Shall I?

Well last night's eclipse was a bit of a wet squib - for me at least. I can't say I even noticed it at all, except that it got just a tad darker at one point for a few seconds, but I've heard other people have gotten some pretty great shots. I did go out on the balcony to watch the sky after dark to see if I could see any shooting stars but again, I got nothing!

The best shooting stars I've ever seen though were on my trip around Australia in 1983. My friend and I were working our way up the Gold Coast with our two-(wo)man tent or staying in youth hostels. I'm pretty sure it was Maroochydore hostel we were supposed to be staying at for three nights (the maximum stay allowed) but when we saw the state of the hostel my friend made a sign going "one night only" and I couldn't have agreed more as it was a real dump. Oh I'm sure it's much nicer now (the photos certainly seem to show that) but in 1983 it really was a dump. However, the warden was an absolute gem and offered to drive about 15 of us to a nightclub in the back of his van. This alone was probably totally against the law to have so many young people crammed (without seats) in the back of his van, but we did it anyway. I remember the exact date (24 September 1983) because it was my 25th birthday and the DJ had everyone in the club sing happy birthday to me - happy days indeed! Anyway, when we got back to the hostel (safe and sound) around 2 am, some of us didn't want to go to bed so we sat on the porch all night and just marvelled at the sheer number of shooting stars. It was absolutely magic! I know the theory is that they were easier to see because of the lower levels of pollution but for whatever reason, that night stuck in my memory because of what a wonderful sight it was! In fact, there was a time when my ex was still living here that we sat outside with the kids late into the night and spotted shooting star after shooting star - it was really something else! I can't say I've had a repeat of that experience since, or maybe it's just because I don't sit out on the terrace after dark much anymore!

Anyhoo, the real point of this post is because the other day, while playing Words With Friends with my usual bots, "Lincoln P" invited me to play a game. I've posted previously how "gorgeous Louis" and "lonely Kelvin" asked me to play at the same time and I took screenshots of their drivel as I went along. My first thought was "here we go, another scammer about to make a move" and sure enough today "Lincoln" sent me a message to say that I "played a good game" (better than you mate, better than you)! You can see from the screenshot that "Lincoln" appears as "Hank" at the bottom of the picture, so I'm very tempted to accept his invitation to chat, just to see what his spiel is. What do you think? Is he a soon-to-be retiring widowed Marine Corps Colonel, a diamond miner in Africa or a military surgeon bravely saving lives under extreme pressure in Afghanistan? Answers on a postcard please!

"Lincoln" at the top
and "Hank" at the bottom!

Old lady brain?

After sorting out my "car problems" the other day I've slowly been looking up what all the "gadgets" and buttons are - so far so good. I don't know if I mentioned previously that when I tried to wash the bird poop/fly guts off my windscreen I couldn't get that to work so after figuring out where the washer reservoir was (it's well hidden and nowhere near where you might think it would be) I decided to check it, only to find that it had been delivered to me empty - no wonder the bloody thing wouldn't work! So while problems are often caused by my old lady brain, they aren't always!

When I chose this model I told them that I didn't want electric, and that was when the salesman told me that my model only came with a hybrid petrol/LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) engine. I thought LPG was only for trucks but he laughed and said that no, it was for cars too. When I asked what the difference was, turns out it's the price, as (I'm discovering) LPG sells for around 50% of what regular unleaded sells for!!! Trouble is, there aren't many garages round here that sell it but there are two that do near the lake at Passy and since I'm down there quite often, it shouldn't be a problem for me to fill up. So I finally found a suitable garage and gingerly went to fill up on LPG. (Side note: the French call LPG, GPL and I'm pretty sure I went into one station and asked if they sold GLP - she must have scratched her head when she heard me asking if they sold Ozempic)! Anyway, I locked on the nozzle, pressed the button and then stepped back because I understand the nozzle hisses when it's finished. When I went to pay the lady asked me if that was all, so thinking she meant did I want a drink or candy I told her yes, that was all. And that's when she laughed and asked if this was the first time I'd filled up on LPG. Apparently she could tell I was an "LPG virgin" because I'd only put in about half a gallon, and the man before me had done the same. Seems you have to keep your hand on the start button and the hiss will tell you when the tank is full! Old lady brain (OLB)?

