Following from my previous post, although Macron is a banker, I am not sure this is good for France

The Euro was the first step to a Federalised Europe, each country eventually losing their national identity to a centralised government.

Yes trade in Europe is essential, but a central government is nuts. Centralised power becomes unwieldy and expensively unproductive. Also the major economies will not end up supporting the ones with less GDP. This is already evident.

In the last few years we have noticed how the French youth have changed, they are not so polite. The French youngsters used to be delightful. Always deferential, even to us Brits. Now the teenagers barely respond to a 'Bonjour'. This is in the Breton countryside so I wonder how less polite they are in towns.

​To us, this is the biggest erosion of 'Frenchness'. The loss of identity for the French youth.

Well things are getting interesting in the next ten days. I doubt Marie Le Pen will win the minds of the French, they might vote for her with the heart to get the Franc back.

I think the problem for the EU is that the Euro only really works for Germany. It should have remained a trading currency only.

Since the Euro, Germany have technically undermined everyone else's currency value, in order to suppress their own currency value so people still buy from them. I love Lidl just as much as everyone else, it's a good business model for feeding and supplying the masses with affordable and often good quality products from around Europe.

I suspect based on the idea of 'Home and Colonial' back in the old British high street.

I have to say German made products are generally well designed, robust and functional. They also put well translated instructions for their appliances to help the end purchaser get the most use out of their kit.

I bought a German made garden pump sprayer at Point Vert near me in France. It is the best one I have ever bought, and at about €20 very good value. The problem for Brits is the exchange rate has gone tit's up for now. Still even at 1.16 to the Euro when I bought it it is a beauty. For one that works as well as this one, I would pay another £5.

If people want highly engineered German cars that cost £60,000. Plus, they can afford another £10-15K for the privilege! Ditch the Euro, and make the Germans stop treating us proles like morons so they can make their stuff affordable to a mass market throughout Europe, while making the poverty level earners poorer, and live in squalid conditions, and surviving from food bank charities.

As a Brit who loves France, and all of Europe, I would love to take my holidays in Francs, Lira, and any other denomination of currency that represents the country I am visiting. It just adds more to the experience.

Macron is pro EU. This means he will give us Brits a hard time, ganging up with the Germans to screw the UK over Brexit. I think if the French want to do some tactical voting, now would be a good time to stuff the Germans and vote Le Pen. Then vote her out when you get your referendum!

In true 'one of those moments' I was off to ' cherche Le Pain' this morning to the village, and just as I was about to nose out onto the road, my British driving habits kicked in. We just can't help it, thankfully. We look right by instinct!

The old gentleman and his wife were off to vote, but believe me they were driving on the left. Not Just on the left, they were hugging the bend right in front of my driveway!

They were not going fast, but had I been French, there would have been an almighty prang. I am sure one that would have been very upsetting for this old couple. Not to mention the difficulties in dealing with insurance, and the possible loss of Monsier's driving confidence entirely. When you live in the country in France you need wheels.

I pondered over this and could imagine an unfortunate sequence of events where this dear old couple would have to move into a residential home.

Anyway, I could see Madame giving Monsieur a word or two, and he regained the French side of the road pretty sharply!

We went out for a great day visiting an attraction about 50 miles away, scrap sculpture and animation.  A superb place to find in Lizio. We took a detour through Joccelyn, and then headed back via the motorway. My Husband drove there and I drove back... annoying the French at a steady 60 miles an hour. I got fabulous stats from the PHEV.

There was one moment though having gone through ab lot of roadworks, and with no indication I found myself actually on the slipway to the mororway. I was annoyed there were no signs to say 'you are joining the motorway' either. 

Thankfully, the PHEV kicks out of Economy when you floor it, and it takes off quicker than a startled duck.

We had a super picnic by a delightful river, a great dog walk, and drove through all the little villages admiring how many French were out voting. There was a great atmosphere out and about today.

We are delighted with the excellent vetinary practice we take our dog to for her passport. As explained before we visit the vet here with her to confirm she is the dog that belongs to us. She has a good check over to be sure she is in fit enough health to travel, have a tasty dog worming tablet, and a little fuss. 

We we discussed the new homeopathic medicine, and bought some more. I explained my doctor who is also a homeopath said I should take it as well! 

