Anna

Thanks for your quick response Gary. However, the paperclip is to attach a photo to the e-mail but I would like to know if I can actually insert a photo directly onto the body of the e-mail. Main reason I'm asking is that someone was asking me to send them a photo this way as they cannot download (for some reason to do with her type of connection I think). Anna

Hi Can any kind person tell me if I can, and if so, how to, insert a photo in an e-mail using Orange messagerie mail? Idiot proof explanation please! Thanks Anna

Thanks again to everyone for your replies. We'll definitely look for the suggestions in the Bricos. Sure it's a paint, rather than a polish that we need. Mary, good to hear from you and thanks for your card. We're good here and hope you are both the same. Best wishes to all Anna

Hi Thanks for your replies. I'm sorry, I don't think I've explained very well. I think this product would be like a polish. What I need is actually something to paint on around the fire glass around the outside of the insert fire. It's to paint on to metal but don't want an aerosal as, as I said, it peeled off.

Thanks, what is that and do you know what it's called and where I would buy that in France?

Please can someone recommend a brand of paint, not an aerosol, to paint the black surround on our insert fire? Tried one of the specialist aerosols from Bricomarche in the Summer but, now that our fire has been on, have found it's peeling, hence the request for a non aerosol type!

Clootie dumplin is a pudding and leftovers (as if!) are also fab fried...all very unhealthy as most Scottish fare is, but all very tasty!!

Ooooh, Woolybully, just Google it lol!!! here: http://recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/traditional_halloween_pudding_from_scotland not just for Hallow'een..any celebration would do! You haven't lived if you havenae tasted Clootie Dumplin!!!

Wow, where was you Gran from as I've never heard of that. We only ever had old sixpences, wrapped up in greaseproof paper, in Clootie Dumplings, for birthdays...mmmh!

Exactly!! ha ha!!!!

Ach I kent you wadna unerstan lol!!! And, by the way, just for your info, Scotch are tomatoes, whisky and such like but never ever are the Scots or Scottish folk refered to as Scotch! Actually, as you probably know, the kings used to sit on the Stone of Destiny!

No nooo, that's Scone (pronounced Scooon), where the Kings were crowned!, not scone (pronounced scon)!!! Ach away wi ye!!

Never tried this but I suggest you make a small amount to try beforehand and see how they turn out. If you try that, please let us know how they turn out and if you freeze the scones cut out individually, ready to bake, in which case you would have to be careful that they don't stick together when freezing, or if you freeze the whole mix and then have the palather of rolling and cutting out to bake during the meal! Otherwise, I find that if baked scones are frozen as soon as possible then they're fine reheated.

This looks great, thanks. Just a bit worried about the 2 pages of A4 instructions (albeit "clear and concise") lol!! Anyway, going to give it a go but may come back if I run into difficulities. I spent most of this afternoon trawling through stuff on the internet and just got more confused! Should have known to try on here first!! Thanks a lot for your help. Anna

Hi Please would someone tell me, in very simple terms, what I need to do to be able to transfer my old family videos to my PC so I can then edit them and put them onto DVDs? I have a VCR and my laptop has Vista. It would be great if you could recommend what hardware/software (nothing too fancy/complicated!) I need to purchase in France, if possible, alternatively, by mail order from the UK. Many thanks Anna

Wow, thanks for that. What is sugar "semoule"? Also, recipe says to cut the grapes in half but do you think I'd need to half the small Pineau grapes?

Hi Can I make jam with red Pineau grapes? If so, can I freeze the grapes to make the jam later? Thanks

Hi Just wondering if the price of heating oil is reasonable just now? Thanks

Thanks for your replies. Think I'll chance it then and leave them out till I get back. I've found that I can overwinter my Geraniums in one of our gîtes, which has quite a lot of light and is frost free. You could put in an electric radiator set on a frost free setting to go on overnight. I cover the floor tiles with thickish polythene to keep them clean. I bring the patio tables inside and cover them also with polythene to keep them clean. Then I bring in all my pots and hanging baskets (which have a mixture of geraniums and begonias). I water very occasionally and the plants do go leggy and also I get a lot of brown dead leaves also. However, come early Spring, when I can put them outside, I tidy them up and they recover wonderfully. Also, re cuttings, I find that you can just snap off some longish bits and simply pop them into a pot of universal, cheapy compost, firm well around the cutting and you will be amazed that in a couple of weeks, how well they will grow. Then make sure to water well and feed often I just use the cheapest universal or tomato feed, whichever is cheapest (yes, I am a Scot lol !!) et voila! I haven't bought geraniums or begonias now for at least the last 6 years.

I live near Riberac and have to go back to Scotland this year from the 15th September until the 21st October. I've successfully overwintered my Geraniums for a number of years now. My question is would I need to take Geraniums in before I leave?

