The French Adventure

Hi, I'm Dianne and this is my blog documenting my dream to retire to France. From selling my home in England to settling down in France. Follow my adventures en route!

[theretirementstory]

12/1/2025. The festivities are well and truly finished for 24/25, decorations packed back in boxes (not in this house 😱) and the house looks “normal” once again.

We have had bright days, cloudy days and days when the temperature has been so low, it feels like your ears will fall off 😳. Yet despite that, the sunrises and sets as it has done for millennia.

Normally, I would start to tell you about my woes (that’s later) but let’s just take the time to remember people who have lost loved ones during these 12 days. Some suddenly, some following years of illness, it’s still a shock no matter when it happens. In fires, war, all kinds of other disasters plus of course the normal progression of their life cycle. Will 2025 improve? Let’s hope so it’s just so depressing! That’s life though I guess ups and downs for all people.

Now to me! I had the chat with the Gendarme for my telephone appointment (well Anie and I did) the good news is I don’t have to wait for conclusion of the inquiry before I can sell my car. Anie went straight to the garage in her little 🚗 to ask if someone could ring me and arrange to view the car in the hope that they will pay a good price. Well good or not, I need it gone, so 🤞that could be pretty soon.

I finally had the cleaner here (after four weeks) I knew I wasn’t feeling 100% when I lounged in my chair while she did upstairs, then could have slept really well when I laid on my bed. We have agreed that for the following weeks when I go to the hospital on a Tuesday she will have a key to come in and do the work.

My visit to the hospital did not go as well as anticipated. Due to an infection (this horrible head, nose, ears, throat etc) I was unable to have the treatment or start the tablets again for their three week stint. So we are pushing back the treatment, hopefully just for one week. All I could think was “don’t keep me in hospital”. Anyway home I came, even though my eating has been sporadic, I have enjoyed a day (or two) where taste has returned and I have enjoyed my meals. Tablets are taking control of my eating pattern and I have a notebook telling me what has to be taken before, during and after meals 🙄. Despite all of this, I have still managed to wash bedding, towels, clothes and everything else in between. The nurse coordinator (at the hospital) was surprised I only had a cleaner coming in to help me. Well no good having someone pop in to stick a ready meal into the microwave for me, that would just make me feel 🤑 again.

My neighbour has been asked to go to the pharmacy, do little bits of shopping for me and I think it is starting to tell on him. He never refuses but I am sure after all this time (June 2023) to hear his phone “beep” on a morning must be an “oh no not again moment.

It’s the Fete Sans Frontières on the 19 January. It also happens to be Anie’s birthday. Her sons had tried to persuade her not to go but it’s such an important fete for her that she dismissed her birthday and seeing her son/s. Last year I attended, there really is no chance of that this year but I will be thinking about them all.

“The Solicitor” now has a shared office (with the accountant) and is the Wills and Probate Man. “The Recovery Coordinator” has had a busy week, although it’s demanding she loves her job. They have joined the gym and been and bought new trainers, swimming gear for “The Solicitor”. Now all that’s needed is a determined approach (on his part anyway).

My grandchildren are with daddy and grandad this weekend. Grand-mere was not an interesting proposal against a snooze for grandson and definitely no comparison to Barbie which my granddaughter was playing with.

They are going to a birthday party this afternoon so I guess they will be shattered when they arrive at Mummy’s.

It’s the week of the grand move for “The Photographer and “The Jetsetter”. It’s ok getting a removal man to remove the heavy items but there are still boxes to pack. “The Jetsetter” has been packing boxes and selling things which are not needed.

Let’s have a look at some songs, I do hope I am not repeating a lot of them but, in my opinion, its worth listening to them again. The first is “Almaz” by Randy Crawford which was released in 1986. The second is “I Go To Sleep” by The Pretenders which was released in 1980.

On Friday evening a friend from the knitting group brought me a trough full of spring plants, she put them on my kitchen window sill then rang me from her car. About 10pm I opened my front door, there was a kalanchoe plant, she had said leave it outside for two days incase there were any bugs keeping warm in there. How kind of her. I am thrilled that I can watch spring bulbs grow and flower.

Until next week.

[theretirementstory]

5/1/2025. So the New Year arrived, nothing and no one can stop the years rolling on. The above photo was taken in the early part of January 2024 when I was able to take a walk confidently and to push myself that little bit further.

Regular followers will know what a year it has been, with further treatments that gave me such hope only to find that they had failed again. Goodness only knows what treatment number I am onto now. However, as long as this body of mine can take it, I will accept what they offer me.

Anie and I toddled to the Gendarmerie on Monday to find out what we could about this letter I had received. Then we came home and Anie rang for an appointment for a telephone interview, it’s Monday 6th. Hopefully something else to cross off my To Do list.

Tuesday (all day) was spent at the hospital for my treatment and transfusion, honestly it was so relaxing, I had two lovely sleeps which really “pepped” me up. I didn’t wait up for the New Year to arrive, it would do so without any assistance from me.

My grandchildren video called on New Years Day to wish Grand-mère a Happy New Year. It was lovely to see them (again) they are just such absolute cuties.

The family sent New Years greetings early which was really nice as the messages came through promptly.

Then it was back to work, on Thursday, for “The Solicitor”, not something he was looking forward to but , unfortunately you need to work to earn money to live. “The Recovery Coordinator” had already worked Monday and Tuesday so she was able to relax at home Thursday and Friday.

“The Photographer” went back to work on Thursday too, not sure if “The Jetsetter” did as well. At some point life has to return to normal and that time has come.

Last night the “The Photographer” was in Leeds to photograph the ice hockey match between Leeds and Hull. “The Jetsetter” went with her father to see the match. There were weather warnings in place but let’s hope they were for later in the evening.

How much paperwork can one accumulate in such a short time? I appear to be heading for the “Guinness Book of Records” disposing of it is the problem now! Anyway, I have been trying to work my way through it , no easy feat I can say!

So the jobs to ring/message the painter and the plumber did not materalise, they will have to be done this week. Taking the bill and cheque to the gardener is still outstanding.

This week’s music selections are from way back. The first is back to 1973, it’s the Doobie Brothers with “Long Train Running”.

The second is “Let’s Go Round Again” by the Average White Band, which was released in 1980.

I hope you enjoy these.

Jusqu’à la semaine prochaine

[theretirementstory]

29/12/2024. Bonjour à tous, there is not much more of 2024 for us to enjoy but I am sure that a lot of people will be ready to “ring out the old and ring in the new”, on Tuesday night. I will not be one of those I am afraid, I am hoping to be tucked up in my bed, sound asleep.

I was going to do a recap of the year but as it mainly involved hospital visits to Paris and Troyes I thought it would be nice to look back on happier times in Paris. This first photograph is from a visit to see Pauline when she lived in Paris back in 2022. It was a beautiful February day, we did a lot of walking, it was great to see some wonderful sights in the capital. We had started with an exhibition in the Arab World Institute, then we made our way to the Pantheon taking time to take advantage of the winter sunshine, before finally finding somewhere cheap enough for Pauline to eat. A walk across the river, that day, would have set us towards the Hospital Saint-Antoine which I visited for removal of stem cells in 2023.

This week has been a fairly normal week for me, blood test on Monday, treatment and transfusion on Tuesday, injections on Wednesday then a few days to myself before it starts again next week.

At the hospital on Tuesday, I was given a pack of biscuits and a bottle of apple and raspberry pure juice which had been donated by the group supporting cancer patients in the Aubé department.

My Christmas lunch had to be re-jigged I was not happy with the chicken. It meant adding an extra course and having a meat free main course but it worked well and I am pleased it did.

On Thursday I received another Christmas card from “The Solicitor” and “The Recovery Coordinator”, plus a wonderful package which contained a wooden jigsaw, chocolates, a hand-made dog plus a pewter bookmark. What a lucky person I have been this Christmas.

Both “The Solicitor” and “The Recovery Coordinator” have been unwell over the Christmas period. I am not surprised there are so many “bugs” going around in the UK (guess here in France too) however, I wear a mask when I go out, wash my hands when I come back in and generally try very hard to keep a distance from anyone who coughs, sneezes etc. I also limit the number of people coming to my home to avoid other germs being brought in here.

“The Photographer” has been on the road a lot this week. He worked Monday and Tuesday, then drove up to spend Tuesday evening with his Aunt and taking her to a restaurant for Christmas lunch on Wednesday. He then drove back to York, spent Thursday in York before heading to his father’s house ready for his children arriving on Friday. Unfortunately my grandchildren had not been well on Christmas Day either. They seemed well when I spoke to them yesterday!

“The Jetsetter” had spent Christmas Day with her parents. She was due to meet friends on Thursday evening but as she too has a cold/bug she didn’t go. Two friends have weak immune systems so didn’t want to be in close contact with someone who was unwell. Yesterday she went with her parents to visit her brother and have Christmas Day with her nephew.

