Catalpa

There you go, Merlin. But I think you need to go into Photobucket and reduce the size - to, say, 600 x whatever - to stop the page distorting. Good luck with finding them a foster home. [IMG]http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab161/squarepeg2010/DFBill.jpg[/IMG]

[quote user="cooperlola2"]...so the tumour was removed lock, stock and ovaries! They also performed a hysterectomy and an appendectomy at the same time, so all the useless stuff is gone.[/quote] Well, it's a radical way to lose weight but hey... silver lining in all clouds! Delighted that the news continues to be good. [:D]

What 5-E said! [:D] I'm so pleased for both of you.

Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher... [blink][8-)][:-))] Well, that's one of the funniest images I've had for a long time. [:D] Oh I can see all the benefits - a major star, does most of his own stunts, a photo opportunity every time he picks his nose - but really, a 6'5" giant of a man Tom Cruise most definitely isn't. But then, it is very rare that characters are cast to accurately represent the book when a movie is in the offing. Someone like Neil McDonough (Boomtown, Desperate Wives, etc) would probably suit my mental image better. Edited to add: I'm sure that Lee Childs is thrilled with the possibility of Tom Cruise. It's such a validation of his writing and the character he invented... and if he's on any percentage of the movie (unlikely, though) he'll get a better return on a Tom Cruise-led film than with someone who looks like Reacher but isn't serious box office. Too old now but Richard Dean Anderson would also have made a good Reacher. Imo. [;-)] He was more or less who I had in mind when I read the books.

No single room supplement...? yes, the fine-tuning of bureacracy is a wondrous thing! Good start to a difficult week, I think, Mr Coops? But look after yourself too. I know from family experience, the focus is on the person in the bed but the nearest and dearest has, in some ways, an even more difficult path to walk and they - you - matter too. I hope you have someone who's there for you if you need to talk. Take care and best wishes. [:)]

[quote user="Quillan"]The problem with putting a fridge in the breakfast area for guests to store their food is that it does not stop there.[/quote] For us, there's a clear deliniation between guest accommodation (the upper floor with its own front door) and ours - downstairs with the stairs going down from the guests' sitting room. There is no reason for them to come downstairs except for breakfast, for dinner if they are eating in or if they want to talk to us. If they want to talk to us, they usually come half-way down the stairs to attract our attention and then I walk them back up to the guest sitting room to discuss whatever it is. We have our own front door. That clear distinction between our area and theirs seems to be a barrier that - so far! - hasn't been crossed. They have to ask us for plates and cutlery if they want to eat outside - and I make it quite clear that providing this is part of the service - so I control what they have and make sure it all comes back. So far, so good... though obviously, human nature being what it is, at some point there'll be "some issues"! Yes, I do a fair bit of running around after some of them, but that puts me in control and it's much better to "guide them"! than leaving them to their own devices. And yes, if they picnic, that's extra washing up... but they enjoy themselves, the dishwasher doesn't take long to load and loading it is faster than spending 3 hours cooking for them. [:D]

[quote user="JJ"]I personally find it quite rude to turn up at someone else's HOME (although they are paying!) with food and expect it to be stored. [/quote]Assuming they haven't turned up with three shopping bags full of perishables... I don't find it rude. Do you provide evening meals for guests? Or are they turning up with provisions for picnic suppers? Our guests have their own under-counter fridge in their coffee / tea-making area. It is made good use of and I supply stickers for them to write their names on their produce to reduce confusion between different sets of guests. In general, they are not permitted to use our kitchen for cooking but if they are catering for babies then I'm somewhat flexible about this. Also, if I like the guests and they want to prepare fish (say) that they've caught, they can do so in the kitchen and cook it on the barbecue. The thing with running your own business, you make - and vary! - the rules. [:D]

[quote user="Quillan"]I did find it a bit alarming that there are people as young as 14 however, 18 and over I don't have a problem with but 14? I just wondered if I was alone in feeling slightly uneasy with this.[/quote]I don't suppose they are being brainwashed. Not much difference perhaps to whatever sparked William Hague's interest in politics leading him to address a Conservative party conference at the age of 16. Cue the cheap jokes at Hague's expense, of course but some kids are interested in horses, some in sports, some join Young Farmers... and some are inspired by politics and public service from an early age. On the face of what I've read, I don't see it is something to be concerned about at all.

[quote user="idun"]Relgion. What is it about it that breeds such evil and has done throughout time.   [/quote] I don't think religion (and I have no beliefs myself) does breed evil... it is just the hook that a very few socio/psychopaths who are sometimes labelled as "extremists" hang their obsessions, their urge to do grievious wrong and justify it. I don't think it is religion's fault, as it were. If the hook isn't religion, it will be something else... religions are, in some instances, just convenient.

If you're saying what I think you are saying - and hopefully  you are not... well, how bloody unfair can life get? Have as good a weekend as you can and my very best wishes to you both. I don't usually "keep things crossed" because... I just don't. But on this occasion, an exception is being made and I have an unfeasible number of things firmly crossed for you both for a good action plan to kick off next week.

I think these non-vet issued products often go some way to preventing worms but if an animal has an infestation I am less convinced... actually not convinced at all... that they will get rid of it. If a cat (or dog) has an obvious problem, I'd use Drontal or similar and then perhaps revert to an eco product. Yes, there is an expense attached to this, but I really don't want worms and eggs being deposited around my home for me - or anyone else - to pick up on my fingers... toxoplasmosis is to be avoided if possible.

[quote user="Sara"]We live 20 minutes from beautiful  Honfleur...[/quote]A lovely place to be. [:)] [quote user="Sara"]...so not all english kids are frustrating for the teachers. [/quote]Agree totally - and I didn't mean to imply that at all. It's the first few weeks / months for older children with no French that is apparently the problem.

