The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Monday 10 May 2021

This and that!

We've had bloody awful weather this past week. Solid rain every day - that is, until the weekend, which turned out nice and sunny thankfully. Now here we're back to Monday morning and it's forecast rain all week again. A typical May I guess. Usually rain doesn't bother me too much because I'm so used to it of course, but I feel sorry for people like my neighbour as it really brings her mood down and she finds it so hard to tolerate!

I went out last week though and bought a few more veggie plants (oh how I love wandering round the big garden centres) and got the last plastic greenhouse-thingy in stock. Well, it's more of a shelter for the tomato plants really, but now I'm wondering if it will stand up to the winds we sometimes get round here. I always plant my tomatoes up against the living room window - where they do well as it's a sheltered, sunny spot up against a white wall. Trouble is, I keep running out of space, so hence I wanted the greenhouse. I took out my little rototiller and gouged out a spot at the top of the garden right next to my raised beds, so we'll see how my various veggies make out up there. I have no doubt they will thrive as it's a really sunny spot, but given the howling wind we had last night I'm a bit worried that I might wake up one morning and find my veggies scattered across the farmer's field being eaten by the donkeys. Time will tell I guess!

In other news I think my kettle is on the blink as now when I turn it on we get loud whistling sounds like some opera singer warming up. Since André has the same whacky sense of humour as I do I mentioned the Florence Foster Jenkins film to him as my kettle sounds just like Meryl the Diva in that movie. So André pulled up the trailer for the film on his phone - and I swear if I hear that bloody thing one more time I think I'll brain him! It is funny, of course, but he keeps playing it over and over to the point that I want to punch him in the throat. Luckily he went in to work twice last week so I did get some respite. On the way home on Wednesday, as he was driving through Geneva he sent Lily's grandma a message to ask if she wanted company - which she did, and I'm so glad he still makes the effort to see her as she's a lovely lady! Her grandkids always called her Abuela, even though she's not Spanish, and when André and Lily divorced she told him that he was still family to her and to keep in touch - and he has! Good on him! Later - and I don't know how we got on the subject  - but he was telling me about a recurring nightmare he has about him being chased round the airport by a dinosaur???? Anyone wanna take a shot at that one?

On Friday I stopped over to see the Munchkin and Jen left him with his dad and me for about three hours while she went out shopping. He is doing so much better, putting on weight and is much more relaxed now that his feeding is getting sorted. He's also just starting to react and smile (a little), so I spent a good 15 minutes telling him the story of how Mr. Donkey and Mr. Horsey in the field behind me decided to have a race, and since Mr. Horsey let Mr. Donkey win, they are now big friends and can't wait to meet Charlie next time he comes over! Rubbish I know but my dad was always babbling away like that to the grands. Jordan just rolled his eyes but Charlie smiled - or it might have been gas, but I'll take it as a smile! Jordan was telling me that they have so much work lined up he'll never be unemployed. So much so that they are looking to take on another qualified plumber and an apprentice but they can't find anyone??? Wow, I would have thought they'd have their pick, what with the crappy economic situation right now. There are three qualified plumbers (Max and his brother - the owners of the company - and Jordan) and one older man in his 40s who is retraining, having worked in the food industry for many years. He was also telling me that they have another big contract in Chamonix (where the Mont Blanc is) and for six months of the year, when access to the mountain refuges is on foot only, they will get taken up there by helicopter! Not bad huh - well it beats sitting on the number 25 bus for 90 minutes every day doesn't it!

Chamonix and the Mont Blanc

We had sad news from work this week when we were informed that a colleague had died (of cancer, I believe) at the age of 58. Many moons ago P had lived opposite me for about a year so my kids knew him. Well, more so André than Jordan, as Jordan was just a toddler. About 25 years ago he was lucky enough to win around $1.5 million (or the equivalent in Swiss francs), and yet within a few years it was all gone and he had nothing to show for it. All of a sudden he had "friends" crawling out of the woodwork who wanted to open a bar and so on, and so yep, just a few years later it was all gone and he had nothing. He didn't even own his own home and was living in a rented apartment when he died. He may have been a fool to lose all that money but he wasn't a nasty guy - in fact, he was pretty kind and decent - if gullible, I suppose. Poor guy, worked all those years and never got to enjoy retirement! It's sobering isn't it!

