The Canary Dave

Morning all. Lots more sunshine, but the northeasterly breeze still makes it chilly outside. It should start to warm up slowly, but could be the middle of next week before it becomes more normal. No rain is forecast, so out with the watering can to keep some of my early crops growing. The latest news on re-opening of restaurants and bars, is that those with outside areas may be able to open on a regional basis, but possibly not before mid-July or even September. It is being played very carefully and slowly as they do not want to see a sudden surge in mass gatherings. My favourite restaurant has a lovely outside terrace set in a large garden that has a little stream at the bottom. It seems an age since I met up with friends there for our monthly get together. Patience is a virtue my mother used to say. I am doing my best to be virtuous. Have a good day whatever you are trying to do.

 

Although it is generally true that those of us at an advanced age (let's just say retired) who can stay safe, have space, enough resources etc should be feeling fortunate , the one thing we DON'T have is time. We will have lost 1-2 precious years (grandchildren , still able to be active ) when , although you never realise before it happens, we can actually ill-afford it as we have less left. I am really not complaining , ( well trying not to) and in fact one of the things that has bedevilled us ( and contributed to Mrs J T's situation) is the guilt of feeling pretty fed up when, relatively, we have little to complain about.
Dear me ,that is a miserable post. Sorry, but I feel I am among friends - just like at the ground , so I hope it's ok to express these views.
The horns are certainly cheering me up !
BTW , 'bhappy' is about the best read of football to be found anywhere !

 

I think that I am a very lucky person. Yes, I know that I come on here each morning and moan that it is too wet or dry, too hot or cold, my veggies are not growing as I would like because the ground is so poor, or that deer have been on the rampage and more fencing is required to keep them at bay. Certainly I look at the damage the long hot summer did on the trees last year and wonder if with a little less inclination to work on the clearing up operation I will ever get my fields back to what they were last Autumn. Yet as the weather improves, as it will, I hope that the energy levels will return, and a day of hard graft will send me home feeling enthusiastic about creating something I have been striving for.
My friend in Dorset who I went to primary school with is not as healthy as I keep, and often when we stay with him I help out with jobs he doesn't like to do any more. But he is just one of a group of us who grew up together, and are still keeping in touch despite seventy years passing. A couple of that group have died too soon, but we are told we are lucky to have friends who are still with us after all that time.
When we moved to France we knew that we would leave children and grandchildren behind, but seeing as they were scattered around the country we didn't get to see them that often. Trips back to England did actually mean that we saw them as much, or even more than when we lived there, and they enjoyed their holidays over here. When our daughter decided that she would come out here to live we have had the pleasure of watching our granddaughters growing up for the last ten years. I do miss having a chat with my son-in-law who has worked all around Europe, but has been stuck in Switzerland since January.
My French friends do not appear often unless the weather is decent, and our conversations have been over 10 metres as we all stick to the rules. I did see Bernard this week as he came to inspect my painting, but he is more hard of hearing than I am, so I don't know if he heard my assurance that the paint was not upside down.
The really good things that keep me cheerful are those things all around me. Birds, wild flowers, trees in blossom, the bright green of the new growth in the hedgerows, and the fields full of small lambs or calves. I have often said that the space and open country is lovely, and I really feel for those stuck in the large towns and cities. I don't enjoy coming to England anymore as it all feels so enclosed, and driving is not the pleasure it is in this part of the country. However I would like to just be free to do so if I wished. I have really missed my trips down south to the Med. and the discoveries I have made about Corsica.
I am sure that one day things will become more normal, but it has been easy to adapt with so much that is good around me. I am not sure that single goal leads in Watford games does my health a lot of good. Tension or too many glasses of the red stuff is the result. It can be worse than actually being at the Vic.

 

Morning all. Rather cloudy so far, but the sun does seem to be making an effort to break through. My day has been reorganized with the earlier kick off. I have some bags of horse manure to get from the house to the fields, so instead of pushing them along the green lane in the wheelbarrow which takes some time and effort, they can go in the boot of the car, which gets them within about thirty metres of the entrance. With some luck I will be able after the game to sow some peas, a very calming exercise. Have a good three point day all.

 

Just watched the funeral. Apparently HRH Prince Philip wanted nothing said about him. I think funerals should be about the person in the box, instead it was not about him nor his family at all. Granted it was a dutifully sombre occasion and properly observed in the most difficult of circumstances but that all left me cold and unmoved.

