23 Comments

Great fun read Darling Hannah!

Lumpy British faces! Lololol! As Iam part Italian part English I guess I have to own a lumpy and oily face! Heh heh! Hope that you too are enjoying this rather dramatic summer, with its raging fires and scorching temperatures. Here in The Highlands we are suffering mist and rain with staggering temperatures of up to 16 degrees celsius🌞 however, lots of marvelous wildlife on the loch, seals dolphins and baluga whales, sea eagles, oystercatchers and all sorts of land and sea birds.

Midge apocalypse requiring keeping inside and enjoying beautiful 40 year ols Scotch whisky.

and fruit cake.

Miss the wonders of Paris and delighted to learn that hopefully you are now a fully incorperated French citizen.love to Babs and to you x

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It sounds wonderful there!! Thank you so much for reading as ever. Babs send you a babsy hug ❤️🐕‍🦺

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"Midge apocalypse!!" Lol!! Perfect description!

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Hello Judge! Hope you too are enjoying a great summer.Yes those invisible little blighters are having a blast seeking out and drinking our Highland blood like tiny evil vampires.

They even do a " Dawn and Dusk" offensive,like their more glamorous be caped and much sexier undead pals.

So hope that you are keeping well and able to get out and about when the sunshine is less fierce.

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This newsletter was worth the wait; no apologies necessary. The revelations inspire investigation. Possibly the British faces could be lumpy and claggy? Lol!

You have friends as marvelous as yourself. Just write whenever:

"And there was that poor sucker Flaubert rolling around on his floor for three days looking for the right word."

Dorothy Parker

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Thank you for your kind words! And for your support as ever!

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I’d love to know if any European photographers have documented the coronation of our (not my) latest king…

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I bet Martin Parr did (but not sure re non-Brits. Going to look into this!)

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My friend Barbara is a journalist for weekly current affairs mag L’Obs (not to show off!). She reported on the coronation and loved seeing her photos on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr1RWL6rsvm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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from an American parenting perspective, I think our system is highly dependent on finances. Currently paying close to 3000 a month in West Los Angeles for daycare for my son, the price decreases as he grows older but not by much. Most couples cannot afford this and put off having children later and later in life. In my 30s when I had my son, and also got the job to support the expenses of having a child in the U.S., I am no longer interested in going to bars/clubs or such things as I was in my 20s. I would like to have another child but having 2 at the same time in daycare is well, too much. So you see in LA most families with 1 child if that and the parents are much older couples. Since he is my one and only love, I cherish him, and hold him closer to me at my age, that would probably be different if I had him at 25 or if there was 3 of them screaming around the house driving me mad.

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Thank you for reading Diego! Wow yes absolutely, the relative liberty enjoyed by French parents is definitely predicated on affordable childcare.

Hope you and your family are having a wonderful summer (although I guess in LA it’s always summer!) ✨

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At least our faces are mild, I'm going to take that bit and downplay the lumpy part. Loved this as always Hannah! And "Remember before I was your mother, I was a woman", is amazing 🥰 What a change there has been though - perhaps French parenting has remained more constant, and the British style has evolved from Nancy Mitford and nannies and "remember, no one is looking at/interested in you" to what it is today?

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Thank you for reading! That’s a really good point! And also tracks with the education style, which probably also resembles how schools were before in the UK -- dictation, rigorous grammar etc.

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Love love Tatty Macleod! And this title is just 👌🏾

I love how your describes the parental skills in the UK versus france. I think Us is more similar to Uk.

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I loved this and will try and pop in to see the lumpy faces exhibition! Although I have to return to the U.K. in 10 days agiter five wonderful years in Paris so might not have time.

Good luck with your application for citizenship! Love that being able to book a wellness class was on the test.

Also agree Tatty M is a genius. I love her U.K./French sketches.

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Ohhh best of luck with the move! What do you think you’ll miss most about Paris (nosy !)?

Tatty is brilliant isn’t she!

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Thank you. Oh my goodness everything! My friends, my job, my apartment! But one of the big things will be that I can walk nearly everywhere I need to go - supermarket, boulangerie, hairdresser, dr, dentist, market, flower shop, restaurants (esp restaurants!) etc. I love that about Paris.

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Lovely to have you back Hannah! Thank you for your lovely missive as ever - I was wondering how the night Hattie fit with the lumpy faces of the title - especially as she’d shared the post 😂

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Oh and when do you find out about your test?!

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In a couple of weeks! But it’s only step one. All being well, passing gives me a certificate to put in my dossier. Then the real fun of assembling the dossier begins!!

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Loved this from top to bottom, but thank you especially for your kind words about my (let’s be honest) quite lumpy British face x

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One of the least lumpy faces I know! Pleasure. Thank you so much for sharing it ❤️

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