A Very Mazamet Summer: Flowers, Food & Wine
New areas for summer people
And a good time was had by all, I believe.
Our first guests of the year have come and gone. My brother and sister-in-law. I realised something fantastic happened to all of us over the years, just as these things go when we’re lucky — and it’s that we’ve all arrived at a version of ourselves we’re happy with. We’re leading lives we enjoy, in places we enjoy, and there is much food and much drink.
We had a sort of food extravaganza in the past weeks. Everything from Pithviviers which Mike’s brother introduced us to last night and I fell in love with, to prawns in anis, pesto, oysters, poke bowls, an obscene amount of cheeses — and did I mention much drink? I was also introduced to Fava Bean Paste by Hodmedod’s which is a very interesting seasoning which has an extremely intense miso flavour. Perfect for adding depth to sauces.
In Number 42 news, the house isn’t looking bad at all. The new mattresses for the guest rooms arrived. Softer for Summer Girl number I’s room, firmer for Summer Girl number II’s. This year we also get Mr. Summer Girl, or is it just Summer Boy? Anyway, their brother who is as much fun as they are. He’ll be accompanied by his wife. When he was first divorced and was looking for a new relationship we used to have sessions voting on who he should communicate with on a dating app. He ended up marrying the person we all voted for!
Work is exactly how we like it, quiet and stable. The Louis XV Aubusson set is going to live in a glorious chateau in Brittany. Some gorgeous pieces are here including a processional size Madonna. Her base is extraordinary, it’s got angels the size of wine bottles.
Very reminiscent of the work of Salzillo. He loved adding in some angels to his sculpture groupings.
And finally, Mike’s pre-surgery consult is later this month. That’s the point at which they set a day which will be sometime in September. He’s chosen the robot surgery and total removal. We’re positive about the whole thing.
My Mazamet 
Sounds like a perfect visit….
Best wishes for a speedy appointment following the consultation…..I note that, as always, nothing happens in August!
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It was excellent! And yes, absolutely. To be fair we also don’t happen in August. The heat this year so far has been over the top. Let’s hope August is better!
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Hi greetings and good health to ya.
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To you as well. Just started reading your posts. Very interesting. Is your background in religious studies or philosophy?
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In the early 2000s rabbis including myself attempted to re-establish the lateral common law Federal court system of the Republic. The attempt failed, but the legal system of the Talmud – that’s where my expertise rests.
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My sh’itta of learning studies both the T’NaCH and the Talmud as common law… as opposed to and contrasted by Roman statute law combined with ancient Greek philosophy expressed through Greek logic as opposed to Jewish logic.
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Systems of Logic, they define the Oral Torah. The lights of Hanukkah Jews dedicated to only interpret the Written Torah by the Oral Torah logic system.
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Thank you for answering. I’m fascinated by all this. Years ago I discovered I’m from a family of papal Jews. Aka neophytes, forced to convert in 1605. So what you write is a portal into a new world for me
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During the years of exile, Jewish leadership “converted” the Torah to a religion known as Judaism. But during the reign of David, the Torah served as the Written Constitution of the State. The exact identical role of the current written Constitution of the United States.
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Naturally my blog in favour of the political concept of the Torah as opposed to the exile/religious prioritization of the Torah.
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Notice have brought the precedents of shabbat and Pesach. Shabbot stands apart from the work days of the week. Why? Shabbot serves as a metaphor to the chosen Cohen nation which likewise stands apart from the Goyim. The primary purpose of “peace”; peace with family friends and neighbors. These folk the shabbat breaks bread with. Shalom never made with alien foreigners abroad b/c their national interests collide with those of the Jewish state.
As goes with Pesach. Why the requirement to remove all leavened goods from ones house/private domain? Another metaphor that recalls the oppression and slavery made by Par’o and Egypt! Pesach removes leavened products as a dedication not to oppress the brit people who make up the nation of Israel in the oath sworn lands as did Par’o and the Europeans enslaved Jewry.
