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My day today was good, not only did I manage to get out on the bike for a couple of hours, but whilst out I saw a couple of things that really made me smile. The first was as I rode slowly through a very small village, I saw, almost out of the corner of my eye, a girl ( about 15 i'd guess) pusing a scooter out of her yard onto the street. It was obviously a very new scooter and she had a grin from ear to ear, which would clearly have been even bigger had her ears only been further apart. My imagination decided that she'd got the scooter for Christmas and apart from a quick whizz round the yard, this was her first time out alone on it andd she was off to see her mates in the next village. I remembered the first few miles on my first scooter and the joy at the sudden freedom and autonomy it brought at 16 years old. That made me smile. 2nd thing was ridng through Auxerre, nearly home, light failing fast into dusk, that time of day they call "Entre Chien et Loup" ( between dog and wolf) here. I heard him before I saw him, that bane of the French towns and cities, the Breeeeeeeeeeet, Breeeeeet, breet, breeeeeeeeeeeet, of a home tuned baffle-less 50cc 2-stroke moped, mostly black and dressed in black he was not easy to see as he had no headlight on either. The speed limit along the quays in auxerre is 20kph and he undertook me doing about 50 I guess. I caught him up as we left the town limits and the speed indicated increased to 70kph, which he could just about manage though God knows what rpm he was pulling to do so ( they're only legally allowed to do 50kph max,). I saw he had a number plate, but no rear light on. I overtook him and pointed to the front of his bike and to my eyes to tell him to switch his lights on ( easy mistake to make under street lights when your headlight is only about 6watts. I slowed to give way ath the roundabout and he pulled up alongside me asking mw what I meant, but I had a closer look at his machine I just laughed and said " I was trying to tell you to switch your lights on, but I now see you don'e even have any..." "Naah" he said " spoils the look, no lights no indicators, no mirrors" and off he went "Breeeeeeeeeeet, breet,Breeeeeeeeeet..." in a cloud of 2 stroke fumes and into the rapidly falling night, up the road towards Chablis. That made me smile.

wife's boss ( pharmacist) does testing regularly at the pharmacy, cos the number of people needing testing is growing and there are no testing centres anymore, says that the autotests are not very reliable either way and can give false negatives and false positives simply because of the parameters of the test. With the best will in the world, most people doing home tests don't or can't respect all of the parameters exactly, the depth of specimen in the sinus + the transfer to the test + temperature and humidity conditions + sterile workspace + time critical results etc etc etc. The tests are designed to be as acurate as possible and as supple as possible with the base parameters but any parameter adjustment will reduce the accuracy of the test results a little, add them all together and add into the mix the inherent inaccuracy percentage and you have a load of false results. If you test a number of times with the same result it's probably ok, if not get a PCR to be sure. Then again, he sells the bloody things and gets paid for testing so how reliable is his opinion...?

Our flying visit to the UK earlier last week actually went without a hitch! Well, apart from having to get out of bed at 03:30 on boxing day! But it was a bit hectic! But..........when did beer go over £5 a pint?! A pint of bitter in Cambridge was £5.35 and a bottle of Sharpe's Atlantic was £5.65 in the Premier Inn at Stansted! Then we had friends from the village over for dinner yesterday evening, which went pretty well, but they didn't leave until a bit after 2am. So, after tidying up and loading the dishwasher, we didn't get to bed until 3am! Consequently nothing much got done today! Looking forward to a rest next week!

Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2023 is a good year for you, well balanced with a healthy amount of smiles and adventures.

In the middle of a Province that spoke a different language, Quebec. It was different, I did ok with the language, but accidentally ordered too many apple pies.... Not the worst thing that could have happen....

Yep......make a thread with some predictions for 2023 and let's review them at the end of the year! This is your Nostradamus moment!

Camping in marcels cottage

Still going but having a nightcap now …,,

Took @Sofia’s bike for a post wash bimble yesterday. It is a cool bike! And did me good after a very sad morning in which I helped with putting a big dog to sleep. He was a big 45kg Serra da Estrela shepherd, they’re shepherds but more dedicated to protecting lifestock from wolfs in the mountains than actually herding sheep. He was a fierce dog and an absolute killer of a guard dog, he looked like a wild thing yet had the most amazing relationship with his human. Having visited their farm a few times he never even pretended to like me and was the reason I never got out of the car without checking for him. He also gave you proper eye contact while growling instead of acting cowardly. He died a proper dog, almost completely paralized but still giving me a serious growl in the distance, only distracted by his owner lovingly giving him steak pieces. I appreciated his spirit, that he kept to the last second.

