Just found out this morning that my youngest niece is expecting a child in February 
Iām an uncle many many times (the first time at the age of 8), and a great uncle merely many times. I also have several great nieces and nephews who may make me a great great uncle soon. Doesnāt make me feel old at all 
Itās old news now but last night I saw the most brilliant meteorite I have ever seen, by a very long way.
I go out on the terrace every night, 22:30+ to spot Sputniks and āstreakersā
I call all satellites Sputniks because I saw the original, along with the whole population of a town gathered on the waterfront of Lago di Garda. Hundreds of excited Italians all pointing up at a tiny white dot slowly passing overhead.
Last nightās meteorite was not the usual thin white line. This was a fat orange trail with a ball twice the (apparent) size of Venus at its head.
It came out of the south, heading ENE. Surely it was picked up by security cameras all over the place.
Anyone else see it? Quite unforgettable.
Driving home yesterday I noticed several large birds in a field. At first I thought they were the usual herons, but no - they were storks! I guess they must have decided to have a stopover on their migration. Iāve read that their migration behaviours are changing. Some are now sedentary, or migration is partial, most likely in relation to global warming. A neighbour of the field told me she counted 25 storks the day before. I love to see the cranes overhead, now I will also be looking out for these handsome birds !
Just found out we are going to be a Mami and Papi again. !!
Andy
We have just received a new carpet for our salon.
I ordered it five days ago and it has arrived this lunchtime, from Sweden.
It came direct to the house, not like UPS who have twice said we were not in when we were, necessitating a 30k round trip each time to their depot.
The carpet is wonderful, just what they said it was, off white and so soft.
Talking of train ads, hereās the latest from SNCF, a nice, very French oneā¦
Sounds great @Jane_Williamson
I remember Mother in Law getting a new carpet like thatā¦ we all enjoyed wriggling our toes in itā¦ 
Cheerful news from yesterday ā¦
Vita (our Airedale) has had a lump on her neck for a year or two which has been steadily growing. Vita is 12 and has epilepsy, so even if malignant weāre not going to put her under a general anaesthetic. So weāve just let it be. But then a trip to Bordeaux during the week to an excellent vet/acupuncturist and she says she wants to know what the lump is - not to remove it, but to give appropriate support to Vita.
So, yesterday, a trip to our local vet to have a needle stuck into the lump to look at some cells from the lump under a microscope. She inserts a needle and clear liquid squirts out, which she draws off with a pipette - the lump collapses and disappears. She checks the liquid under the microscope - all absolutely fine - itās no more than a large cyst. So a happy message off to the acupuncturist whom we are seeing again in two weeks. 
Happy news indeed Sue. 
Mine is that Jules, who has to be on a 30 metre line because of his dominant nose 
, now not only rushes back at high speed (really, he sometimes overshoots and has to turn back to me for his treat 
), but also can distinguish the whistle code plus sometimes name call and arms flapping like a bird, which is the ārecallā, from the āthis way Julesā, which means he is going out of sight which I am uncomfortable with and I want him to head in roughly the direction I am going in but not necessarily to return to me. 
For this, of course, as he isnāt required to come back to me he doesnāt require a reward. 
This isnāt exactly todayās news as we arrived here several days ago but today is the first time I have been able to come online to post! We are in the middle of the first proper holiday weāve have for at least 15 years and it is amazing Hasnāt France got some incredible scenery, food, architecture, peopleā¦ ?
So glad youāre enjoying yourselvesā¦
of course it hasā¦ thatās why we came hereā¦ 
Happy day, just being here. Attending 2 Vide Grenier one in Palinges the other Neuvy Grand-Champ. It appears our cocker spaniel is a babe magnet regardless of their age. No leaks in the house. Yummy evening meal cooked by mou. Chimney being swept tomorrow and new smart electric metrr being fitted. All good 
What these guys are doing is great ā they deserve medals. This is a video from last year, but these seal rescue videos come from the Namibia team now almost on a daily basis.
Seals get caught up in fishing line ā all sorts of entanglements - and get badly cut, but salt water cleans and disinfects their wounds once freed up, and the wounds, however ugly, do heal.
Not all good news in the sense that fishing line is discarded or lost at sea and cause injury to the seals, and rescues can be distressing to watch, but there are dedicated saviours out there in Africa who care about their seals, which is just wonderful.
That was, emotional, as Vinny Jones once said in a film, but very rewarding. I was very worried about the stress put on the seal during the process, but canāt see any other way of doing it other than a temporary anaesthetic, probably not practical.
It can be stressful for the animals but they are wild and thereās worse out at sea for them to get stressed about ā the predators - but they have a survival instinct that serves them well.
Some of the seals have horrific injuries around their necks but they are tough and despite the pain and breathing difficulties, carry on living regardless.
Blubber is very thick and protects them from more serious injuries.
Thatās good to know, as I am not exactly maigre.
Last week, I found out my youngest niece was expecting a child in February. Today I found out my eldest great niece is expecting a child in March. The youngest niece is 5 years older than the eldest great niece. This will make me a great great uncle. We have a complicated family structure 