We had been arranging for her to have cryotherapie to remove a large facial tag. Also she has one on her back, and a small cyst near to the back tag. We had decided to get this done as the dog had got into a bagarre. A scrap with another dog, who had bitten her on the face and made the half inch long tag burst and bleed badly. However, since the homeopathic treatment started, this face tag has almost disappeared. We discussed with the vet about the ones on her back. I said if they weren't a problem, then I would prefer not to give her the treatment until we could see it was neccasary. Just a procedure I am sure the dog would prefer not to have!

I explained we re-visited every four to six weeks, so we could monitor the situation and do it if necessary. A good outcome, although the veterinary had got the cryotherapy especially for us. I am sure it's expensive, although as it was in a nice blue box, I am sure it has a use by date, or they could return it.

The fun part at reception was an actual sales pitch from the vetinary receptionist for their new range of dog shampoo. My dog has a medicated shampoo, but this stuff does look posh! At nearly €12, a snitch!

Well I got the full 'how to use your dog shampoo' pitch. Fill a litre bottle 2/3 with nice warm water, put in the specified amount and give it a good shake, so the shampoo goes frothy. (Moussant). This sounds lovely! She explained it made the shampoo go so much further and it made it very good value.

I explained I was a hairdresser in a previous life, and that when she was washing her own hair to put a small amount of shampoo in her hands, and emulsify it with a little water. And massage it in, this makes the shampoo more effective and go further!

I said I had half a bottle of shampoo, and would try the moussant technique with it, and buy some 'posh' stuff next time. I noticed the range had eye wipe, ear cleaner and toenail polish. (No to nail polish, just joking).

When we got home I told the dog I would put a Spa package for her on my birthday list.

​Yes all in French at the Vet!

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I have never done this before with any method. It sounds like a certain country trying to leave the EU to me!

I can tell you the fatal mistake, I was so distracted by the thought of a general election being sprung on the UK electorate, I forgot to put in the mustard. I tried every trick in the book to rescue it, but I have a split mug of eggy seasoned oil sitting in my fridge and I am wondering if there is any way to salvage it, or simply ditch it.

It does not cut it without the mustard! At this point I wonder if the Europeans might want to offer terms, the Brits leaving Europe is like trying to make mayo without Mustard.

I think that the Conservatives actually don't want to win the next election, as they do not want to be the government to bring home Brexit. The most devastating single error made since  Chamberlin did his 'Peace in our time' rhetoric.

We Brits need to get a grip on ourselves and decide what we really want. We have a multicultural society that works tremendously well. We have been sold the lie that it's not 'British'.

We have always been a mixed bag. I am as Anglo Saxon as you can get. I can trace my family back to  some very distant roots. I am British through and through. So is anyone who embraces our country.

Not everyone can learn a new language easily, that's why it's great to have so many people in the UK that speak three or four languages.

The detant today came in SuperU, the regular supermarket we use for our big shop nearby. We had bought two live Spider Crabs for a treat.. Which I duly cooked with care. However one simply was not a good crab, it was empty. No-ones fault. The other crab was great so we shared it. Yes the mayo was perfect that day!

Today we went back to Super U to get more fresh milk and a couple of other things, so I decided to ask about the crab, wondering what their policy might be.

All in French I might add! I asked at Accuel, the welcome desk about the crab, the girl was delightful, and told me to go and ask for another one at the Fish counter. So I explained to the same young lady that sold me the spiders the problem. 

Oh, she said 'it must have been old and tired'. I explained the other one was very good to eat, that they had both been cooked the same. 

The Fishmonger then immediately offered me a refund of €8. We only paid €13 for both the original Crabs. I said I was delighted with this, however my Husband felt he had been shortchanged in the crab department and actually wanted another Crab.

Well this excellent specimen that was loose on the fish counter, looked as though he would take on M.Junker. Arched legs, viciously snapping claws, and fierce eyes stalkily eying us up as potential fish counter invaders.

​He might actually have been doing an impersonation of the President of North Korea.

My Husband negotiated the Vicious Crab, and a large scoop of cooked whelks instead of the €8. We were all delighted. I pointed out this crab didn't look old and tired at all, and I might have problems killing it.

The young Fish lady said don't worry, put the crab in my freezer for half an hour to make him groggy.

