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Post by bjd on Mar 8, 2023 6:35:52 GMT
It's nice that the town is in such good repair and colourful for local appreciation, since you say it isn't a tourist draw.
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Post by bjd on Mar 7, 2023 19:59:01 GMT
That was really nice.
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Post by bjd on Mar 7, 2023 10:14:33 GMT
Light rain started falling here about an hour ago. Good for the garden but only 7° at the moment (11 am).
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Post by bjd on Mar 6, 2023 6:47:01 GMT
"Boris Johnson has put his father, Stanley, forward for a knighthood as part of his resignation honours list, according to reports."
Has he no shame at all?
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Post by bjd on Mar 6, 2023 6:42:01 GMT
This morning is the first in a while where there is no frost on the ground. 5° and some cloud. Rain forecast starting tomorrow but we'll see if we get more than last time nearly 2 weeks ago.
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Post by bjd on Mar 5, 2023 20:37:19 GMT
I bet you wish you'd never asked. Not at all, that's interesting. The picture just above makes me wonder why nobody thought of putting a keystone.
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Post by bjd on Mar 5, 2023 18:49:54 GMT
Interesting that they didn't know how to build archways.
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Post by bjd on Mar 5, 2023 16:39:43 GMT
I didn't know about the metro station name change and I haven't been to Paris since February 2020. And they don't give out those handy paper maps any more.
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Post by bjd on Mar 5, 2023 8:31:07 GMT
6. Dancing in the Street
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Post by bjd on Mar 4, 2023 18:36:05 GMT
Passport photos were never among the most flattering images of anybody, but the current "no smiling,no hair on your face, etc" does nothing to improve things. I don't understand why glasses are not allowed on passport pics. After all, the person who wears glasses all the time is going to look different on the picture than they do in real life.
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Post by bjd on Mar 4, 2023 7:10:51 GMT
Physically, I figure I'm doing better than my official age. No medicine, still go to the gym and get lots of exercise walking, gardening, etc. In fact, at the gym in January, one woman asked me how old I was and when I told her she kept exclaiming, "I don't believe it!", so I guess that means I'm doing okay. My upper body strength has always been lousy and I haven't been able to open jars for years without prying them up.
Mental age is probably older -- I remember the lyrics to songs out of the 1960s or 1970s and I think rap is awful so that puts me firmly in the old cohort. Politically, I'm somewhere in the centre and I am concerned about climate change, war and other current interests instead of thinking, "Who cares, I won't be around to see it."
I rarely remember my dreams but since I never see myself in my dreams, it's hard to tell. But I am definitely younger than in reality.
As for the shuffling walk... my husband is generally in good shape, runs 3 times a week and goes to the gym and is generally healthy. But lately I notice that he tends to stoop over a bit and I find myself thinking, "He looks old!", so that means I'm not far behind. I don't shuffle yet.
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Post by bjd on Mar 3, 2023 19:55:09 GMT
I haven't looked very carefully at my agapanthuses but have the impression that a few green leaves are coming up. We have now had several mornings above 0°, so things should start growing. And some rain is forecast for the middle of next week.
Looking out of my kitchen window, I kept thinking that the flower bed I had dug in the middle of the garden, with a small tree in it, was just not big enough. So today I decided to enlarge it a bit. As soon as I start trying to lift the sod, I start wondering why I thought it a good idea! Anyway, I did some before coming inside this afternoon and noticed that blackbirds and robins immediately starting rootling around in the upturned soil. There were lots of worms in there -- I hope they leave some.
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Post by bjd on Mar 3, 2023 7:30:53 GMT
Vallecito village designated as a historical landmark in California
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Post by bjd on Mar 3, 2023 7:29:28 GMT
Bob Marley Jamaican singer who remains popular and famous years after his death
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Post by bjd on Mar 3, 2023 7:28:00 GMT
We drank Tusker beer at Fisherman's Camp and were told not to go near the water in the evening because of the hippos.
