2021 Coffee Shop and Gardens

[Aelin]

Thank you Lord and Goddess of the weather! 
They are gone now. Few started to leave while I was reading what you said Fafnir, but didn't want to say "victory" too earlier.

Gypsies is maybe not the word, McG, even if they live such life. But there are many people not being gypsies in France and who live in caravans.
Most of the people with caravans respect the rules, and I have absolutely no problem with their ways. It's the few making problems who are annoying, like the ones we had.
In fact, we call "gens du voyage" ("travellers" or "travelling people") everyone living like that, no matter they are gypsies or not. And each year many of all their communities go to the village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer for a pilgrim. They come not just from France, but from all the Europe. They can be easily 10 000 to come, and from what I'm aware there are no problems with them.

And many of the areas on all the France dedicated to travellers living all over the years in caravans were created in relation with associations of "gens du voyage", to allow the best possibilities for them. But still the few making problems aren't happy with those areas.
For example, in the previous town where I lived, one such area (water, electricity, bins, free internet - and I forgot toilets) was not far away from the hospital. Reaction of the annoying ones? "Too small, not enough comfort, bad placed in the town"!
Maybe between the few ones there are Gypsies, maybe not, I can't tell. Fortunately the annoying ones aren't all the community of "gens du voyage".

[McGrandpa]

i DON'T mean to sound terrible, but is that simply another word for 'Gypsies'? I sure hope not, for sure.

[Fafnir]

hope they get the caravaners  straightened out Aelin

[Aelin]

Good morning guys!

"How High's The Water Papa?!" (answer in song) "Six Feet High and RISING!"  (and THEN)   "Better Call SAUL!l"
(new possible game show!)  (call it Paraphrasing MEDIA!)  (or something) .

I have no idea how many the level is, but rising a little since last evening. I hope more.
I hope that because we have people installed on a ground where they must not be. Would have no problem with that, except they are adepts of the middle finger when you look them installing on the rugby field since your own window. I called the gendarmerie (the name for the countryside police here) and I'm sure I'm not alone (and was probably not the only one to the window also). There was also a little truck behind the kayak club, and in first place I thought it was another vehicle with the caravans, but no, it was somebody from the kayak club.
I didn't see the coming of the gendarmerie guys, BUT the rugbymen came, turned around a caravan and make them leave.

Second round. The caravans started to put on one of the parking shops. Shops were closed yesterday here.
Called again the gendarmerie. This time they came, they made them leaving from the parking... to allow them to put on a ground very close to the river. Between the river and the area where we put the glasses we throw, how safe it's for children!
I bet it's a part of a group that few days ago wanted to go on the soccer field from another town not far away from here. Pretending the areas created for their caravans aren't safe for children (too much water...) and that they can't park their caravans in campings (when tourists can...). I precise, the areas were made specifically for those groups and have everything: clean water, electricity, things for their garbages... Made by towns and cities because they were forced by the governements years ago. Fine, those people need indeed to have areas for them. But each time, there are few between them not wanting to follow the rules. The few make a reputation to all the people living all over the year in caravans.
For now the city hall doesn't seem ready to make something. Then we have to manage with rude people, and turning again and again on their feet around the shops when they are closed, or the houses at the other side of the street.

That's why I hope the sun will leave for teh rest of the day, and will leave the place to the rain, always more rain for the next days. Because mayors are responsible is something happen to people illegally in flood grounds, and in those cases suddenly teh city halls are able to do something.
I just regret we don't have the mayor from the other town. He didn't leave them install, and already last year fought against the irrespectful ones.

