Living in one place, citizen of other

The wonderful flowers of the ornamental grenadier (pomegranate) whose hedge blooms year on year 

Old news for most of you, when we moved to France we were citizens of the EU  Now, thanks to what most people now see was a political  mis-step, the UK is well and truly Brexited  The rather mealy-mouthed stance taken by the so-called Labour government led by Keir Starmer is to try and  creep back in without too many people noticing.  Politics in like that, compromising in plain sight, watering down principles on the way.  So capping and removing welfare benefits is dressed up as financial prudence and the poorest people struggle more while better-off people like us are cushioned at every turn.  

I have recently sent in our French tax return for 2024 (calendar years here which have to be jiggled into line with British April to March financial years, since we receive our pensions from the UK.  I am always nervous about this, but generally there's no need provided the formulae on my spreadsheet are entered correctly, but one by-product of the cross-checking I always do to be sure is that year by year the gap  between Mary's income and mine shrinks - the bulk of my pension comes from a fixed-sum pot, while Mary and I both have British OAPs which are triple-locked so go up by more than the rate of inflation.  It would take a long while for her income to approach mine, but it is getting nearer every year.

This year we have been more than usually anxious about money, because we rely on our Brtish bank accounts for everyday purchases, and every now and then there is a glitch when someone elsewhere in the world decides to steal money from us.  Luckily our banks are on the lookout for this and twice (once on a French account, another on a UK one) we have had to cancel cards and wait  for new ones to come.  Last time the swindlers actually got their hands on a lot of money, but the French bank refunded it quickly.  This week we received a letter asking us to phone the bank, and then had to go through the meticulous checks to get through to a real person.  This one was in India or similar, and of course you always have to remain calm despite the feeling of advancing panic.  But all's well that ends well.  We keep reminding ourselves that the people who work in the call centres have tough jobs,  are not to blame for the processes they have to operate and have little room for discretion.

I am writing having just been out successfully to buy fans which we hope will moderate the heat to come.  For the last several years we have been too late, none left in shops, but this year we found what we wanted.   Many others we know have air conditioned houses, but we have decided not to go  down that road - like swimming pools which many friends have, we realise that they are expensive and troublesome luxuries - now, with my legs being as they are, even geting out of a pool would be tricky and I have taken to having shower rather than even an occasional bath.

a nearly deserted town centre after a visit to the local museum 

Even more than the excesses of Trump, my mind has been occupied with the excesses of the Israeli government.  More than ever, I find it impossible to relate its obscene actions in any way to the presence or absence of antisemitism, and I know many Jewish friends feel the  same.   I think the world is anaesthetising itself to destroying human life, easier and easier as the technology makes the distance between atacker and attacked ever greater, and the chances of innocent loss of life likewise.

As we approached a beautiful sunny weekend I was stranded at home while M is equally left in the lurch, waiting for the breakdown after our car locked her out. We have had a succession of mishaps with the car (two punctures, then this) which makes us all too aware how dependent we are on the car.  It is only a question of waiting, but as we both suffer from age and infirmity  I am seriously thinking of a second vehicle.  This is very unecological but we could afford it.  In the end it turned out some tiny ball-bearings had got trapped in the ignition keyhole.

On top of that, the main road to our house is to be closed for resurfacing for the next fortnight.  There are ways round it,  and the whole hting has been well signalled, but with our luck the visitors we expect next week may have problems.

Two bits of cheer this weekend - Simon Yates did an amazing ride uphill on a gravel track to overtake the then leader of the Giro d'Italia and effectively winning the multi-stage race.  And today thanks to the BBC still available here we can hear one of our favourite pianists Angela Hewitt interviewed.  

poppy time here - usually en masse in fields, but this one outside our front gate!