I haven't posted much lately because, to be honest, not a lot's been happening! Oh it's been piddling down a treat and as we've definitely moved on to winter weather, I'm forever grateful that homes round here have shutters on all the windows! It keeps so much of the cold out and I remember when I was still working that in the winter months I would just leave all the shutters shut when I left for work because since I was leaving in the dark and coming home in the dark it didn't matter - houseplants be damned. I'll just buy more next year! That being said, the kleptomaniac fox must be feeling the cold as he's been at it again, stealing my neighbour's crocs and leaving them in my back garden. I must admit, it's beginning to tickle me now as I'm wondering when he will finally manage to steal a complete set of four!
In reality life's been just moving on as usual - which isn't a bad thing in and of itself is it. I'm keeping up with my Italian lessons and still finding it fairly easy as yet. Well that is, everything except my pronunciation of buon giorno! For some reason Duolingo has not been liking my pronunciation of that up until this week, when I finally cracked it! Damn, I hope I'll be receiving my medal soon!
Yoga the other week was pretty interesting in that she had us using what looked like very soft tennis balls. We placed them in various places along our back (but never on the spine) and then did very gentle rocking movements. My God it was wonderful, the massage I got from it was so good and the effects stayed with me for about four days. While I will have a go at most things, I'm pretty cynical with it and kept imagining one of the balls exploding and sounding like a giant whoopee cushion (more on that later)!
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After that I went to the farmers' market and then popped into LIDL and for the first time ever I spotted that they had about 10 "too good to go" boxes. Seeing that one of them had leeks in it (which I had forgotten to buy), I asked the cashier how much they were and when he said €1 I bought one because at that price it didn't matter what else was in the box, did it. But the contents were great, so I split it with my two neighbours and managed to get the rest into the freezer, only losing the broccoli because it was already looking a bit sad when I bought it. Still, at €1 for this lot you can't complain can you. I haven't seen them since but it was definitely a good deal!
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| Google picture - and yes it really is that lovely! Better luck next time eh! |
Then the next night we had our latest board game evening at my place. I was kinda hoping my bathrooms wouldn't still be a building site by this time but .... hey ho, nobody was bothered. I sneaked out the whoopee cushions I bought the other week and while everyone else was in stitches (I wished I knew how to post my video), Charlie was definitely not impressed! What did impress him though was his doctor's kit, so I ended up being his patient while he listened to my heart (making the dadum, dadum sounds - mom being a nurse, of course) and then came at me with a syringe asking me where my bobo was - so I pointed at my foot. So then he says, "what, your socks have a bobo"? Man that just cracked me up. I'm having so much fun with that kid - even if he doesn't like my whoopee cushions!
1 Euro for that box was a deal of a steal! My local supermarket does something similar, but they don't mix things up, so it's either apples or oranges, but never apples and oranges. I use Babel to keep up with my French and I have the same problem with certain words, always getting rejected because it thinks I'm saying the wrong.
ReplyDeleteIn a couple of other boxes there seemed to be maybe 20 avocados or 20 oranges but since it was the leeks I wanted this one was great for me even if there were five lettuces and five bags of leeks. As for the buon giorno thingy, I couldn't understand it as I honestly couldn't hear the difference but I guess you just have to keep plugging away if you want that medal don't you!
DeleteI love that your game night included a whoopie cushion. You could definitely play with my tribe!
ReplyDeleteAbout the crocs. . . who is to blame? The fox for doing what critters do, or the neighbors for leaving them in fox territory outdoors.
I know you are enjoying Charlie. I am happy for you, but a tad envious at the same time.
Oh we all enjoyed the whoopee cushions but I guess Charlie is a bit young yet. I also have the hatchet and/or nail through the head, the foul teeth and just got three pairs of Groucho Marx glasses (complete with eyebrows and mustache) and again he isn't sure. He'll definitely get there though. And you're right about the fox. All I can say is they should be glad it isn't a wild boar or they'd have to buy a bigger size!
DeleteSounds like everything is going well. I love the game night with whoopie cushions. Funny that Charlie isn't a fan. You got a steal on the produce box. Too bad about the crowd at the Chateau but at least you had a nice dinner. Enjoy your weekend!!
ReplyDeleteExcept for the continuous rain (and blocked roads and flooding round here) all seems to be under control I'd say - and long may it last. I hope things are looking brighter with you too!
DeleteKids will flat out tell you if they don't like something, won't they? Like August when I took some food over to their house. "I don't like that." Whatever, kid! I still like you!
ReplyDeleteI can see the need for the shutters in winter but if you're home during the day, that would be so depressing! Like when we board up our windows for hurricanes.
Oh at the weekends I would always open the shutters up as I need the daylight, but when I was at work all day, it didn't make any difference to me, of course. And while Charlie was apprehensive of the whoopee cushions I reckon he'll soon come round!
DeleteI wonder why the fox keeps stealing the crocs. Does he leave them in your garden for later? Why don't the owners put them out of reach?
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been to Chillon?
I leave my crocs on the kitchen door step but since I shut my shutters every night the fox can't get at them. I can't understand why he steals them either (and we're only ASSUMING it's a fox - maybe it's a cat). He probably just likes "fashionable footwear"! And yes I've been to Chillon many times. When we moved back to Switzerland in 1989 we lived in the Canton de Vaud (which is the next Canton/State along the lake from Geneva), so Chillon was only about 20 minutes away. And yes it is spectacular too - but then aren't most castles!!!
DeleteI downloaded the Too Good to Go app - have only tried it once but the idea is fantastic. I see mostly fruit/baked goods on my app so I don't often pull the trigger but I have seen some folks really luck out at other places. That Christmas event at the Chateau sounds wonderful, I hope you make it in!
ReplyDeleteI buy for the food bank every week and take it to them when I have a crateful, so I thought Too Good To Go would be a great way to add to that stuff. Trouble is, I found out it was mainly perishables (like yoghurts and ham, for instance) so they wouldn't have accepted it at the time, and I didn't want it for myself. I just happened to spot these boxes (for the first time) and was amazed what was in them. But you're right, it's criminal to throw good food away, which is why they brought that law in in France stating that they had to give so much to charities/soup kitchens etc. - just not the perishables. And yes I'm sure we'll make it to the château but there is always so much going on at Christmas that I'm sure we won't miss out!
DeleteAgreed, I am so glad at least the food is not wasted in France with that law. Yeah, that is too much for you or the food bank but this one was a great steal. I hope to use the app more in the future myself!
DeleteI saw that many of these apps are to get rid of baked goods too (and I don't bother with that stuff), but I forgot to mention that when I picked up my box there were maybe another five bags with probably 10 baguettes in each one. A steal for someone who eats bread, has a family (and has the room in the freezer I guess)!
DeleteTennis balls are so effective for getting into those tight spots aren't they? I love rolling my feet over one. By comparison a foam roller over the IT band is excruciating, but I guess equally helpful.
ReplyDeleteI had never seen the tennis balls used before but I agree, the "massage" was wonderful. I guess it's the weight of your own body that creates the effect (hence it did me so much good, I suppose!!!!)!
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