todayâs cheerful news: my brain is still working even if other bits are falling by the wayside 
Iâve just found a new phrase to add to my vocabulary⊠
peu ou prou la mĂȘme = more or less the same (I think)
(courtesy of Ouest France)
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Iâve missed the anniversary but it shouldnât be aloud to go unremarked:
On 2nd February 2013, Notts County FC were beaten by Hartlepool United 2-1. Hartlepoolâs scorers were Hartley and Poole.
Credit John Lloyd in The Oldie
And Hartlepoolâs mascot, Hangus the Monkey was also the townâs mayorâŠ
Reminds me of the (probably apocryphal) Brian Johnston cricket commentary quote: âThe bowlerâs Holding, the batsmanâs Willeyâ.
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Pirates of the Caribbean was released 21 years ago today⊠
I feel old!
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We got to meet @vero today, which was a real treat AND she baked scones especially!!!
This was after a great evening with @toryroo and her family. This trip is proving to be a good one 
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Nice segue from Windiesâ Michael Holding to Pirates of the Caribbean. A while back I posted an account of having watched that fearsome WI team play a benefit match for Sonny Ramadhin on a sloping Pennine village pitch.
I feel even older as this means precisely nothing to me!
Ah yes⊠all the Pirates o/t Carib are great fun⊠we work our way through the dvdâs during the rough wintry monthsâŠ
[quote=âJaneJones, post:8198, topic:34107â] this means precisely nothing to me!
[/quote]
Youâd probably get on very well with my wife, Vienna doesnât mean nothing nor Ultravox to her, instead itâs The Hare with Amber Eyes or her master classes there with Jim Dine.
Johnny who?
Billy Joel�
Him neither - just saw the video, and as a former lecturer in printmaking well conversant with H&S, I wouldnât let my wife anywhere near a lino-cutter - Blood on the Tracks?
Instead her musical âViennaâ would involve Jacqueline du PrĂ© - I was saddened recently when we decided we couldnât afford âŹ7000 to have her C18th cello restored (a local cello restorer had suggested âan insurance accidentâ) Sold it to a restorer for very little. Her decision, as someday, someone else would play it, whereas I was the more sad about it .
Sheâd played in orchestras but is a better painter than cellist Nevertheless, I miss the sound of the cello in the house.
But as itâs a cheerful news thread, should add that Iâve just bought some superb, large green pitted olives that have been super intensely flavoured with tomates confites.
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Made myself a ham and tomoato salad the other day with some lovely iceberg lettuce lathered in Heinz Salad Cream (why is that thin and runny in France instead of thick and glacial as it is supposed to be?) but found the lettuce chewy and not at all to my taste.
Next time I went to the fridge I discovered that I had taken white cabbage out instead of lettuce. 
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My wifeâs car is ready, and weâre off to collect it shortly. 
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Just found enough zinnias out to put in a little bouquet with the helenuims 
Iâm hoping to have cut flowers all the time from now until the autumn
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I had a wonderful evening Ă la famille in their neighbouring commune to me with live music and food in the central square and then the best firework display I have ever witnessed at the rugby field nearby - all free apart from food and drink. Typical Catalan music with some jazz, funk and heavy metal thrown in and my 15-month old granddaughter dancing along with the rest of them. I liked the idea we did not have to wait until really late for the display like other years.
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Back in March my son suddenly started to experience really bad pains in his chest so I took him to the urgences where after just a very short wait they admitted him for tests. He was found to have an infarctus of the spleen, like a heart attack but not the heart. He spent three weeks in hospital over a two month period having no end of tests and scans and images taken and was off work for 15 weeks. Anyhow it showed his spleen had haemorridged, swelled in size and a bit had died off but they did not remove it. All these weeks up until yesterday no one really had a clue so his appointment yesterday, 2.5hrs away in Toulouse was with a specialist spleen surgeon who told him in over 25 years of spleens he had never seen anything like it and had no idea what caused it. The Pasteur Institute tests had also come back negative a few weeks ago as well and tropical disease testing also negative as was viral and bacterial testing. So the outcome was that it would heal itself but would take probably a few years and he was to live normally but not let anyone remove it or else it would be life changing. The surgeon is going to investigate further and do some research but we are still convinced its covid or vaccine related which he did not rule out either. Another plus for the french health service in our books to keep investigating all this time.
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I gave the 
for your review @Shiba of French health services. The medical community are doing their best, which is indeed a blessing. I do hope your son recovers fully and quickly.
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Likewise, very thorough, it seems unlikely that get well soon is appropriate so hope he just gets well. Look for a very healthy repairing sort of diet, no sugar, no nasty ultra processed foods.