The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Saturday 1 May 2021

Anyone taking bets?

Happy May Day everyone! Actually I'd forgotten it was May Day until I drove into town and saw the vendors selling Lily of the Valley on all the street corners. That brought back memories of an old boss from before I was married who used to bring all the ladies in the office Lily of the Valley on May Day! He was somewhat "bohemian" in his outlook but he was always very nice to me. I never quite knew his family set-up but when he died I was surprised to see the announcement in the paper saying "in loving memory - from A, his partner, M, his wife and XXXX his children"! Good old Mr. T, God rest his soul!

This week being the last week of lockdown (until the next time?) it's been a bit "blah", and even though it hasn't affected me as badly as some, I think we're all ready for it to be over. And it is - somewhat! As from Monday the restriction of staying within 10 km of your home is lifted, but the curfew remains. More stores are allowed to reopen and while I can't remember the exact dates, restaurant terraces are opening up, with cinemas and concert halls to follow, but indoor gyms being the last to open up mid-June. By end of June, "all being well", I believe the last curfews will be lifted and the country should open right back up. To be honest, even if (and when) the numbers start going back up I don't think people will be willing to go into another lockdown, given all the economic and emotional downsides. I guess we'll have to wait and see though won't we. I'll just be glad to be able to go back up the mountains now that we're freer and the snow is disappearing (although there were still avalanche warnings as late as last week)!

I had another doctor's appointment in Geneva last week so my friend met me and we sat and had a drink together on the terrace of a café and both really enjoyed it. He's bored and I guess we're all missing human contact, especially those of us that are either working from home or retired. But can someone explain to me how I managed to walk away with some darning of his to do!!! He was wearing a nice dark blue sweater and when I commented on it he said it had been his father's and he wore it on occasion for sentimental reasons. When I pointed out it would look much better without the moth holes he was mortified, so cue me ending up bringing it home and attempting to clean it up a bit! I walked right into that one didn't I!

On the Munchkin front, Jen took Charlie for his one month check up and explained to the paediatrician the problems he had started having on the feeding front. So the doctor ran some tests on him and while he is indeed slightly lactose-intolerant she said it wasn't enough to justify switching to the rice milk. Moreover she explained that rice milk is constipating so it's no wonder the poor little thing was in such pain the other week. She did say, though, that his oesophagus is quite raw from the acid reflux many babies get when the valve that stops the back flow hasn't toughened up yet, so she's given Jen a treatment for that and hey presto, he's a much happier baby and they're getting several rounds of four hours sleep a night, so everyone is happy!

André helped me move some garden furniture this week and drag up my sunbed from the basement, which I made full use of on Tuesday as it was lovely weather. Just as well I did though because it's been piddling down ever since - drab, wet and grey! So I've spent a lot of time indoors pottering about doing nothing much in particular. Then today the landline and internet connection went down for about eight hours so there was no computer, no wifi, no landline and no Netflix. What to do? Well luckily I had just picked up a Joanne Harris novel called Five Quarters of the Orange and I'm loving it, so not having internet turned into a rather nice bonus today as I got to sit and read for hours. André said the same thing actually, but when I pointed out that if it wasn't restored by this evening he might have to talk to me instead of chatting with his mates, I saw the realization spread across his face that maybe it wasn't such a great thing after all!

There's a group of former long-term colleagues who get on a zoom chat most weekends and this Sunday we were "reminiscing" - as is your want, I suppose, when you've worked together for so many years. At one point we were discussing the different computer systems we'd used over the years, and P made us all laugh when he said that at one of our organization's big meetings in Punta del Este (Uruguay) in 1986 someone told him that a document had arrived from Geneva and he couldn't figure out how it had got there - he'd never heard of a fax machine ya see! Time, tide and technology wait for no man do they! Then the other night I was channel-hopping and ended up watching the 1967 movie To Sir With Love starring Sidney Poitier (can you believe he's now 94)? It's about a young unemployed black man who takes up a post as a teacher in a tough area of London and how he wins over his class of "rough" students, although frankly if you considered that lot "rough", you'd have to agree that the schoolkids in the movie Grease were Hell's Angels! But it was a nice movie and I absolutely loved Lulu singing To Sir With Love. I wasn't a great fan of Lulu but she just nails that song!


And finally, when the internet connection was restored this evening I was catching up on a few rounds of Words With Friends on FB. I tend to end up playing against the same people over and over again - none of whom (except for my friend in New York) is a man. It's pretty well known, in fact, that so many youngish men use WWF to try to pick up women and after playing a few words they suggest "switching to WhatsApp" or want your email address. Well, Mr. Hunk - he with the cutesy photo of him snuggling up to his dog - asked me to start a game tonight so I played the first round. Anyone wanna make bets on how many rounds he plays before he wants to switch to Whatsapp? All bets are currently open!

18 comments:

  1. OMG To Sir With Love is one of my favourite all time songs!!!
    Five Quarters is a great book.
    We are still in lockdown, looks like it might be lifted a little in a couple of weeks.
    Hasn't been very warm or sunny here much this week either.

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    1. Lulu really nailed that song didn't she! And this is the third Joanne Harris book I've read and I've adored all of them. She writes very evocatively about France in particular, but I've seen a book of hers mentioned that she has set in Sicily so I will probably order that one too!