Kitty did say that her child/ren were the only British children in the school/s which may have had some bearing on their easy transition. I think in areas where there is more British immigration - this part of Normandy, the Dordogne for eg - having to regularly integrate British children with language difficulties would quickly become a chore. ETA: At least, I don't so much "think" it as repeat what an ex-teacher friend of mine told me.

I'm sorry to hear you have experienced that in Normandy, Sara - although, it's a big region... about the size of Wales iirc, so it is not surprising that some places are less welcoming than others. This is perhaps particularly in poorer areas with few employment opportunities where British people are perceived to be wealthy. And, in comparison with some French families, on paper at least, we are. I had heard that some teachers in Calvados / Manche were becoming increasingly irritated with British kids starting school with absolutely no French. Teachers felt that those with no language required a disproportionate amount of class time compared to other kids who had different but no less important needs. Which is, I suppose, another reason to ensure that kids start school with some language - it benefits the teaching staff too.

[quote user="Daft Doctor"] Mrs DD and I have just finished watching saisons 1 & 2 of Engrenages on DVD and I have to admit it was very difficult to pick out more than the occasional phrase or words as it is just so fast. [/quote] Don't feel bad about that! There is a fair smattering of verlan.

[quote user="Daft Doctor"]Thank you as always for any insight.[/quote] My insight would be that if these "expats" didn't do pre-emigration French lessons they can't say with any certainty how much lessons would have helped their kids. You know yours: will he be happy to go to school with no (or very little) French? Is he so resilient that he doesn't need the bit of confidence that having the basics (even if that is only être, avoir, faire, aller and the other immediately useful verbs) plus the vocabulary that relates to the school day will give him? And, to be cruelly blunt, if you can't afford something as relevant as French lessons for Jack now, is your budget sufficient to get you set up successfully in France? Jack will likely continue to need French lessons when he arrives here to get him up to the standard gramatically of the average 10 year-old. Whatever that standard may be. All his contemporaries will be 10 years ahead of him. Any help you can give him now has to be useful and kind. But as has been said, it needs to be fun. Are there any French kids in your area in the UK who might be occasional playmates to get him started?

[quote user="The Riff-Raff Element"]Very shortly the Scotland Yard tea lady (whom, I believe, is called Ada Scroggins) will be running the Met. Exciting times. Particularly for her. [/quote] Indeed. Here's Ada, second from the right. Professionally, she goes under her middle name for security reasons.

I will always take a re-home in future having got such a gorgeous dog via that route a few years ago but (and this does not apply to our dog's past) I would never blind myself to the fact that one cannot know what irresponsible or plain bad owners a dog has previously had and how those bad experiences will manifest. I don't think it is unreasonable for new owners to be made very aware that things can go wrong. I remember a very sad posting - I think on here - by a devastated owner who adopted a dog and who, some weeks later, attacked and killed one of their cats. They'd thought everyone had settled well; unfortunately that proved not to be the case. If I had young children, I know would not risk a re-home unless I knew its background and owners well. I realise that is not necessarily what people who're doing superb work rehoming dogs would like to hear but it seems a no-brainer to me.

[quote user="Evianers"]Just read on another website that a gite owner in Germany pays her cleaners between €7-9 per hour: not only that, but a similar person resident in France says that €9 is the minimum wage paid to cleaners. Is this correct? If so it is pitiful.[/quote] Is the Swiss figure you quote the gross or net pay to the cleaner? With most work, there is a going rate for the job and the area - or country. I expect in Paris or Berlin and similar cities, cleaners will be paid more than their small town (or rural), few employment opportunities, basic-waged cousins. It's not pitiful - it's what it is. If someone wants to earn more doing the same job then they can, of course, choose to go to Paris or Berlin - or Lausanne - and take the increased wage (if that is in fact the case) along with the concomitant increase in their cost of living.

[quote user="NormanH"]Am I the only person who has been watching who is irritated by the extreme bias of the French commentators?[/quote] Nope. And it happened during the last Olympics too. Or at least, I particularly noticed it then. Sometimes I had to resort to tinternet to find out who'd won if a French competitor had come second or third. Or fifteenth. But I do agree that British commentators are almost as biased... they do usually manage to announce the other placings, though.

Thank you very much for all your replies. I've given said friend a link to this topic so she'll benefit from your suggestions direct. Thanks again. [:D]

[quote user="AnOther"]I'm sure the silence says it all [;-)] [/quote] ...and clearly it did not. Congratulations Mrs O - and Mr O - for pursuing this to a successful conclusion. [8-|]

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]@ catalpa, well it could be some sharp cookie who has registered it, but it's almost certain a new paper will come out. [/quote] Agree totally. It's all a sleight of hand exercise by NI.

[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]brianagain, i don't think you are a cynic at all. http://webwhois.nic.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?query=thesunonsunday.co.uk The Sun on Sunday domain name was registered on 5 July 2011.[/quote] By whom? It could be a sharp cookie who is now squatting (ewww) on a potentially desirable domain name... unless your research has informed you otherwise. But I do agree that the Sun will go Sunday Sun. The NotW is dead! Hurrah! Except that... no doubt the senior management of the newspaper and the Murdoch corporation will come out of this relatively unaffected whereas the "ordinary" staff of the paper who had nothing to do with the ugly, unacceptable behaviour of the investigative arm of the newspaper lose their jobs as part of the damage limitation exercise. Poor sods.

[quote user="Cendrillon"]She's a very brave lady. [/quote] Indeed she is. [quote user="Cendrillon"]Please add my best wishes to those of everyone else on here. [/quote] Seconded. Hope Deb has had a better day and you both have a better idea about a) what's going on and b) when she'll be home again.