Regardless of the time of day, the heat, or the inconvenience, Billy always wants to play 'Fetch the Ball'.
He can start early in the morning, and still wants to play well into the evening. Saturdays are no different for Billy than any other day of the week.
It's still hot, about 31 C. We sit in the shade of our au vent with a pre-dinner glass of wine and maybe a stuffed olive or two. We discuss the day's events, both here and elsewhere.
Meanwhile over in London, people are protesting. They insist that they should be allowed to catch Covid-19 (and/or any of its variants); and are doing their best to do so.
Piers Corbyn was there, David Icke was there, and even dear Katie Hopkins was there, a more typical trio of anti-vaxxers would be hard to find.
If they were in France and they caught the virus, as non double-vaxxers they would be refused hospital admission!
And look (below), the grapes hanging on the front of the au vent are just beginning to ripen! They will soon all go to the compost, after some juice has been made.
Oh, now I want an au vent too. Especially if it comes with a view like that.
ReplyDeleteI always say it's the most important room in the house. We almost live there in the summer.
DeleteA lovely place to have
ReplyDeleteIn the recent heat, it was either sit out there, or indoors. I know which I prefer.
DeleteYes cro, France is rapidly turning into a totalitarian state isn't it. Your human rights as guaranteed by the EU set aside on a whim from Emperor Macron. I wonder when he'll start seizing all non French assets to pay for his plans. It's for the public good you know. That'd make him wildly popular in some quarters!
ReplyDeleteYou probably do not know what totalitarian means.
DeleteMacron will not survive next year's election. He is disliked almost everywhere. Those ex-pats who are signing up for the new Residency Permits (not me) will need to be very careful of any assets back home (if they have any).
DeletePeople are not as stupid to vote for Marine Le Pen.With her as a president you can be sure not to return to France anymore.
DeleteShe is not a serious contender, just 'a close second'. Someone will appear who will be popular for a few months, then soon fall out of favour when reality kicks in.
DeleteMe. Cro you live in a lovely place , enjoy. Your dog looks funny and happy.
ReplyDeleteHis friend, Amie (a beautiful German Shepherd), has just this second turned up to play with him. He's in heaven.
DeleteThey more than likely wouldn't need hospital admission. For 99% of people who catch it, it is an insignificant dose of flu like illness and a few days in bed. Don't believe all the hype you read about it, you only ever see the worst case scenarios in the press. An when the press tell you how many tests have proved positive and "new cases" very few, if any, of these positives are actually ill.
ReplyDeleteI'm only relating Macron's new rules about double vaccination. As for Corbyn, Icke, and Hopkins; they are all seriously bonkers.
DeleteAnd I hear you. I am saying that the vast majority of people who catch Covid do not need hospital.
DeleteAre you a nurse to have all these informations ? I hope you're right.So the number of people who died of Covid must be wrong.
DeleteYes, that is so. The majority died from the disease they were already suffering from.
DeleteI should think it's reasonably difficult to determine the actual cause of death in many cases. It's the difference between 'died from' or 'died with'.
DeleteSome cancer patients are suing the BMA for instructing doctors to put Covid as one cause of death on death certificates. Death certs usually list more than one cause. The death stats for Covid are skewed in GB.
DeleteThey are indeed Rachel you are right
DeleteI would have thought that they would play down the number of Covid deaths, not increase them. What would they stand to gain?
DeleteIs an anti-vaxxer someone who detests the noise of vacuum cleaners? If so, where can I sign up?
ReplyDeleteNo, it's someone who doesn't shave under their armpits!
DeleteOur grapes are still green even with all the heatwaves. I hope we have enough to juice, or are given some. No wine this year?
ReplyDeleteAll our vines are covered this year; even the best 'eating grapes'.
DeleteInteresting. Is this true? "If they were in France and they caught the virus, as non double-vaxxers they would be refused hospital admission!"
ReplyDeleteYes. Macron has declared that non-vaxxers will be refused access to almost everywhere, including Cafés, Restaurants, Planes, Trains, Busses, Leisure centres, and anywhere with more than 50 participants. In other words they might as well stay at home.
DeleteAs a French reader of your blog , I am amazed at the fake news you dare disclose on today's post : in no way patients who are suffering from Covid and have not been vaccinated will be refused admission in hospitals !!! I understand you have a deep feeling against our President , to say the least, but I find it shocking that you allow yourself to write against the truth !
