Ashcombe

Congratulations and every good wish to you both!

 

Love from Ian and me. ♥️

Maybe we should start a "Bad Back" thread.

Since an accident involving a wheelbarrow full of wet concrete (I hit a brick with it) some years ago my back is liable to go into spasm given the chance.

It's particularly bad at the moment after spreading two tons of granite chippings onto a new bit of garden here.

Short of not being active and buying a motorised wheelchair, the pain is kept at bay with handfuls of enteric aspirin until it passes off.

Once I'm on my feet I can cope but sitting down and getting up produces yelps.

SWMBO kindly made a hot water bottle for me yesterday. Now I have a slight scald where she failed to tighten the stopper.

But ... tomorrow is another day.

Any tips from fellow sufferers would be welcomed.

I've tried some gunk called 'Volterol' without any faith (if one can rub ointment in, why doesn't the blood leak out?) and I imagined it does some temporary good.

So far the best thing seems to be inertia and cursing.

Because Voltarol has anti inflammatory properties, one shouldn't take Ibuprofen at the same time. Ian's back responded well to treatment from a chiropractor, here in Torquay with daily exercises to keep the problem at bay.

Morning all from a very wet Charente Maritime. Big day here but clothes pegs are at the ready as our Fosse Septique is due to be emptied this morning. This apparently needs doing every 5 or 6 years and the previous owners were a bit vague as to when it was last done so we are getting it done before the hordes of family appear next month. At least the rain may add some water to the pool, the colour of which is improving.?..............Regards to all.Jamie

Have you heard of Eparcyl? A weekly sachet down the loo will keep it fresh, according to Ian.

..........In an hour or So I'm off to Niort to see a financial adviser about whether or not to register to pay taxes here in France. On first inspection it looks as if it may well be a cheaper option once we both start drawing our pensions. .......Regards to all.Jamie

It's Ian's belief that if you are being taxed in France, your combined income is totalled then halved in order to calculate the tax due. Ian now pays more tax than when Deb was alive because his income was greater than hers and he is now taxed as a single person. As I'm not a French resident, I'm taxed in England.

 

Do you know France Forum? Here's the link where other British folk in France share information:-

 

http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance-forums/cs/forums/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=34

On The Beach - Cliff Richard

Back from the doctors. Pneumonia both lungs. Aditi is now off collecting impressive antibiotic cocktail for me. Doctor said Aditi is well on road to recovery.

Tony

You poor chap! Rest plenty and drink lots of fluids. Ian joins me in sending our very best wishes for your recovery.

Peter Brookes, the satirical cartoonist, certainly was thinking along those lines, hence the cartoon I posted up. Thing is, he wasn't making fun of JC ('e's not the Messiah) at all, but rather having a go at the newly-installed minority Government.

And like all clever cartoons, it was topical and amusing.

Jo Cox. RIP  Enough said by me, execpt for mentioning that Will Self gave the situation a good 'blast' this morning.

P.

  

Alas she did one or two rather daft things too including a rather silly thing on the river near Parliament...............

Let's not speak ill of the dead.

Yes.  We know the sytem's broke but we do nothing to fix it.

 

DT

See my comment at #491

Responsibility CANNOT be deflected by choosing to not vote. Fact is that someone WILL get elected, no matter how few actually volt. If anyone claims that it isn't their fault that someone won, because they didn't vote at all. They are in fact contributing to the problem.

You have misinterpreted my comment - I meant even if we had chosen not to vote for the candidate who was elected. Quite different from not casting a vote at all, an option not afforded in Australia, I believe.

 

In recent years electoral turnouts in the U.K. have dropped perceptibly, implying that a degree of apathy about all the political parties has been abroad. The recent election showed a general increase in turnout, perhaps reflecting an upswing in public confidence in the democratic process.

A very apt post, Andy, which will make us all think. To save you reading back, I was the one who posted (153371) the link to Jeremy Corbyn visiting Glastonbury, mainly because I was impressed (as I thought people on here would be) that he'd travelled by train. Apparently, this was interpreted as being political by some contributors. People seem to fear a man with vision and compassion who has gained support from the young.

 

Edited to say I'm puzzled by the rating of "Funny" which I've received for this post.

This is why I said that politicos and the electorate deserve each other.

Whether or not we voted for them?

There are MPs and MPs. Sherry's MP stood up in the House the other day saying how wrong it was (or similar worthy sentiment) that inflammable materials had not been used on Grenfell Tower.

Just imagine having voted (Sherry didn't) for someone who doesn't know that flammable and inflammable are synonyms.

Here is the link to my MP's speech where you'll hear exactly what he said and you might well notice another grammatical error in what he says about his new wife.

 

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/0784ef19-a1bb-49c0-9039-279b4b1fa664?in=21:37:21

It's strange that we can pass political comments on here about Jeremy Corbyn when we want to discuss his attendance/non attendance or his bowing/non bowing but at other times people are baying for blood if politics are mentioned.

Even stranger are the ratings of "Funny" awarded to my two recent postings about Corbyn.

One might have expected the Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition to have attended an Armed Forces Day event yesterday, but grandstanding on the Pyramid stage at Glasto apparently is more important.

Jeremy Corbyn was invited to attend and speak at Glastonbury by the owner and organiser of the event. No information is available on any invitations he may have received to attend Armed Forces' events.

A huge crowd listened to Jeremy Corbyn, who travelled by train to be at Glastonbury:-

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/jeremy-corbyn-pyramid-stage-run-the-jewels-glastonbury-2017-speech-in-full-watch-a7806536.html

What Is Life? - George Harrison

One Voice - Barry Manilow

Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers

I Got You, Babe - Sonny and Cher

We also have responsibilities to others in society, if we fail to care for those who, for one reason or another find them selves at 'the bottom of the heap' we become uncivilised. I fear we are a few foot steps down that particular path at the moment.

 

Guy

Well said, sir! I'm increasingly saddened by the lack of compassion displayed by some people. Many of us have been fortunate to earn well and live comfortably in retirement. We have a duty of care to those who struggle.

I was on a construction job in the Caspian at the time of the Brexit vote, so voted by proxy. Most of my immediate colleagues were EU nationals of various descriptions, and it seemed to occasion no surprise at all, in fact seemed to be expected. I certainly didn't feel moved to apologise to anyone, for anything. One Italian remarked that he was only surprised it had been allowed to happen at all, since the English were clearly in such a mutinous mood, and had long been so. The main exception were the Dutch, who appeared to take it to heart, rather.

The French team kept their own counsel, as usual. I speak the language quite well, but that's about all.

The Russians and other ex-FSU nationals took a keen interest in the matter. The scars of their own political collapse in the 1990s, and its consequences are still quite fresh. I'm always interested in their views, although they aren't generally encouraging.

I apologised to my Polish neighbour for the result of the referendum because of the uncertain future for EU members working here. Equally, I sympathised with my Rumanian physiotherapist post hip surgery in February at Torbay Hospital because he was also concerned about his future and the future of the NHS in general, given the number of immigrant staff employed therein. At that point, seven months after the referendum, no assurances had been issued.

Regarding the Grenfell Tower tragedy and subsequent protest march, rather than speculating as to the potential "infiltration" of genuine protesters by those from "the left", why not donate to one of the charities who are supporting at the scene? We chose The Salvation Army. Making a contribution produces a feeling of satisfaction from doing something positive which would not be generated by cynically speculating about the political leanings of the participants.

Seen in Ian's garden this morning in la Sarthe.

 

Take These Chains From My Heart - Hank Williams