Not many visitors over Christmas (not that I expected any) my friends have family to visit and (for anyone who knows from this blog) I do prefer to suit myself, being alone but not lonely is part of that. I had numerous messages, video calls etc so didn’t really have the chance to feel lonely. Today, 🤞, I will have a visitor this afternoon, oops visitor has just messaged, she has woken with a scratchy throat and a headache so won’t be coming. Oh well perhaps I will start on a jigsaw. Before that I am hoping that my neighbour can take me to the supermarket just to buy some items to keep me going over New Year. He has been so kind, I am hoping that I will be able to repay him at some point.

So now we turn to the last music choices for 2024. It has been difficult choosing songs as most of my best memories date back 40 or 50 years (yes really). However, I can’t understand how this one slipped through the net, but I managed to catch it just in time. The song is “While You See A Chance” by Steve Winwood, this was released in 1980. The second song is from 1982, it’s “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake. Happy memories, isn’t it funny how after a good few years the lyrics seem to be more appropriate to differing circumstances.

So I will leave you this Sunday morning, either looking forward to New Years Eve with lots of drunken people wishing you a Happy New Year (been there, done that), firework displays lighting up the early morning sky, expectations for 2025 running high. Of those I will be pleased with the final one. I will be tucked up in bed for the others and I don’t expect a drunken person coming in wishing me a Happy New Year.

So here are a couple more photos taken in Paris, in 2022 and 2024.

[theretirementstory]

22/12/2024. Bonjour et bienvenue, after the start of another type of treatment I am back in my own home.

The treatment is not new and there are three possible outcomes but positivity has helped me thus far, so I will look to results 1 and 2 which give me the best chance. After all life is for living and in the words of Monty Python “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”.

I was allowed to come home on Thursday and future treatments will be administered at the hospital in Troyes, saving me a six hour round trip to Paris on a weekly basis. Thank goodness for that. So the next treatment is Xmas Eve and as the treatment is not affecting taste or causing nausea, I laid in the hospital bed writing out my Xmas menu. I asked my friend if she could find a butcher who would prepare a chicken crown (which she did), so it’s chicken, stuffing, roast potatoes, roast parsnips and I would like some sprouts and turnip. Yesterday sprouts and turnip were sold out (so one of my personal shoppers told me).

The picture above is of the gorgeous centrepiece that Claudine, a friend from tricot, bought for me. She wanted to deliver it personally on Friday night, but I had had to go to the hospital in Troyes to collect medications that can only be obtained from a hospital pharmacy. As I wasn’t home she left it on my kitchen windowsill. What a wonderful surprise, it brought a tear to my eye!

Yesterday, I had two personal shoppers, one arrived with my food around lunchtime and the other mid afternoon, goodness I am spoilt. Anie also brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers (not from her garden this time). I am wondering if I will have room on the dining table to eat my Xmas meal 😂.

I have had Christmas cards to open and a festive puzzle book arrived to keep me occupied. Apparently, I can expect a knock at my door or a ring of the bell this morning.

I thought I would throw in a couple of “Christmassy” songs this week. The first is “I Believe In Father Christmas” by Greg Lake, released in 1977. The second is “A Merry Jingle” by The Greedies, released in 1979. Especially for Jackie to get her “fix” of Phil Lynott just before Christmas 😉.

As I have heard mention, on several occasions, stressful periods, holidays, Christmas etc are times when people start to feel ill. They are so looking forward to time off work when BAM! some lurgy hits them and they feel dreadful. This is the case with “The Solicitor”, he has been feeling “run down” (as my Mum used to say). On Friday he really felt unwell but he only has to work half a day on Monday and then hopefully he will rest up. “The Recovery Coordinator” works in a building with recycled air, so after a few “gulps” of fresh air in the morning it’s just recycled air until she leaves work in the evening. As a result, anyone with coughs, sniffles etc these germs are easily spread. There have been lots of staff off work ill but it’s the germs they leave behind which cause others to become sick.

Yesterday, “The Photographer” went paintballing with one of the football teams he has been photographing. Apparently, after a shower, he then went out for lunch with friends. I haven’t heard but I do hope that he enjoyed the lunch. I did hear that he enjoyed the paintballing.

I don’t know what “The Jetsetter” has been up to. Perhaps yesterday was a day with family or picking up last minute presents. I do know that they are moving home mid January so maybe it was a clearing out day. I am sure I will find out in due course.

I have had tablets, breakfast and am just having a little relax before I go back upstairs with some items and then then come back down to try to fix my printer. Why is it that when you are busy everything seems to go wrong. Last evening I lost wifi, I know I had been pushing this button and that button but hadn’t realised I could just push a button to turn off wifi leaving just tv and landline (only had the box over 7 years)! I rang my neighbour, who came round, but was less technically minded than me! Anyway, after deciding to leave it for an hour, I couldn’t wait, so pushed this button and wow we had lift off🚀.

Hopefully, today will be more relaxing. I am going to make a cooked lunch. Take the chicken crown from the freezer so that it can be cooked tomorrow. I will find that easier than stressing on Wednesday trying to get everything cooked on time. Obviously Tuesday is out of the question with having to go to the hospital.

It’s raining at the moment (good for the garden) and we can expect thunder. The wind is strong and it’s rather cold out there, 6c feeling like -4c 😱. Now I think I have just heard the dustbin blow over, so I guess I should put my coat on and go and pick it up.

Just before I go, what a lovely surprise it was to see my Christmas Rose flowering and standing proudly on my return from hospital. I am sad that the second plant was “strimmed” by the gardener a few months ago. I keep checking to see if there are any signs of shoots coming through, but sadly, no sign of any yet. I will just have to accept the beauty of this one plant and pray that the other will eventually return.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

Bon dimanche.

[theretirementstory]

15/12/2024. Bonjour from Paris! This morning a brighter grey cloudy sky welcomes me although I didn’t wake up until 8:30 wow what is going on! Once again I find myself gazing out over the rooftops of Paris, from my bedroom in the newly renovated section of the hôpital Saint-Antoine, in the distance I can see the clock at the Gare de Lyon.

It’s been five months since I was last hospitalised and even the doctor was surprised at how well I look.

Before I left home I was running around trying to get sorted and I was really looking forward to putting my feet up and recharging my batteries. I am even tolerating the food better than before 😳.

Friday I had an aspiration into my sternum to remove bone marrow for testing. Hopefully I won’t have to endure the biopsy via my jugular into my liver but if it has to be then so be it.

Yesterday I was having a little snooze and I could feel sunshine on my body, I wasn’t hallucinating the sun had come out and it was so warm, I thought I was in Saint Tropez!

It’s rapidly approaching Christmas and I haven’t given a thought to it! Well at least I got the cards posted early.

Just to let you know my family are all well, “The Solicitor” and “The Recovery Coordinator” paid a visit to my sister delivering birthday and Xmas presents. It was “The Solicitors” Xmas Meal last evening so that should have been a pleasant night.

“The Photographer” and “The Jetsetter” went to Beamish yesterday, with my grandchildren of course, they were due to meet Santa, judging by the photos, it was a pleasant enough experience, the gifts for young children haven’t changed much since I was a child as my grandson was given a kaleidoscope.

The music section this week tested my knowledge, but I finally got there with “Une Nuit à Paris” by 10cc from 1976. The second song, I know we have had previously but I can’t resist, “Parisienne Walkways” by Gary Moore and Phil Lynott from 1978.

It’s a short catch up this week but I hope you have enjoyed it.

If you can spot the domed roof it is on top of the Post Office at the corner of Rue Crozatier and Boulevard Diderot, a beautiful building.

Jusqu’à semaine prochaine

[theretirementstory]

08/12/2024. Greetings from Bar-sur-Aube. It has been a restful weekend without my grandchildren but I had the most amazing time with them last week and would not have missed it for the world.

Yesterday morning I had a leak again in the dining room ceiling, I have said all along that it only happens when the wind was in a certain direction and it proved this as the wind changed direction only slightly but the water stopped coming in.

Tuesday saw me on my way to Hospital Tenon (pictured above) in Paris. The photo shows the gorgeous garden and architecture of the hospital. The drive made me think of the children on their way here and back on Monday. I was uncomfortable and nodded off a few times I hope they slept too as it was tiring. I didn’t get home until 20:30 and I was bushed.

Then I was up early on Wednesday waiting for the nurse to arrive to give me jabs, take blood, clean and dress my PICC line. In the afternoon the cleaner came and I popped back to bed to read and have a snooze.

Thursday was transfusion afternoon and I did a few jobs on the morning. My favourite doctor wasn’t there so I couldn’t ask him questions. Anyway I did get some sense out of the doctor that popped in to see me.

Then the weekend was heading my way faster than I had expected . Anie came to see me and I asked if she would make me a pain d’épice for Christmas. She arrived on Saturday afternoon bringing the cake with her.

As much as I could do without it, I am having two visitors. One is the long awaited chiropodist she will come around 11 (guess she will arrive around lunchtime), the second is Monique who is coming around 2:30 (that could be any time up to 3:30) however it is good to have them come today as I have a pretty busy agenda for next week.

