The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Friday 16 April 2021

This and that!

The past couple of weeks have felt pretty long to me - just dragging by - or maybe it's just that this lockdown is feeling longer than the previous couple. We're two weeks into a four week lockdown "lite" and I'm guessing everyone is feeling pretty much the same! Still, time moves on, lockdown or no lockdown! The other day André finally received the good news that his loan application to buy his apartment has been approved. We were pretty certain it would be anyway (he's already picked out the kitchen units and flooring), but of course it's never over 'til the fat lady sings is it. His loan will be in Swiss francs, while the apartment is in France (think euros), but that makes sense as he earns Swissies and so will not have to worry about exchange rate fluctuations. I think more and more he's seeing what a good idea it was moving back into France (he originally wanted to stay in Geneva), because he realizes how much cheaper it is this side of the border, how beautiful it is (although he knew that anyway, having grown up here), and he has just as many mates over here (if not more) than he had when living in Geneva. It's amazing too to see that his monthly repayment will be just SF 1,100, compared to the SF 1,000/month he paid as his share of the rent on the one-bedroomed apartment he and Lily rented in Geneva. Of course he'll have all the other bills to keep up with on his own, but it's more than doable if he's sensible. He's also become more aware that one of the best guarantees of financial security in retirement is to own your own home outright. So yeah, he's stoked! What with that and stashing the cash to buy all the stuff he's going to need - it'll be fun to go out shopping with him! He also finally received his carte grise (title/log book?) for his car, which will allow him to switch his Swiss plates over to French. You're supposed to have these switched within three months of moving into France (he's been here 10!) but I guess there's not much they can say when you've done the necessary and yet still not received the corresponding official paperwork from them!

We've had snow three times over the past few days but honestly nothing to write home about, although the temperatures have dropped quite significantly again. I went down to the market in my local town of La Roche yesterday looking to buy some new tea towels and veggie plants, and while I got a few plants, the bric-a-brac stand wasn't there, so I decided to head to the market in Bonneville today to see if I'd have better luck - but again, he wasn't there. That's when I realized, of course, all the non-essential stores are in lockdown so they're not allowing non-essential market vendors to trade either!!! In fact I would say Bonneville's market was operating at about only one-third capacity, so life has got to be hard for some of these stall-holders. I've been tracking the number of covid-related deaths in both the UK and France, since both countries have a pretty similar population size. France is due to hit 100,000 deaths shortly and seems to be tracking at 30,000 fewer deaths than the UK on a fairly consistent basis, so who knows which government got this lockdown business "right"! While I was at the market it struck me how nice it must be to just be able to wander out of your home and have the shops/markets right there, within walking distance. I know I'd be in heaven if I could do my shopping at Turin's market every day! While I have no plans to sell right now I realize at a later stage it might be an option for me to get an apartment in a small town round here in order to be able to walk everywhere. I already dislike driving in the snow and getting a small place in town would definitely have it's appeal, it's just that while my house is nothing special, the view from my back garden is just glorious, so I don't see me selling up just yet - but who knows what the future might bring!

Bonneville market place!

The other day I managed to break a tooth so I'm going to have to cross the border next week as my dentist is in Geneva. As I'm going to be in Switzerland anyway I thought I'd book up another couple of check-ups to get them out of the way too and hopefully be done with doctors for the year! After I got off the phone fixing up my appointments, André called me to come and take a look at the dishwasher, which was "fizzing" away nicely. Turns out I'd put washing machine tablets into the dishwasher (????) by mistake! I guess that's one way to get the floor properly clean isn't it!

