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You can teach an old bitch new tricks … or coming to terms with a “Tablet”

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Les Broux, La Vienne, France                      Saturday, 8th February 2014

Bee and the Crocus

Bee and the Crocus

Yesterday I took this amazing photo of a bee in one of our crocus flowers.  We had a short window of sunshine and relatively warmer weather midst the wind, rain, hail and awful weather that has been tracking into Europe off the Atlantic.  We have escaped the worst here being on the very edge of the Vienne bordering the Charentes and Deux Sevres.  We are the western most department with an “orange” weather warning.  Like the UK France has suffered with flooding and power loss due to the storms.

It is certainly a concern for us and the bees, particularly when you come across one foraging.

Next I am including the video I put together from the pictures I took at the Gaudi sites we visited in Barcelona (subject (or one of) of my previous  blog) – it was such an amazing experience.

http://youtu.be/grn31NHkHkc

Whilst we were in Spain Fay tried to teach me to use my new “Tablet”.

Tony had given me a Kindle for Christmas and it had other functions, but so far all I had conquered were downloading books and reading them.  Certainly when I am travelling it will be so much easier than carrying books – particularly with today’s airlines and baggage allowance.    I failed even to find the “how to” manual included on the machine.  Fay with infinite patience took me through accessing e-mails, answering them and various other functions.

I discovered a major problem.  I am a touch typist and learnt in the days of manual typewriters – I am lighter on keys than I used to be, but for me to have to return to one finger typing is not only frustrating I also was hitting the keyboard far too hard.  As Fay pointed out it is a “touch” screen – so one of the items we purchased in Barcelona was a “stylus” with a rubber pad on the end to use on the keyboard.  It still seemed slow to respond, to me, and I must persevere with using it, meanwhile if I travel with my laptop I know which I will prefer to use.  It is great to read books on, and I have an easy reference to what I have read over the past month which is a plus;  one of my “things to do” is to keep a record of what I read and what I thought of it.

A downside to me is if I read a book I really like and want to share that pleasure with others, all I can do is recommend the book and encourage them to purchase it – which I suppose is great for the author and those selling books, but somehow the ability to lend a book is part of their enjoyment.

So books I read in January:  Doris Lessing – her death made me realise that I had not really explored the full gambit of her writing and felt I must correct that.  When Pat had her book sale in December I purchased “The Good Terrorist” (before Kindle) and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I had met the characters in her book when I was involved in the days of CND and my experience of “the protest movement”.  I felt she had captured the essence of that aspect of 60’s youth and I found her central character so rounded and complete.  I also read a Kindle one I had purchased “The Old Woman and her Cat” but had not realised it was essentially a short story – a very good one at that, but I read it in an evening.  Again her characters draw you in and are totally believable.  Following that I read Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones “Mad about the Boy” – which I cannot admit to enjoying, I read it and it is a very clever reflection of the inanity of social media and how we all live our lives today.    Clever, appropriate for today,  but a novel?  not for me.

One of my favourite modern authors was next; Sebastian Faulks, A Possible Life – loved it, love his writing, use of language, depth of character even the slow pace of the story’s development.  Very enjoyable.    I then took Pia’s advice – we found we do share a very similar reading preference – and started on Suzanne Collins trilogy “The Hunger Games” – un-put-downable – I read all three in a week.  Future fiction, but in real terms a comment on our lives and society today – just page turning stuff.  Books you cannot put down but don’t want to finish because there is no more to read.  Must now investigate the rest of her output.

I am currently reading a book by Matthew Cobb on The French Resistance which I will read between others I think.  I am also reading about the Tour de France, the history of the race, by Chris Sidwells’ “A Race for Madmen” – again dipping in and out.  My nightly read at the moment is Santa Montefiore “The French Gardener” but so far its OK to go to sleep to, but for me too much of what I imagine a “chick-read” to be – trying to be clever, perfect stereotype characters.  Will get back to some more Doris Lessing soon.



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