80th Birthday Etc

80th Birthday

It was one of those birthdats that are deemed to be important but I’m not quite sure why. It marks another decade of survival but so do 20th and 30th birthdays and they are not deemed especially important. My survival thus far has rarely been in doubt. Having escped from being knocked down by a car and appendicitis at age 10 little else has threatened my life until 11 years ago. Then an early diagnosis of bowel cancer thanks to my local doctor and subsequent operation certainly did save me from a lot worse but that is about it. So I have been lucky thus far. Luck has also played a large part in a satisfying career and enjoyable retirement. 

 

I am lucky also to have two very good friends in Steve and Jo who invited myself and several other friends to celebrate my birthday with lunch at their place, as the photo shows. It was a highly enjoyable and memorable occasion and I owe that to them. 

Gardening

The argyranthemum by the front gate is doing me proud but there is not mush colour elsewhere; a few fuchsia and nasturtium flowers are all I have to show. It’s time of the year when I think about which plants I am going to try to save over the winter. The choice has been surtailed by some loirs having eaten pelargoniums and geraniums on my balcony. I don’t think loirs ewist in England and all my dictionary searches can come up with as a translation is dormice, whch they certainly are not although they may be the same species. They look like miniature squirrels and generally nest under roofs. There’s not much I can do about them this year but they are reputed to dislike strong smells so I am going to try camphor capsules, used here to stop moths eating clothes, to deter them from feasting on my plants next year.

 

Getting French Nationality

Next week I have to go to Grenoble for an interview that should be the final step in my obtaining French nationality. Strictly speaking I don’t need it as I have a titre de séjour giving me the permanent right to remain here. However, since that is what I intend to do it makes more sense to be French. Also I think it may help my granddaughter to become European if and when she so desires. At the moment she is a Scot, in the future maybe in an independent Scotland or a possibly much-changed UK. The only problems for me know are the French administration’s insatiable desire for documentation and the normal delay of 12-18 months after the interview to hear whether I have been accepted.

 

Rémuzat

 

Rémuzat

The Amitiés Mollanaises organised a stay in Rémuzat this week with people from around the area, Sarrians, Beaume de Venise, etc, for general relaxation and a boules tournament. Rémuzat is an hour’s drive north of here, in the foothills of the Alps, where vultures were successfully re-introduced a few decades ago. The stay was very enjoyable for everyone, I think, made the more so for me by my winning the boules tournament. During the stay some of us drove up to a small plateau at 2000ft to see the birds in their habitat. It was a magnificent sight. At first there were just 5-6 eagles coasting through the air below us and then, suddenly, a dozen vultures in the sky above us. I had been told that the vultures couldn’t take off until the air had warmed sufficiently to create updrafts and clearly that moment had then come. It was a bit different from the sparrows, nuthatches and tits I see on the bird feeders on my balcony. I took some photos but the vultures, large as they are, came out as mere specks in the sky. Anyway, the scenery allowed itself to be photographed. Must get myself a better camera (or a better photographer).