​I was so surprised on two counts. Firstly that she knew this English word! Also that I had not come across this tip before.

Anyway I got home and googled to see what 'groggy' translates to in French. Well it turns out it's a French word!

Freezing a crab doesn't work, the thing was still trying to take a chunk out of my kitchen gloves after 45 minutes in the freezer. Also all the flesh had tightened onto the shell, it took ages to get the water back to the boil after I put the Crab in, so I don't think the flesh was the same taste being slow cooked from such cold temperature.

Still, worth a try with the freezer technique. If I have such a feisty crab to deal with again, I will put chainsaw gloves on!

I had to make the Mayo from scratch all over again.

Please don't split the UK the same way I spelt my Mayonnaise tonight.

Thinking about it, If I hadn't put garlic in the split mayo, I could have mixed some multi mini in it and used it as a face pack!

I hate throwing things away, so my best suggestion so far is using the eggy oil to breadcrumb some chicken. Lots of herbs. More garlic, Or perhaps go for a spice mix, so it tastes exotic. Flour the chicken first, slap it in the oil, breadcrumb it and bang it in the oven. I will let you know how I get on on my new food blog. I called it 'cooking with steamy' for now, but Ineed a better name for it.
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About 20 months in the making, and ten of them since the actual Fight or Flight vote on staying in the EU some common sense political judgement has popped out of the box like a manic Clown.

I hope in hindsight the British people can do a U turn themselves, and see the benefits of being in the EU. No it's not perfect, it needs modernising, paring down excessive beaurocracy, the Eurocrats gravy train, and some joined up policies that definitely pull the whole block of Countries together, however not Federalised.

Great Britain could be a great European Voice. We have shown there are other markets outside of Europe to explore, this works for ourselves and our European trading partners.

Consider losing our Banking Passporting rights across the whole of Europe. Consider leaving Gibraltar clinging to their rock having closed borders with Spain, and the little indication our ministers made that we would go to war over Gibraltar! Tosh, Gib would be on its own.

Consider borders in Ireland.

Consider the break up of Great Britain when the Scots decide to hold another referendum, and then the Welsh will decide to do the same. 

Consider all the European and foreign doctors and nurses, people that keep our country going, with their great work ethic, and can do attitude and great food. They will leave if we say go, let's listen to the old people who are frightened of not getting their pension paid.

If it weren't for migrants who are prepared to work, and pay tax... the old people who voted for Brexit won't get a pension at all. No one to care for them in hospital or care homes. Definitely no one to serve them with a smile in the supermarket.

In my opinion we are better in the EU, fighting our corner with great politicians, than stepping aside thumbing our noses, and expecting to be pally with the protectionist Yanks, the Sneaky Russians, who are currently giving us the cold shoulder, and falling out irretrievably with the EU.

All the British politicians that lied and cheated their way through the run up to Brexit, have now got to back down. Thankfully they are for the Greater Good of the great British People.

Remember I don't get a vote, as I live in a Crown Dependency. Your Vote affects me big time though,

Let me also say we manage people's affairs and send all due taxes to the UK, so stop letting them use us Banking centres as a red herring. It's 25% more expensive to live in Jersey than the UK, and we have food banks too.

I was shocked. I hate bombs and loud noises more than my dog. Fireworks are awful for her. She has a heart condition after all.

I wonder if President Trump is in fact reversing previous policy of supporting ISIS. The news says no Afghanis were in the area where the bomb hit. I hate the idea of loss of life. Even people who have committed atrocities.

Perhaps my comment was justified, that if the Americans haven't been able to control their proxy armies they still supported them. I wonder if President Trump has a different view, and decided to eliminate the threat. One that was nurtured by a predecessor. Sad,  Very sad.

Now more attacks, possibly in retribution. Syjria should never have developed into this nightmare. What were governments thinking. We proles were kept in the dark so long about the plight of people fleeing conflict. This is truly of the magnitude of WW2. Except no-one wants to admit it.

Why did the US attack the Syrian air base? They didn't have concrete proof of culpability. Certainly not after two days. This is false flag, mainstream media driven decision making. If nothing else it sells newspapers to a largely unthinking populous in the US. What on earth do they think the rest of us see in their political deformations. They do not have functioning government. Appalling foreign policy, the petrodollar and a stranglehold on every third world country by using proxy terrorist activities to disrupt internal government.