Hey, remember we talked about this, play nice

Hoping to get the bike out on Friday for a run. Weather finally seems to be on the turn.

Finished watching "Treason" on Netflix.......well worth watching!

I didn't get any pics of our Christmas day feed but My Sister dis us proud. We we're expecting a cold buffet and we'd brought cheese ( French , smelly) and wine ( White, St Bris, sauvignon and Red, St Bris, Cesar) but she surprised us with a massive tradional Christmas dinner. Ham in place of turkey but otherwise the full monty, sprouts, stuffing balls, bread sauce, pigs in blankets etc etc etc. I hadn't had a "Proper" Christmas dinner in 20 years so Best Christmas Present Ever! This was our new years trough, just the 4 of us ( No1 being still in Liverpool) we'd visited Bicester Village luxury designer outlet hell-hole on the 28th cos the twins wanted Vivienne Westwood Jewlery, which they got. On arriving home on the 29th we learned of Westwood's death. the twins wanted to do a Vivienne Westwood themed table : Then came the food. The "entrée" ( which I skipped and just had another drink) forgetting to take a pic till after the battle... A dozen "Escargots de Bourgone aux beurre d'ail" ( Snails in garlic butter sauce). Followed by Honey braised beef in a cider sauce with Gratin Dauphinoise, All washed down with a nice bottle of Chablis. Yule log from the local patisserie to finish but I was too pissed and busy eating to take a pic

Breakfast this morning ..................

More vaccinations, that’s the answer.

@Sofia’s meatballs and mashed potatoes with spicy garlicky baby spinach. The meatballs had my moroccan spice mix, and love, which made them delicious. It was amazing, and I’m typing this with a happy belly as I finish the second portion. The red wine is a Castelares Reserva, which is currently my favourite red wine, bought for special occasions

....well ....actually, I can think of a few worse places to be than a cottage with a fellow maritimer..... I know, I know, it's a hard thing to understand....

Someone blew the guidestones up last year. I actually saw them for myself when I lived in Georgia, definitely a new world oder bollocks thing talking about eugenics and what have you. Considering they were there since 1980 though they have no more special relevance now, other than to give you lot something to don your tin foil hats for.

15 Minute City? I'd be happy to have any needed goods within 45 minutes of here. Guess we'll see if any of it comes true.

I’ve a feeling that’s the last place @Grasshopper would want to spend New Years Eve or any other night

Things looked pretty grey and grubby, Pete!

Was there much room to move around there......what with all that Sovereignty they've got?

Probably better if I make a new thread.

I did make it through and so glad to get out of Quebec, didn't like it very much at all..... But on the other hand, I have only been in New Brunswick a few hours and I love it. I have heard music a few times already, met some nice people, seen some lovely scenery, enjoyed the highways.....love it here!

I'm back after taking the grandkids home! Totally exhausted now!

Or Korea. Seem to be flexing their muscles with nuke tests on a regular basis.

War China vs Taiwan, also getting fruity in the Balkans. I genuinely hope and pray it doesn’t kick off but if it does the consequences are scary.

I'd been told similar but talking to a couple of hospital employees, 1 being a nurse, they've been told nothing to confirm.

Beat me to it.

I did a test a few days ago and it was negative, but the Chemist told me that the new variant can show up as negative.

Hopefully its not the new covid variant

Why? What's going to happen?

https://www.sbs.com.au/sport/dakar-rally-2023 You may need a VPN to get on and to sign up to SBS On Demand, use an address in MonmouthSt Randwick NSW 2031, that was my domicile for over 30 years, choose a number, anyone who gets it correct gets a visit from the police.

One of our second rows used to take great pleasure shitting in the bath. Dirty bastard, always knew if there were bubbles around him get out sharpish clean or no.

Nowt wrong with a communal bath so long as no sick fuck follows through

That plate could almost be an English meal

Did anyone get zero votes

The Poll is closed and we have a winner! @Pedro.......Come on down!

that's what I would do naturally, but would have no way of knowing without asking, wether I was adressing a Huron or an Alonquin. Also, if you follow the logoque fully then "Cheyenne" ( for example) would also be incorrect as it was the French trappers who referred to them as Dog indiens or "Chiens" which was rapidly mispronounced by the English or Americain traders as "Cheyenne". is that a derogatory term? is it impossible to have a collective noun for a race that is not sooner or later ill percieved by either those directly concerned or by someone not concerned but sufficiently "WOKE" to feel they have the right to be offended by it. I doubt it.

Sunny and cold in the 'hood today. Bright as fook out there ...

I went for @Tango......but I may have to do a bit of tactical voting near the end to put the kybosh on Sir Photoshop's chances!