Just going back to my original posting. Quillan, quite rightly, mentioned that you should always check the seal is intact if buying a product. Well, be aware that the seal on the box of scales, was intact and by looking at the box, there was absolutely no indication that there would be anything other inside, than the new scales, as pictured on the box! So, do, even if the seal looks perfect, still open and check at the checkout, before leaving the store. On reading about the people who bought a phone only to find an old one inside, I think it could very well happen again and really, if you leave the store, it's only your word and they made me feel like a criminal they way they looked at me and the abuse they hurtled at me! As if I would go and show them old, used scales to embarrass myself ..... lol!

Hi Nectarine Yes, there was the big banner hanging up and I pointed that out to the supervisor, who dismissed it by saying that was for goods bought from them and these scales were obviously not bought from them! I asked her for the address of the head office to write a letter of complaint, to which she replied that she didn't have an address but pointed to the telephone number hanging up on a big sign. I've just now done a google search and found the Lidl website, which has their address, etc. So am going to have a bash at writing a letter of complaint. Besides, even if the supervisor did think I was trying to pull a fast one, she should not have spoken to me like she did and could have perhaps made a phone call to someone higher up in rank to ask advise on how to proceed in a case like that. I think, if it had been my local store, in Riberac, I wouldn't have had such a tough time as the girls recognise me there as a good customer!

Thanks for all your encouraging responses. Think I've calmed down now! I honestly went in calmly and was very polite, not in my nature to do otherwise. Just began to get angry after the manageress was so nasty and disrespectful! The box didn't look as if it had been opened but, those of you who shop in Lidl will perhaps have noticed that their boxes are usually "sealed" with a little round see through sticker, which can easily be carefully peeled off and re-stuck. Actually, the first box I picked up had a little bash in one corner so I put it down and took another....wish I had taken the first box! The very strange thing was that the scales weren't faulty but old and definitely used! Perhaps the store manageress had fancied a new for old set of scales! I love the quip from Pierre re scaling the heights and the balance of justice!! Made me laugh!

Hi Just thought I would share this with you so, hopefully, this won't happen to any of you! Yesterday, I popped into Lidl in Soyaux, Angoulême. I shop a lot in Lidl but don't normally shop in that particular branch so am not familiar to any of the staff. I noticed that they had kitchen scales for sale so bought one set. When I got home, I opened the box to discover that there was an old, used set in the box....very bizarre! So, armed with my receipt, I returned to the branch this afternoon. Well, the abuse I got from the young branch manageress was unbelievable! My French isn't very good but I managed to put over my case and could understand that she was saying that they could only give replacements/refunds if the item was either faulty or broken and that these old scales weren't bought from there, etc, etc. She was very nasty to me and basically calling me a liar. Well, I stood my ground and told it how it happened and that I had no reason to lie. She said to come back tomorrow! I said no and that I wasn't going until I had a replacement set of scales, to which she said that I could just stay all day then! She walked away and left me standing there! I would have walked out without getting a replacement but by that time, I thought, why should I as I had bought the scales in good faith and I could imagine them having a good laugh if I had walked out empty handed! So I waited and the manageress then came back and more or less threw a new set of scales at me! I told her that her attitude was tres mal and walked out with my replacement scales.  It was a really bad experience, made worse by the fact that my French isn't fantastic and also the store was full of customers, who must have been enjoying the spectacle! In future, when I buy a boxed item in any store, whether it be a box of perfume or a set of scales or whatever, I shall open the box to check the contents, at the checkout! I strongly advise others to do the same. Thinking about this experience, I can only conclude that it was an "inside job", as otherwise, why and how would old, used scales come to be in a new box and put back inside the shop? Also, the old scales were very similar in style and fitted the box, so could have been an old model bought some time ago! Never, in any of my good few years, has anything like this happened to me before and, of course, it would have to happen to me and not a French native!

We got our rescue Podenco cross (he's like a greyhound/black Lab cross but with big, sticky-up ears!...he's in my photo on here! The Spanish use them for hunting and they are very badly treated in Spain) from L'Europe des Levriers, via Magnolia who was fostering him. Inspite of his unfortunate start in life, he has settled in well and is adorable. He regularly goes for walks with our Dutch neighbour and her SPA rescue English Setter, who she got a few months ago. Her dog is 7 years old and was very traumatised. However, within a very short time, within a loving enviroment with plenty of excercise, he became a normal dog again and is now a beautiful looking dog with a very loving, friendly nature. It's wonderful to see them run free together in the field beside us. I would urge you, if you can find it in your heart to offer a rescue dog a caring, secure home, to please give one of them perhaps the only chance they so deservingly need. While the transition time for you and the dog to get to know each other may take a little time, the rewards are priceless! It is difficult to choose a rescue dog and you do have to be prepared to have patience as most of them will come with some issues. Try to choose one that you think will suit your lifestyle. At least, if it is an adult dog, you will have an idea of size, possible breed (or an idea of what type of cross!), temperament, etc. When you take him home, remember to show him that you are the boss (no matter how sorry you feel for him!) as you need to show him, in the words of the Dog Whisperer, that you are the "pack leader"! Keep him on the lead, invite him into your home, after you, and show him around in the same manner. We insist that our dog sits and waits even before he is allowed out. It does work! Good luck and best wishes.