Alexis

Oh yes!  A bit of forward planning....

I nurture my cobwebs all year so they are nice and BIG for Christmas. A quick squirt with either silver and gold eh voila! They are also pretty good for putting on wounds.....

Can't be a knocking shop as they only trade in the afternoon by the hour.....   don't they?[:P]

What a bunch of Girlies you are!!!! Spiders DO NOT EAT big people.  Don't worry!  They eat flies so must be encouraged. Now, worms are dangerous.  Did you know that they are small snakes.....?[:P]

I can recommend a charming, small hotel for about the same price (or so I found when I was looking) Eclos de l'Eveche.  You will find a site on google.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but didn't Redcap move over a couple of years ago?  2005? I seem to remember giving him a route....he is perhaps still lost!!!

It should be fine if it has lots of booze in it to preserve it. I have a pudding that I made at least four years ago and when I got it out the other day and had a look at it, the top looked a bit dry but yes, I will be cooking it this year.  I will either feed it up with brandy or cut that bit off...

I agree about checking the dates.  I put my glasses on now to have a look.  I've been 'done' in the past. All chickens going into a battery house are injected to prevent salmonella.  I have done a lot of these injection jobs.  You are more likely to pick it up from one of those family run fresh from the field places I believe.

Well, I'm not very technical. I hope to be around at least for some of the time...! I really ought to ask about it on the other section.  I don't even know how laptops work but I do know that OH had one in the hospital that was sans fil so I am sure it can be done.

Monsters!! I fully intend to have nine months touring and to come back here for summer....can't be doing with tourists[;-)]  No.  We are not selling. Sigh. Italy is going to be first.  I WILL get to see Venice.  I also want to learn how to make proper pasta and risotto.  I have already got my eye on a campsite just across the bay from Venice and I was thinking of a month but perhaps six weeks would be best...what do you think?[6] Thank you for your good wishes.  Much appreciated.

Never, ever, put eggs in the fridge. Butter is out all day too in colder days...in a container, of course...but goes in the fridge in summer if it is very, very hot.      

All you good folk who supported me through OH's illness - you know who you are - everything is going very, very well indeed. Touch wood. The doctors are surprised at the speed of his recovery.  He has hair again!  Still has to have a blood test every month which we will send to Nantes but his last bone marrow test was a big fat zero. He wanted an adventure so we are off to Scotland to rent a place for a few months.  Originally it was to see if he could cope with the winter weather and look for somewhere to buy but we have changed our minds. We are off around Europe in a motor caravan...I had been motor caravanning for years before I came here but it is new for OH. In a very few months we will be in Italy and then...who knows?

Now, now.  Just because you like to float into the UK in style. By the time you have queued for the restaurant, I can be over the water and into the nearest pub[;-)] As for the second post, I seem to have missed a point somewhere...which makes a change![:D]

I have been meaning to correct my post...it is a Moulinex, not a Murphy Richards.  I knew that there was an M somewhere! I have just been down to put it on and my fingers worked quicker than my eyes and it is on the wrong programme.... Going to be one of those days.  I'm not dressed yet...

Just received the email.

I like Cora. Not been there for a long while. We are taking some wine over with us next month.  Something sweet to go with the foie gras, and a few bottles of Muscadet.  I shall be buying Australian red from Tesco.  Or Asda.  Or Sainsbury's. I can't wait.....fortnight from now I will be sitting in the pub after spending all the morning reading the Sunday Times and looking forward to spending all afternoon reading the rest.

Mine is a Morphy Richards.  I 'do' my bread on 12.  Leave it in until it is well risen, take it out, knock it back and then mould.  I use Francine bread flour or flour I have brought back with me.  I have bought the Lidl mixes but not tried them yet. I'm into bread cakes at the moment and they are great...www.francine.com has a forum which is good.  Try the petits pains à tomber.  Cooking the bread in a closed pan in the oven works a treat too.

That is what I said Ron. New paragraph.  Change of subject etc. I still have five million cards though...  AND I threw some out in a rash moment.

At the last count, I had just under five million fidelity cards... I need another purse to carry them all! Leclerc is each store.  When I went to Nantes every day I parked my car in their car park before catching the tram so I did a bit of shopping there.  Never very much but each time I was asked if I would like the 20 or 30 centimes in hand.  At Ploërmel where I do a lot more shopping, they never ask.  I must have hundreds in euros earned there.  They will usually ask in December. I prefer Super U or Champion.  I've got some lovely gifts....[;-)]  Never go to Intermarché.

My smile would be drooping too, Jan.  I knew about this year but I hadn't realised it had been going on for so long. Still no help from the doctor?  Could you have a food allergy or something which makes you not lose weight?  It must be something. You are perhaps allergic to lettuce and other 'diet' foods and you should be eating dumplings, swigged down with gin...[:D][:D][:D] Be brave.  We will all arrive at our targets one day.

I can't help you with the South Beach as I haven't read the book.  Gay knows all about it.  Swears by it as she lost loads of weight on it.  I am sure it will come up if you google it.  It is all about GI foods I think.  I found it a bit complicated.  I am eating oats for my breakfast now though which is a Good Sign.  Shame I like them sweet. What's all this nonsence about deep fat fryers???  Both your husbands must be in league!  Are your husbands being deprived? ha ha ha!  Gilles would eat chips every day if I cooked them. I have lost nearly three stone this year with a lot of falling off the wagon so I am really pleased.  I can cope with a very slow weight loss as long as it doesn't go up when I'm being bad.  Let's face it, I'm not 'suffering'. Do you remember people warning us at the beginning not to lose weight too fast?  It still makes me smile!  Fat chance!![:D]

The season here in Josselin is short.  Eight weeks?  Certainly by 15th August, people are drifting back to work.  When I did it it was mainly July and August.  I wouldn't recommend it for a sole person.  I was cream crackered!  All that ironing in 35°C. Actually in Josselin we are well served by hotels and b&b.  Once upon a time, in the good old days when people came here to look for a holiday home, the b&b scene was busy but now that the people have bought their houses and let their friends visit them cheaply or run gites on the black....  There are a lot of British around here now with a spare bedroom or two. Also, in Josselin most b&b don't do evening meals as there is so much choice for eating out if that is why you were asking about the kitchen. All the restaurants are closed now...I have been trying to find one open during the week on an evening (one we like, that is) and there is nothing open. I can recommend the lovely sunny October weather though.

Tell me about it. How can one litre of oil turn into five litres of splashes and drips? If the diet suits you, keep at it.  The only way to lose weight is to stop eating so much and shift about.  It is finding the method to suit you and everyone, of course, is different.  The less pain involved, the longer you can keep it up. Gay swears by South Beach, I like Atkins but I'm going through an orange fetish so I am counting calories, one Jan was on salmon and melon for a time I think... We have tried and failed on them all over the years but I am doing alright this time.  Up until now...[blink]  I'm fancying egg and chips and I don't know who to blame......!

Don't worry, if I wanted chips I would have them.  I just can't be doing with oil everywhere.  I threw my chip pan out as no matter how many times I scrubbed it, it was a serious health hazard. I would rather drink wine or gin than lager. . .

In the supermarkets, there are just as many huile de tournasol as pur beurre.  Even the boulangerie has two kinds...lower fat being one. I'm a pur beurre type of Girl.  If I'm going to push the boat out, I might as well sin completely.  No point otherwise[;-)]