Today I shall be Mainly...

[Wendyf]

Did you frighten them??

[Big Kev]

Did you frighten them??

Hahahaha, strangely no.

[Marilyn]

I thought you had tampons under your nose at first...

[Big Kev]

[Stanley]

Not sure what I'll be doing. I failed miserably with the shed yesterday because of a sudden onset of house cleaning....... Can't think what came over me!
Beware of kids Kev.... Best route to infection I know. Susan's Mick is almost certain to be a candidate as his job as a carer for violent children involves close contact when they have to be restrained. He and Susan are expecting to have to self-isolate....

[Cathy]

Well I hope Susan and Mick are stocked up on all the necessaries. I’d hate to have to actually expect to get the Coronavirus.

[Stanley]

She's been doing sensible stocking up and she has me to fall back on......

[Marilyn]

But you don’t drive...and can’t deliver loo roll...!

[Sue]

Love it Kev.

Yesterday we did garden tidying, it was like a Spring day, more of the same today. The weeks weather is promising. I hope to get my potatoes and onion sets in today or tomorrow. I know its early but the temperatures are higher than the UK, and when we next come it may be too late to plant them. I wonder when our next visit will be ?


I shall sweep the house through this morning before we go outside, any other general cleaning can wait until it rains. We are making the most of the sunshine.

[Stanley]

Maz, ever heard of taxis?
Once more the shed has suffered in the face of domestic tasks that have to be done. It's amazing how small routine jobs cut into your time! A housekeeper's job is never finished! On the plus side, I have a straight edge for the moment.

[Marilyn]

Carpet cleaning...a hands and knees job.
Hubby accidentally kicked his glass of wine off the coffee table last night. I saw it all in slow motion...a two metre arc of red liquid landing on our cream carpet. Battle stations with paper towel to blot up as much as possible. Then we attacked it again with paper towels and cleaner. I’ve done it again this morning.
Came up pretty good. I’m just waiting for it to dry, then I will put the carpet foam on and vacuum. But it is 99% gone already.
Phew!

Used up a roll and a half of paper towel though, so we had to hunt new stocks down this morning...in very short supply around here! Aldi has some ( and toilet paper too folks) but we only bought the paper towel as we don’t need to panic buy toilet paper.

[Stanley]

Maz, white wine is a good solvent for any lingering stain. Part of my house cleaning was a deep clean of my kitchen window. When it leaked it got runs down the inside, they are all gone now.
Aiming for the shed but will use my head.

[Sue]

I once put a full bottle of red wine down on the hearth in the lounge, the bottom cracked off and the full bottle went on our brand new carpet. Like you we mopped up what we could then used a carpet spot cleaner, I think it was 1001 miracle cleaner or something ( the advert was of a woman treating a stain and wiggling her rear end), any way it worked brilliantly.

Yesterday was another day gardening. The soil is solid and heavy because of all the rain. Today I shall plant potatoes and onions, but I doubt we will be back here for several months to use them. I am quite disheartened, sad, and worried, if not a little scared. My asthma does not give me a lot of bother normally but I do suffer permanently from a large production of mucus and a bad cough, which I think puts me at risk. I am not worried about the over 70 bit as other wise I am very fit and well for my age.

Take care all of you out there, keep warm, keep well and keep away from people.

[Wendyf]

1001 cleans a big, big carpet for less than half a crown!

[Sue]

Thats the one! That was the older version , mine cost more like £4

[Stanley]

"My asthma does not give me a lot of bother normally but I do suffer permanently from a large production of mucus and a bad cough"
Look at it this way Sue. Like you I have always produced mucus, partly polluted air when I was a lad and partly through smoking. I talked to my GP mate in Minnesota about it because I suspected that this constant cleaning of my lungs as I coughed up the natural mucus had protected me over the years from ingested particles of everything from particulates and asbestos to vaporised metals and poisons. He told me that there was a school of thought in the Mayo Clinic (He worked for them) that agreed with me and his massage for patients was that a productive cough was good, it was the body cleaning the lungs. So cheer up! The cough could well be an advantage. You know as well as I do that Mother Nature works in mysterious ways like that.
Aiming for shed but aware I have a cooking session this morning as well as a family visit. We shall see. No sweat I have plenty of time as I self isolate!

[Marilyn]

Try explaining that to someone with Cystic Fibrosis!

