Recommendations, one to watch and one to read!

Both were fabulous!

French frosts

It was cold!

Vive la resolution!

I tend not to make New Year's resolutions ... but I might consider this one a little more seriously :o)

In the year 2006 I resolve to: Become a good time party girl! Get your resolution here

Wanadoo you twpsyn!

So I have thought long and hard and tried my best and ... here's the best I can do to recreate the lost post! Complete with pictures ... enjoy, try not to shudder!

Brrr! It's been cold this morning (last Friday 30/12/05), bitterly cold * ... me wearing socks to bed cold! And I have spent the last 4 hours outside ... brrr! Lisa always says how wonderful it must be to spend so much time in France and it is great, I love France and ideally I'd like to live here ... but Simon and I come here in the winter i.e. at Christmas time because this is were my parents live ... I'm coming home for Christmas!

We've avoided a fair bit of bad weather this year, England (especially the part where we live) has been quite badly hit with snow and France so far has had delightful weather ... we're not in the pool but we've been out and about quite happily.

On the day before Christmas Eve, we went out with friends of my parents on what is fast becoming an annual pre-Christmas meal. Last year we went to the local hunting lodge but this year decided to go a little further afield to the village of Saint-Sauveur-la-Vallée and the bijou ("He'll only take 12!" says Ian!) restaurant of a mad Belgian and his wife!

We had a fantastic meal ~ gorgeous minestrone soup, beautifully cooked chicken in a white wine leek and mushroom sauce piled into a pastry parcel, fillet of pork with gorgeous vegetables, cheese, chocolate praline dessert and then the digestifs arrived. You know the liquers ... the drinks that help you digest your fabulous meal! No problem, you know me I can manage an eau de vie or two with the best of them! But not this time as Mr le mad Belgian had made one smallish addition to his so called limonade de Saint-Sauveur! Can you see that right there in the bottle? Will I ever trust a Belgian ever again?

Anyway, before lunch as we'd been getting ready to go out I had noticed that the water wasn't going down the plug-hole properly whilst taking a shower. On mentioning this to my father and husband I had suffered the usual tirade of abuse about long hair plugging up plug-holes and pipes! My mother had pondered the pipes being frozen due to the hoar frost / freezing fog we had been suffering and a dose of jollop (read French equivalent) had been poured down the plug-hole. The fumes nearly took my head off ... but that meant it was bound to work!!

On the 28th, when cooking water starts coming up in the bath we finally gave in and ring the local plumber who agreed after much questionning (I've learnt lots of new French vocabulary**) to come and take a look! He arrived the next morning and they (Mr le Plombier, Dad and Simon) start looking for the blocked pipe outside. An hour later they find it, cut into and send showers of water all over the garden! After 2 demi-tasses de café Mr le Plombier promises to return early next morning with his high power hose *sniggers in a teenage way*

Early the next morning he returns and discovers that the pipes under the garden are blocked with 20 years worth of cooking fat *Jo blanches and runs from the stench* because we do not have a bac à graisse ~ the fat/grease filter necessary in a household not on mains drainage in France. With instructions to call un mec with a digger to come and dig us a hole to put one in toute suite off he went ... it was his birthday after all! I rang digger-man, who said no problem he had an opening in late March!

So, Simon and Dad decided to keep digging for a little while .... I went in to thaw my brass monkeys and they kept digging and digging and the next morning, they found a slab of concrete close to the house which turned out to be, yes you guessed it ... the bac which wasn't doing it's job because it hadn't been cleaned out in the over 20 years since the house had been built!!

4 rubbish sacks full of solid fat later it's now empty, Simon nearly fell in at one point when he tried to test the depth of the sludge with a piece of bamboo and it was deeper than he thought it was going to be .... of course I didn't laugh :o) They worked their socks off clearing the muck up, there's still another section of pipe to excavate and unblock but Simon made a start (see below) so there's not too much to finish off!

So Lisa, France eh? As Mr le Plombier said laughingly to Simon ~ Bonne Vacances!

* Not Canadian bitterly cold you understand but Welsh cold .... -5°C still at lunch-time ... brrr!
** I've particularly learned that the French for a pipe you smoke is une pipe, the French for drains is la canalisation or un tuyau. The French for pipe is never pipe unless you are offering a blow-job! That one goes down there alongside my "no thanks I've had enough to eat!"

My best post ever, gone for good!

Yeh I know I'm always complaing about Wanadoo dial-up but I've just lost a huge post about my holiday complete with pictures that I had finally* managed to upload ... gone for good ... and it might have been my best ever post ever ever! Grrr! Only might mind**! It was full of intrigue, blood, guts and glory ... well ice, snow, French plumber's birthday celebrations and blocked drains ~ I promise to do my best to recreate it as soon as I get back to the deliciousness of my very own Broadband!

* after much grunting, swearing (in a large variety of European languages), kicking and screaming
** there's Welsh for you!

Anyways to change the subject completely I just wanted to say to all of you, just in case I don't get the chance to do hand to hand combat with french dial-up + Blogger again today ...

... here's to much love, health and happiness throughout 2006! Wherever you are, whenever and with whomever you are celebrating I wish you a very Happy New Year! Joyeuse fêtes! Ac un Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i bob!
Love and best wishes ~ Jo xx

I made it!

How Jedi are you? :: by Lawrie Malen

Unconscious mutterings #151

I say ... and you think ...?

