Raising the colours!

The weather has cooled down considerably here - in fact it feels like somebody cut the cord on the summer balloon and the autumn balloon moved right in to replace it. Still, with the cooler weather I've managed to get more done around here so I'm not complaining. That being said, the other day I noticed that the lamp next to where I sit in the evenings had a bit of a wobble on it, but when I tried to straighten it up what looked like a cement base dropped out of it, scattering cement all over the TV room. I wasn't best pleased of course, but since I had nothing planned that day I decided to drop it off at the tip and run out and buy another one. There is a small LIDL-style supermarket near the tip and I was tickled to see a couple of African women carrying their shopping home on their heads. I mean, no wonder they have good posture! If I tried that I'd probably end up with scrambled eggs all over my head!

A couple of times this week a camera car from Google Earth has driven by, so I'm pretty sure at some point there will be a satellite image of my backside while I'm working in the garden! One to look out for I suppose, and maybe even a motivator to get back to the gym when I come back from vacation (I'm off to the Périgord next week)!

Last week I had another medical check-up in Geneva and as I was driving towards the border (I always park at the border and catch the bus into town), I happened to glance at my purse on the passenger seat and a ruddy great spider crawled out of it. Now I hate creepy crawlies in any case, but talk about feeling trapped, what with not being able to stop! As soon as I parked I emptied my bag and tipped it upside down but never found anything so I'm hoping Archie the arachnid has managed to escape somehow as he was a nasty looking bugger!

I swear it was this big - although my chest
isn't quite so hairy!

While I was waiting for the bus, I spotted two young girls walking what looked like greyhounds or maybe whippets and it struck me how much the girls, with their long slim legs, looked just like their dogs. Do you think we chose our dogs based on familial resemblance, in which case, I wonder what that says about me because I used to have a border collie mutt! Then when I got on the bus, a man was standing quite near me but obviously not wanting to sit down because there were plenty of spare seats. After a few stops, a couple got on the bus with two dogs and at one point the woman ordered the dogs to "sit", at which point the man immediately sat down too! I guess you had to be there, but it tickled me no end! What's the saying, "little things please little minds (and little trousers fit little behinds)"!

Anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time has probably realized how much I enjoy going to the lake at Passy to walk. Well this week, on one of the FB hiking groups I follow, a lady posted about how she had been "bothered" by a young man when she was walking in the mountains near Passy. Just a day earlier, Jen had posted a report by another woman who had been more than "bothered" by what appeared to be the same young man while walking round the lake. She managed to get away from him and reported it to the police, so I hope they are on the look out and catch him soon before anyone gets hurt!

I see blogland's favourite troll, Rajani Rehana is back doing the rounds too. The other day I was surprised to see that all of a sudden I'd gotten 10 comments on a blog post, only to find out that this eejit (or is it a bott?) was active again! Still, it doesn't take long to hit delete does it!

I looked after Charlie again last Wednesday and I always try to take dinner for everyone so that Jen doesn't have to think about cooking when she gets home. Apparently my stuffed peppers were "delicious", according to Charlie, and I was told I could make them again any time! Then he was telling me about the visits they'd had to the local fire station and the gendarmerie and he was dead impressed! Later on he was "playing guitar" and asked me to sing a song, but he was less impressed with Old MacDonald and asked if I knew any "real songs"!!! (We're still working on pushing English, as you can probably tell)!

My ex was over here the other week for Elynn's first birthday, so we all went out to lunch and then back to Jordan and Jen's for birthday cake. At one point Charlie went over and sat on pappy's lap to show him his cars and my ex looked at me and said again how much he missed France. To be honest, while he didn't look as bad as last time, I still don't think he looked well. He has a pretty vacant stare and I feel he looks unhappy - I guess he realizes how much he is missing over here. And oddly enough, for the first time in years I realize that I no longer loath him and I can only thank God for that. I hated carrying all that anger around with me but now I realize I just feel pity for him, not anger. Mind you, that doesn't mean I'd want to live anywhere near him ever again, but it is a relief to have finally let go of that anger. He was telling me all about the problems his sister has had with her son who, for no apparent reason other than his fairly recent marriage, has cut off all contact with the family - just like my sister in Denmark did. I know the family well and know for a fact there would be no good reason for this but I guess that can sometimes happen when the new spouse seems hell bent on isolating you. Heck he never went to his sister's wedding, nor did he go to grandma's funeral the other week. I just hope he realizes what he is missing out on at some point because they really are a pretty nice family!

On the Saturday we all went into Switzerland to a park we used to go to frequently as it was just 10 minutes from the apartment we first moved to when we came back from the States in 1989. They've built it up so much and Charlie, in particular, had an absolute blast (as did my boys) - brings back happy memories of taking André up there a couple of times a week in the good weather to wear him out before bed!

And finally, you may or may not have heard about the "Raise the Colours" movement spreading throughout the UK at the moment. It started when someone put up an England flag (the red and white cross of St. George) in Birmingham - and were promptly told to take it down!! This despite the fact that the Pakistani flag, the Ukrainian flag, the Palestinian flag and the Pride flags have been allowed to fly freely for ages! So not only did they not take them down, they put more up. The Council took them down and so more and more were put up. Then they started painting pedestrian crossings and traffic islands red and white (and potholes - in the hopes that maybe the Council would do something about them too). The whole movement has escalated throughout the UK and people are now also flying the Scottish, Welsh and Irish flags - and I'm delighted. I mean, can you imagine trying to tell someone in the States to take down their own flag??? From what I'm hearing, the movement is starting to spread across Europe (Spain and Germany for sure, and now starting in France). Peaceful protest at its best!

The caption under this photo was:
"try taking this one down you w@nkers"!

Manchester!

And the best of all:

You can watch the video here. Pure genius!