It is the Xmas party for the refugees on 11 December, not that I will be attending, I haven’t been for a few years now. I still think of all my refugee friends.

So after a busy weekend last weekend for “The Solicitor” and “The Recovery Coordinator” this weekend was to be fairly relaxing. It was the work Xmas party last night for “The Recovery Coordinator” and “The Solicitor” was the chauffeur. Hopefully, it is just one person who has “mal à la tête” this morning.

“The Photographer” and the “The Jetsetter” viewed a rental property yesterday and liked it a lot. It is in an area that is close to “The Photographers” work, also close to my old school, where I learned a smattering of French which was the first part of my French vocabulary. The house looked lovely and they have applied for it, although there are a lot of people viewing so it may be a while until they hear anything. “The Photographer” seemed to have got over his busy weekend last weekend and embarked on another this weekend. Apart from viewing the rental property, he had been to his current work Xmas party on Friday night, Saturday night it was up to Scarborough for a party with ex work colleagues. So another busy weekend.

The music section this week maybe a bit “odd” for me but I do like them. The first is from 1996, it is Gabrielle with “Give Me A Little More Time”. Of course it would’nt be my music section if it didn’t contain a bit of an older song, this is from 1982, it’s Simple Minds with “Promised you a Miracle”.

Well another week has flown by, not quite as quickly as Santa on his sleigh, but still very quick.

This photo is of a beautiful band stand in a park facing onto Hôpital Tenon.

Catch you all next week!

[theretirementstory]

1/12/24. Here we are on the first day of December and we all know how excited children will be. Mums will be stressed writing cards, buying presents, cooking Xmas goodies (do people still do that or is it just oldies like me)? Going out and filling two shopping trolleys with food which will still be in the fridge after New Year! Dads will be wondering what all the fuss is about, after all he will do his shopping on Christmas Eve, wrap the presents while having a drink or two and feel pleased with himself. Ha! I imagine I will be one of those people wondering what all the fuss is about while I am tucking into my beans on toast, bacon sandwiches or chicken fajitas 😂. As long as it’s not hospital food I will be very happy.

Sunday has arrived and what a weekend it has been with the arrival of my family. We had a look into town, to the médiathèque yesterday morning to a free exhibition which I was keen to see and thought the children might like to see too. We also visited the magical chocolatée, they are all magic to children aren’t they? The children went on the merry-go-round. After a snooze (for all of us) during which Anie visited to see the children (but they were sleeping) she left homemade biscuits for us all. After the snooze, Daddy took the children to the playground, came back and picked me up. We went to collect my prescription, pick up a couple more things at the shop, then we checked out the Christmas lights in the town centre. Including the children skating on the rink. Today we are hoping to go to the “Marche de Noël” in a village hall close by.

The week saw me going for a stroll on Monday, just to the shops, I returned home like an old lady shuffling along the road. My big toe was hurting on one foot, it was making me wobble all over as I was walking and I could have cried when I returned home I was so relieved to sit down.

Walking has been out of the question everyday since! It has been so cold and with my poor toe causing so much pain I was only too glad to stay inside.

My new cleaner arrived on Tuesday and I also had a telephone call from one of the hospitals in Paris for me to go for a PET scan on 3 December.

Then it was the usual things, the nurse coming, hospital at Troyes before Friday arrived and I was so excited waiting for the family to arrive. Sleeping arrangements were reviewed by the children and both wanted to sleep in Daddy’s room so blow up mattress was moved along the landing.

It’s been a wonderful start to the weekend even though I am worn out. The children are playing, have had breakfast and will be getting washed and dressed very soon.

Well I think that I had better get a move on as the day will slip away all too quickly.

Have a wonderful day wherever you are.

[theretirementstory]

24/11/24. Good morning all, as we hurtle through November let’s look at the topsy turvy week we have had. This photo was taken on Wednesday morning, it was a beautiful autumnal day with plenty of sunshine. We had had rain which was accompanied by flood warnings on both Monday and Tuesday. Then Thursday arrived with a warning of snow, it was my day at the hospital I must admit that the journey to and from said hospital was rather scary, especially coming home. The snow was laying, there were a number of blizzards and the snow was getting deeper. The driver helped me to my front door, as my legs always seem to have no power after being in the car. Friday was another surprising day not so cold and the snow had started to melt away with the sunshine that put in an appearance. Saturday the snow continued to melt and it would have been quite warm had it not been for the wind. However, that wind was appreciated when I hung my washing out. It was dried within 1.5 hours and although it felt cold it just needed to be aired off inside. What luck!

I had rather a long “To Do” list and I felt really good when I had done rather a lot of the tasks. Of course, the most difficult were left to the end! I had made telephone calls, finished writing Xmas cards, paid bills, sent emails and brought my diary completely up to date. All of that was extremely satisfying.

Along with the sunshine on Wednesday I had a walk to the supermarket, I saw my neighbour and asked if he could boost the pressure on my central heating boiler. He read the instructions and was as much in the dark as I was, so we rang the plumber who explained it all to him and that was me sorted.

I must say I had been feeling a bit nauseous last week but have managed to improve and I feel a whole lot better.

“The Photographer” had his six monthly review after only five months, he has received a promotion and increase in salary. That’s very good. With his photography business I have ordered an item to be posted to a friend. I hope she likes it (I am sure she will).

“The Jetsetter” hasn’t been away on an aeroplane but travelled to meet friends for a birthday “get together”, plus she has been on a training course. The two of them met her parents for breakfast on Saturday morning, it was a nice place but the “Full English was not as “FULL” as was expected and the side orders were not cheap, I don’t think they will visit that restaurant/cafe again.

“The Solicitor” has been busy, as usual, having to change his hat mid week from Solicitor to administrator due to staff sickness. You either love doing admin work or prefer what you are paid for and for him it’s doing what he is paid to do.

“The Recovery Coordinator” on the other hand goes to work, deals with her cases which can be a mix of admin work and face to face contact (best of both worlds) then comes home and prepares for the next day. Okay we know that work isn’t really that simple but you get the gist. She had a little bit of a “frightener” when along with the huge amount of snow that has been dumped on the UK. She was returning home from work on Wednesday only to find that she was stuck on the hill up to their house. Nothing she did would get her up that hill. She rang “The Solicitor” and he came out of work. Unfortunately he didn’t have any success first reversing down an icy road then skidding and ending up travelling sideways. They gave up and parked the car in a car park in the town. Very frightening!

The next couple of weeks are going to be a series of surprises for my loved ones the first of which was due to happen in Thursday. Unfortunately, due to the most humongous ERROR (can think a much better phrase but not where my grandchildren can read it) by the delivery people, the event did not happen! It has been rescheduled for next Wednesday and I hope that the delivery people received more than a flea in the ear.

Now it’s time for the music section, I am sorry that these songs are from so long ago but it’s about singers and songwriters putting their hearts into what they did best. The first song is from way back in 1970 (I still have this album) it’s Neil Diamond a track taken from his album Tap Root Manuscript, the track on the album is entitled Soolaimon. The second song is by Free, the singer, who , in my opinion is one of the greatest, not just because he comes from Middlesbrough. The song is Wishing Well released way back when I was a teenager, in 1972.

Saturday,I had a visit from Monique, she brought me a few bits of shopping and part way through our time together Anie messaged to say she would come around 4.30. As Monique was leaving at 5pm Anie was just arriving. What a day two visitors!

It had been the inauguration of the renovation works to the outside of Saint Maclou Church on Friday evening, I had seen some photos of Anie with the choir singing there. It looked to have been a lovely event.

Now it is time for my medicine, another bite to eat and then get ready for whatever the day has in store. My new cleaner starts on Tuesday so I will be preparing for her, plus preparing for my other big surprise at the end of the week.

To all of you, keep safe and warm in this weather. I hope I will be able to get out and about next week, well I know I will on Thursday as that is my day to visit hospital again.

Catch up with you next week!

[theretirementstory]

17/11/24. Bonjour à tous goodness me we are midway through November and the temperatures are certainly falling quickly.

It has been a bit of a topsy turvy week for me. Monday and Tuesday, along with the dull days, I started feeling a bit down. No word from Paris and I started to ask myself why. I felt “cut off” no treatment other than transfusions for platelets, no correspondence except via the doctor in Troyes which had only been from the doctor who returned to Italy on 31 October. I had jobs I wanted to do but had no enthusiasm to do them. I guess it’s normal really, I am not the only patient but everything before has been pretty pronto.

So getting away from the beginning of the week, I woke on Wednesday bright and cheery and boy did I achieve a lot! I even went for a walk which lifted my spirits, not just because it was a lovely day. I brought the car out of the garage, checked lights and indicators before giving it a spin around the estate and putting it back into the garage.

A lovely little wren has moved into a shrub close to the house, (maybe it has been there a while) I was so pleased to see it, as I have said before I don’t put out bread, fat balls or bags of nuts as I don’t want to encourage more wildlife 🐀 or 🐁. In the garden at my home in the UK I also had a wren living there. As you may know I have birds aplenty residing in the shrubs, great tits, robin, sparrows, usually Mr and Mrs Blackbird but maybe they are on vacation as I haven’t seen them for a while, now this little wren too. I try to protect them from any marauding 🐈‍⬛ 🐈!