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Myself and “others” seek to restore the Torah as the written Constitution of the Republic with the latteral common law (in Hebrew משנה תורה) Sanhedrin courtrooms which impose Capital Crimes punishments.
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You don’t find that extreme in our times?
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I do not understand. What makes the Torah as the Constitution of the Jewish Republic, how does this objective qualify as “extreme”?
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I mean capital punishment. It’s been almost completely abolished in the developed world.
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Strongly favor capital punishment. Why? Because capital punishment distinguishes Sanhedrin Capital Crimes courts from Torts courts.
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I understood that part, but what do you think is actually gained? Don’t most studies show it doesn’t really have a deterrent effect? So if crime levels aren’t affected, who benefits?
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The murderer has no rights. The larger community which witnesses the execution of this convicted murderer, shortly after he committed the murder. Those people thereafter fear committing the crime of murder.
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So capital punishment is only in the case of murder? Tell me more. What are the rules?
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No. Capital crimes cases involve avodah zarah, adultery, rape and other heinous crimes.
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The Torah mandates Capital Crimes cases. Local Torts courts judge lesser damage trials. The Torah mandates the Sanhedrin courts to judge Capital Crimes trials.
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The government has great lateral flexibility. If a person acted as a spy for a foreign country, this might qualify as a Capital Crimes case.
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Ah, I am so happy! You have created a little paradise, both inside and outside of you. You have made my day for sharing your good fortune. and, as always, we hold Mike in our thoughts for a good outcome medically. Cheers!
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Paradise is a very generous word, but I’ll take it! Are things on edge in Illinois? The news on the television isn’t very good.
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Viewed from Israel, the US seems to stand on the cliff-edge of internal revolution/Civil War. America seems in almost a panic sense of chaos and anarchy. Americans randomly murdering school children?! That’s just nuts.
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It is. In France all we get is the occasional terrorist attack
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Interesting France fought 3 wars against Germany to keep or return the Alsace–Lorraine. Yet writes UN 242 which demands that Israel returns Samara back to Jordan, even though France condemned Jordan’s nationalization of the “West Bank” following 1948 Israeli Independence.
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Obviously terrorists tried before a Capital Crimes Sanhedrin court. Death by stoning: entails a scaffold 3 stories high. The convicted condemned taken naked to the top of the scaffold and push off to a jagged boulder below. No one ever survived the splatter of this fall. The Talmudic concept of stoning, far different than that depicted in the new testament Roman counterfeit.
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“I realised something fantastic happened to all of us over the years, just as these things go when we’re lucky — and it’s that we’ve all arrived at a version of ourselves we’re happy with. We’re leading lives we enjoy, in places we enjoy, and there is much food and much drink.”
alas that takes some time to get to. Looks wonderful!
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It certainly does! And it also takes time to see things from other people’s points of view. I think in the past we were all too busy juggling one thing or another to be able to stop and enjoy each other’s company.
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clubschadenfreude you seem on a happy pill. Honestly the language of “paradise” or “wonderful” hardly describes American society viewed from my perspective in Israel.
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so, dear, what’s your problem? I was responding to Pink about his post. And despite the stupidity here in the US, I can have a wonderful life. I can also stand up to the ignorant morons here.
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An odd case of propaganda, I think. Israeli internet “farms”.
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OK good for you.
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and nice fail. sigh.
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You’re so chipper and happy and gay. LOL
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Yep, I am indeed chipper, happy and gay. Poor dear, so upset that your ignorance has been revealed, ridiculed and reviled.
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Simply consider the source and am fine with it.
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Good news about Mike’s surgery choice. Keep me updated and let me know about any questions you may have.
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Thank you! We’ve been reading up on the post-op. What were your first couple of months like? Mike says he wants to be in a room by himself to have more autonomy. Is that necessary? Did you have a catheter at home?
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We had rockets fired from Gaza in Beer Sheva day and night today. Beer Sheva its approximately 50 miles from Gaza. That’s a pretty big rocket. In the last conflict where these dune coons revolt one of their rockets blew a 20 foot hole into the side of an all cement house.
