Monsieurmousseux

Ah, but it's not quite as easy as that ... There are over 200 kinds of verbena, both hardy and tender perennials. The further north you are, the more likely it is that you will grow it as an annual. Chrissie will find a lot more info here: http://www.botany.com/verbena.html

Or if you just wait long enough, Arnold, they'll eventually send you an invoice. Chill out, lay back, and do it the French way!

I think Wicce is being misled by your avatar photo, Chrissie, which does look like a marguerite to me. Since there are numerous kinds of verbena, could you do an image search on Google and post a picture of your plant (as it was last year)? The most common ones at the moment seem to be the Tapien type, which are generally grown as annuals, although some of ours have actually survived the -10ºC we experienced during February. And yes, the weather on the 32/82 border is foul, too, though as Patf said, things are really zooming along, and the rain and cool weather are certainly helping the new fruit trees we planted to settle in.

Back in the UK, white grubs I used to find in turves, or under the lawn, were leatherjackets almost always. These have a greyish shade to them, though.

Vine weevil grubs are only about 1 cm in length. The cockchafer grubs are larger by far. The problem is telling the stag beetle grubs from the cockchafer ones. As I researched this further, I came across a useful website, with numerous pictures of both adult and larval stages of various wood-loving insects. Click here. (See also the page that follows this one). It also crossed my mind - rather late in the day - that the larvae we are finding in our compost heaps (or pots of old compost) are hardly likely to be a danger to our structural woodwork, as there seems to me to be no reason why a beam-chomping insect would lay its eggs in a compost heap! So, whatever our big, fat, white grubs are, I doubt that they'll be the cause of your roof collapsing.

We, too, have found fat white grubs with brown heads in both compost heaps and in the (bought) compost in pots, especially containing last year's geraniums. Neither of the two pictures above seems to be the right one, and I'm still trying to sort out what they are. Vine weevil larvae also abound, and I remember this being a huge problem in the UK, when a Midlands fuchsia grower had his entire stock wiped out by the little herberts. Nothing is too evil for these grubs! I'm afraid I either despatch them with the boot or collect them and put them in a plant-pot saucer for the birds. The mystery grubs I refer to are about an inch in length, and, unlike the cockchafer grub shown, do not seem to have a heavily patterned back, but remain smooth. They move very slowly, but can "escape" if you don't keep your eye on them. We tried to rear one in a jar of roots last year, but the poor beast died after several weeks. The comment above about the unpleasant results of squashing the blighters certainly applies. Keep your face well away! Any help in identifying them would be appreciated, as we value our wildlife, and do all we can to encourage diversity. On the other hand, I don't want anything noshing through our roof beams!

Perhaps these pictures will help. First, a cockchafer grub:   And now a stag beetle larva:   Enjoy your meal!

Do you think George W. has advertised a property with VF?? I mean, check this out! http://tinyurl.com/aunlc

I updated successfuly just after Quillan's 12:54 post, so they were not offline for long, it would seem. I tried to post at the time, but I didn't succeed for some reason I can't remember. (That happens a lot these days ... Me not remembering things, I mean ...)

Indeed. Thank you.

[quote]Got to many comlaints and people not accepting his excusses or him not actually answering questions properly. By the way I got a booking last week, the first one this year through them. Don't think I...[/quote] What with mascamps saying that he will certainly not tell us what sites he is using successfully and now Quillan saying he's getting loads of bookings from unnamed sites, I'm beginning to feel really inadequate!! Paul (Who's without a single internet booking this year) Edit: What on earth has happened to the "quote" facility?

I just updated on VF, and was about to read up the postings on their message board, when I realised that the link to click through is no longer there. The forum is still there if you enter the URL, or click through from another link, but unless I'm losing my marbles more rapidly than I thought, VF doesn't want to play any more.

I have commented on this over on the thread concerned. I didn't realise straightaway, but a post of mine which followed Quillan's has also been pulled, along with the "here, here" post. I suppose they wouldn't have made sense without Quillan's post, anyway.

I do hope Ben at VF is reading this. Although, given the complete silence from the company on their own forum, I doubt it would make the slightest difference. If I lived over there, I might be thinking of paying a visit.

Quillan is right about them being a small company who take a long time to respond to anything. They even kept our ad live for months after the trial expired. Even when I took a long time to pay for the year's ad, they did not chase me. (It was due to computer breakdown, by the way!) And as for costs, I paid £116.32 in February for our year's ad.

I, too, have posted on VF's owners' forum, with no reply to my complaints and queries. We have had a number of "looks" at our page, and a number of people going on to the "enquiries" page - then not making any enquiry. It doesn't make sense, yet they (VF) claim that people look at the enquiries page just because they are curious!! If it was just curiosity, there wouldn't be so many people visiting the enquiry pages of so many property owners, surely, although without detailed analysis, it's impossible to be certain. I am very disappointed that nothing of interest has come through from VF, and unless there is a marked upturn very soon, we shan't be advertising with them again. That said, we've had nothing from other sites we advertise with, either, including all the freebie sites and one other paying site. Comments elsewhere about supply outstripping demand must be taken seriously, and also the fact that many holiday-makers are drifting towards eastern Europe at the moment. There is no point throwing good money after bad, though, and if there is no upturn in demand, I can't see that we shall continue with our B&B. We have not a single booking for 2005 from web advertising.

Well, better late than never ... I'm catching up .. Arnold, many thanks for offering to do this. I'll get my details to you in the next day or so.