Anie messaged to say she had tested positive for Covid, oh what a blow but as I said last week she really didn’t look so well when I last saw her. Anyway she has now had the negative results and came to see me yesterday afternoon. I was telling her about the wren and she joked it had maybe arrived from the UK looking for me. She was also telling me about something “orange on our estate” she kept saying “soucis” although I know this word I kept thinking “souris” 🐁. Then she used another word and I realised it wasn’t two orange mice” but two orange calendulas which look as if they have been discarded from a garden and taken root on the bank to the field. I had seen them previously when in the taxi for hospital. We did laugh when she said “no not Mickey Mouse”.

When Monique was here last week, she was amazed that the iris leaves were coming through already. I had previously told friends that the remaining hellebore plant had buds on it. They were amazed. I moan about the state of my garden (sometimes) but I really do believe that I am doing something good out there. I pruned my roses back by a third in August (had read to do that) they have grown that third back and I have had a flower in October and there is a bud waiting to open in November. Houseplants, however, are a different subject although my Xmas cactus is flowering and a cactus Marie-Therese bought me, years ago, seems very happy. It has produced other cacti, one of those now has four or five babies on it. Goodness me, poor plant only gets watered when I remember. I am waiting to see if I can keep the orchid, I have never had much success with them. Going back to Monique (sorry I am easily side tracked) she has been looking after her twin granddaughters as both have been ill. Let’s hope that they are in the mend now.

On Thursday when I went shopping, I spotted a friend’s car in the car park. I saw her even before I opened the door. She stands and looks at the food, must be deciding what she will make with it before she puts it in her basket. Anyway I spoke to her and was telling her about myself and asked about her and the family, her poor mother is in a home (she lives in Finland) consequently she tries to visit as often as she can but she also understands that her children (5 and 10) find it hard to see their grandmother like that. Plus Liisa’s husband carries a gene which his sister also had and she passed away earlier in the year aged 40. So I guess she has a lot on her plate. I said I would have her pop down for a coffee and a chat soon.

Oh yes talking about people “popping down to see me”, “The Photographer” and his children are coming over to see me (oh wow)! More on that later.

Everywhere is gearing up for Xmas and I got into the “festive spirit” by finding my Xmas cards and starting to write them. Got some done then stopped.

For my family it’s been “that weekend of the year”, the time when Aunt and Uncle from London arrive for about 10 days to stay in “not so sunny Scarborough” and expect all the family to come along and stay at the weekend. It would be ok if Uncle wasn’t so maudlin, and they weren’t both a couple of old soaks. “The Photographer” took his children with him for the two nights he was staying. It was lovely because being a seaside resort, Father Christmas arrived by boat and that was on Saturday so the children saw him. “The Solicitor” and “The Recovery Coordinator” stayed over Friday night, went home Saturday afternoon and are making another flying visit today.

It’s the music section of the blog, I wonder if it’s too early for Xmas songs, well I guess it’s never too early for this one! It’s by Bruce Springfield, “Santa Claus Is Coming’ To Town” this was released as a promo disc in 1981.

I guess it is appropriate as Santa Claus did come to Scarborough Town this weekend.

The second song is by Mike Oldfield ft Maggie Reilly, It’s “Moonlight Shadow” released in 1983. However a version by Sound of Legend was released in 2024 (wow how up to date am I).

It is currently 4c and I really must have my breakfast. I am hoping that my pork chops defrost so that I can have my main meal about 2pm as my American friend is due to be coming down sometime this afternoon. Oh I was just going to go to the shop as well but as the highest temperature for the day is 7c I think I will remain at home where I am nice and warm.

Jusqu’à la semaine prochaine.

[theretirementstory]

10/11/2024. Bonjour et bienvenue on this Sunday morning when towns and villages in the UK will be commemorating “Remembrance Day”. Here in France Armistice Day is a “jour férié” and the commemoration will take place tomorrow. I have worn my “bleuet” all week in remembrance of two great uncles killed in the Great War and buried here in France.

Weather wise it has been a strange week, we have had sunny afternoons after mist and cloud in the mornings. To see the sun in November, really does make you feel like being outside and smiling. This morning however météo tells me we have 7 (feels like 8c) with 95% humidity. So we have “one misty moisty morning”. Well I should still manage to go to the shop 🚶🏿‍♀️.

I have worked in my garden and the second border now has cardboard and bark down, which is a relief to me.

My cleaner (who has left now) was using Anie as a “go-between” I felt so sorry for her. On Wednesday she had spent the day with family and had driven home in the dark, only to have to come to my house to pick up paperwork and take it to this lady (who was moving the following day). I always think that driving in the dark is very tiring but as always, Anie did not complain.

I was a little stressed on Tuesday as my blood test results showed my platelets had fallen below 20, which I had been viewing as my “new norm”. Anyway I had my transfusion on Thursday and although I did feel better I am very very tired.

Sarah, an English friend who lives in Haute Marne, came to visit on Thursday. She left about 12:15 and goodness me my taxi for the hospital arrived at 12:40……..it was due around 13:30 but there was another person going so that’s why they were early. So my companion was an elderly gentleman, who just happens to be English! As I learned he has lived here since 2013 (so I am not the first English person living here) . We didn’t have a long conversation as he is very deaf so it was a little difficult. Actually when I heard him speaking French I thought that we sounded similar (not necessarily the accent, just the fact that English was our native tongue). In his life he had been a French teacher, he is married to a French lady who was an English teacher. Fascinating, they have been married 64 years 😳.

My appointment with a GP in town was on Friday. He made a home visit and arrived around 11:40. I don’t think he is going to be made permanent until January so couldn’t take me on as a patient yet. However, he checked my blood pressure and my heart and lungs. I have actually seen him before, he is Romanian and speaks really good English so I am pleased. He read the letters from Paris and told me to continue being positive, to keep getting outside and enjoying my garden.

Monique came down for a chat on Friday. I was tired and it was getting dark so she left after an hour and a half. It was nice to see her but my plans for my evening meal were pushed to one side as I started feeling nauseous.

Here is the music section, the first song I thought maybe was just from 10/12 years ago, oh goodness me no! 24 years ago this was released, it’s by Anastacia, “I’m Outta Love” as you will have guessed it was released in 2000.

The second song is by another lady (no longer with us) it’s by Laura Branigan “Gloria” released some 42 years ago in 1982 🙈.

“The Photographer” and “The Jetsetter” went to a restaurant on Thursday, “The Angel on the Green”, I laughed when I heard the name as I know the road it is on and said “there is no green on that road” “The Photographer” replied with “No Angels either” we did laugh!

Yesterday they had a ride out to Wetherby, which stands on the river Wharfe. They spent a pleasant time and “The Photographer” managed to buy a lens for his camera in a charity shop of all places.

It has been “haircut” weekend for “The Solicitor”. We had a lovely long chat on Friday evening then it was an early wake up on Saturday to go to the barbers. Afterwards, it was shopping so hopefully Saturday tea was something delicious. Let’s hope that today is more relaxing for him. Remember positive thinking wins the day 😁. Oh yes, I do hope you like the music choices too 😉.

“The Recovery Coordinator” has had the usual busy week. Yesterday morning she was up to go with “The Solicitor” to the barbers and then shopping. I suppose getting it out of the way on a Saturday means that having a lazy day on a Sunday makes you feel better. By all accounts it is cold in the North East of England and I don’t envy her having to be up early to drive to work. Even if I was well, I would hate the commute, maybe I did it so long. In all my working life I never once worked in the town I lived in. “The Solicitor is fortunate in that it’s only a few minutes walk to his office so no great rush on a morning and home quickly at night.

I spent quite a lot of time collating statements, bills etc which have limits on the length of time they need to be kept here in France. I do it on the computer which can be time consuming if you haven’t done it for a while but it’s satisfying when it’s done. It’s the same with messaging friends, calling family, replying to emails etc it takes a large part of your day. Yesterday I spent time downloading information ready to be filed in the appropriate folders.

Still no news from Paris hospital, so at the moment, I have just one appointment next week in Troyes for my transfusion. Maybe I will get on with the knitting I picked up again. Don’t think I will be doing a jigsaw for a while as it’s nice to have the table free for a while.

Let’s hope that next week is nice enough to let me have my walk, I really must give the car a little run around the block too.

Until the next time…….

[theretirementstory]

03/11/2024. Bonjour tout le monde, November has arrived and the week has seen the temperatures change and we have had misty mornings. I am in Bar-sur-Aube today 😁. The weather is 7c and could possibly hit 16c, the sun is shining so with any luck the nurse will arrive early and I can have my walk to the supermarket.

J’ai été très occupé this week (is that any change) consequently the jigsaw is not yet finished, I have been lazy with cooking meals and have spent time relaxing in the chair but let me explain why.