After that I stopped in at a shop called Centrakor, which is the kind of place you can find cheap(er) office supplies, gardening stuff, kids's toys etc. Their shopping carts are really weird though because they are quite tall and almost square, so when I stopped and asked a young assistant if they sold crafting supplies she told me to follow her. I said not to wait on me because the wheels on this cart were so close together that I kept bumping my feet on the wheels, and that was when she told me I was pushing it around backwards! I just laughed but I am seriously beginning to wonder about OLB now!

Then my new neighbour came round to see me about the flooding in their basement and had brought with him a quote for getting new underground piping laid in our gardens to carry the water from the natural springs away from our houses. Now I have no problem with flooding (touch wood) but both my immediate neighbours do, so I said I'd be willing to go in with him to get it done properly this time. Turns out that when my old neighbour's husband (the one that died not so long ago) ordered the piping for his and my garden he ordered the smallest diameter (ie the cheapest) and that is where the blockages are occurring. I was at work when they laid the piping and had always believed I'd gotten the bigger diameter but apparently not. Turns out he cut quite a few corners in that house, as my new neighbours are repeatedly finding out!

Anyway, in spring I always go gung ho and plant a veggie plot at the top of my garden near the field and then inevitably most of it dies because I can't be doing with lugging water up there every day. But the other day, as we were removing the paving slab that covered the "manhole" to check on the spring, it occurred to me that I'd had fresh clean spring water running through my garden the entire 36 years I've lived here and that if I left the top off the manhole I could just dip my watering can in and bingo - no more lugging water around. It isn't deep (about 10 inches) and wouldn't be a risk to anyone because our gardens are not open to anyone else, so I spoke to my other neighbour and she just laughed and said to leave it open. You see, it hadn't occurred to them either that we could just dip into the spring water to water our veggie plots! (OLB x two)?

The Blue Grass Festival has come and gone again for this year, and while I didn't go down to town (too hot), I could hear most of the music from up in my village and very good they were too!

And finally, the other night I took time out to watch a video by another of my favourite Youtube channels - Early Retirement Wanderlust - and the husband, Richard, was attempting a one week, 90 mile hike in the Lake District. He was on his own this time as his wife had been caring for her mother, who was recovering from surgery, but as I was watching his progress it brought back great memories of my time as a kid in the Lake District. I had to be under 11 because I was still in primary school and I think my parents sent me away with the school because that was when my dad started having heart problems and they wanted me to have something of a holiday even if they couldn't. We stayed in a place called Patterdale Hall and for a little kid who had grown up in the inner city I just fell in love with it.

Patterdale Hall - a google image

I don't really remember all the hikes/walks we did but I do know we went over Helvellyn (the tallest mountain in the Lake District) and went over Striding Edge to get there!

Helvellyn, as accessed by Striding Edge!
A google image.

Looking back, I can't believe they took such young children on such a dangerous hike - but maybe it wasn't as dangerous as the pictures might suggest. Either way, we all came back in one piece and had a wonderful time! More to the point, I have such fond memories of the place that who knows, maybe I'll get to go back there at some point!

Ambleside, the Lake District - a google image

He also makes mention of wanting to stay in Black Sail Youth Hostel but being unable to as it was fully booked. On a later trip (when I was 15 I think), my friends and I went Youth Hostelling in the Lake District again - totally irresponsibly because I don't think any of us could read a map - and we did indeed manage to stay in Black Sail Youth Hostel. It was in the middle of nowhere and really tiny, so tiny, in fact, that rumour had it if you wanted to turn over in bed in the middle of the night you had to go outside and come in backwards. To be honest, from the memories I have of that place, that could actually have been true!