Virus :: Aunty Norton usually keeps me safe
Poop :: deck
Smart :: arse
Agent :: Provocateur
Wrap :: up warm before you go out -10 here right now!
Brass :: Brass monkeys or is it brass monkies? I don't know *blushes* but it certainly is today ~ i.e. blinking cold!
Waste of time :: packing presents, because Simon is going to rip paper to shreds in a little while!
Suspicious :: minds
360 :: degrees
Dummy :: run

So, nearly packed ... and raring to go!

Right, off to the ferry and the joys of French dial-up once again. Dear Mr France Telecom ... there's this little French village that's crying out for Broadband ~ I can draw a map for you if you like!!

What's in my fridge?

Shamelessly stolen (but I know she wont mind) from Fi ... here's my 10 things that can be found in my fridge at any given time list!

Milk ~ semi-skimmed
Champagne ~ instant celebration, bought in France (not the expensive stuff that is my favourite) and always kept there just in case.
Cranberry juice ... keep your mother happy by keeping your waterworks happy!
Pesto ~ red or green ... love it!
Garlic ~ minced / crushed / in a tube, I can't make it through the day without it!
Salsa ~ just a dip away from a party if put together with the champagne, well not actually with the champagne!
Greek yoghurt ~ delicious ... remind me to give you my instant "peach, choc and greek yoghurt" dessert recipe!
Olivio ~ you know, the "I'm so much better for you because I'm made with olive oil" stuff you put on bread!
Cheese ~ just out of sight under the eggs, viciously strong cheddar, something blue, young fresh pecorino & fresh parmesan (to go with the pesto and pasta) normally.
Actimel ~ 'cause I like friendly bacteria!

Present time

It was that day again ... I am off to take photos of presents for you to see. I just have to share with you what Jo bought me. I am known in school for never finishing a cuppa, so she got me one of these!

CHORTLE! ~ Thanks Mrs R, I love it!

Yawn!

Wow, I'm tired. It's Thursday and I'm awake and I officially only have 1 more get-up to do before the end of term ... HURRAH! Today is making hats and wearing them to the Christmas party day and Santa is coming along and bringing the class a present!

I know jigsaws are not very exciting and that most of the boys in the class want games for a playstation BUT I wanted something that would be vaguely useful in an educational way. This started off a whole discussion in the staff room about the toys we had as children.

I distinctly remember the Christmas that I received both Tiny Tears and Teeny Tiny Tears which according to Karen made me well off as her parents could afford one or the other. It looks like I was officially spoilt :o( My brother always said I was a brat and it looks like I was ... however, seeing as it came from him, I still don't believe a word of it deep down where it should count.

The same year as Tiny Tears and her sister came along he got the At At Walker from the Empire Strike Back ... it was the boy's toy of the year and a nightmare to get hold of. People queued around the corner outside toy stores and there were fist fights over the boxes in the Debenham's toy department where we lived in Swansea. Luckily my Mum's Aunty Mabel worked in said department and Mum got the last one available! And he calls me a brat!

So, Question of the day ... in an Indigo kind of way ... as a child, what's the most memorable present you ever received?

Here and now meme

Currently reading? :: Chris Manby's Ready or Not ... it's ok, not as good as her others but it's taking my mind of glitter and nativities!

Next book to read? :: I don't have one on my list at the moment, anyone got any recommendations? Other than a dictionary so I can spell recommendations first time without having to sound it out!

Last film seen? :: HP and the Goblet of Fire, not my favourite book but I thought the film was a fab version of it! Excellent under water scenes .... @ 12A in the UK, I didn't think it was suitable for littlies!

Next film to see? :: I want to see King Kong.

Yesterday’s dinner? :: Homemade spicy fish cakes with mushy peas ~ I'll be pleasant to be around today! [I always add a tsp each of malt vinegar and mint jelly to mine just before serving.]

Today’s dinner? :: Umm, poker tonight so probably just munchies alongside the cards!

Tomorrow’s dinner? :: Spaghetti bolognaise prepare by the lovely Simon whilst I'm at my governing body meeting.

Most recent purchase? :: Christmas is coming so I've been trying to get bits and pieces sorted out but I'm failing miserably as usual. Bought my dad a shirt from the Cotton Traders shop on Sunday, so there's just another 15 presents or so to buy as he's the only one I've managed!

What is in your diary for the next few days? :: It's a funny (peculiar not ha ha ha!), long old week in work ~ Christmas week in a primary school, can't you remember it? We're making cards, decorations, stained glass windows and calendars. We're performing our Christmas nativity 3 times (twice today, once tomorrow); then there's poker tonight, Christmas lunch and governor's meeting on Wednesday, party on Thursday complete with visit from the big man himself and finally on Friday the salvation army are coming in to give a carol concert ... it's a tradition on the last day of term. We have to put the nursery children right at the back as the brass instruments are too loud and it makes them cry.

We also have a teacher who I know I cannot let myself make eye contact with or be anywhere near once the Sally Army starts! The ladies who come along with them have tambourines / timbrels with ribbons attached that they bang and shake and fling around in the air. The kids love it and I think .... it's lovely for the children! So a couple of years ago, they're chucking their timbrels (see above but imagine uniforms) around and shaking the ribbons and said teacher Andy, creeps up behind me and whispers in my ear "yeh, that's fine, but I bet she can't keep the tassles on her nipples going in the same direction at the same time!" Since then, he justs stands across the hall from me and smirks and I loose it and have to take my dirty minded laughter elsewhere or have a pretend coughing fit.

What about you? Go on pick a question, any question, one from above to answer or another here and now one to ask!