Hi, Su. Thanks for the warning about scams. I did indeed smell a rat on receiving the enquiry. However, my nose may have been over-active! The enquirer gave her full name and address, including postcode, and a blueyonder email address. Seemed kosher. I went immediately to www.192.com to see what it came up with. The enquirer's name was there, along with the names of other occupants of the property, as listed in the electoral rolls for 2002-2004. I don't think a scammer would have put a full name and address that exists. Would s/he? Am I naive? In any case, there's no booking without a hefty advance deposit. Thans for your concern, Su. It's good to know that there are people out there who have genuine regard for other folks' welfare. And Lord knows, sometimes I need a lot of looking after!

Thanks, Arnold, Ian, Gay .... and anyone else whose reply I can't see because of this software ... All warnings, advice, info, etc., is noted, and clearly I will have to seek advice locally. If you're interested, I'll keep you posted. Oh, Ian, glad you like the username! But it's much easier to just use "Paul" - which is very convenient as it happens to be my name!

Yes, Ian and Gay. You are now snuggling up to the real problems I was grappling with! Thanks for your words of wisdom! I had not thought of asking her about her source of income!! I have just this minute sent this reply, which may lead to a little clarification. (Wish I'd read your last posts before sending it!) Dear ** *******, Thank you very much for your enquiry. May I advise you that we would be happy to accept a booking initially for one month, supported by a deposit of 50%. At the end of August, you would have the choice of continuing to stay here or of finding alternative accommodation if either you or we would find that preferable. There would be no difficulty whatsoever in finding other accommodation in this area after August. I am sure that you have studied our web page carefully, but may I emphasise that we are in the countryside, five miles from the nearest shop. There is no bus service in the village. The nearest school, if required, is about four miles away. This means that your own vehicle is indispensable. The garden here is not particularly child-friendly, though there are no particular hazards apart from the obvious dangers of the swimming pool. As you will be aware, our rates are ** euro per night for bed and breakfast. You may, however, prefer to include our summer kitchen, which would bring the cost to ** euro per night (breakfasts not included in this event), but would effectively make your stay self-catering. A booking for B&B for the full month of August would therefore amount to 31 x ** = *** euro. Deposit 50%: *** euro. To include the summer kitchen, the calculation would be 31 x ** = *** euro. Deposit 50%: *** euro. Deposits may be paid in sterling to our UK bank account, by bank transfer, or in cash, in euro, by post, with the associated risks of loss in transit. If you are still interested in our accommodation, please do get in touch with me again as soon as possible, so that we can confirm your occupancy before other enquiries are received. With kind regards, and thanks once again for your enquiry, Ian, with regard to our publicity, we're in the throes of assaulting all our local tourist offices, and have been busy improving our accommodation in preparation for joining GdF. I have the info pack!

Ah - with you now. If only that were the situation! No - we have plenty of availability, and we've never had to turn anyone away because we're full! Thanks for the input, though.

Not quite sure what you mean, Dave, but if it's any help we have a number of web-based ads, mostly free, but with two paid ones. The only enquiries we get are from Visit France - and they have dried up since February.

Thanks, Ian. I agree that, especially given the version of the situation I put in my post, the questions that our instincts encourage us to ask are "intrusive". I would never normally think of asking them: it's clearly none of our business. In fact, there are further circumstances which I would not want to publish on a public forum, that make us think that we ought to be just a little circumspect. To answer your questions directly ... We let out just one room, which has access separate from ours (i.e., the guests do not have to access our accommodation to get to theirs). In addition to the room, there is an adjoining conservatory. The client is proposing to spend five months here with a child. This is holiday accommodation, and not really geared up to having a semi-permanent guest having access to say, a washing machine. If we accept a booking for August and September, and that booking is terminated after, say a fortnight, then we would be unlikely to let it at short notice. Our occupancy rate is very low. We have only just started up in business, and having just one double room so that families cannot be accommodated limits our clientele. So does our geographic position - we are not in a touristy area at all, or at least not for the UK market. Do you (and others) think it is acceptable to require bookings on a fortnightly basis, in advance, with the client paying a deposit for each booked fortnight? At present we have no other bookings for the rest of the year.

Had an enquiry today for our chambre d'hôtes ... But it's for a five-month long "holiday". The potential guests are a mum and her three-year-old son. The rental period proposed is from August to December. Our accommodation is a double room (double bed) and furnished conservatory (normally unheated during the summer, and used for sheltering plants during the winter, when there's not much call for the B&B). We can also offer a fully equipped summer kitchen, which effectively makes a stay self-catering. So what are the pitfalls for us, the owners? What is the best way to go about making sure that this young (?) mum is fully aware of what she is proposing to do without us causing offence? What is the best way of protecting ourselves against the obvious dangers? Should we ask questions like: - Do you intend that your little boy should go to school here? - Do you have transport, as the nearest shop is five miles away? - Would you be better to book for a month/fortnight whilst you look for some more permanent accommodation? - Are you house-hunting? - How do we know you'll be here for five months, and paying your rent, because we won't be able to get new clients if you suddenly leave? Etc., etc. We want to help this person as much as we want to help anyone else who would like to book with us. But where does help end and nosiness begin? Maybe we should mind our own business and just keep quiet, and accept the booking - though that leaves us quite unprotected. What do you think? Advice, please!

Hi, Les. Thanks for the reply. It really doesn't matter that a few days have slipped by. We live in darkest SW France, and nothing here moves quickly! We love it like that, being sloth-like ourselves. Yes, there has been an email reply from Citroën UK. In my email to them, I made the mistake of saying I was already resident here, and they replied that in that case, I would have to apply via Citroën France. I have now written to Citroën UK (by snail mail) using a UK address (where the car is still registered), and asking for one that way. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for advice from others about going to the DRIRE. Clearly, if I hear nothing from C. UK, I will likely go down this route. Wonder if I could find a pair of headlamps down at the Casse ...