Swissie

Hope she is OK now Woolie - you see, the Jura just isn't that bad.[:P]

Storm threatened for a bit - then just didn't happen. Hot today again and a lovely evening for the apéro with neighbours.

Gemonimo - some of us older ladies have no problem getting picked up when hitch hiking- blizzard or no blizzard!    lol. Get better soon - shame you don't live nearer, I know a very nice and excellent acupuncturist - oh, and stuff the housework.

Hi Yvette - as long as the weeds are not sprayed with Roundup or similar! What about buying a Nepelta/cat mint plant in a pot for them - mine love it. BTW are you Yvette / Agnès' friend? Odile

Our grass has lots of ants nests and our French neighbour keeps telling me to put poison down - she just can't understand why it does not bother us - birds love picking at them and even better, their eggs, whenever we disturb them with the lawn mower.

Ours have been on the wing for some time now - and we live up in the mountains. So I do wonder if something happened to a first brood? They need to catch up quick - bonne chance little ones - fly safe.

Sorry for being a bit dim Braco - but I do not understand your post.  Thanks if you choose to enlighten me.

Poor Gem - backs can be a real pain- hope she gets better soon.

No problem Q - thanks for telling me. Just said that if it is a good oriental rug that you like, it is best not to use a machine- and personally I'd ask a professional to be safe. Or put the rug on the lawn and clean with a soft brush and cool water mixed with a bit of vinegar. Bonne chance.

So wish I was closer so I could take you 2 stars there. Hope you find a friendly soul to help. xx

I'll try that now. PS  I tried to delete IMMEDIATELY after posting and it said timed out. This is my attempt at editing. PPS  which worked. But question remains about deleting 'timed out' - wouldn't it be better to have at least 1 or 2 minutes?

Isn't it great when people help each other! But just a silly question from a foriner - shouldn't it be    need a bike pickING up? Thanks for helping with my grammar! Swissie

Thing is, some people are often very selective about animals - they love butterflies and birds - and yet are hell bent on killing anything that they feed on. And they hate mozzies and pesky insects, but determined to kill whatever eats them. They admire a bird of prey taking a mouse, but hate crows or magpies for having been designed to eat small birds, etc. Crows can't decide to become veggie or eat tofu!

Great to hear your bats are Welcome chez vous - and that you are enjoying them- rather then want them out as so often the case. Bravo.

What about those wrist and ankle bands? Has anybody tried them? Makes xcountry skiing in -26.5C a doddle, hey!

Could anybody please tell me why the 'delete' function times out after only a minute or 2, please. How long is the 'delete/edit' time out officially. Thanks

VERY hot again in the Jura - 31 in the shade - not a puff of wind and very humid (unusual up here at 950m). A big storm forecast for tonight.

Definitely NOT a fan of the Burka, as said before - and I agree with RH. For me (yes said it before) the main question is ' will it improve or inflame matters'? I sincerely hope I am WRONG that it might make things much worse. Only time will tell.

On a school ski trip I had organised to a French resort (on Italian border) - we kept telling the kids to drink loads of water/soft drinks, at it was very hot. We did too of course- apart from the 2 male teachers who drank beer. On 3rd day, a couple of kids stated with sickness an diarrhoea, followed by one of the teachers. By the evening all the female teachers (incl moi) and about 30 of the 40 kids were as sick as parrots - guess who was fine, the 6th formers who had also drank beer and the 2 male teachers. I had got quite friendly with one of the ski instructors, and she told me the new water plant had been places too low above the resort and water wasn't being filtrated properly - and they had all been told to keep away from the water. She swore me to secrecy as she knew she would lose her job! At the Hotel, all the soft drinks were made with water in one of those fizz making machine. NOT pleasant. I do wonder if the resort has solved the problem? (Montgenèvre). We got the Hotel to buy in bottled water for us, and all finished the week on skis and having a great time.

Only caught the last 20 mins - and he was really on the defensive. It is difficult for me to be impartial, as he is one of those few people that sets my teeth on edge and bring my hackles up as soon as I see them or hear their voice - Mrs T did that to me, and so does Berlusconi. Strangely enough, so did Portillo. However I saw a documentary he had made about his father who died fighting against Franco's fascist regime- and it was a very moving story. He making friends with his uncle, who fought for Franco - ever since then, this aversion has gone. Good for him for keeping the tax on fortune - and, whatever my teacher friends in France say - he has to fight for pension reforms - as most civil servants and many others expect to retire on full pension by 58 at the very most - it is just not sustainable.

Aaaarrgghh  you poor thing. Now don't want to add even further to your biting concerns - but the only time our youngest daughter's face was covered with bites on her face when she was camping by Lac Lacanaux - the Doctor said it was a spider's bite. Bites were all in a line right above her left eye, which she could hardly close. Get Vitamin B started well in advance. Maybe you could get a little round box and fill with cotton wool pads and pour vinegar over (like those pads for nail varnish remover). I am sure September will be much much easier than now. Bless all your four cotton socks- you are stars. xxxxxx Swissie

The time limit set for deleting seems to be a couple of seconds ... Agreed Q. - if something is not right I'll always discuss this immediately with the waiter - quietly and pleasantly, and never fear some kind of disgusting retaliation. I suppose it does depend on how you say it. I do like the way Chefs in Switzerland come out to shake hands and talk to clients - and get feed back.

In Switzerland the Chef is expected to come out to the restaurant to shake hands with all the customers after the meal and ask if everything was fine.

ahahahah - when you've got to go ... Sure there will be worse to come when you get going. You 2 are very brave - no chickens I can tell you (Woolie).

And some Swiss and Chinese have very British names! lol