 

Morning all. A beautiful sunny morning and no wind for a change. Very quiet and peaceful in the village which is very different to a Sunday morning in my English village. Lawn mowing, cars heading off to the shops were the norm, but here you might visit friends for a coffee or meal in normal times, although it is the day when you are likely to see many people dressed up in lycra peddling like fury. It has been said many times that you don't have to be any good at a sport here, just look the part. I will shortly go and see what veggie are ready for the pot. Have a good day whatever you might be doing.

 

They’ve got some tie-in with a company producing an old Porsche design, I think, which is gorgeous, but serious dosh for a motor.

 

Yes, I agree. The one problem is when they as good as charge a fiver for their end product and do the pretend haggle. That is nauseating, but the refurb part is always good.

 

This is the thing i was referring to:

https://chesil.co.uk/

 

Looks interesting harks back to the days of real classic cars

 

You’re looking at 30K for a petrol version. I think it’s around £70K for the electric. And that, my friend, is shocking.
(I’m still available for Summer Season.)

 

I’m getting ‘the look’ , so I’ll have to call it a night!

 

Cheers Andy

 

Gorgeous cars...

In my youth I had a Triumph Spitfire...and then developed a bit of a thing for convertibles. Working as a Headteacher in Newcastle wasnt the best place to own a Ford Xr3i convertible though!!

I would love to blow our retirement stash on such a car.. . but it is in a joint account!

 

I always liked the Spit, but there was something about a Stag...

 

Agreed a much classier car.... but out of my range!

 

Morning all. A lovely sunny day and already the greenhouse vent is fully open. Plan to do some weeding, so plenty of time to think about the latest scam to divest people of a little more money, unless of course they rebel and refuse to buy into this scheme. My son-in- law used to live in Maidenhead and owned a fully restored 2CV convertible. It was used for running around town and to the golf club, and he kept it parked on the driveway to the house. One Saturday morning he went out to head towards the golf course only to find that someone had taken a Stanley knife to the hood and lifted the bag and clubs out. He never saw the clubs again of course and the new ones that he bought with the insurance money were not really to his liking. He blamed himself for leaving them in the car overnight, but didn't think how simple it was to get in to the car. Have a good day whatever you are doing0

 

I has a Spitfire for about 18 months. Appalling on corners. Roof leaked. Driving up to Newcassel in the winter with my feet resting in freezing water was not really compensated for by a few days in the summer with the top down. The last straw was a glorious summers day , top down , nice girl in the passenger seat, at traffic lights in Enfield, when some sh*t threw a glass of water over me from a second floor office window. He must have practised it, as it was so accurate. There again, probably a Spurs supporter. Before that, I went to Vicarage road on Easter Monday. Barry Endean scored 4 (against Crewe ?). Then drove to Workington for the following day. In those days the M1 finished at Watford Gap, and the M6 started at Gailey. So, a long drive, added to which I had a puncture and a broken fan belt. Arrived at my nice little hotel at about 2-30am. The hotel team were up waiting for me , playing cards. They knocked up steak, chips, etc . Boy was it welcome !
I have enough stories about that car - ( and my first, a Standard 10 called Bumble ,which had twin SU carbs and a sunshine floor) to fill a dmall ouevre.
Cheers all.

 

My spitfire had a continual water leak problem.. So i alway had to carry a container with me. I bought it on a whim from s dodgy dealer in Devon.. And then enveigled a girl i was chasing to come down to Devon to drive it home with me.. We only got about 100 miles and had to be rescued..

 

I don't know how much of a decision it was for you to move, but I'm delighted for you that it has worked out the way it has. I am aching for our little cottage in the Charente (was part of Poitou-Charente now part of 'Nouvelle Acquitaine', which is a shame) , but we couldn't live there permanently , for several reasons , not the least of which is we have been (mostly") very happy here. A superb community, nice town , good church (within the C of E limitations, that is) , a lot to do, ( U3A for example)and a lot of friends . France doesn't have much in the way of social activity as far as we can tell. Most of the activities round us are run by the expats - and we prefer to mix our company with French and English people.
We also don't see much of our family , even though they are under 2 hours away. That's s how it is. Our other family, esconced in Portugal (but forever on the move - it's a long story!) we only see at Xmas, and our grandson's birthday. Nowhere near enough. It's life today.
I think the Covid business would alarm us. We wouldn't feel very confident at the mo living in France and not being sufficiently embedded to know the rules, conventions etc in this covid climate.