Thursday 29 October 2009

Autumn Wildlife

October has been a mixture of clear bright sunny days and misty moisty damp days. On the sunny days, all the late summer insects come out to soak up some rays and strut their stuff for the camera.

Small Copper butterfly
Lycaena phlaeas
Cuivré commun

Hottentot Beefly
Villa hottentotta
le Bombyle hottentot

Blue (or Southern) Hawker dragonfly (male)
Aeshna cyanea
L'Aeschne bleue

Susan

And now a message from our sponsor, Pissed off of Preuilly: I would like to announce that this is Day 7 with no voice. I haven't been able to speak above a whisper for a whole week! In French, I have l'extinction de voix. Will I recover in time to telephone the woodman and order more firewood before we run out? Can we pay the mason for the new chimney if I can't phone the currency exchange to arrange to buy euros with Australian dollars?

10 comments:

Paulita said...

That's what husbands are for. Make him call. I love that French phrase l'extinction de voix.

chm said...

Hi, Susan. Lovely wildlife pictures, as usual.

Hope Simon will recover enough voice to call the woodman so you won't freeze your whatever off.

Susan said...

Paulita: Unfortunately, phoning the woodman would probably stretch Simon's French beyond its limits, and our account with the FX is in my name, so they won't talk to him.

CHM: Simon's voice is fine and getting regular exercise. It's mine that has gone extinct.

Ken Broadhurst said...

Susan, have you been to the pharmacy. There used to be a medicine you could take that would bring your voice back. Singers use it. I can't remember what it was called. But I used it way back when and it worked for me.

Vive la renaissance de ta voix.

Ken Broadhurst said...

I see that laryngitis sufferers on several French medical sites recommend suppositories as the best treatment. Here's one:

Neo-Laryngobis
Indications
Ce médicament est recommandé pour le traitement des affections de la gorge, plus particulièrement les angines non diphtériques, les pharyngites, les amygdalites, les laryngites et les gingivo-stomatites. Il est aussi recommandé comme adjuvant aux traitements des phlegmons de l'amygdale, de I'angine de Vincent, des otites et des sinusites.

Posologie / Directives d'utilisation
Adultes: Un (1) suppositoire rectal par jour. Non recommandé chez les enfants de moins de 15 ans.

Simon said...

So how far do you have to push a suppository to fix a sore throat?

Ken Broadhurst said...

Simon, don't ask. Use your intuition.

Ken Broadhurst said...

Simon and Susan, thought I'd come back and say I'm serious about the efficacy of suppositories. I remember taking/applying one that was eucalyptus scented, back in the late 70s when I was in Paris. I had a sore throat and no voice. Within just a few minutes of the application, I could taste the eucalyptus and my voice started coming back. It's amazing how it works. Try it.

Susan said...

Ken: I've been to 4 pharmacies and spent about €30 on medications, none of which worked. No one offered me a suppository - perhaps because even in a whisper I am clearly an English speaker and maybe the pharmacies are wary of suggesting suppositories to non-French. Anyway, I can now speak again, albeit quite croaky.

Ken Broadhurst said...

Susan, nice to hear you, even croakily.

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