Thread 17 - TalkLair: "Okay, first of all, what's with the outfit? Live in the now, okay? You look like DeBarge."

[RasaSayangEh]

(Previous thread 16).

Spring is springing, daffodils blooming all over our LairGarden, which have not all been picked by a neighbour's kid...

In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, cosy rugs are down on the floors looking a bit stained by cat hairball regurgitation. The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch though, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics. We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Yes, blackbird is the conclusion I'd come to as well, after a bit of ferreting around baby bird pics.

I offered the bird a few grains of mashed up cooked rice (from our own dinner!), I think it may have eaten a little. Also, did a poo.

It seemed a lot more active afterwards, fluttering its wings. So we released it into the thickest hedge in the garden, hopefully that will give it a bit more cover at least for tonight.

I’m not entirely convinced it’s a baby blackbird, it’s definitely robin-sized. But anyway here’s a release picture.

It looks robin-like to me.

FMB, I'm pleased (given the lack of better alternatives) that you are now in such a lovely place and I hope it continues to be good for you.

On Jane Austen adaptations, can I put in a word for Bride and Prejudice, transposing the too many daughters family to 21st century Amritsar. It has many many good things, among them the best 'Charlotte standing up for her decision to marry Mr Collins', and the best appalling performance from 'Mary' prompting the you have delighted us long enough comment (in this movie it's a Bollywood-style dance).

I love that film.

Bride and Prejudice - must have been over a decade ago that I watched it! I remember it being terrific fun. Must get DDs to have a watch. I think they'll like it a lot more than Mansfield Park, which we just finished last night and they were unimpressed by Fanny Price.

Today is DDs' last GCSE - it is Further Maths - and therefore their last day at school (they'll go back for the Leavers' celebrations but that is a couple of hours here and there). Where has the time gone, eh?

Geez I remember them when they were The Cells!

I’m sure there will be some year when I can go on holiday in Europe without encountering the medical system in a foreign country, but it’s not this year. On Monday a cyst I’ve had harmlessly on the side of my boob for a couple of years decided to get highly inflamed and later it burst. Painful and messy. So yesterday instead of driving to Rennes to meet up with some friends I ended up going to the hospital in Lisieux. I had a two minute wait at urgent care and then a sweet young French doctor squeezed out some (but not all) of it and gave me a prescription for antibiotics plus disinfectant wipes (20 euros). I haven’t had the hospital bill yet but will be sure to let my American friends know how much this kind of minor thing costs outside America. I had to have a plastic identity tag on my wrist ! Anyway so as not to waste the day entirely we drove to Honfleur and had galettes for lunch, did a bit of supermarket shopping (thank you E Leclerc) then back to the flat where I was happy to do nothing for the rest of the afternoon. The wretched thing is still not right but I’m continuing to treat it and hoping it sorts itself out. Driving to Falaise today to see the castle of Guillaume le Conquerant.

That sounds horrible, @Britinme. Cysts are vile when they burst and I hope you feel better soon.

Last day at school, @RasaSayangEh ! That's gone by in a flash.

Lisieux! I hope you made a salute in the direction of Therese - extraordinary young woman.

That's at least two MN cysts gone in one day - Bluestocking's Cake's Neville got deflated yesterday as well.

Brit, I suspect you would also love the Abbaye de Saint-Wandrille near Honfleur, if there's time.

Cyst sounds both grim and compelling...

It did remind me rather of videos by Dr Pimple Popper on YouTube!

today we are in Falaise and have had the most delicious lunch before heading to the castle.

Ah, galettes! I love a galette! I should get over the Channel, but France seems a long way away now, compared to the days when I was 60 miles from Portsmouth.

Goodness @Britinme the whole cyst experience sounds horrible. I'm glad you were able to get good medical care!

Anybody want an update on DH's lost luggage? Well, it is 3 days now and is still nowhere to be seen. The airline's website said that luggage lost en route to San Diego could not be tracked online; when he attempted to phone the airline it went to voicemail; in desperation yesterday he went back to the airport and tracked down the same person he'd spoken to on arrival only to be told that as far as they could tell the bag had not left AMS. Today's update is that the airline still can't tell him where his bag is, but have generously agreed to reimburse him for the clothes, toiletries and new suitcase he has had to buy. Shame they're not going to reimburse him for the time he's had to spend chasing them Then he has to wait 21 days for the bag to be written off before he can apply for compensation for its loss. But in the meantime if they find the bag, they'll send it to our house.

Oh Brit, the cyst sounds nasty, at least it's on the mend. My daughter is visiting Honfleur at the weekend. School trip.

Is it Honfleur that's got an American WW2 tank parked up on a roundabout? Somewhere around that part of the world.

Hope the cyst isn't too uncomfortable, Brit. Not now you want to be spending your trip. Palettes are good though - egg, spinach and cheese was always my preference, when I could still eat cheese.

@RasaSayangEh ... given that the airport code for San Diego is SAN, I'd suggest they check SEN (Southend), SIN (Singapore), SON (Vanuatu) and SUN (Sun Valley, Idaho). Singapore is most likely, as I doubt that KLM flies to the others!

Feeling better today thanks folks, though the damn thing is still there and we may have a repeat performance at some point. I don’t remember seeing a tank parked on a roundabout there but we have seen them in various places. There was one outside the castle at Falaise today. One of the things we learned from the church near the castle was that after the bombardment of Falaise in 1944 the number of buildings in the town went from 1637 homes in 1939 to only 412 still inhabited, 257 of which were damaged.

The tank town is Avranches, Brit, much further on towards Mont St Michel, I checked. I remember going past there on the bike years ago.

Mont St Michel was well worth a visit. We went there in the middle of January so there weren't many people about and it was bloody freezing but worth it for the quietness.

I would be very disappointed if my luggage went to Vanuatu without me.

I went to Mont St Michel in 1975 but it was August (I was teaching then) and it was crammed and exceedingly touristy.

Ouch, Brit, the cyst thing sounds horrible. Great that you got speedy and appropriate treatment (I remain slightly suspicious of continental European medicine since an old boss of mine was initially given suppositories for what turned out to be a brain haemorrhage).

@Britinme - was the 20€ the charge for the meds, and did the hospital provide them? Because if so, that may be it. Otherwise, French hospitals charge around a few cents ... centimes ... dunno what the French call them! ...under 20€ for an A&E visit, regardless of whether you live in France. Such a very civilised country!