After the shock of finding out I had to go to Paris on Tuesday, my friend rang the hospital to find out why I had to go. Turned out it was for an MRI scan, no stay over just there and back. Monday morning I had bloods taken and dressing changed, in the afternoon the man from the laboratory rang to say my white blood cells and neutrophils were very low and to wear a mask when out to avoid any infection plus if I had a fever I was to go straight to hospital 😱. Anie called to see me bringing asters from her garden as well as apple crumble (which unfortunately I couldn’t eat) being neutropenic means I have to make everything myself so that another’s persons hands haven’t touched the food.

I was up at 04:45 on Tuesday as the taxi was due at 06:30, imagine my surprise when he turned up at 06:03 😤. Anyway, we arrived, I seemed to be “fast-tracked” through and before I knew it I was back in the car. Yes I was home by 1:30pm but I was still shattered I had been up just short of 9 hours at that point.

I realised I had three injections in the fridge which were what I needed to boost my white cells and neutrophils, so messaged the doctor in Troyes (while en route to Paris) for a prescription advising the nurse to administer the injections. .

My neighbour went to the pharmacy for my medication, I had only completely run out of one lot of tablets! Then I got a message from a friend who said she would come to see me around 18:00. My reply had confused her and so she didn’t visit. I had also asked Monique to make an appointment for Dr Stefan, at the practice in town, to come and visit me on 8 November. She did that so hopefully now I will also have a doctor in town again.

On 31 October I got a photo of my two grandchildren dressed up for Halloween. My granddaughter looks so grown up it’s just amazing.

Anie brought me apples on Monday and I still had the ones Monique had brought last week 😳 so on Friday I set to and peeled, cored, sliced, froze and stewed them. The freezer is almost full of bags of apples. Got to make something other than crumble though, think I will just have them stewed with yoghurt. It was a beautiful afternoon so I had my walk to the supermarket, not knowing what I wanted to eat I bought food to make a pasta dish.

My cleaner was ill so couldn’t come to do my housework. She also informed me that she is moving to Troyes on the 7 November. Now paperwork is an absolute nightmare here in France (mind you it’s worth it for me to live in this place I love) so I have had to have my head screwed on properly to deal with it. I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything is correct.

“The Photographer” has been busy at his day job but on Saturday he went to Burton upon Trent for the first round of the FA Cup. They were playing Scarborough AFC and he was there to take photos. I prayed for dry weather which it appeared they had. “The Seagulls” were doing really well until midway through the second half when their opponents scored. Unfortunately “The Seagulls” couldn’t even the score and it would be some disappointed fans who returned home. The thing to remember is that their opponents were in leagues above theirs so no shame in the score line, plus they played really well and as we know there can only be one winner. “The Photographer” took some great photos too.

It’s busy old days at work for “The Solicitor” and “The Recovery Coordinator” weeks are flying by so quickly. It is only two months since they were here but it feels such a long time ago. Niece and nephew went to their house on Friday evening, it was a late trick or treat, looks as if everyone had fun. Grandad had even bought outfits for the children to wear.

“The Jetsetter” with the clipped wings, at the moment, is most probably perusing holiday brochures (can you still get those) or is it all on-line now?

It seems to be that the world is not such a nice place. Countries that are against tourists, places where it’s unsafe to go out in the evening (according to the press) wars, floods, droughts good heavens it is probably better to stay home. Although being a bit of an adventurous traveller in my twenties, I understand the need to visit places. I once visited a country which at the time was “behind the Iron Curtain, and I don’t mean Yugoslavia. There were lots of things that were “scary” about it but it all adds to the memories. I laugh when I see adverts for holidays to countries being lauded as “new places to visit” when my holidays there were around 47 years ago!

A bit of a surprise with the music part of the blog this week, I have chosen two women and the songs are fairly recent (well they are to me). The first song is by Leona Lewis, it’s “Bleeding Love” from 2007 and the second is by Dido, it’s “Don’t Leave Home” from 2003.

I really must make some time to lay more cardboard. I don’t have sufficient bark to put a good covering on top but will see if my neighbour can get some more for me tomorrow. The weeds are creeping buttercup, they are coming through from my neighbours garden and they are so difficult to kill off. Some have even managed to come through the bark already (only small but it’s a start). Does anyone know how to kill off these “creepers” without killing the flowers in the borders too?

PS. I have finally out the last pieces of jigsaw into the puzzle. What satisfaction that has brought me.

Another thing that has brought a lot of satisfaction to me is the beautiful cactus I bought a year ago, it has lots of buds some due to open anytime soon. I am so pleased, it is a white cactus and I just left it to its own devices after my previous cleaner, dusted it and broke off all the new buds which were coming earlier this year! I was upset then but now I am just looking forward to the flowers opening.

It also appears that the beautiful orchid I received on the 12 September now has root rot (or similar). “Not my fault Guv, I know not to give it loads of water”.

So on that sad news, I will leave while I search Google for a solution.

Bon dimanche.

[theretirementstory]

27/10/2024. Greetings from Bar-sur-Aube, have you enjoyed your extra hour in bed? I took advantage of my hour by reading longer on Saturday night before I settled down to sleep.

It’s a lovely morning, currently 14c but we can expect 21c.

I was in Paris on Monday for the result of my PET scan, it wasn’t good news but you just have to take it on the chin. My treatment has been stopped but I am at home doing what I enjoy most. Fortunately we have had some lovely sunny days so I have been in the garden laying more cardboard and bark.

My journey to Troyes on Wednesday took me via Baroville (home to Barfontarc Champagne) then we picked up a couple of people in Urville (home to Drappier Champagne). I love all these champagne houses in little villages so close to my home.

STOP PRESS: This morning I have received a text from the hospital in Paris confirming an appointment for me with “Imagerie” on Tuesday. News to me, I have not received any phone call or “convocation” by post or email. That means that tomorrow I will need to book a taxi 😩, such short notice! I emailed the doctor at Troyes who has not been advised of this appointment but he suspects that it is for the biopsy with a gynaecologist.

This may not seem funny to you, but consider the fact that my French is somewhere between beginner and intermediate, that in France they don’t expect anyone to be gesticulating from an upstairs window and holding a conversation with someone so many metres away that the conversation is quite a few decibels above “talking”. Well that was me on Thursday! I was up, breakfasted then just catching up with bits and pieces before going to “do my ablutions” shock horror there was no water! I checked my letter box, no notice confirming cutting the water, it was like a ghost town on the estate no sign of any of my neighbours. Well I decided to dress 🤫 and as I opened the shutters I saw a guy across the road in the workshop yard, he was standing outside a van used by the water company. After he finished his phone call, I began gesticulating and shouting Monsieur. He eventually noticed me and when I said the water was cut off he said it was probably the workmen up or down the road (I had already surmised that much). Anyway, I nodded shouted “Merci beaucoup” and prepared to go to the shop. As I got further along my road a group of people were having a “chinwag” , I excused myself to ask if their water was off too, they said it was and pointed in the direction of the workmen. As I was walking up the road, the guy I had “hollered” to drove past me and stopped at the workman, he was having a chat with them and the next minute I saw a guy with what I would call “a key” it was on a long pole and he was scurrying down to another dug up area to ( and here I assumed) turn the water back into the estate. Sure enough when I got home about 30 minutes later, the water was restored. My question here is, had these French people just accepted that the water was off without questioning why we had not been advised? Did they really want to leave it to “the Englishwoman who can shout like a fish wife?”

I have seen Anie and Monique this week, both came bearing windfall apples and I guess I will have to get them sorted up and either frozen or cooked. As always Anie brought me some flowers from her garden, she knows I really appreciate these, it’s such a lovely thing to do.

Pauline has texted me, telling me she has been for interviews, she is keeping her fingers crossed that she is successful. She told me that the spots on her legs, she thought were bites, are actually scabies! 😱

I have had an estate agent here this week to give me an up to date valuation on my house. Not that I am considering moving home but because if anything happens to me it helps my executors. With that thought in mind to, I am considering selling my car, which I am unable to drive (while platelets are so low) it seems pointless it just sitting in the garage.

As you can see I am looking to get my affairs in order. There is no time like the present!

As well as laying more cardboard and bark, I have been working on my jigsaw, there is not much more to do and I was going to give myself up to it today, but maybe I have plenty of other things to do, preparing for Tuesday.

My grandchildren have been making pumpkin lanterns, my granddaughter has made one with a cats face and my grandson (I suspect with Mummy’s help) has made the usual ghoulish face.

The music part of the blog features a favourite singer of mine, it’s Gerry Rafferty with “Right Down The Line” from 1978. The second song is by Stevie Nicks, with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, it’s “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” from 1981.

So, as we move towards the last days of October, I am hoping for more autumn sunshine (which we have at the moment), hopefully a less hectic schedule (I don’t like these 04:30 wake ups) and time to see friends. My American friend is coming back to her home in town so we are looking forward to catching up.

No updates on family this week, suffice it to say they are well, although both “The Solicitor” and “The Recovery Coordinator” have both had the lurgy. “The Photographer” has moved house once again, hopefully this will be a longer arrangement. Plus “The Jetsetter” hit the wilds of Co. Durham and had to endure an interrogation in a Farm Shop 😂😂.

