It takes a vilageâŠ
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I give it two weeks.
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A friend told me some years ago, her mother had a dog which got up to the worktop. She strung all her saucepans together and attached a particularly tasty piece of meat to the end of the string. Left the meat near the edge of the worktop. The dog pulled it down and all the saucepans followed.
He never jumped up again.
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Thatâs a great idea, especially because it separates the deterrent from the creator of the deterrent. Dog learns, but doesnât associate the unpleasant experience with the owner.
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I hope they were cheap nasty right ones ? Some of mine could kill a smallish dog 
I agree clever idea, and if one didnât have appropriately light ones you could do tin cans
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I would be afraid of permanent trauma to poor mutt, and creating a nervous wuss dog.
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We just had a really nice slightly different (for us) Saturday. Went to Rodez market (dĂ©partemental capital) rather than Capdenac or Figeac Saturday markets. Donât use it for serious food shopping (much pricier) but good for oddities and itâs nice to have an excuse to dress up a bit more than for Figeac, which is a notch down from Rodez, but a notch above Capdenac and Decazeville (which despite its lowly status, has the best market of the lot, if weâre talking food quality and price, as opposed to ambiance) .
So we bought a few interesting salad leaves, radicchio and cavolo nero, all of which are unknown in our locale, a local pain au levain, which is pretty good and a monthâs supply of my favourite Yrgacheffe coffee beans. Had a demie of draught IPA and a pizza at our favourite pizza place - weâve been going there 13 years and itâs always perfect.
And afterwards because I donât drink and drive, my wife drove back -
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One of my regrets in life was going to see Lou Reed some 15 years ago or so. He was one of my absolute musical heroâs (plus the reason for changing my name) and I was so sad as he had totally lost his voice. I guess he wasnât that old then, but I was embarrassed for him and it has slightly spoilt my memories.
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Lou Reed memories, - Freshersâ Ball M/c Poly 1973. Brilliant! Correction - '72.
Two years later seeing him at M/c Free Trade Hall, when he forgot the words to âHeroinâ(!) and stumbled around the stage.
And finally thirty years later, being in a Fine Art research meeting at the now Manchester Met U and explaining to the youngsters in the room that this building used to be the SU and Iâd seen Lou Reed onstage at the very spot where our meeting room was now situated.
Pleasantly surprised by the prices of petrol at various garages. The link below says its now the cheapest for 3 years. No complaints!
What does puzzle me is that we have 3 petrol stations almost next to each other in our nearest town, with significantly different prices, yet there are always people filling up at the most expensive!
Gazole was âŹ1.51 in Carcassonne when I filled up on Friday. The week before it was âŹ1.41 at Leclerc but I didnât have time to fill up. Not sure if that was some sort of promo price or not, but it was a bit of a shock.
this was reported in the Press a few days ago⊠not been able to profit from the lower price ourselves, but neighbours haveâŠ
La baisse des cours du pétrole profite au consommateur
La baisse des cours de lâor noir, qui se nĂ©gociait ces derniers jours autour de 60 dollars le baril, est « la cause principale » de cette baisse des prix Ă la pompe, souligne Francis Pousse, prĂ©sident des stations-service et Ă©nergies nouvelles au sein du syndicat professionnel Mobilians, qui reprĂ©sente 5 800 stations-service traditionnelles (hors grande distribution).
Lâaccroissement cette annĂ©e de la production de lâOrganisation des pays exportateurs de pĂ©trole et ses alliĂ©s (Opep +) ainsi que de celle dâautres pays, combinĂ©e Ă des inquiĂ©tudes sur la demande, pĂšsent sur les cours. Autre facteur favorable Ă un allĂšgement de la facture, « un euro qu
Les prix de lâessence sont tombĂ©s au plus bas depuis plus de trois ans fin dĂ©cembre, mais cela ne devrait pas durer
Les prix des carburants à la pompe étaient à leur plus bas niveau depuis plus de trois ans en France la semaine derniÚre, selon des données compilées par le gouvernement et consultées vendredi 26 décembre 2025 par l⫠Agence France-Presse
If anything I did like the pictures even more than the music, and I am a fan of Lou Reed.
Sadly, one thing that hit was the casual and frequent smoking, sometimes in very close proximity to their beloveds.
Hubby managed to fill up at Intermarche for that before we set off on our trip, probably a âŹ20 saving on our big Alfa tank.
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I was genuinely pleased when my wife asked today if she could be briefed on how our French tax return information is assembled, and prepared.
This is almost certainly prompted by the high levels of stress arising from suddenly being pitched headlong into trying to prepare my Mumâs UK tax return, at point blank notice, with an impending filing deadline, and next to no familiarity with her income. Her long standing tax accountant, a sole practitioner, dropped dead recently, with nobody to carry on his work, leaving her completely in the lurch.. All her tax papers, and all his others clients papers are locked in his inaccessible office, so weâve had to start from scratch. Helping my wife to understand how I go about preparing our joint French tax return - purely as a precaution - seems eminently (and characteristically!) sensible of her.
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RDV just made to pick up my carte de séjour, woohoo!
With thanks to @kim and everyone else who offered support and advice.
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This is fantastic news John, Iâm so very pleased for you ⊠and phew !!
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Almost-vegan Wellington turned out very well.
What is that? Vegan but still used butter?
I included a bit of goats cheese. Havenât quite mustered the courage to use nutritional yeast! I think Iâll probably sub chestnuts for the cheese next time.
Oh, I forgot: I used a bit of Worcestershire sauce, too.