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!