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  2. Good news about the baby, we always tend to think the worst right away. Never saw the movie, though was really surprised to here Poitier was so old. And since I've been working through every lockdown we've had, seeing people has not been a problem, but I am getting tired of the masks.

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    1. The babe seems so much more relaxed already - but it's just so upsetting to see him in pain and not know what you can do to help! As for Sidney Poitier I guess I would have put him in his 80s so I was surprised to see that he is now 94 - handsome devil though eh! I finally got used to wearing a mask when I go out and think I will have a hard time now giving it up when I go to the supermarket. They're strange times we're living in aren't they!

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  3. That was a good catchup with you. I have no idea how to darn but curious what the sweater looks like. Noe there's a movie and an actor I'd like to see again. The community in Call the Midwife made me think of the rough high school in To Sir with Love.

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    1. I attacked the sweater this afternoon and while it looks better he'll never be able to "unsee" the holes I think. You know, when I've watched Call the Midwife I realize it was indeed very similar to how I grew up. Or at least, where I was born, before we moved out to a big council estate. It's very realistic!

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  4. I am so glad Charlie is feeling better and sleeping properly. Mom used to say good sleep was as important as a full belly of a baby. She would never wake my sister up just to feed her. Some people wake the babies up every two hours. If I were the baby, I would think that was mean. Lol!

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    1. I never woke my babies up to feed either. Obviously as I had to go back to work I had to get them on a proper routine but I always preferred to let a baby sleep!

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  5. To Sir With Love - one of my all-time favorite movies!

    Any word on your vaccines? They think our state has reached herd immunity, and things are starting to open up. My husband and I went on our first trip in 18 months, to watch a couple of baseball games. Our seats were socially distanced (stadium was only at 25% capacity) and we kept our masks on the entire game (unless eating). We're two weeks past our second vaccination so felt comfortable. We also met up with family for two outdoor meals. It almost felt normal!

    Happy to hear baby Charlie is feeling better - I remember wishing they could tell me what the problem was (be careful what you wish for!).

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    1. I saw that I can finally get my vaccine here in France in June but I'm a bit confused as the "free" vaccine promised is (I believe) linked to being covered by the French healthcare system (which I'm not). I'd have no problem putting it through my insurance anyway but think I'll need to check out going back into Switzerland to get it done. We're only coming out of lockdown (again) tomorrow so I haven't really cared too much until now, but I'm glad you were able to get out and about again.

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  6. Really glad to hear that the little munchkin is on his way to feeling better. And that he's NOT particularly lactose intolerant.
    We were all talking about masks at our family gathering yesterday and many of us agreed that there have been quite a few benefits to us all wearing them. My favorite is that you can more easily pretend not to recognize someone you don't want to talk to.

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    1. I'm also glad to hear he's not lactose intolerant as there would be so many wonderful things he would miss out on. I also don't like the idea of cutting foods out if you really don't have to because life's too short to have to limit your diet. As for the mask business, one thing I've found is how important it actually is to be able to read people's facial expressions. I'm not in the slightest bit deaf (pardon?) but it has been harder to understand people when they're wearing masks!

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  7. You definitely walked right into darning!! I had to 'darn' my granddaughters sock last week. She was dropped off at 7.30 for us to put her out to school and she lifted her foot out of her shoe and there was a big hole in it! I used my wee mushroom I got when I was in the brownies! Talk about hanging on to things lol. I'm so glad to here your grandson isn't lactose intolerant too. It's good to know he's on the mend. It's horrible when you don't know what's wrong with them isn't it. I look forward to hearing when your 'friend' wishes to invite you to whatsapp lol!! x

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    1. Gosh I haven't seen a darning mushroom since my grannie's days. I don't suppose anyone darns anything now do they - they just throw it away. I "darned" his sweater yesterday and it's not bad but .... Mom used to make such a cock-up of darning dad's socks he'd end up with something the size of an orange on the end of his foot - nearly crippled him. As for the Words With Friends guys, they are usually looking for a pick-up (ha, my photo is about 40 years old) or they're scammers. I still reckon I just need to give it time! Will let you know!

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  8. Strange isn't it how you can guarantee when you go to the effort of setting up the garden furniture, the weather turns? Glad you got one day in first though. Oh and my bet is 2 but then I'm always suspicious of hunks posing with dogs.

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    1. I just uncovered the garden table this morning, so that makes six days of rain until now! As for the "hunk", I can see a guy posing with his dog, but not all lovey-dovey like this guy. In any case, these kinds are well known. In one of the FB groups I'm on they regularly write about these guys. They start out with WWF or just direct message you on FB asking you to accept them as a "friend". One of the joys of the internet I guess!

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  9. I am so glad he is sleeping better. My newest niece is not sleeping through the night yet and she is about 7 months, my poor brother and sister in law!! i hope your lockdown ends soon, we are in for the long haul in Ontario unfortunately, but that's what happens when you vote in someone who is stupid. I hope the weather behaves so you can get out and walk, or even read in the garden!!

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    1. Seven months is a long time to go having your sleep interrupted. If it's occasionally that's ok but they must be very tired. At Charlie's age it's completely normal of course - but tiring nonetheless! Today is our first day of partially eased restrictions (no more attestation to go out and about) but I just found out non-essential shops are still closed until 19 May so hopefully we're in the home run. From what I saw on TV President Macron has decided it's now time to "live with the virus" rather than try to stamp it out completely. I personally don't think he had much of a choice anyway. Stay safe!

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