Robin Williams insults everybody

Sommieres bar in danger

We popped over to Sommieres this afternoon and amongst other things checked the state of the river. It's been raining for over 24 hours and a lot of the small bridges around us are deep under water. The picture above shows the Vidourle in full flood about 2 to 3 metres higher than normal. Under that raging torrent there's a footbridge that we normally use to get to our favourite watering hole. If it doesn't stop raining soon, then Elie's bar will be under water. What will we do then?

Cheer up

This made me laugh.

Confused

"Carolina H recently became friends with Steve H and thinks you may know Steve too.

To view this friend suggestion and request Steve as a friend, follow the link below:"

I received the above this morning from Facebook. Bloody hell, there I was thinking that they were happily married?

For all you techies out there

I've been trying for a couple of months now to install Office 2007. I bought a cheap copy of Home and Student from Amazon because the only programmes I regularly use are Word and Excel.

Anyway, the problem was that I kept getting an error message which led me to believe that it might be a security issue because my permissions were not set correctly. Despite Googling for a solution, try as I might, I couldn't get to the root of the problem and it was really pissing me off.

Bingo, this afternoon I fixed it. Despite what the Microsoft KB lead me to believe, it wasn't actually a problem with permissions. I had to get into Windows 'clean boot mode' by messing about with 'msconfig' and this allowed the programmes to install. (You really know how to bore the pants off, don't you - Ed) What a great sense of achievement. Now all I've got to do is learn how to use the new interface. Still, it keeps me out of mischief!

What am I going to worry about tomorrow?

Something that really works

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was a very different and quite amazing day for us both.

Very different because neither of us has ever had lunch on Christmas Day at a non-family house. We were 'on our own ' this Christmas because it was our kids turn to be with their partners' families and we fully intended to spend it alone (I suppose we have to imagine violins playing in the background - Ed). However, out of the blue, we were invited for lunch with Bob and Lynne. I've mentioned before about how good a cook Lynne is, so I was really looking forward to the meal.

I had no idea of how good it was going to be. They must have spent weeks preparing this feast. A feast where only superlatives could do respect to the food. The quantity and quality were just amazing. Talk about setting the bar high.

We started with an amazing array of the tastiest appetisers. Off the top of my head I'd say there were about 10 different delicious, exquisite nibbles including one which really caught my eye, small spoonfuls of jellied Bloody Mary.

This was washed down with champagne cocktails thoughtfully provided by Bryan and Gill.

The meal itself must have taken weeks to plan and prepare, never mind the dry runs that Lynne admitted to. From the medley of salmon starters to the perfectly cooked Beef Wellington and the selection of puddings, the meal was a tour de force. Thanks guys.

Bonjour

Best Wishes for a Happy and Peaceful

Christmas and New Year.

Not long now

Just in case you want to know where he is right now take a look here.

Always clear the snow from your car windows

Thanks to Will for this.

Christmas starts here

Today we had a few friends round, roughly half French, half English, with Dutch, German and Lebanese thrown into the mix, to celebrate the start of Christmas (maths was never your strong point was it? - Ed).

A whole bunch of our favourite people. What a lovely group! Unfortunately, in the mêlée (or because of the drink - Ed), I forgot to take any pictures so that was a bit of a bummer, still, we have fond memories (even if a bit clouded - Ed) and would like to thank everyone who came for making it such a nice day.

What a memory

In case you missed it, here's a heartwarming tale. Just think of all the money you might get back from your kids later!

A very nice man

On a more positive note, we're having lunch in one of our favorite restaurants and D comes over and takes our order. We both order, but before I can order the wine, D says 'and a bottle of Puech Haut.' It's the only place we ever drink the stuff and jolly nice it is too.

Anyway, he said, 'look because it's Christmas wouldn't it be nice to have a few bottles in?'

I replied that it was a bit too expensive to keep around the house, at which point he said, 'I'll get you some at the same price as I pay.' 'How many bottles do you want?'

Isn't that good PR? He makes a nice chrismassy gesture, generates a lot of goodwill, sends me away happy and it doesn't cost him a penny. Smart operator.

Jan fancies him and I understand why.