[Fafnir]

Mornin to you all coffee cocoa and tea are  ready  the girls  made biscuits and bacon for this morning  and for later  on there  will be steaks on the grill  with all the trimmings  and tater  wedges

[Agent0013]

When I was 11 yrs old, I remember still getting frost in May as routine.   In SE Texas.   But now?   Not down there, but up here in the Panhandle (high plains), that does happen for the norm.   I recall during the time of Hurricane Carla we had snow and serious ice issues every year.    Walking to/from school, a measly 7 blocks, got truly MISERABLE for us little kids.   Then, knowing I was gonna get another whooping for messing up my school clothes falling down several times on the ice, i stood crying my little eyes out.  But daddy pops in with the "Why when *I* was a kid, WE had to blah blah blah to school!  Somehow, 7 MILES popped in, and barefoot.  In FEET of snow.  With ICE.   Yeah roight.   But as a 7 year old, I believed him.   As a 19 yr old, I visited with and asked HIS daddy how far and in what conditions.  I repeated the stories daddy told US.  Granddaddy just howled with laughter.   And we went and he showed me  the route all 6 of his kids took to their school.  Eleven Blocks.  Half a mile.  Up in the Alabama hills, the heavy snow and ice was not an exaggeration though.   He said barefoot did sometimes happen.  Then he said "Seven MILES!" and just grinned hugely..
((it took a while to count back all those years on my fingers!))

I was in Austin for two years, and in January of the second year, we had what was being called a blizzard. It got started by two weather systems merging; one out of the Gulf of Mexico, and the other out of the north. They converged right over Austin and northward in Texas; dumping record amounts of snow! I was at a boarding school, and was living in a dorm. My friends and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to have ourselves a Snowball War. There were drifts that were taller than me, and even then I was a tall guy. We snuck out the night before the Snowball War, which we had scheduled for Saturday. We wanted to make preparations to win that war, so we dug tunnels through the snowdrifts for unobservable movement on the battlefield, and we built a Snowfort that we fortified by pouring water on our walls and letting it freeze hard.
When the Snowball War began, we were the best prepared dorm, and we did win the war. They could not knock our fort down with their snowballs. We had created a Snowball launcher that we could launch larger snowballs with; basically a slingshot on steroids. We knocked all the other dorms' forts down except two. Out of twelve dorms, that was a great record. The other two had been knocked down before we got to them. Our fort took two days to melt completely away. The best part was the fun we had, but the prize was to go and see a Clint Eastwood movie at the theater in town. Cannot recall which one it was, but it was a Western.

[McGrandpa]

 Goodnight Aelin!  :)

[McGrandpa]

When I was 11 yrs old, I remember still getting frost in May as routine.   In SE Texas.   But now?   Not down there, but up here in the Panhandle (high plains), that does happen for the norm.   I recall during the time of Hurricane Carla we had snow and serious ice issues every year.    Walking to/from school, a measly 7 blocks, got truly MISERABLE for us little kids.   Then, knowing I was gonna get another whooping for messing up my school clothes falling down several times on the ice, i stood crying my little eyes out.  But daddy pops in with the "Why when *I* was a kid, WE had to blah blah blah to school!  Somehow, 7 MILES popped in, and barefoot.  In FEET of snow.  With ICE.   Yeah roight.   But as a 7 year old, I believed him.   As a 19 yr old, I visited with and asked HIS daddy how far and in what conditions.  I repeated the stories daddy told US.  Granddaddy just howled with laughter.   And we went and he showed me  the route all 6 of his kids took to their school.  Eleven Blocks.  Half a mile.  Up in the Alabama hills, the heavy snow and ice was not an exaggeration though.   He said barefoot did sometimes happen.  Then he said "Seven MILES!" and just grinned hugely..
((it took a while to count back all those years on my fingers!))

[McGrandpa]

For something like the last 45 years our first "COOL DAY OF THE YEAR" is normally sometime in October.   That is a day that stays in the 70's F, with nice cool little breezes.    We haven't had that YET here in July.  But it does seem to be working on that! 
 
It is also wet here, now.  Raining again, and only a 20% chance of precipitation! 

[McGrandpa]

"How High's The Water Papa?!" (answer in song) "Six Feet High and RISING!"  (and THEN)   "Better Call SAUL!l"
(new possible game show!)  (call it Paraphrasing MEDIA!)  (or something) .