[Stanley]

Try looking on the bright side Maz. Sue doesn't have Cystic Fibrosis!

[Sue]

I may not have cystic fibrosis, but I can still be concerned, before my asthma was diagnosed I found it very difficult to teach ie talk to a class until I had been up and about for over 3-4 hours, I struggled to breathe let alone talk. About 25 years ago I suffered from ME as a result of a viral infection that affected my lungs and gut. I was ill for over two years and every cold or minor ailment put me in bed for days, even now a cold affects me more than most. I am aware of this and its my responsibility to look after myself. It is possible that the asthma was a result of that early infection, I never had it before then. Thus I am concerned that my breathing will be affected. Otherwise I am fit and well apart from joint achesand pains.

France is rapidly going into lock down, we are discussing coming home early, the ferries are still running, we have a daily update.

I have not planted any veg , potatoes etc as I do not think we will be back to eat them until very late in the year, by which time the potato patch would be field again. Instead, we have pruned hedges and secured the covers over the vegetable plot. At least we can go home knowing the house is secure and OK after the winter storms.

[Marilyn]

Go home Sue...you need to think of your health. It is a shame you can’t enjoy your time there...but with your history, I would not linger.
Even I checked the “use by” date on my Ventolin Inhaler. I have not even had a puff out of the last one I bought, but noted today my inhaler ran out of its use by date about 5 months ago. So it is on the shopping list for Saturday to get a new one. Don’t need a script, but I shall hand the old one in for disposal and replacement ( I note the last one cost £5). I have also messaged my son. He doesn’t ever use his either ( which he carries to work with him in his kit every day). So if mine is out of date, his will likely be too.
Keeping ahead of the curve and being responsible.

[Stanley]

As I suspected, cooking has cut into the morning. I have just spent 45 minutes making sure that we have two meals a day (One and a snack in Jack's case!) As I was peeling and chopping and preparing my roast chicken wings I reflected that one unintended consequence of this situation may be that people who don't normally cook might have to start. Question is, how do they start? Imagine a kitchen without the range of tools and implements that a regular cook has. Have they a range of pans for a start? Do they know how to cook? So many questions which, if their mothers had done their job when they were young, would not arise! I can imagine some very stressed young housewives!
I always remember the young Asian trainee at Ellenroad who was given the job of washing and sterilising the teams mugs. He did a wonderful job culminating in a splendid pyramid of inverted mugs on a big tray. Problem was he hadn't washed the interiors! It transpired that he had never touched any washing up, in their house the mother did everything so he knew nothing!
Hard to credit I know but believe me it happened. We did a quick re-education......

[Marilyn]

That is why instant packet pasta and instant microwave rice and 2 min noodles are in short supply on shelves too, Stanley.
I agree it is a result of bad mothering.
I feel so good that my son knows how to cook and put a nutritious meal together. ( don’t get me wrong - the lad can also order Pizza etc and have it delivered by Uber! But at least 5 days a week, he can cook a good meal with protein and veg.) I have no worries with his cooking and he is a master of the BBQ too.
( he is better than the girlfriend!)

[Sue]

As I suspected, cooking has cut into the morning. I have just spent 45 minutes making sure that we have two meals a day (One and a snack in Jack's case!) As I was peeling and chopping and preparing my roast chicken wings I reflected that one unintended consequence of this situation may be that people who don't normally cook might have to start. Question is, how do they start? Imagine a kitchen without the range of tools and implements that a regular cook has. Have they a range of pans for a start? Do they know how to cook? So many questions which, if their mothers had done their job when they were young, would not arise! I can imagine some very stressed young housewives!
I always remember the young Asian trainee at Ellenroad who was given the job of washing and sterilising the teams mugs. He did a wonderful job culminating in a splendid pyramid of inverted mugs on a big tray. Problem was he hadn't washed the interiors! It transpired that he had never touched any washing up, in their house the mother did everything so he knew nothing!
Hard to credit I know but believe me it happened. We did a quick re-education......

Internet is full of quick and easy recipes. That is where they will start, as their phones etc are simply an extension of their arms when it comes to internet

[Sue]

got on a ferry Thursday night, home Friday lunchtime we shall take home all our summer clothes and all our TOILET ROLLS

[Wendyf]

Keep them well hidden on your journey Sue, you don't want to be mugged....