Keni

Use ours all the time, great for roast joints - fresh or frozen, just put in cooker and set to slow. If you want a glaze just pile it on! Depending on joint size 6-8 hours later, roasted to perfection. Going to use it for sticky spare ribs next week - great recipes on line from America on how they use their slow cookers!

We've got our shed on our bit of land - did a 'barn-raising' with friends and neighbours. Now houses garden tools, plus the camping gas cooker and facilities for tea/coffee and chairs - great when working in polytunnel and with our bees! Was a 'promo' at Bricomarché!

Agree with Pierre ZFP - Bruce Willis has done it before, a doddle to do it again!

Believe it or not - Wallpaper Direct! Went doolally trying to find wallpaper for bedrooms. Tried usual suspects in France, so googled and found this place! Has nearly all known companies, at good prices. Charged just £5.00 delivery and received it within a week.Ended up cheaper than buying in France - and Crown paper at that. You can also change your costs to euros if needed. Laura Ashley will also send their wallpaper over here! Also New Look - again ordered dress, here within 5 days, and could pay in euros. Apparently they have stores all over Europe. A large selection, great for us living in rural areas. However now M&S will no longer let us purchase from the Uk site to have delivered to France, so they have lost a customer, will only let you purchase from French site - but useless if paying in pounds, 'cos you can't do that. Being tall, I need to know I can get clothes the right size, have yet to find any local shops selling clothes for my age group and height.

Agreed - the problem being the moral it teaches is 'never trust your neighbour' - which most of us on the forum would not agree with. However it does open your eyes to what can happen - it ain't all roses!

No sign of the photo now! The police beat me to it. x  

Be warned, as I believe, when you receive your facture, you should just add the cheque to the envelope with the piece you tear off - that should only have the amount written on it. If you have signed it you are giving them permission to take the money by direct debit etc.

For those of you who love him - I believe he's at the Zenith in Limoges in Novemeber. For the others, Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople) is in his 70's and still going, as is Rick Wakeman (60's), Pink Floyd, Status Quo and many of the other greats. If you saw the Who at the Olympics, they've all got bus passes - apart from Zac Starkey of course.

I have the book with the letters in! Bought it at a jumble sale about 10 years ago. A good read.

Having had to spend a few days in hospital recently, I had an 'old girl' next to me and we conversed well in French, but she kept speaking to me in patois. So each morning instead of saying 'ça va', I now say to my neighbours 'cor vy biem' or goes it well. They think its a hoot, me having a go at patois, but it breaks the ice each morning!

We will raise a glass (or several) to you both tomorrow. xxxx

Congrats from us both as well. Good to hear from you.

As said by Clair, we are all here for you, just as she was for us. We will all miss her thoughts, comments and help. Remember, you are part of this online 'family', and like all families we argue, laugh and cry together. Our love and thoughts are with you. Keni & Chris. x

We reiterate all that has gone before - writing down your thoughts does help - had to do something similar (in a small way), but it clears the mind a little of the fog. Love to you both. xx

Oh Ian, we are adding our thoughts and good wishes to you both to the news  - Debs has helped us so much over the years and even just recently! Keep us informed of events, we know it is difficult, our love to you both. xx

We had a similar thing here in our village several years ago - a lady disappeared without trace, keys and bag still in house. With house to house searches and even a helicopter brought in she was never found! Hope it will be better news for this lady, but doesn't bode well at the moment.

Send her our best wishes Ian, here's hoping it's just a glitch and it will be better news!  Love to you both. x

We have near us on a road to Javerlac a Pys and Ars one after the other!

And I thought Bic for ladies was a razor!!

Both the OH and I have worked all our lives, I worked my way through college and gave up work due to poor health just a few years ago. We retired early on the OH's pension, that he paid into for 35 years. We have no credit cards and owe no-one, we claim no benefits. We paid into the Uk system from our first days of work and await to see what, if any pension we will receive. I remember our mortgage repayments around 1989/1990 being at 14% - it meant we had to work harder and maybe not have the holiday we wanted. We did not spend our time in the pub or at nightclubs. If times were hard, we knew we did without - and I'm talking the 90's here! What is the mortgage rate now and what would happen if it went to that scale now I wonder? Who would be expected to re-housed by the government? Our children both work, and would not want to go 'cap in hand' to the government for housing etc. The bit I find hard to understand is that the disabled and the pensioners being attacked are all people from families - so are those who are doing the 'attacking' so dispossessed of family life that they cannot relate to it - hence the reason for attacking or do they feel 'left out' and this causes them to attack those 'different' from themselves?

I hope Hollande does good for the 'common man', it's a pity that Cameron is now so up himself. He had a disabled child, and appeared to understand the needs of those who really needed help from the Government, including the handicapped, elderly and homeless, but now with his posh friends he seems to have forgotten who he's supporting and who really needs help. And why when the UK gets a Prime Minister does he start thinking he's got to be big on the international stage, before the home one is sorted? Look at Blair, all he seemed to want was brownie points abroad, so when he lost he's covered his back. Surely the needs of the country come before the needs of every other country? I know we need to work closely with other countries but there's a limit. Anyway, I'll wait and see what Hollande is going to do, apart from what he said he's going to do. The village here all seemed to have voted for him anyway.

When we bought this place 9 years ago, there was a large flowering pink fuchsia in the front and a tiny flowered one out back. They must have already been at least 10 years old. They have survived every year, but with the warm autumn/early winter, didn't die off, and when freeze came, they both died back. Now the small one at back is already springing up, looks alright, but the one out front looks like it's succumbed as it's weeping a sort of pink/orange jelly, presume it's a rot of some kind. Pity as I think they were planted by the lady of the house, who died quite some years ago.[:(]

I know of two people last year who caught this awful disease in this area - both ended up hospitalised and unable to walk for a time. Hope your son gets well soon, best wishes Keni & Chris

Good Luck Pads and great news. Best flour for Yorkshires is Farine (type 55) a basic plain flour. If it says its for patisserie, usually it's self raising. As to Lakeland, if there's anything you can't get, they post over here, same as M& S for £7.50 a load. Apart from that I've found most of the exchange foodstuffs for baking - just wish they had a wider range of the Dr.Oetker stuff in the supermarkets. So have a great time and don't panic - it's only another day in your life!!![:D]

Interestingly, of the 305 voters in our village/commune, Hollande  (99 votes) came first, then Mélenchon (66) and then Sarkozy (62). Marine le Pen - had 35 votes! I also note François Bayrou also got 19 votes! So a right mix around here, even Eva Joly got 7 votes and Dupont-Aigan/Poutou and Cheminade had a few each .