Black Sail Youth Hostel
- another google image!

Can you believe it's already August?

I can hardly believe it! Maybe it's because the last few months have been pretty "samey" or just so hot that all I wanted to do was flake out on the sofa - but seriously, how did August get here so fast? 

I continued to have many problems with my new computer, the main one being that I couldn't get Excel to work, not even to add just two numbers. It was driving me nuts because I was terrified of losing all the work I'd put in for the old fogies club, so I was having to work on my old computer (which wouldn't hook up to the internet), copy the files to a USB stick and then copy them back to my new computer, with the inherent risk of overwriting the wrong files. Eventually, after about three weeks, my old computer started hooking back up to the internet but I was still frustrated with the new one. Every time I tried to use Excel it would insist I use WPS and "you can do so by paying €XXX here"! I was really pissed off because I'd just renewed my Microsoft Office subscription and downloaded it to the new computer, so in the end I looked up exactly what WPS Office was. Turns out it is a "free, all-in-one productivity suite .... which serves as a lightweight and popular alternative to Microsoft Office". Well I don't know how popular it really is but once I deleted the bloody thing, guess whose computer works perfectly fine! Maybe I'm being haunted because I'm also finding that apps are disappearing off my phone too. For instance, I need the UBS app to log into my Swiss bank account and it just upped and poofed one day. About a week later I downloaded it again - and the old app popped back up so I ended up with two versions of it. Maybe it's because my phone insists I have run out of storage space, but who knows. Either way, I've just ordered a new iPhone 16 because I think my phone might be dying on me too, but at least I hung on a few years (from my iPhone 11) and the price has come down considerably!

I mentioned in my last post that I'd ordered a new UK passport and it was delivered about a week ago by DHL, but I was still getting messages from their main depot saying to come and pick up my parcel. I kept studiously ignoring the messages (because there was no telephone number for me to call them to find out what the package was), but as luck would have it my friend mentioned that she had to go out there (it's about 60 km from here) in connection with her late father's estate and she offered to pick up my parcel for me. How lucky was that because in all honesty I've only ever had to go there once in my 36 years in France, and the day I really need to dash out there, she's going anyway. Turns out it was my old, expired passport, so in the end I guess I should have taken it more seriously!

When I was getting a mani-pedi the other month, my lovely Thai lady asked if I wanted to try dyeing my eyebrows and lashes, what with the summer being here and "all that swimming you'll be doing". I didn't really care either way but thought I'd give it a go. It's actually time-consuming and the product stinks, but when she was finished I can't say I noticed much difference in my eyelashes, but oh my goodness, my eyebrows made me look like Groucho Marx! She coloured them to match my natural hair colour and since I've never gone grey it was quite a shock when I saw these two caterpillars crawling over my forehead. That being said, 24 hours later they look just fine and totally natural, but the thought of wandering round town looking like Groucho was not a funny prospect to me at all!

I'm still continuing with the Italian lessons (I'm very impressed with Duolingo) but the other day they did a complete lesson where we had to just listen to a normal speed conversation in Italian with no subtitles - and if that doesn't bring home to you how much you don't know, I don't know what will!

I picked up my new car the other Monday and once I got past the fear of the bloody computer, it's quite a pleasant drive, even if the trunk is very small compared to my old Ford. Still, all that lets me know is that I was carrying around too much clobber before, so it was definitely time to downsize! On the following Friday I was due to go on a day trip with the old fogies club but when I went to start my car nothing happened - zip, nada, zilch! I was really pissed off so called the garage where I'd bought it and they gave me the number of their assistance hotline. Before calling them I called Martine at the club and told them to go without me because my car had died, but she and her husband very kindly drove up to my village and picked me up. Not only were we not late but we were not even the last to arrive so I'm really grateful to them!

