Back again!

Gosh, I see it's been almost three week since I posted this time around, so I guess there either hasn't been too much going on or I've just been too busy - or a bit of both I suspect. I spent most of last week feeling pretty cruddy so that didn't help. Still, ne'er mind, all's better now. We've had mostly beautiful spring-like weather but the past few days have been grey and miserable so I suppose that doesn't do much for my enthusiasm either. I had planned on pressure washing the back terrace today but then it started to rain so there wasn't much point. That - and cutting the grass at the front of my house - is on the agenda for tomorrow, as hopefully it'll be fine again!

Prices at the petrol pumps have gone up by 25% here so far and who knows what will happen after that. And what about food prices? How far and how fast are they going to go up? I guess it's ok for me as I'm on my own but I hate to think how it will affect families on fixed incomes. Mind you, I was watching a Youtube video the other day about ridiculous food prices and while I didn't catch the first part I eventually figured out it was in Canada. One thing that shocked me was a small fruit platter with about seven different sections of pre-cut fruit going for $54!!!! Say what??? The price was right there on the pack but I do wonder where these people were shopping because that fruit bought separately might have cost you a total of €20 over here so I'm guessing these people were going for the shock factor because I'm pretty sure those were not the prices of ALDI or LIDL, Canada (assuming they have them there)! That's not to say prices aren't rising, mind you, just that some of the prices shown seemed to me to be a bit of "joke". And of course, in the case of fruit platters, I guess you can always vote with your wallet and leave it on the shelf, although that's not true for most other things, of course!

I did notice in my local supermarket pre-packed "too good to go" boxes for around €4.50 and they seemed like a deal. These are basically fruit and veggies being sold off at reduced prices rather than eventually thrown out and I did indeed pick one up last week, although not this week as there was nothing that interested me. I think they have got the right idea too in that the boxes are pre-packed and you can't pick and choose what you want from each box, because I was in ALDI a couple of weeks ago and there was a woman there basically picking through all the boxes for what she wanted rather than taking the boxes as they were on display, thereby leaving all the rubbish for the next person. Still, being on my own I don't need huge quantities of stuff anyway but I might drop in at La Roche market again one of these Thursdays to see if my good value North African stallholder has anything that might interest Jen!

I've been flicking through Amazon Prime and Netflix in the colder evenings looking for something to watch and I've just tonight finished rewatching Rain Man! I'd seen it before but it was a real pleasure to watch it again as I think it was a great film beautifully acted by both Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman! I also rewatched The Bird Cage last week (another brilliant film, in my opinion) as I think teaming up Robin Williams with Nathan Lane (and Hank Azaria) was a piece of casting genius! I seemed to remember reading that the film was based on a French film called La Cage aux Folles and vaguely remember seeing it in the early 1980s with my then boyfriend and we both thought it was hilarious. The French version has our protagonists running away from whoever and ending up in Sicilian Mafia country for some reason - which makes me think I'll look it up and see if I can still find it!

While I've been starting some basic gardening chores I've also been listening to Cheere Denise reading the 2010 Kitty Kelley book on Oprah and ho boy is it good. Not as good as the Ethel Kennedy book or some of the others but, while I haven't finished it yet, it really does a deep dive into the real Oprah behind the facade! I've always said I was never a good judge of character and in the mid-80s I thought Oprah was pretty amazing, but over time I've come to dislike her more and more and listening to this book now makes me see why! I'll hold off judgment, though, until I've actually finished it, but she's another one who comes over as a very unlikeable person!

EDITED TO ADD: I'm guessing when The Bird Cage came out, Robin Williams and Nathan Lane were doing the publicity rounds for it when they appeared together on Oprah! Nathan Lane is gay but hadn't yet come out and when Oprah started pushing him and making him feel obviously uncomfortable, Robin Williams saw what was going on and jumped straight in, cracked a joke and brought the attention back to himself. RIP Robin and screw you Oprah!

I looked after Charlie again on Wednesday so we took his bike and the stroller to the park before we picked up Elynn from daycare. All of a sudden I heard crying and looked over to see him on the floor holding his ankle. Turns out he'd climbed up the top of the slide and then jumped, landing badly on his ankle. I prayed he hadn't broken it because I couldn't see how I was gonna push him (in the stroller maybe) with Elynn walking by my side, plus the bike, plus the helmet, plus the football up the bloody hill back home. Thankfully he hadn't done any damage and was up and running again by the time we went to pick up the babe, the same babe who had conjunctivitis and looked like something out of a horror movie! Bloody hell, it wasn't going well on Wednesday! Then, to top it all off, I was changing Elynn in the bathroom when I heard Lenny the horrible cat retching - and the bloody thing chucked up about a kilo what looked like chicken curry (it obviously wasn't) right next to my handbag! I swear if he'd chucked up in my bag I wouldn't have been responsible for my actions so I'm guessing maybe even Lenny knows my limits!

On Saturday morning we were to meet up near La Roche for a photo shoot with the two grandmas and the grandkids, which was a belated Christmas present from Jordan and Jen. Trouble was, the  photographer's studio was pretty hard to find and it was Carnaval so the place was heaving. Thankfully we made it in time but I was a bit of a sweaty mess by the time we got there. Talking of Carnaval, I remember getting back from Cuba on a Friday a few years ago and then having to participate in Carnaval as part of the sewing club the next day in the cold and pouring rain! So I'd gone from about 40+°C in Cuba to about 10°C back home and getting soaked through. Oh happy days!

Then on Saturday night we had our latest boardgame evening which was fun (I really like the game Time's Up) with me getting home at around 2 am! On the way back up the forestry road to my village I came round the bend in the pitch black only to come face-to-face with a massive great heavy load who took up pretty much the entire road. Damn, that's why I'm always wary on these roads, looking out for wild animals usually, but I never expected a monster truck at 2 a.m.!

Put me in mind of this truck
on the way up to Mont Saxonnex,
although this was nothing compared
to the heavy load coming at me!

So I've been really tired this week, and today in particular, but I'm hoping to feel more like my old self this coming week. Jen sent me pictures and videos of the kids having a blast at a local indoor play centre this morning and told me that André was there with his "lady friend" and her kids! Tiens, they seem to be going strong. Never thought I'd see André willing to spend a morning at a play centre but then I guess if you meet the right one .....!