Yesterday I drove over to baby-sit the Munchkin so that Jen could have a few hours to herself (ladies, remember the luxury of being able to have a shower and wash your hair with the bathroom door shut?)! He'd just slurped his way through 120 ml of milk (up from 90 ml) and is going great guns, although the fact that he actually seems to "hoover" his milk is giving him a bit of tummy trouble. I can't say it's colic as it doesn't seem that severe, but since Jen's started giving him a fennel/camomile-based drink also it does seem a bit better. Oddly enough I remember my mom telling me that "in the day" they used to put a piece of coal from the fire into boiling water, let the water cool down and then give it to the baby as a colic remedy, and it worked pretty well. Makes sense, I suppose, since charcoal is in many "tummy upset" remedies. But isn't it amazing how so many of these old wives' tales turn out to be bang on? Anyway I played with the babe, who is now starting to open his eyes more, and babbled away to him for ages. Poor kid, he's probably wondering about the black and white fuzzy thing in his field of vision and the bunch of cobblers she's telling him! Still, it was lovely to spend some time with him, and at least Jen got to have a few hours to herself!

Then the other night I was watching Mary Berry's Foolproof Cooking on TV and since I like Mary and so many of those recipes looked good, I decided to throw caution to the wind and order the accompanying book - and to hell with the expense! Well all €7 of "expense" really, since I went online and bought it second-hand. Not that I really need another cook book but if I ain't going to either Thailand or Mexico this year ...! I've also been continuing to enjoy more of Grace and Frankie. While the series is fun, I'm absolutely loving the music that goes with it, so I decided to go through the entire series and, using my superior technical skills (ha!), have been downloading the songs I really like to my Amazon Prime Music account! Anyone else love Dorothy Moore's Misty Blue or Candi Staton's Young Hearts Run Free? I mentioned before that I want to get rid of about 200 CDs I have cluttering up my house (most of them being my ex-husband's), so I'm going to pick out the one or two songs I like on each CD to download and then box them up for André to take with him. Win/win right? Then André was telling me that if I got an "auxiliary music cable" I could plug my phone in downstairs or in my car and play my own playlists anywhere. Who wudda thunk (see previous note about my technology skills)! Well since I didn't know what an "auxiliary music cable" was in French, and typing "musical thingy" into Amazon France doesn't seem to get me anywhere, I went on to Amazon UK and rummaged around, then went back to Amazon France to order. I no longer order anything from the UK thanks to Brexit because I'd have to pay extra for the customs paperwork and, potentially, customs duty on the items ordered. But this morning, just before I set off to the market, I got a message on my phone saying my parcel was being "held up due to unpaid customs duties"! I had to think for a minute but then realized it was a scam. Everything I've just ordered I ordered through Amazon France, and even if I had ordered anything from the UK, the grand total was about £25 and I wouldn't need to be paying customs duties on such a small amount. It can't just be a coincidence that I've just been on Amazon UK and Amazon France and all of a sudden someone's trying to scam me about "parcels". Makes you wonder though - that's pretty sophisticated scamming somewhere along the line isn't it!


22 comments:

  1. A cookbooks splurge when you can't travel seems like a very good buy. Your little guy sounds terrific-I do recall the gulping with middle child and the tummy issues. I had less success nursing her than the other two so bottle more prevalent. Each day that goes on I think abut when we might sell, but if we stay in Minnesota, we likely will stay here for a while at least until we would find something sensible that could be upkept while we travel-yes, I'm saying that, travel.

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    1. Dare we even say the word "travel" yet? I don't think so for right now, but one can certainly dream!

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  2. I love Misty Blue, there is a version done by Monica - love it. I love that Jen is able to get the time to be by herself even in small bits, thanks to you and hubby. It's so important for new moms I am sure. I use Spotify, and I looooove music. Definitely, once you get the auxiliary cord you'll see the big difference - you're going to love it!!!

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    1. I'll have to check out Monica. I think because there are maybe only ever a couple of songs on an album that I actually like it always put me off playing music, so now I'll just be bopping away won't I! Jordan was telling me to use Spotify but since I already have an Amazon Prime account I thought I'd give that a try first. I'm sure I'll love it!

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  3. Good on André; buying is always better in the long run.