The photos this week are from Fontaine, the little white dots are actually the paragliders. The second photo is of, what is stated as a boys school, in the 12th arrondissement in Paris.

Have a good week until next week 👋.

[theretirementstory]

20/10/2024. Bonjour à tous, I hope I find you all well today and that wherever you are the day is calm and bright for you. Too many people have been fighting floods or excessive heat. Yes we have had a couple of bright sunny days as well as almighty downpours (testing my repaired roof I think), but at least I have still been able to get out and about.

On Wednesday, i went to Hôpital Tenon in Paris for my PET scan. Must be market day in Paris on a Wednesday as stalls were setting up on the pavements and everything looked wonderful. What a shame I had an appointment I would have liked to stroll around the 20th arrondissement looking at all the goods on the stalls. Well anyway, appointment is out of the way now so it’s Paris tomorrow for treatment and result of scan.

As I said, we have had some lovely bright sunny days and I managed to dry a lot of washing outside. On thé wet days I have stayed at home and been working on the new jigsaw I started. It was while working on the jigsaw that disaster struck. My crown (fitted in 2020) came off and due to low platelets a visit to the dentist is not an option (at the moment). I will have to speak to the doctor on Monday to see what she says about it.

Now I cannot chew on either side of my mouth, making my choice of food a little difficult. As they say, if it’s not one thing it’s another!

I finally got round to writing the letter to the knitting group plus a couple of cards for friends and family in the UK, my neighbour posted those for me. I emailed the doctor in Troyes saying I didn’t have an appointment for this week he messaged back within 20 minutes to say that the coordinator would ring me the following day to set up the appointment. So I went to Troyes for my transfusion on Thursday and I have also an appointment for next Thursday.

The 16 October was a memorable day, it was 10 years since I received the “all clear” following my first brush with lymphoma. As that was the date of my scan this week can I be hopeful of the same outcome on Monday, we will see. As I have said before, there is nothing I can do to influence a decision one way or the other so there is no sense worrying about it, what will be will be.

“The Photographer” has his children this weekend, I had a video call mainly with my grandson because his sister was engrossed in a puzzle book. I was sitting in the garden taking a break from laying more bark. It was fun talking to him and showing him what I was doing, he said there was a slug but honestly, I have never seen a slug in my garden. Yes I have seen snails and I move them to the composter, plenty of food for them in there. I did manage to say hello to my granddaughter but didn’t want to interrupt her concentration. I was sent some beautiful photos of the children which I love to receive.

“The Solicitor” nipped into work yesterday morning preparing for what I guess is an audit. It’s a busy weekend this weekend, he visited friends yesterday evening so I guess a “thick head” may be on the cards today. We had a great video call during the week and it’s good to hear him talking about the goals he is setting himself.

“The Recovery Coordinator” has had another busy week as staff have been off work with a nasty cold/flu which seems to be doing the rounds. She had started to feel a little under the weather on Friday and would have liked to have a rest this weekend, but as always when you work full-time there are jobs to be done at the weekend. So she is plodding on and hopefully will feel better by the end of today. She must have been feeling better yesterday evening because she decided to go with “The Solicitor” to visit friends.

There are no adventures on the cards for “The Jetsetter” maybe something will come along or maybe not.

I have been trying to get out for my walks and have succeeded (apart from the days when I have been to the hospital). I do believe it is doing me good, helps with my positivity as I am connected to all around me.

My garden is what had kept me going and I managed to do a little bit more work out there yesterday afternoon. I pulled up the moss and cut the lavender down a little. Plus I laid my last remaining cardboard and covered it really well with bark. It is so therapeutic working in the garden and the fresh air is good for you. Funnily, while sitting outside on the phone I decided if it’s nice today I will take a cup of tea out there.

Anie, Monique and Pauline have all been in touch this week. Here is a question for you…. Why do people who love cats/dogs/rabbits whatever, think that everyone else feels the same and would like to see videos of said animal? I have friends who have never been blessed with children and I am careful not to inundate them with photos of my grandchildren so why don’t people think before they send videos of animals. (Ok rant over).

The music slot this week has had my brain working overtime! The first song is by Dina Carroll “Why Did I Let You Go” from 1993. The second song took much longer for me to decide on and believe me the ones I left out are some cracking songs. The second song is by Fleetwood Mac, it’s “Seven Wonders” released in 1987, it’s an oldie but a goodie!

I have just read today that Sir Chris Hoy has terminal cancer, it’s so sad, he is 48 years old. Not content with that hitting him and his young family, his wife has been diagnosed with MS. It quite puts into context how precious life is and to “live your best life” everyday.

For me, although I maybe haven’t always made the best decisions with my life, I have used the paths I have chosen and I believe enriched my life. From taking early retirement at 50, then just working part-time, to realising my dream, living and loving my best life in France. Of course I never anticipated what the past 17 months have thrown at me and it would have been easier on my family if I had been in the UK, they could have seen me more often, have provided their support in person (if needed) however, I don’t think I would have had such excellent treatment and I know that my positivity has come about by remaining strong throughout it all.

Now on a happier note, I will take some time to see if these “fresh eyes” can add a few more pieces to the jigsaw, then it’s cooking, preparing my food for the trip to Paris tomorrow and “hitting the hay” early this evening as it’s a 4:30 wake up in the morning 😩.

Jusqu’à le semaine prochaine.

Photos are of the Square Édouard Vaillant and a tree lined boulevard in the 20th arrondissement.

[theretirementstory]

13/10/2024. Bonjour and bienvenue from my garden. The past two summers have seen the garden neglected due to my ill health, ok so the gardener and my neighbour mowed the grass but nothing was done with the borders. I had plans for these areas but having neither the strength nor the time (due to appointments) these plans were shelved. The gardener this year has been mowing the weeds (and plants 😳) down in the borders, which was very kind but I needed the weeds covered to avoid them growing in the first place! Anyway, this week, a new lease of life came over me and out I went to lay cardboard and bark onto these areas. Now this is not as simple as it sounds, as due to low platelets, I had to be careful that using the scissors (can’t use a Stanley knife) to cut the cardboard didn’t result in a blister. Even wearing gardening gloves this can still easily happen. So it has been slow and steady progress.

As well as grabbing 40 minutes here and there I have still had the “normal” tasks to contend with. The nurse coming in three mornings this week to clean and dress PICC line, administer injections and take blood.

These jobs have specific days, hence three times a week. Due to the unpredictable weather no washing was done until yesterday, which fortunately dried outside.

Pauline came to see me on Monday, I had been quite involved in my jigsaw so it was a nice break to sit and chat. She arrived with a mega downpour of rain, plus a bag full of apples courtesy of grandma’s garden. Grandma had also let her come in her car. While chatting she told me her grandma isn’t keen to let her use the car, she can’t understand why as she has only scraped it a couple of times 🙈. She had a job interview on Wednesday but unfortunately was unsuccessful this time.

I had my hair appointment on Tuesday and the walk into town was lovely. Obviously I don’t have a lot of hair yet but it was starting to look “frizzy” so I wanted that sorted out, which my wonderful coiffeuse did. I called and did my shopping on the way back home, so killing two birds with one stone. I couldn’t settle in the afternoon so went outside to sort the cardboard for the potager and used the off cuts to cover some of the weedy ground in the back and put the bark on top. I was proud of my achievement.

So this has been the theme for Wednesday and Thursday. In between the rain showers I have been busy working on the borders.

Anie messaged on Thursday evening to see if she could come down, she had some apples for me. Yes folks, more apples! There is only so much stewed apple, apple crumble etc that one can eat and the freezer is filling up with bags of apple slices. Anyway it is very kind.

Friday saw me in Troyes for my transfusion and the less said about that the better! I will just add that at this point in time I don’t have an appointment for next week 😫.

With one jigsaw finished it was time to start on another. I would have liked to just sit and work at it yesterday, but I had a list of jobs to be done. The only things that were done were washing, phoning my elderly cousin in London and taking her shopping order for a quick delivery. Plus in a final flurry I managed to peel, core and stew the apples Anie had brought me.

I could spend my days ringing friends and family and although it’s good to talk it can be a strain when I have other jobs to do. It’s the same with messages, don’t get me wrong I love hearing from people but I really need to do a list so that I reply to people and not forget anyone!

I still haven’t done the letter to the “knitting group” so that’s another job to be done. I did take the car for a drive around the estate yesterday, also moved some items from the garage, put a few things back in and discovered that there isn’t anymore cardboard in there 😫, that means I need to call into the paint and auto body shop to see if I can have a couple of boxes that have had windscreens in. They can only say no, can’t they?

Here is the music section, again the songs are pretty old but as always it’s either the words or music (or both) that have touched my heart. The first song, from 1970 is Mama Told Me Not To Come, by Three Dog Night. The second song is also from 1970 it’s Lady Eleanor by Lindisfarne.

If you are wondering where my family slot is this week, well I am giving them a break. I am sure there has been lots of activity with work etc but I am giving them a weekend off.

