music and languages regardless[:)]

Good gracious what on earth is in that email, my dear Norman?  I couldn't get into the account.  I had a message to say we are sorry but your email is temporarily unavailable[:-))] Incendiary contents or........what?[:D] Now we'll have everybody WONDERING[8-|]

[quote user="Loiseau"]OMG, Norman! Are you the one in the white casquette?![/quote] Norman's too modest to tell you, Loiseau.  But I have it on good authority that he's the handsome one with the distinguished look about him[;-)] Cajal, Norman's is the racy looking one[I]  Yes, yes, I know that there are at least two meanings to racy but there it is.........

If you, like me, simply love the Mendelssohn violin concerto, here is Vengerov playing it in the piazza in front of the cathedral in Milan. [url]https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/097560-000-A/concerto-per-l-italia-riccardo-chailly-maxim-vengerov/[/url] I think this concerto has everything that a violin concerto should have.  Plus I really enjoyed the camera showing close-ups of Vengerov's hands playing.  His bowing technique is just fantastic. I wouldn't have recognised Vengerov though if I hadn't known it was him.  What happened to the slim young, dark-haired man whose playing first entranced me when I heard him play this very piece in Cardiff[:-))]

Norman, your fame precedes you[:-))] Can't reply on Lori's thread because the post takes up more space than the width of the screen.  Lori, you've only lived there for 5 minutes and you get your photo taken by Google Maps?  ......shaking head here[:D] I've lived where I am for about 11 years and our house and small street isn't even on any maps!!!  Or GPS system!!!  Don't know whether that's a good or a bad thing?[8-)]

First question to ask: has your OH had a formal diagnosis from an appropriately qualified doctor?  If not, that might be the first thing to pursue. Sorry, I know nothing about Altzheimers or provisions of care for that.  I have been thinking over your problem and I concluded that if, it is like for cancer patients, the sufferers of this illness will have a "packet" of care available to sufferers and their carers. Does anyone else think or know that that might be the case?  What do you think, Chessie and Judith?

I had a colleague who married a man called Mr Grabham.  I don't remember what his job was.  Maybe he was one of these hommes toutes mains....[8-)]

No attestation needed unless out after 20.00 from 15 Dec.  If out after couvre-feu, you need an attestion explaining why you are out. Don't know about leaving France to go abroad.

Wooly, in the event that your family can come from Belgium to join you, for Christmas, here is the answer to what you were asking about the PCR beforehand: Tests avant Noël ? Pas un "totem d’immunité"Le ministre de la Santé a mis en garde contre l’utilisation abusive des tests de Covid-19, que des Français songent à passer avant les fêtes de fin d’année. "Si vous avez un doute ou si vous êtes amené à vous rendre auprès d’une personne vulnérable, comme en Ehpad par exemple, vous pouvez évidemment vous faire tester", a déclaré le ministre lors d’une conférence de presse sur la crise sanitaire. So, it looks like you may not get the test and in fact it may not be necessary?

Betise, are you there?  Did you hear Castex this evening and did you see the summary of what he said? Guess what, WE were right all along, no inter regional travel until 15 December!  I guess some of the OTHERS need to go to the back of the class[:P]

[quote user="alittlebitfrench"]Let me guess.. You can't go skiing. Or skiing in another EU country if you are French. Welcome to the EU. You can only go to Church if there are less than 30 wise men wearing masks. You can't have more than 6 people for xmas dinner. That includes the turkey. Foie Gras is fine. You can have as much as you like. You CAN go shopping nose to tail with thousands of other people in any shop owned by familale mulliez...but not in a local independent shop. You can freely riot and smash up Paris and attack the police. Kids must go to school over Christmas to protect Santa.[/quote] ALBT, I wish you were writing Castex's speech.  I think many of the French people will really like it[:D] 

Sorry to mix languages but it just makes for an interesting title on a subject that would bore many to death. Castex due to speak at 18.00 hours tonight.  Should tell us exactly what we can or can't do.

[quote user="Weegie"]As your OH says Mint, Edward Jenner in late18C first used cowpox, which had minor effects, as a vaccine which proved effective against smallpox hence vaccine from Latin for cow. Although he discovered a world changing process his methods might well be frowned upon ethically today. He infected a boy, I believe aged 8, first with the cowpox and then later with smallpox. Doubt if permission was ever asked for or given!! I have no hangups with injections or even jabs. I usually do my OH's and my own for flue each year. Out local pharmacist actually suggested it.[/quote] I love your flue Weegie.  I'm not sure they mean you to put it up the chimney?

See sid, it's a bargain!  A first class, bespoke service for a mere 20 quid........[:D][:P]

Jab is fine.  Vaccination is too general and imprecise, for example, the polio vaccination is administered in the form of drops or on a sugar tube and swallowed. I looked up the meaning of "jab" and I saw that one of the uses is an injection, particularly a vaccination. What interests me more is the etymology of the word "vaccine".  OH tells me that the origin is from the Latin and means cow, with reference to the use of cow pox to prevent smallpox.

YES, my FAVOURITE pastry![:D]  Always yummy, beautiful and golden. However......Mince, Bum......etc etc.  Id, I have been making it all WRONG[:-))] I always thought you said SIX ounces of flour so that's what I have been using[:$] Nevermind, I got in some mascarpone specially yesterday so I will do it with EIGHT tomorrow[:D] PS I have made "pork parcels" with the pastry, using a good quality "sausage" mince (for farcies) and a nice lot of sage, plenty of freshly ground black pepper.  Only drawback is, whatever the quantity I put out, they go in minutes so that I am obliged to make batches and batches and batches, freeze and re-heat in the oven.

ET, yours is the best comment on this topic that I have read on the forum.  Bravo![:)] I determined earlier on NEVER to make any further comment on Brexit, the negotiations, its consequences, etc etc.  In other words, I don't feel that there is any more to say that hasn't been said already.

Idun says And if you need it, well, an electric blanket will warm the bed, so it is a good job you have one. Excuse me, Idun, I thought that was what a husband was for?[8-)]