My neighbour knocked on my door earlier this evening to ask if I had any star anise and cinnamon sticks as he wanted to have a go at making mulled wine. I had both (I've got most things as I'm a spice-a-holic) but it brought back memories of this time last year when we went to the Christmas market in Alsace and got to drink mulled wine while walking round. Making it even better was that you could actually buy hot white wine, and since that is my absolute favourite it was just heavenly - all the more so because of the wonderful aroma. Not that any of that has happened this year of course, but it's nice to look back over my blog and see what we were up to. And talking of white wine, I'm up to almost three weeks without touching a drop and believe it or not I haven't given it a second thought. Just proves, I guess, that opening a bottle was simply a habit that needed knocking on the head a little!
When I wandered over to my neighbour's to take the spices she invited me in for coffee and while I was there the house phone went. She made the mistake of picking it up just a bit too quickly because next thing I heard her giving some poor bloke on the end of the line a piece of her mind, saying she "thought that with lockdown we could at least be spared, just for a few weeks, from having your bloody religion pushed down our throats"! Jehovah's Witnesses then! Actually I hadn't realized that one of the few positives of lockdown was that we would not have them ringing the doorbell for a while! And yet, when I got back home, my own phone went and since the number was withheld I just let it go to answering machine and lo and behold I get a message urging me to check out this wonderful website (www.jw.org, if you're interested) to "cure my depression in these difficult times". Hey buddy, I'm not depressed, but I may well end up that way if you lot don't bugger off and leave me alone!
Then I got a message from Jen sending me a picture of the latest baby scan, with a full-face "can you see me looking at the camera" image which was just lovely. I didn't say anything but I seem to have also counted six arms but that may just be my eyesight! Still, it was lovely! She then told me that her mom wanted to know if we wanted to go up to a local ski resort called Les Gets on 19 December (assuming lockdown is again eased on 15 December) to see the Christmas lights, so all being well we won't totally miss out on a little Christmas cheer this year, even if it's not exactly a long weekend in Alsace!
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| Les Gets |
Hot wine, don't know about that. And I do hope we have snow this year, last year it skipped us by almost completely. Dearie, dearie me... that's cute.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly we hardly got any snow last year either. I kinda remember just twice, which is devastating for this region! And yep, I guess my neighbour didn't want his son to learn to swear like a navvie in English but it just slipped out. They did help me shovel it back off though!
DeleteWe in Alabama got a few lakes of white wonderment, and that was just enough! I would have let out a scream if all that snow fell on my just-shoveled drive. I hope the guys helped you shovel that away.
ReplyDeleteI think when you never get snow it's just magical when a little bit falls, and of course you don't have all the hassle of driving in it. And yes my neighbours helped me shovel the snow off my driveway. It wasn't too difficult because it was fresh and there was no ice underneath. I'm just glad I wasn't standing under the roof it when it fell!
DeleteHopefully, the JW in the states do not catch on to using the phone to harass us.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbour's father and brother-in-law died on the same day on the west coast of France. About a week later my neighbour and her sister-in-law each received a three-page hand-written JW letter basically asking them to "come to God in these difficult times" (we live 1,000 miles away from where the deaths occurred) so they had obviously gone through the death notices in the local papers. Politely we call them ambulance chasers. Not so politely we have other names for people who do this!
DeleteI didn't even thing of the fact that there is probably not Christmas market to be found! Good for you on all your downsizing.
ReplyDeletePresident Macron will give us an update on the lockdown situation on 15 December - a possible further easing - so maybe they will allow Christmas markets for those last few days. Who knows, but I do miss them. And T'Pol spurred me on to get rid of some stuff but I still have an awful lot of downsizing to do (but then, you know all about that don't you. I'm glad to see you're happy in your new home)!
DeleteAt the end of lock down I might just be happy to have a Jw to talk to-they might be sorry they stopped because my doorstep, my choice of topics. I'm thrilled to read of the baby scan and the camera mugger! I also hope it works for you all to see the lights. We can maybe come with you.
ReplyDeleteThere's a great scene in Mrs. Brown's Boys where she lets a couple of JWs in and they end up trying to break out of there! I have nothing against their religion but I do NOT want them pushing it on me! Oh and if we do make it up to Les Gets I'll definitely be taking pictures. A taste of freedom still to come I hope!
DeleteI love mulled wine, and I love snow, and I love mulled wine while it's snowing.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to see the Les Gets Christmas lights.
Cold air, snow and mulled wine just go together so well don't they! And I'll definitely take you along to Les Gets if we're able to make it!