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Post by bjd on Mar 3, 2023 7:19:55 GMT
The hotels have all been renovated and painted, the public buildings all look as though they are suffering serious problems with mould and damp. Nice architecture -- all those big buildings including street corners with the entrance on the corner are not what I would expect.
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Post by bjd on Mar 2, 2023 9:48:21 GMT
re prices in EU supermarkets. I just came home from the supermarket and I can tell you that vegetables here are much cheaper than meat and fish. Bell peppers from Spain were over 6€/kilo, which is really high but of course they are not in season. I didn't look at tomatoes because they are not good at this time of year anyway so I never buy them.
I noticed that cheese prices have gone up quite a lot but those are mostly not imported. Mustard still missing on the shelves.
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Post by bjd on Mar 2, 2023 9:45:20 GMT
Isn’t it obligatory in Australia? Yes. And apparently they make quite a party of if, with sausage stands outside polling centres.
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Post by bjd on Mar 2, 2023 8:17:12 GMT
Leamington Town in southern Ontario known for its Heinz tomato canning factory
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Post by bjd on Mar 2, 2023 8:13:50 GMT
Richard Branson British entrepreneur, founder of the Virgin group of companies
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Post by bjd on Mar 2, 2023 8:11:19 GMT
It's interesting that for so long, getting the right to vote was fought for by women, by those who were not landowners, etc. People still line up for hours in some countries to vote. Meanwhile, where the right to vote has been accepted for years, there is apathy and not bothering. Perhaps if it was obligatory, better candidates would appear and try to appeal to a wider audience?
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Post by bjd on Mar 2, 2023 7:21:13 GMT
Didn't we mention this recently? It seems that both I and Kerouac wondered whether it was the American technology in the embassies that was causing the problems rather than anything from the outside. Of course, it's easier to blame the usual suspects, especially those like Cuba.
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Post by bjd on Mar 1, 2023 9:45:35 GMT
It was -3° this morning and my agapanthuses do not look happy! They seem to have turned whitish instead of green. Wait and see. I also went to Lidl this morning and they had an arrival of some shrubs. I bought a hydrangea paniculata called Phantom. Obviously, I didn't have my phone with me to look up size information and Lidl's plant information is always limited to the name of the plant. Anyway, it turns out that it grows to 2.50 metres and has really big flowers -- so I have to find a place to put it since it's going to be too big for the place I had envisaged. Bad planning on my part.
They also had loads of bulbs, corms, etc for summer flowers. I bought a couple of dahlias and oriental lillies. I did not buy any geraniums which they also had. It may warm up a bit but it's definitely too early to plant geraniums.
Once the temperature goes up a bit today, I have to do some watering. It looks as though it's going to be another bad year for gardens and agriculture.
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Post by bjd on Feb 28, 2023 19:48:23 GMT
Ardèche Department in southeastern France, home of Chauvet cave
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Post by bjd on Feb 28, 2023 19:44:55 GMT
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar US basketball player formerly known as Lew Alcindor.
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Post by bjd on Feb 28, 2023 19:39:31 GMT
Still cold and with a northerly wind but today's sunny 7° felt a bit better than yesterday's cloudy 6°. But it is supposed to start warming up a bit by the end of the week.
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Post by bjd on Feb 28, 2023 7:12:29 GMT
The whole story is terribly gruesome. Wait until it's made into a movie.
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Post by bjd on Feb 28, 2023 7:11:20 GMT
I was given a lesson at breakfast this morning. The colours depend on which atoms in the air are hit by the magnetic field. Also that the reason for these spectacular aurorae is heavy sunspot activity.
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Post by bjd on Feb 27, 2023 20:39:24 GMT
Interesting -- I always thought they were green.
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Post by bjd on Feb 27, 2023 20:32:26 GMT
Yes, Lugg -- there has been snow around the Mediterranean these days. Really not very common but it can happen. Actually, it's not that close to me -- about 300 km. It's still cold here -- today's high was a cloudy and windy 6°. The whole week is supposed to be cold, even though "spring" officially starts tomorrow for the weather office.
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