    Our COVID vaccine pan is going pretty well; Carlos and I are due for ours the end of next week, and more Americans are using their brains instead of their political affiliation and getting the vaccine, so, while our numbers are still high, it feels like progress.

    Shouldn't ALL soap be the same no matter where you put it? I say that just in case I ever make the same mistake you [???] made!

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    1. Yeah it always made sense for André to buy. In Geneva that's just not possible unless you're a very high earner, but in France it's more than doable. I always think that if so many people are struggling on a pension it's because they're still paying a rent. I may be wrong, but at least it's one thing I don't have to worry about. As for the soap (HA), this was a new brand to me and the problem that we have over here is that everything has to be written in MOST (if not ALL) of the EU languages on the box, so when we talk about "small print", it's actually "miniscule print" and I mistook it for dishwasher powder. Don't do it - you'll be taking a bubble bath for a week in your kitchen!

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  4. Oh the baby time is the most wonderful gift you can give yourself, the baby and Jen! It is win/win/win!
    Congrats to Andre of both the apartment and also getting all the CD's!
    It is funny how the background music in shows resonates isn't it. I watched a Mark Twain documentary last night and watched the credits to find the background music.

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    1. It's early days yet Anne but I'm loving the baby time, and it will only get better as he becomes more responsive. I remember the cabin fever I felt when I had André in D.C. - no car, no family and being trapped in that damn apartment. I would have given anything to get just a few hours to myself. And I know you're a music buff - I'm not, to be honest, but I'm LOVING this music. I guess it brings back memories of our youth, right?

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  5. I've had some very professionally done scam e-mails pertaining to Amazon. There is a place where you can report these.
    Glad little man is enjoying his life! I bet he is already starting to recognize you. What do you think you want him to call you? Have you considered this yet?
    Good for Andre! His life is moving in the right direction, it would seem.

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    1. I always assumed I'd be Nanny, but the little girl next door can't say my name (Anna) and has always called me "Nana", so who knows what I'll end up as. In France it's "Mamie", so that'll be Jen's mom. My kids ended up calling Grandma in the US "Ammy", (again because of mispronunciation) so I guess we'll have to wait and see. And yes it's going well for André even after the shock of a very much unwanted divorce. He's really happy now, has loads of friends and is as excited as anything about buying his own place! What's not to love?

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  6. I connect my phone to my car through Bluetooth, it's great. Sorry to hear about the lactose issues with munchie. I've always been able to drink anything, both my brother and my sister have... issues of some sort.

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    1. I know Bluetooth is a possibility but I'm only in kindergarten as far as technology is concerned so I'm "working my way up to it". As for food, I've always been very relaxed about it - and with my kids, and thankfully nobody has any problems. I'm sure babe will be ok later - it's just that he guzzles his milk and then pays the price for it!

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  7. I really enjoyed the music from Grace and Frankie as well.

    So nice to be able to hold a tiny baby. Jack is getting big and he's not baby anymore. I didn't realize how quickly that time went when my kids were little.

    Sounds like Andre's life is getting back to something he can enjoy again. Divorce is difficult for everyone.

    As for shopping at that picturesque market place, you are a lucky woman. It's so beautiful

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  8. I'm really enjoying listening to the Grace and Frankie tracks that I picked out, most likely because most of them go back to my youth, I guess. As for the babe, I look at the clothes swamping him right now and it's hard to realize that pretty soon they won't fit. It makes you realize just how tiny a newborn is when you can hold them in the palm of your hand doesn't it. I'm happy for André, too, that things are working out for him. The divorce blind-sided him but I'd say he has really, really bounced back well, so I'm so relieved. And yes we are lucky round here with the markets. I think it's only Tuesday when I don't have a local market to visit, and where I'd have to go a little further, but it's good to know I can have a wander if I want. It'll be all the better when this damn pandemic is over and we can sit and have a drink outside too!