DeleteDo you get Mormons too? The missionaries they call "elders" even though they are about nineteen years old and still have the last drops of birth fluid drying on their peach-smooth cheeks?
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough we never have (at least not round here), although we did get them knocking on doors in England and I know they do it in Geneva. I was once assailed by a young Mormon girl on the bus in Geneva who then handed me "her card" (she was all of 18) as she was about to get off the bus. I threw it in the trash in front of her. Oddly enough, my sister in Denmark became a Mormon and her ex was fairly high placed in the church. Didn't stop him from having multiple mistresses, being a violent pig and abandoning my sister and his four kids for some whore he met over the internet (I bet you can guess how long that lasted right? Yeah, until the money ran out and she was deported back to Russia)!
DeleteThe last pictures are a hoot.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Christian and I've never understood proselytizing. It seems to me to be far more effective to live your faith than to talk your faith. Be kind, do good, etc.
In fact, I have to say, the more people trumpet on about their faith, the more we should wonder what they are hiding.
I agree absolutely Debby. I have no problem with anyone's religion. Heck I lived with a Muslim for 5 years and we were great together. I do resent people pushing their religion on me and especially coming to my door to do so. I also agree that I don't need to hear about their religion either. If I want to know I know where to find it!
DeleteVin chaud, Les Gets and fresh snow, you certainly conjured up good memories of ski holidays for me although I know that wasn’t the intention but thank you all the same. If you could see all the rain we’ve had and the mud it’s left behind, you’d understand where I’m coming from.
ReplyDeleteFresh snow is wonderful (as is vin chaud) but when it starts to melt and we're trudging through slush not so much! I have wonderful memories of skiing too but I was a lot younger then. Now I'd just probably stick with the après-ski!
DeleteWhen we lived in our house in town we had JW neighbors across the street. Never met them, never saw them outside (the back of their house faced our street) and they never came around in almost 2 years. Now that we live 10 miles from town they have been here 3 times! LOL.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbours three doors away are JW and are lovely. She occasionally makes a few comments but nothing that bothers me and they don't push it. As I say, each to his own but leave me out of it!
DeleteWarm white wine sounds nice. I might try that this year. I rarely drink but when I do I always enjoy it. Just too many bad memories associated with it. One of my ex husband's complaints about me was that I didn't drink enough. Wow.
ReplyDeleteWe've had snow like that. It can be soul crushing. I've had enough of it and broke down and bought a snow blower this year. Of course since I bought it, no snow and it's been warm here. Can't win:)
It's so lovely to see a grandbaby's face prenatal. Magical in fact. Have a lovely get together.
I don't like red wine so it was great to find hot white wine in Alsace. I just looked up a recipe for it (if you can call it a recipe) and will make some either tomorrow or Tuesday (when I've had a chance to go to the shops). And I also thought about buying a snow blower but I'm not sure the amount of snow we get would warrant it. I'll look into it again though because I don't want to be doing what I did yesterday too often! And yep, seeing the baby's face was just magic. I didn't get to see it with my own babies so I shall treasure this one!
DeleteI am so proud of both of us. It turned out that I did not have many "work" tops. So, it was mostly pants and a few outerwear I got rid of. I will attack the summer clothing when I get bored during the winter. I believe there are tops I can no longer wear. For the first time in my life, my shoe cabinet is not full anymore. I actually need a winter/outdoor hiking boot. As for JW, I have been exposed to them in the US. They are very persistent I must say.
ReplyDeleteWell you pushed me to start getting rid of stuff and while I've stalled a bit I will definitely start getting rid of more stuff again. It feels so good doesn't it. And you're right about the JW - "persistent" would be the polite term for it!
DeleteHow wonderful to see the baby's face. It makes it feel very real I suspect. I love that language translation lol. We've not had any snow just some hard frost and freezing fog. I'd rather we had snow, its not as slippy! I hope you get to visit a market and go to the village. It's been very hard this year not being able to go anywhere for a festive hit. It must be awful for all the traders who depend on this time of year too. I laughed out loud at the last image! It's true, we hang out washing anytime as long as it's dry!! Although I doubt even we would do it in snow that deep lol. x
ReplyDeleteThis year has been hard hasn't it, and with Christmas coming it's harder still. And I agree with you, I'd rather have the snow than freezing fog, although I do remember mom bringing washing in off the line that was frozen solid. It's glorious here right now so snow and sunshine. And you're right, seeing the baby's face is just wonderful! I'm in love already!
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