Then the other day my neighbour came round and asked me if I would keep an eye on their place as they were having to dash off to the west coast of France as Mamie (his mom) is going downhill fast. Well she's 102 so I suppose it was to be expected, but I have to say I was a bit surprised at his reaction. When he got the phone call his eyes filled with tears - and yet he never called her, if she would call him he, himself, told me he would put the phone down and walk off leaving her chattering away to herself, and as far as I could see there was no love lost on his part. For her, on the other hand, he was the Boy King who could do no wrong - and yet it was her daughters who took care of her and did everything for her, not him. She even told me one time how lucky I was to have two boys. I found that quite insulting actually so just said I would have been equally lucky to have two girls as all children were a blessing. I'm not sure she appreciated that though! A couple of days after they left I felt sure I could hear something in their basement, and sure enough there was 10 cm of water down there (again). Our other neighbour came round with a heavy duty drill and was trying to create an evacuation spot to allow the water to escape (presumably with their go ahead), and from what I can see it's ok for the time being - but it's still raining of course! Damn I'm glad my basement has been spared (so far)! 

The other day I got a very sweet message from a former colleague saying that she'd heard I had a new grandson and sending me her congratulations. She's in her early 40s and was saying she's desperate to get vaccinated as she can't wait to get out of here because she's "sick to death of mountains and lakes"! That made me laugh actually, but as she's half Spanish I get that she wants to head down to Spain - it was just a funny way to say it. I mean, who the heck can be "sick of mountains and lakes"? Not me, that's for sure. Talking of which, Marysette (from the sewing club) and I went off walking on Saturday at a new-to-me spot about 30 minutes down the road from here. I'd often seen the signpost for the Lac Bleu but never went down there, and boy was I missing something! It was hot and pretty uncrowded when we got there and somehow, over a period of about five hours, we managed to clock up 18 km! Oh we stopped and had a picnic, then stopped again for a coffee, but still, we put the km in (and I got a rather fetching sunburn on my right arm and a V-shape burn on my neck - again. Will I ever learn?

The Lac Bleu, although "green lake" seems
more fitting than "blue lake" to be honest!

Samoëns!


26 comments:

  1. Weird, nonsense dreams such as a dino chasing yr son at the airport? Old Turkish people say something that roughly translates as "Your butt must have been uncovered/exposed" (when sleeping that is). Tell that to Andre! I am glad you had a nice time with Charlie. My father used to tell my sister all sorts of made-up stories. Her favorites were: Count Dracula who ate children tht wandered away from their homes and the Zombie whose tail was burnt because of playing with matches. I did like your story of the horse and the donkey. Very kind of Mr. Horsey.

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    1. Ha ha, I'll tell André he must be sleeping with his bum exposed then! As for the silly songs, my dad was always babbling away like that - and the silly sayings? On his first birthday after his death my niece in England posted on FB the first line of "Father bought a donkey". Then my nephew in Denmark posted the next line, then back to another niece for the third line - it was really sweet. Much better than being eaten by Count Dracula I reckon!

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  2. 102 that's incredible. We've had beautiful sunshine with a freezing wind! Now we have tain, beautiful sunshine and a warm wind. Crazy weather. So glad the munchkin has settled. Have you ever seen the clip on youtube of the grandma reading wonky donkey. It's hilarious.

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    1. Good to hear from you Tania - I've been wondering how you're doing! And yes I have seen that Scottish grandma reading Wonky Donkey - she's hilarious isn't she!

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    2. I miss your blog, I hope you're ok!! ♥️

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  3. I love to wander the garden center, too, but there were WAY too many people at both I went to yesterday and it wasn't enjoyable at all. I'm going to try for a weekday soon.

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    1. I could spend an absolute fortune in the garden centres. Everything they have just seems so beautiful doesn't it, but very often I murder the heck out of the plants when I get them home!

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  4. Good thing your neighbors though tot have you watch! We ruined our family room-still some visible sings, with water damage. So happy the little guy is sorted our for eating and not in pain.

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    1. One of the days I was out and my two other sets of neighbours were lugging buckets of water out of the basement non-stop. They're back now, but it's so good to know I have such great neighbours!

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  5. Talking to babies is like talking to dogs, they don't know what you're saying, but they can pick up every inflection of nuance in the tone of your voice. And many who win lotteries lose it fast. One of my co-workers when I worked for International Paper won over $500,000 and her winnings were gone in about a year on stupid stuff.

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    1. I agree absolutely Dave, I just kept babbling away and I'm pretty sure he didn't believe the Mr. Donkey/Mr. Horsey story. It really is all in the tone/inflection. Anyway, I got a smile. Sadly it's also true what you say about so many lottery winners. I didn't see P being particularly flash with his winnings (not that I'd know really), but I think he was just taken advantage of by "friends" he didn't know he had. What is such a shame is that he could have been set for life!