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  9. Our twice weekly market has been struggling by with only food stalls permitted for weeks and weeks but, since Monday, the other stall-holders have been allowed to return. That makes it more interesting to browse but also attracts the hordes looking for a day out. You just can't win. Also I hope for Jen's sake that the Munchkin doesn't develop colic fully, I'm still haunted by the screaming every evening for months from my first born, and that was thirty years ago!

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    1. Masks are still mandatory anywhere in town but I hope people will be sensible when this eases up a bit. To be fair, compared with some of the horror stories I read, I've found people to be more than sensible - round here at least. And I think, from what Jen said, Charlie is doing better with the fennel tea. A bit cranky after eating but not as bad as it was. I had a colleague who had a two year old and then they had twin boys, BOTH with colic. I remember seeing him walking into work like an absolute zombie. I can only imagine how his wife felt!

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  10. Great news that Andre has his loan! It sounds as though he's more settled now and ready to enjoy life again. Good for him! Baby cuddles are the best. Oh how I love feeding a wee baby, don't they make the most delicious snuffly sounds!! Don't you get different sized holes on the teats there? My daughter tried several till she found Dr Browns bottles and teats and they worked a treat, not sure if they are available in France though. We can now travel a bit further afield but I have no desire to yet. Well, that's not strictly true, I'd love to go somewhere nice but I'm pretty sure everyone and his brother will be there too so I'll hang on a while longer! These scamming things are getting more sophisticated aren't they. We often get phone calls now telling us our payment for BT didn't go through could we just give them our bank details and they will sort it out. The fact we don't have anything from BT makes it much easier to know its a scam but I am terrified my mum gets something like this, she might not realise, although she's been warned to give her details to no-one over the phone- not even me!! x

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    1. Yep André is really out the other side now and happy, so that makes me happy of course. As for the Munchkin, I thought about the teats but Jen is pretty clued in anyway and knows what she's doing. I will mention it though next time I see her. And you're right about these scammers - anything to do with Amazon is more insidious because I do, indeed, order such a lot from them. While we might be more cautious they most definitely can take advantage of an older, maybe less clued in person can't they. Rotten bastards!

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  11. Scammers are a pain. You really need your wits about you. I’ve had them from Royal Mail and also from HMRC about overpaid tax. It’s easy to see how people can get taken in by them. It’s awful. Glad you’re enjoying your time with Munchkin. It’s the best time, being a grandma is lovely. Hope his tummy settles and he’s ok. Fingers crossed the lockdown works and things get a bit more ‘normal’ and you can have a lovely summer as well. Watching what happens over here. We’re still in the 6 people can meet outside and bars can serve drinks and food outside stage but seeing the crowds out this weekend has been mind blowing. Forget the beer and wine at the pub it would be heaven to get together with the family and give the grandchildren a hug!

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    1. Hi Jo, I have a great time with the scammers who start their emails with "hallo dearest, do not be confused". I always write back to them (because I'm a bored old lady I guess) and then tell them to F right off, but I know that (so far) I'm savvy enough not to fall for it, but that isn't always the case. I usually also comment that "I'm sure your mother is proud of what you do" but who knows if that has any effect. And I've seen what's going on in the UK. I don't know if rags like the Daily Fail are just rabble-rousing or not, but if you end lockdown and then people go out partying like a bunch of lunatics, where the heck will it lead? Back to the starting line I guess! So far, and I can only speak for round here, people have been pretty compliant, but who knows where that will end. We can only keep on keeping on!

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  12. Congrats to Andre! Excellent for both of you, and hooray for shopping! Ha ha! Glad you're getting to spend time with baby as well and hopefully his tummy complaints get sorted out soon. We get lots of robocalls at the office about our 'Amazon parcel' or Mastercard or something, plus still plenty of scam-style phone calls about energy bills, etc. Too bad there's no way to block those! Scammers suck. xx

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    1. I have to say considering we're in a pandemic we've been pretty lucky all round, touch wood. As for the scammers, I deliberately bought a phone where I could block numbers but unfortunately not enough blocks available to get rid of all of them on the house phone!

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