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Yesterday was the 9th of Av, a Jewish fast day which commemorates Jewish defeats in wars we lost to enemy armies/nations. The consequence of losing wars for this tiny nation, Jews forced into the status of stateless refugee populations. Refugees living in foreign lands have no rights. The last g’lut/exile of my people culminated after 2000+ years in the Holocaust/Shoah of European Jewry.
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Thank You for that like.
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I never know if liking might could be interpreted badly? It wasn’t meant badly!
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It seems supportive to me.
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Good.
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Why does clubschadenfreude have such a chip on his shoulder?
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No unbearable heatwave? No deluge? Pithviviers? Looks English, but anything with leeks and brie… Wishing you fair weather.
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Two heatwaves this year! Entirely unbearable. But what is one to do?
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I thought they were eating pit vipers. 🤣
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Just how many languages are spoken around your shed?
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Regularly, three, occasionally 4. But then there are the Dutch/Ukrainians adding another two 🙂
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Be wild to see an EEG of your brain/s when it’s all flying. I still haven’t even switched mentally to Port.
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I need more and more sleep to calm my brain down 🙂 And now I’m addicted to a weighted blanket which does wonders to calm my mind.
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Oh, I have one of those! From Argentina. Not sure if it’s actually called “weighted” but it’s fat, and heavy, and it came with the name, Jumbo. Swear it’s like ten sheep were just pressed together. Lights off, next thing you know it’s morning. Bed doesn’t even look used 🙂
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I use a 12kg version full of glass beads. For me it’s been life changing. I can go from 100 thoughts per second to calm very quickly: https://www.livescience.com/59315-weighted-blankets-faq.html
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Same principle in wrapping babies really tightly. Makes sense, really.
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I grew fava beans last year! Beautiful photo with the flowers. Glad you had fun with your friends. We have partied too much lately as well, and I am on a cleanse right now! 😂
Sorry, I missed some thing about Mike’s surgery? Hope it goes well. 💕
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We all deserve a bit of fun after all the covid stress! Mike’s having another little cancer incident but it’s on the way to being fixed 🙂
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Happy to hear. ❤️
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My wife has fought cancer 3 times now. The third one by far, at least for me, the most traumatic.
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Sitting here, shivering with the cold as there are electricians in the house and I’ve got the doors and windows open to flush out any covid nasties they may have brought in with them. I’m envious of your summer and visitors but not of the heat waves.
Give Mike a huge hug from me and give yourself one too. 🙂
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Are you in one of the rainy zones that have been on the news lately? Hugs back 🙂
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No thank god. The floods are all much further north. I think we’re just catching the tail end of it all. I honestly don’t know how the poor bastards in NSW are coping.
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Frightening. In the South of France it’s fire season and it’s going strong. This year we’re entering the third heatwave so far. Normally there’s just one that lasts about a week. So goodness knows what comes next?
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Ugh. Are you affected in Mazamet? And how are you coping with the heat? You’ve never mentioned aircon. I know your house probably keeps cool for a very long time, but it must warm up eventually?
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We go out of our way to work with nature. A week before heatwaves the shutters are closed all day long. The highest indoor temp we’ve faced so far is 25C. The coldest is 12C.
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Wow…that’s amazing, Pinky. When I was a kid, we used to live in an old double brick Federation Edwardian house with high peaked roofs and massive verandahs, but no insulation. The house would stay cool inside for days, but eventually all that brickwork would soak up the heat and radiate it inside. Luckily we didn’t have many heat waves back then.
Are you tempted to put in a pool like the one you had in Sotogrande?
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YES! And also air-conditioning and we could recreate those tableaus with people fanning other people with palm fronds – the impediment is Mike.
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Mike doesn’t want palm fronds? Tsk tsk. I guess a toga is out of the question too? -runs-
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The rain falls in the wrong places. The Great Lakes and Colorado river suffer a tremendous drought.
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Done follow,, pliase follback
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Sounds lovely – and looks beautiful.
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