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  6. I generally grow from seed but with the delayed start and some rather leggy windowsill reared seedlings might be making a trip to the local garden centre shortly too

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    1. I always start with seeds (and good intentions) and I generally have some success, but then I get impatient and hit the garden centre anyway!

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  7. Good luck with those tomatoes! The summer here was very cool and wet, not good tomato weather, and the only people who had good tomatoes were those who grew them against a brick wall, so I think you are on to something.
    At least if your greenhouse blows away you will have a great story for the wee baby:)

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    1. Last year wasn't great for anything, to be honest, so I'm hoping my tomatoes (at least) will do well this year. I've put loads of old grass cuttings/compost down so fingers crossed. As for the greenhouse, I have 2 smaller plastic ones that I placed along the side of the house one year as it's a real sun trap. Trouble is, that's also where the wind roars round the corner and I ended up chasing my seedlings then too!

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  8. The weather has been terrible here as well, the rain has been endless. Here’s hoping it improves as we move out of lockdown. I’m with you I could never tire of mountain and lake views, if only that was what we have here! Hopefully later this year we will be able to travel safely, until then we have memories. So glad Charlie’s improving and you’re having quality grandma time. It’s the best.

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    1. This particular colleague adores Spain and goes there every chance she gets so I can see that she's frustrated - but nope, I could never get bored with the scenery round here! Well 40 years later and I still haven't!

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  9. I'm planning a trip to the garden centre today! I'm hoping as it's a rainy day it will be quiet, first visit in over a year! Sounds like a wonderful time with Charlie. Aren't babies wonderful, I'm so glad to hear his feeding issues are resolved. Poor Andre it's rotten having nightmares. I had a couple of horrible ones recently and they are not pleasant. How anyone can be fed up with lakes and mountains is beyond me! Everyone to their own though! Strangely yours is the third greenhouse I've heard of blowing away in the wind! My brother got one which got damaged by wind and my new neighbours bought one which blew down the garden. Both have placed a heavy concrete slab at the bottom of them now! My tomatoes are still very small and although it's warmed up a bit now it's still not brilliant. I'm not sure how the veg will do here this year unless its gets a lot better soon! My trip to the garden centre is to hopefully get a couple of nice ceramic tubs for the garden. Loads of mine have started to break apart in the cold winter we had, not to mention most of them are about a million years old!! Your photos are fabulous as usual! x

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    1. Enjoy your trip to the garden centre. When my mom was still alive, one of their most popular day trips from the residential home was to take the oldies to the garden centre for a few hours. They knew all the plants, of course, but there was also a great little cafeteria. I thought that was inspired on the part of the home!

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  10. You live in such a beautiful area. I am quite envious:)

    I'm glad your grandson is doing better with his new mild. Poor guy.

    The big guy has always talked to Jack. He tells him everything and has since birth. Now Jack talks to him as well, telling him about his day. It does my heart good.

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    1. My dad was a "babbler" and so am I so if I'm lucky I'll have the same relationship as the big guy does with Jack! He's really starting to smile now and it just warms my heart!

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  11. Sick of that scenery, your friend must be bonkers. I admit I did tell a friend recently that I was rather missing the sea as we haven’t been for almost a year, but that doesn’t mean I’m bored with what we have here.

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    1. I love the sea also and it's always such a treat to see it, but in over 40 years I've never gotten "sick of this scenery". This person is half Spanish and just loves Spain so what I think she really meant is "I can't wait to get back to Spain again"!

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  12. I am so glad Charlie is sleeping better, he is going to love your stories as he grows up. And mom and dad must be sleeping better too - a win for everyone. I have nightmares sometimes - and once a month I dream about my ex boyfriend(he is imprinted on the subconscious) as for your old co worker - LOL, I am sure she misses Spain, but cannot say I would ever get sick of your views. Your neighbour is probably sad because his mom is the only woman to love him and never hassle him about some of those dubious parts of his personality you mentioned ;)

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    1. I've picked up watching The Serpent again and last night (in my dreams) I was frantically trying to get out of Thailand after being chased by The Serpent himself. Yuck! As for my neighbour, that's very intuitive of you. He has always been pretty contemptuous of his mom - and yet she talked about him as though he walked on water. Maybe that's why he's so contemptuous of other women!

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