I am working out which neighbour/friend I need to do my shopping tomorrow. I do need to walk to the shop for some items myself today but I will also need milk and bottled water which I can’t carry. Monique has had a cold and to “keep me safe” has stayed away again. However she is hoping to visit this week.

An early start today, no sleeping in like yesterday morning. I have a dinner to cook, just four more apples to sort out either for stewing or slicing for the freezer. There is a condolence card to be sent to a cousin in the UK who lost her husband on Friday evening. A card for a friend as a surprise, and of course the letter for the knitting group. Plus the jigsaw is calling.

Photos: part of the cardboard and bark on the borders. Plus the completed jigsaw.

[theretirementstory]

06/10/2024. Bonjour tout le monde, it’s due to be a cloudy day today but we shall see as forecasts can change.

Apart from the weeks when I have been in hospital, have you ever known a week when I haven’t been busy, busy, busy? This week has seen more of the same. An early morning, starting at 04:15, taxi arriving at 05:30 and the three hour journey to Paris for my treatment. When I arrived home as usual I was bushed but still needed to have my meal, meds and some relaxation before I went to bed.

I usually find that the following day is perfect for relaxing, so this week I spent that relaxation time continuing with the jigsaw I started on the 27 September. It’s still not finished but when I showed it to my grandchildren they were impressed. When asked if they could count to 1000, they told me no. Well they are only 6 and 3 years old.

I had two pochettes of platelets at Troyes on Wednesday, no idea why. I haven’t seen the doctor for a couple of weeks now so it’s a case of “does the right hand know what the left hand is doing?”

We have had some lovely bright days so walking has been top of my list. I think that even just walking to the supermarket and back is doing me a lot of good, so that is where I have been a couple of days. Yesterday though I took myself into town (after the market, to avoid the crowds). It was a lovely walk and I booked a hair appointment for Tuesday, bought a couple of tins of Heinz baked beans (3,18€ per tin) 🤔 may have to think twice about purchasing those now. Met a friend and stood talking for a while before setting off for home again. The microlight boys were having fun in the sun taking off from the colline.

I asked my neighbour if he could get me another four bags of bark next time he was in Leclerc. Can you believe when I got back from my walk, the four bags were piled up by my dustbin! Now I can mulch my roses and I am going to try and smother the weeds in the borders with the other. What a hero that man is.

I have had a few visitors this week, Anie popped down to help me write my resignation letter for the knitting group. I have decided that I don’t want to go back. Three hours cooped in a room is a bit more than I can stomach plus I am not interested in knitting or crochet at this point in time.

Monique came to see me and brought me windfall apples. No idea of the type but must admit they stew well and are tasty. Of course, Monique tut tutted when she saw I had cleared the weeds from the raised bed. Well it was no good waiting was it?

Maud messaged me mid week, it was good to hear from her. I really need my feet seeing to and said this to her, but have received no reply. She is still having problems with her family and it’s such a shame.

Pauline messaged me yesterday, would I like to meet up, I suggested she come to my home but she hasn’t replied.

My neighbour, two doors up (the man who takes a coffee in the Pomme d’Or), came to bleed my radiators. However there was no air in them they were ok. At least that’s another job done.

I have had the gardener here this week too. The grass was a little damp and it was his apprentice who mowed it but Nicolas has taught him well as the young man followed the correct procedure of working round from the edges towards the middle (just as I do). Nicolas did the strimming, he got a bit carried away trying to clear some ivy and ran over one lot of cyclamen. Well they will grow back 🤞. Which reminds me I must check and see if there is any sign of the hellebore he “ran over” last time, trying to put in an appearance in time for flowering next year. One good job he did for me was to empty the big bag of weeds into his truck to take to the decheterie. I had noticed that these weeds had started to decompose but I didn’t want them in my composter as some seeds can remain in the decomposed material.

My grandchildren are with Daddy this weekend and I had a video call with them yesterday. A while ago “Grandad” and Daddy had made a car for my granddaughter from a cardboard box. It has now been given a roof (probably as the weather has turned cooler 😂) they have also made a train for my grandson. What fun those children are still having with those homemade toys. Grandads lounge is full of toys, plus plastic table and chairs for drawing and writing, a wooden workbench, Barbie house and dolls, books galore and yet the children love sitting and planning adventures in their cardboard car and train 😂😂.

I read on Monday that Kris Kristofferson passed away last Saturday. Oh the man of my dreams after seeing “A Star is Born” in 1977. I would like to honour this talented man in my music section. The first song is Kristofferson singing “Watch Closely Now” from the soundtrack of the movie in 1976 and the second song was penned by Kristofferson and performed by many artists but my favourite is this Gladys Knight and The Pips version of “Help Me Make It Through The Night” released in 1971. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Today “The Solicitor” is going over to “Grandads house” to have a birthday party with the children. Ok it’s a bit late but it’s nice to celebrate with loved ones. He has been doing brilliantly on his healthy eating, don’t eat all the pork pies 😂. It has been a busy week at work and will be again this week, but as we know, instead of being daunted by a mountain of work taking “bite sized pieces” can make life so much easier.

“The Recovery Coordinator”, is still on her healthy eating plan and is doing marvellously. Work is still busy, not sure if they have their full compliment of staff now, however, she does enjoy her work and that makes life a lot easier.

“The Photographer” has been busy, busy at his day job. He has worked late a few nights with the intention of finishing earlier on Friday to be home when the children arrived. Not too sure if that materialised. He did look tired yesterday when I spoke to him. He moved into new accommodation last week and it looks as if it is not really a suitable move. It has been taking 50 mins to drive to work in the morning where he had thought it would just be 30 minutes.

This working life! I am just so glad I left it all behind me. I can stress myself getting up at 8am to take my tablets and I can fill the day with jobs I want to do, which lately has involved filling bags with clothing which is now too big for me. I am starting on a grand clear out, I have so much “stuff” which hasn’t seen the light of day since I moved here, so why keep it? The problem is not the filling of bags it’s more the “taking it to the charity shop” or decheterie which is the problem. That reminds me, I must give the car a run around the block today.

You see always something else to add to the “to do” list 😉.

Now it is more medication, washing up breakfast pots etc etc!

Have a good week until next week 😊.

[theretirementstory]

29/09/2024. Greetings from “my garden” here in Bar-sur-Aube where the temperature is 6c with an expected high of 16c 😳. It’s Autumn, it crept up on us and we didn’t notice until the temperatures started to tumble (and the heating kicked in on a morning 😄).

We have had wind, rain, cloudy dry days and glorious sunshine and I have managed to do some jobs in the garden. My neighbour has been kind enough to pick up bags of bark for me and I had also found a bag I had purchased way back in 2022, it was lurking in the storage box in my garden. I have to rely on my neighbour to pick up heavy items (like bags of bark) at the supermarket for me. If I was able to go myself I would have looked around and found a one which would have looked “chunky” but on Friday he brought home little chips of bark. I must admit it was easier to spread than the red bark and it filled little gaps. I could do with a few more bags of that and I may be able to cover weeds with cardboard and bark in the rear garden. Of course it’s quite hard work and maybe I shouldn’t be doing it, but to be honest sitting looking at the weeds growing faster than anything else is certainly not keeping me happy.

I have been “lost in a world of my own” at other times during the week, as I decided to start one of the jigsaws i received for my birthday. Goodness me, it can be hard sitting looking at tiny pieces, turning them this way and that only to find they still don’t fit! This particular jigsaw has a pool which means that there are reflections to cope with too, however I am giving myself up to it and hopefully will have it finished soon.

I was a little stressed on Monday as the cleaner rang and said she required a contract of work. I had found the template online (all 7 pages of it) and I began to complete it, then was totally baffled by other pages so I asked Anie if she could come and help me. I had done the hard part and it just took her time to read it to confirm that certain sections didn’t apply. Anyway it seems that the contract was acceptable and I needn’t have been stressed.

I was at the hospital on Wednesday for a transfusion, oh my goodness I wasn’t picked up until almost 18:45, I was starving, tired and generally fed up at having to wait so long for the taxi to come. I needed to have a late night as I was eating my meal about half an hour before my usual bedtime. Let’s hope that Mondays journey to Paris is not more of the same 😫.

Monique was due to come down to see me on Thursday but messaged on the morning to say she had a cough and cold and didn’t want to pass it on. To be honest, I breathed a sigh of relief, I could “give myself up” to the jigsaw 😂.

So Thursday saw “The Solicitor” celebrate his birthday, he was awake early and we were messaging but he was keeping cards and presents to be opened in the evening. Another birthday when he was “spoilt” so many gifts and cards. He really enjoyed it, although perhaps the highlight of the day was the chocolate birthday cake 😂.

“The Photographer” made his way to Warrington yesterday, to photograph the third round qualifying FA Cup match Warrington v Scarborough match. He rang to let me know he had arrived safely, apparently it was wet but it think it dried up in time for kick off. It was worth the journey though as Scarborough won and are through to the next round.