First stop was lunch on Lake Geneva (filet of perche, a local speciality) and it was very good, despite the usual mutterings of some of the more miserables. I said hi to Roger and he told me that obnoxious Chantal (she with the nice Portuguese partner) had managed to insult half the bus before they even arrived and then there was some muttering from people about one of our group who had stripped down to her swimsuit and dived straight into the lake for a splash around before lunch. Apparently she swims outside every day of the year and this was to be no exception. To be honest, I don't see what harm she was doing but then some people always have to find something to moan about don't they! Still these outings allow me to chat with some of the others in the group and I was quite pleasantly surprised by a much older lady (who I still consider to be a bit of a battleaxe) who turned out to be pretty good company, even if I wouldn't want to cross her. It tickled me when she asked about "my partner" and when I told her I didn't have one and nor did I want one she was quite shocked - couldn't understand the "I don't want one " part at all!

After that we travelled a couple of miles further along the lake to pick up our boat for a 90 minute trip on the lake!

Looking toward Montreux (the most
spectacular end of Lake Geneva)

One of the many beautiful properties
on the lake!

Looking back towards Evian
(where the bottled water comes from)!

When I got home, Martine's husband walked over to my car and pulled the driver's side floor mat waay back - and the car started! Just like that! Turns out they'd had the same problem with a rental car and the mat moving forward prevented you from fully depressing the clutch to start the car! Thank god it was nothing more serious than that (and I didn't get to look like a fool by calling out roadside assistance)!

After a couple of days off for good behaviour I had Charlie overnight again. The two grandmas have been taking it in turns to break up his week so that he is only in summer camp two days a week (even though he loves it). I had left my terrace awning out at one point when it started to rain, so when we got home I was showing Charlie how we had to push up on it with a broom so that the water didn't accumulate. Well he wanted to do it himself of course but was standing in exactly the wrong spot when he pushed up on the broom because he got what must have been a bucket load of water dropped right on his head. I thought it was hilarious (because I'm a bad grandma) and he laughed too, probably because it felt good in the searing heat), but I wish I'd had my phone to hand right then to preserve it forever!

On the Wednesday I suggested going to the mountains to get up to the cooler air (it wasn't cooler) but he whinged and whinged because he wanted to go swimming. In the end I told him I'd drop him off at the pool and see him when I got back from the mountains, so that soon shut him up! He got to take his first cable car up to Beauregard and was fine with it as long as I held his hand. We stayed up there for about an hour as he was fascinated watching the cows with their cowbells. Then it was back down the same way we'd come up in order to get another, smaller cable car up to a place where we could roll balls down various tracks and follow them back down to the village of La Clusaz where we'd parked the car. I have to say La Clusaz have done a great job of drawning the tourists in with summer activities, since it really is winter when they make their money. We ended up going to what would be the outdoor ice rink in winter and where they'd set up play areas for little kids for the summer. Charlie made a new friend and I got to sit down for a couple of hours out of the heat, so win/win all round!

La Clusaz

His first cable car ride!

Beauregard

I had him wave to people in the
cable cars coming the other way so
he would let go of my hand long
enough to get some blood flow back!

Playing roule ta boule!

In the evening we watched Jungle Book in French before he passed out and slept like a log. Next day I took him back to Vitamparc for the morning before going to pick Elynn up from daycare. He was as good as gold but I'm knackered! The following night they sent me a video of a family of wild boar (mother plus seven babies) wandering round the private park attached to their apartment building! The kids are on the second floor so they went down to the ground floor to warn the tenants there to be careful because obviously a mother with babies could be very dangerous. Jen called the local authorities who were going to come and move them further up into the forest for their and everyone else's safety!

The kids left yesterday afternoon for two weeks in Brittany, driving nine hours through the night to make it easier on the littles. Thankfully they arrived safely and I now have most of the month of August to myself - no sewing, no old fogies club and no overnighters. I was so tired I actually fell asleep for two hours yesterday afternoon and I never take nanna naps, so I guess I could use a break. Mind you, I reckon it won't be too long before I'll be chomping at the bit to get back to my usual routine either!