ReplyDeleteFrance is definitely not a dictatorian state, and if it were I would choose to leave it if I were you !!!
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DeleteI think the initial draft of the law was to refuse non-vaxed people entry to medical facilities to access ROUTINE medical treatment. No-one will be refused emergency treatment, vaccinated or not!
DeleteYvanne. If you read the new rules on the Government's own page, it clearly says that non-double vaccinated people will no longer be allowed to various locations; including Hospitals. I would not have written it if it had not been true. I can understand your being a Macron fan, but do check your facts before making yourself look silly! As 'Treaders' says above, this doesn't mean that emergency treatment would not be given in dire circumstances; but don't turn-up with Flu-like symptoms! You'll be turned away.
DeleteAnother of Macron's new rules, which Yvanne will no doubt dispute, is that There will be MANDATORY vaccinations for healthcare staff, retirement home workers, and others including firefighters. Those who do not comply will not be allowed to work, and will not receive any salary, after September 15th.
DeleteI agree with Macron, too many people died or have now long covid problems (i know some ). Vaccination will bring us back to a more normal life.
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ReplyDeleteLook, I've lived in France for 47 fucking years. I'm here because I love everything about France. I have given a lot to where I live, both financially and socially. I don't want people like you to tell me to fucking 'GO HOME'.
DeletePiss fucking off, and please don't come back... fucking idiot.
Brilliant and when it gets there it can fuck off some more.
DeleteIt really makes you fucking wonder why Calais is full of people who are willing to risk their lives to reach the freedom that is England. But I don't suppose that people like Griffith have ever travelled further than down to the chip shop.
DeleteThe comments made me smile.
ReplyDeleteImagine my being able to pass on a disease which I don't have to a third party who has been immunised against it. It not only sounds stupid but I suspect it is.
Hopefully the anti-vaxxers just pass it between themselves... they wouldn't congregate with those more intelligent than themselves.
DeleteReading these comments make me question people's sanity. Our daughter-in-laws are nurses and we have several doctors in the family. They come home with horror stories that they have experienced watching people die 'of/with' Covid. Yes, many who contract it have minor symptoms, but many die! Why don't people care?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Billy is adorable!
ReplyDeleteAnd I am being chastised because of what Macron has ordered. These people are idiots.
DeleteCRO re your comment on Weave's blog...that was in 1981 and Ovett and co couldn't keep up with the pacemaker..who just carried on and won by half a second from Ovett after being way ahead!
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful race. We laughed all the way through! I though it was far more than half a second.
DeleteInteresting times we live in. In the US our numbers are rising with the Delta Variant and it is being called a pandemic of the non-vaccinated. Those vaccinated are also sometimes testing positive for the Variant and this is called a break-through case. Also, vaccinated or not vaccinated, people with immune compromised conditions are showing some weakness for the Variant. These individuals often require hospitalization. Due to increasing Variant cases, the mask requirement is being considered again. Colleges, universities, and workplaces are all beginning to require full vaccination.
ReplyDeleteLife is going to be very grim for those who refuse their vaccinations over here. M Macron is really cracking down on them.
DeleteWhat a lovely little seating place you have!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of antivaxxers having to assume the risk of their own stubbornness. Refusing hospital admission seems fair enough to my mind. WHy should the doctors and nurses fight for their lives when they refuse the very thing that could have saved them?
Something that I was thinking about at work today was this: I have a sister who is a nurse here in our small town. Our rates were low since we live in a more rural environment. She believes with all her heart that covid is a hoax. She won't vaccinate. She told me flat out that it changes your DNA. When I tried to debate this, she snapped, "I have a right to my own opinions." My daughter in law is also a nurse on the eastern side of the state, between Philadelphia and New York City. They were very hard hit and my daughter in law was horrified at what she saw. She knows it is not a hoax.
ReplyDeleteI wonder at some of the more heated responses you got. Do they, too, live in an area that has gotten off lightly? It seems almost as if people need to see it with their own eyes to believe it.
A lot of folk live blinkered lives; they simply will not believe what all the scientists are telling them. I have nothing against such people, but like here in France, don't expect to be treated when you get ill. Macron is right; make them stay at home!
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