“The Recovery Coordinator” had a busy week as usual but did work from home one day so that was a bonus. What is an even bigger bonus is that she is on healthy eating (along with “The Solicitor”) and it seems to be working as the weight is just “melting” away. A new coat was purchased yesterday as the weather has definitely changed.

It’s all good in my book, I am trying to eat healthily, not to lose weight, just to feed my body good stuff. I am really enjoying salads (I am not usually a salad eater) and will be taking a salad to Paris on Monday alongside my sandwich. No crisps for almost three weeks and although I see the bags in the cupboard I am not tempted by them.

I had a message from Maud, asking how I was and where I was. She is still having problems with her family hence the lack of contact with me. I really could do with her to see to my feet and must make an appointment one of these days. I also need a hair appointment, I will be more determined next week and get this all sorted out, or will I? The week seems to be filling up already with appointments, the cleaner, friends visiting…..well we shall see.

I did a few wash loads yesterday and I hung the bedding out, it was almost dry when it decided to rain. Ok just a quick shower and I had brought the washing inside. It turned sunny again so I got the washing outside, guess what it rained again! Had to finish off the bedding inside. Fortunately the towels I put outside did dry.

Todays music slot has the same singer, two different groups. The songs themselves are from 50 years ago and to me they are as fresh as when I first heard them. The first song is “Shooting Star” released in 1974 by Bad Company. The second song is “Come Together In The Morning” released in 1973 by Free. The fantastic voice of Paul Rodgers and superb guitar playing just blow me away every time I hear these songs.

I am hoping to get into the garden again this morning, to plant three primula plants. They have been in pots but need to go into the garden so I may as well put them into this lovely clear bed.

I received a lovely card from a friend in the UK, full of news, which was great. I have been looking for a card which I will write and send to her.

Yesterday and today it is the Foire aux Bulles and Gastronomie in town. Normally I would have been up to see what was on display. However, I would normally have had a glass of champagne too, but not wishing to put myself among crowds I didn’t go up yesterday. My friends from the association which has the knitting group sent me a couple of photos of the stalls they had. Again woodworking and knitted and crocheted items were just given a very small area, the majority of the space used to highlight the stained glass items. It reminded me that I need to write my resignation letter. So I messaged Anie to see if she would be able to help me.

Anyway, I have already stepped foot outside to take a photo of autumn here in the Aube region of France. The mist forms along the course of the river Aube and can sometimes obliterate the colline. I thought it was a lovely autumn scene, the sunflowers not quite at their best now in the foreground and the mist waiting for the strengthening sun to burn it off.

Bon dimanche.

[theretirementstory]

22/09/2024. Bonjour à tous 👋, it’s a cloudy day and not particularly warm at 17c.

The photo above was taken on the 16 October 2017 from the window of the apartment I lived in when I first arrived. The church, Saint Maclou, had been closed since about the 1950’s and was becoming an eyesore. A European Fund provided money to restore the building, to become what, I am still unsure. Obviously with Covid, work was halted and it seemed as if the restored building would never appear. However, a walk to town on Friday, took me past the church and I am pleased to report that the portacabins and shuttering are no longer there and the church looks amazing. It is one of the 12th century churches in town and it’s wonderful to see it come to life again in the 21st century. (See photo below). Apparently, the outside work is complete it is now the interior work that needs to be finished.

As I only had one hospital visit this week, I was going to have more time for ME and the things that I like doing.

I was awaiting the arrival of the man to finish cleaning the exterior walls of my house, on Monday. He had said around 9am but as it was a dull morning he didn’t put in an appearance until 2pm. Anyway, he worked like a good ‘un, as we say where I come from. He didn’t finish until 8pm 😳 any later and I would have left him to it and gone to bed!

Having watched the neighbour two doors up preparing the ground and building breeze block pillars to put a motorised gate on his property I was feeling that I needed to tidy my front garden before the winter arrives. Monique had said she would clear the weeds from the raised bed in the back but to be honest the nettles are almost two foot high and it is really bugging me looking so untidy. Can I wait for her to put in an appearance?

On Friday I seemed to have found someone else’s energy and after two walks I still felt ok, so went outside to clear weeds and cat poop from the potager, then cover it with cardboard. Well that’s the idea, the cardboard is too big and I can’t cut it (am hoping a friendly neighbour will do it for me). The friendly neighbour brought home a bag of bark from the supermarket and having found just short of half a bag in the garage, I set to and spread that out. Well it looks as if I will need a few more bags, plus I found a bag lurking in the bottom of the storage box outside. Anyway, to say it looks a little better is no exaggeration.

Yesterday, I had it in my head to cut back the clematis, it’s never been done which is maybe why I haven’t seen it flower. I cut the roses back by a third and had cut the hydrangea back too (not too harshly). As the garden is a jungle of weeds I thought to try and sort those out. Imagine my surprise when I found the majority of the weeds were actually in my neighbours garden and had just grown high and come through the fence. So now not content with the neighbour on the other side with six foot high nettles which come through into my garden I have the neighbour on the other side with his weeds coming through! He has the front of his hedge (forsythia) all looking spic and span and just behind the forsythia loads of big weeds growing into my garden 🤔.

I messaged the gardener to see if we are coming into the time for grass cutting to end and if it’s time for weed killing (like the ivy under the shrubs). No response as yet.

My friend, Sarah, a fellow Brit who lives in Haute Marne, came to see me on Tuesday. We had a wonderful natter and she had insisted on bringing lunch. We had steamed salmon, green beans with roasted tomatoes and new potatoes, followed by (a bought) succès cake. These cakes are delicious my absolute favourites. It made such a change to see someone different and being English it was easier to converse.

Then it was the day of the hospital visit, of course, being Wednesday the cleaner was here at 9am, it was a quick lunch and then the taxi arrived at 12:45 not 13:00 as had been arranged! Anyway, my blood results were good for haemoglobin and on the rise for platelets. I had my platelet transfusion, two injections and my PICC line cleaned and dressed. It was still 6ish when I got home but at least that was only one day.

I do like to think I can have a lie in, but my tablets start at 7am so I think if I have slept from around 10pm to 6:30ish I have had a good rest.

Friday saw the return of the knitting group but unfortunately I wasn’t there. I got a photo of them all waving to me and I sent one back. I really must write a resignation letter so that I don’t have that pressure on me. I will be sad to give it all up but my heart isn’t in it anymore.

Anie came to see me last evening. She brought me golden raspberries from her garden along with a posy of beautiful flowers. We sat and talked, looked into my garden at the four areas of cyclamen and looking for birds. Monique has been unwell with ongoing pain in her back, sciatic nerve and leg. She said she had been finding it difficult to drive. She is hoping to come and see me this coming week. Lise, the lady who was in charge of the office at HUDA ( the refugee office) had her baby at the beginning of September. A little girl (or not so little) she weighed 4 kilos (8lbs 13oz) at birth 🤔 same weight as one of mine. Her name is Leonore, what a pretty name.

I am pleased that my life seems to be more mine rather than the hospitals. Sometimes I have felt that I have done nothing else but get into taxis and visit hospitals. I feel quite “normal” now I am sure you understand what I mean. I have time to cook and prepare some wonderful meals which is great as I am eating lots!

Last night I made a pizza and I ate half with salad, it was delicious and I was pleased I made it.

“The Recovery Coordinator” and “The Solicitor” have been eating healthily this last week. She messaged to say that she has lost 5lbs in weight and is very pleased. Work has been tough but she did work from home one day.

“The Solicitor” has been taking his lunch to work and thoroughly enjoyed what he has been eating. It’s good to see that they are on a health kick, getting out for walks as well as enjoying fruit and salads.

To be honest I have been eating lots of salad and really enjoying it. When I went to the hospital I had had soup and a sandwich which was quite filling. However at 4pm my stomach started rumbling and I could have done with having something tasty to eat. I am cutting out crisps, I had enjoyed them with a sandwich and they seemed to fill me up but I was conscious of the fat and salt content.

“The Photographer” went to London midweek and his company were very pleased with the photographs he had taken. This weekend he has his children, he took them to get some clothes for autumn and they were telling me what they had bought. My grandson went off to find his hoodie which had Marvel characters on it, then the three year old, quite patiently, explained to his aged grand-mere who each character was. I really wanted to laugh it was total role reversal 😂, he is just so adorable.

Now the music section. The first song is by Prince, it’s “Thieves in the Temple Part II” it was released in 1990. A bit of a change from me really.

The second song, is one I am surprised I haven’t had already, it’s by Labelle, it’s Lady Marmalade from way back in 1974.

Well we are heading into the last week of September, today is the autumnal equinox and here is a fact which has brought back memories of my visit there. “The staircases at the main Maya pyramid, El Castillo, at Chichen Itza, Mexico, are built at a carefully calculated angle which makes it look like a snake of sunlight slithers down the stairs the moment the equinox occurs.”

Well let’s see what the coming week has in store for me. Someone close to me will celebrate a birthday……. to say he has been looking forward to that day is an understatement. We will find out more for the blog next week!

Have a good week until next week!