How about not giving them any more loans? They are doing all this on everyone else's money like a bunch of thugs. Protectionists... At least their Judge ruled no use of that lethal injection just yet. Let's see if they can stop it all being used before it's sell by date. Try selling medication in Europe if you supplied those drugs to kill prisoners. We think differently to you lot. We just don't have a death penalty. I wrote a post on that a while back.

Now we have a situation about to spark off in North Korea. It has been a powder keg ready on a long fuse for a while. The problem is the fuse was lit a while back, and now it's getting close to the detonator. I hope the Chinese can put their foot on the burning fuse to extinguish it. North Korea have a hundred years of regime that seems to be xenophobic to the extreme, and pretty feisty now they have made some bombs.

I have to say, Kim Jong seems the sort of young man that pulled the legs off grasshoppers. He may even have a furry cat. AKA Goldfinger. He certainly seems to preside over a nation of people who are scared witless, and can't verbalise their fear. They can't revolt, they are lucky if they aren't starving, or having to watch their backs for daggers.

There needs to be some serious negotiations around the South China Sea, North and South Korea, Japan, and the Kuril Islands.

The way I see it are the three major players of China, Russia and USA. The US has too much military in Japan and South Korea. Russia wants to develop Deap Sea ports near the Kuril Islands, and China wants the Isands in the South China Sea for strategic atolls.

Who gives a damn? Why not settle it over a game of 'Risk' on a board game? That way we can all relax and stop worrying about bloody nuclear war.

If it all sparks off in North Korea, the Chinese will have a huge migrant problem to deal with, not to mention a whole country bombed to shit that is uninhabitable if North Korea let off Nuclear Weapons. They are a minion of the Chinese, and possibly the Russians... who's toy vassal country?

They have gone off the wall. Forget building a wall, the bloody Yanks have gone completely beserk.

They built a bomb, the mother of all bombs, and called it MOAB. The child of incest.

They just dropped it on Afghanistan in the name of some kind of peace keeping rhetoric against ISIS.

The very ISIS they funded and instigated to make instability in the Middle East. 

I do do not have any problems with Moslem People. I suspect they would have a lot more problems with me! I can live with that. Still I would want to support giving to Moslem Migrants who need our help.

Even my dog thought President Trump would lose it when he got control of the presidential slippers.

There are a lot of briefings to attend when you are a President. If you don't, the minions get out of hand. Reign in that military and navy before we end up with world war three in the South China Sea, The Russian Front, and while you are at it stop funding Saudi Arabia to fight Yemen.

We are all pissed off with war, rumours of war, and false flags. The UK ought to get it's house in order as well. Stop being a Minion of the US.

France should know better stop selling bloody ordinance, Germany is a useless bit of shit when it comes to the negotiating table. Italy might want to sort out its internal problems before trying to tell anyone else what to do. 

I can be really offensive if you like!

The Russians are sneaky, that's why I like them. I wouldn't trust them, but I like them. They are Empire building at the moment. Trade, Pipelines, Energy, commodities and they also have a lot of grain. They also have cars that start in sub zero temperatures! Even if their Navy is old and decrepit, it still turns up in the right places and pisses off when it has done its job.

Even my husband says President Assad should go. I keep pointing out, it's not Assad. It's his family that's the problem. We all have one. Pity that President Assad can't control his either.

I am still up for that independent enquiry into the Sarin. I still think it's a political gambit, a false flag.

For Gods sake can't peace be brokered in Syria, what will it take?

And North Korea, I sent £200 in shelter box aid for your people, because you are spending all your money on f*****g bombs. I couldn't bear to think your people were living in such impoverished conditions. They are homeless, freezing hungry. What are you thinking of. No-one wants to invade North Korea. We are all worried you are going to use nuclear bombs. It's not a good idea!...

Well I sound like someone's mother, even if I never had a child!

​Sweet dreams, they can only blow up something. Hopefully not near you anytime soon.

​Even my Husband is giving up his small cache of fireworks. It frightens the dog to let them off. I told him not to give them away as other friends have pets. We have to take them to the dump to be disposed of.

Please stop disposing of ordinance on Syria, or  Afghanistan, its bloody inconsiderate and makes us all nervous. Besides, there are too many people already afflicted by all your warmongering.