Cat

[quote]We have one - Cercis, the Judas Tree. Try http://www.the-tree.org.uk/BritishTrees/TreeGallery/judasc.htm Mike[/quote] Many thanks Mike, that's exactly it! What a wonderful place this forum is

Recently I've started noticing a small tree or shrub sprouting beautiful dark pink blossoms, especially in the central reservation on the autoroute between Cahors and Toulouse.  The blossom seems to be growing directly on the branches (rather than dangling at leaf level) and is most intense on closely pruned plants. I've spotted a few in gardens as well.  I'd love to buy one, but I've no idea what it's called. Does anyone have any idea what it could be? Thanks.

Recently I've started noticing a small tree or shrub sprouting beautiful dark pink blossoms, especially in the central reservation on the autoroute between Cahors and Toulouse.  The blossom seems to be growing directly on the branches (rather than dangling at leaf level) and is most intense on closely pruned plants. I've spotted a few in gardens as well.  I'd love to buy one, but I've no idea what it's called. Does anyone have any idea what it could be? Thanks.  

[quote]Spot on Tresco, I was referring to the original posting. As "un dame du certain age" myself, I'm afraid I find grown women who attempt whimsy, feyness or gawd help us, cuteness, very difficult to tol...[/quote] Good grief, could you possibly be referring to me? Whimsical (Chambers definition: expressing gently humorous tolerance) certainly, fey (eccentric, slightly mad) well perhaps. Cute (daintily or quaintly pleasing, clever, astute) well who knows, but that really isn't for me to judge. To me it seemed obvious that furryknickers was aiming to provoke us with a veiled tale of the debauchery of one of his menagerie of animals. I don't for one moment believe that he was referring to himself. And so yes, my reply was whimsical. And, as one woman of a certain age to another, I am truly sorry if this offended you. Funnily enough I have a huge amount of respect for Ms Greer, not least because she manages to champion feminism whilst still retaining a gloriously dry sense of humour.  

Hi Steve I have a Thomson Scenium HD recorder/DVD player.  I bought it a couple of years ago when I was living in the UK, but it works just as well here in France.  I use a Sky box, and have my UK channels connected via a SCART cable to EXT 1 (via the Sky box). I recieve french TV channels using the local cable system. My TV is set for SECAM, and I have had no problems recording. I can use the Sky programme guide to select the channel (and switch channels automatically if necessary) to record, but cannot use the EPG on the Hard disk recorder.  Instead I have to manually program the recorder with the channel (Sat 001) and time of the program. I have never tried recording french programs, as I tend to watch french TV and record the UK stuff for viewing later. The HD recorder will also do all kinds of things (that I never use) such as allow viewing of a recorded program before it has finished, and recording "live" TV (allowing me to pause or rewind programs as they are transmitted). The only problems I have had have been due to my forgetting that UK times are an hour behind french ones, and so missing the first hour of any UK programs I recorded   I've now overcome this by setting the clock on the recorder to UK time, and leaving it like that. Hope this helps.    

Hey Jon, when did your furry friend learn to type?  How did you teach him?  Did he learn all his tricks from you? Don't you get paw prints all over the keyboard?

[quote]There is some info on this site if you do a search, which if you can manage to do you're a better man/woman than me. You need to go to the person in charge of the market and there are regulations whic...[/quote] Hi Jorja Whilst not claiming to be a better man than Patf  (just someone with lots of time and patience, what a monster the LF search engine is) this has been discussed before. http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=276&messageid=82813   Hope this helps   Edited. Pah! Just checked the links in the posts the above link references (they were from William the Conquerer) and they don't work. Could someone in Admin explain why?

I had no choice, I had to watch it at the insistence of the french fella.  He was making turkey noises before it even started! For the first few minutes I sat stony faced, whilst fella nearly wet himself laughing (it's one of his favourite films too Mistral).  And then, and I don't really know how, I started to enjoy it.  Perhaps it was the tiny hamlet, so like the ones so many Brits are so keen to live in, the patiois, the potager, or maybe just the clogs. I loved the nodding gendarme too! Learned some new words as well, although I'm not sure I'll ever get to use cannon in the local bar

[quote]Ah! I too am after a double oven... and keep finding empty holes for gas bottles... where did you get your's from in the end?[/quote] I'm also trying to find a double oven, and was about ready to give up until I came across this website http://www.promotions-fr.com/article__08_Cuisson_Cuisiniere_listeproduit.html They feature hundreds of different models of cooker, and there are a few double ovens there too. They also deliver I haven't ordered anything yet, so don't know how reliable they are as a company, but I'm seriously thinking of giving them a try.

[quote]Sorry to get off the question, but how did you explain that to your neighbour, how did they take it? That is just a really awful job for you. Georgina[/quote] Georgina raises exactly the same question I had in my mind when I first read the original posting. I have to admit that I'm not really a dog lover, but even so my first thought was not "how will they get the pool fit for swimming"?  It was more along the lines of "good grief, how awful, poor dog, what on earth can they say to the neighbours?" Hope everyone is still on speaking terms  

There are lots of signs up locally for a brocante just down the road from Cazals, in Salviac, but it's not until the 5th May bank holiday (ascension).

[quote]I asked my UK doctor the same question before moving to France and I was told the request would be considered ONLY if it came from a French doctor... even then, the file would be copied and forwarded ...[/quote] I don't know when you moved to France Claire, but ever since the UK Data Protection Act came into play in 1998, patients have had the right to view their own medical records. There is an interesting and informative piece on this on the Department of Health website http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/InformationPolicy/PatientConfidentialityAndCaldicottGuardians/AccessHealthRecordsFAQ/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4039714&chk=iOJNGp

These de-bugging messages are probably due to your internet explorer settings.  They are often caused  by small scripting errors on the web page you are opening, and although they are useful to IT professionals trying to de-bug (resolve) a problem, they are of no interest to you if everything is working OK for you and you have no other internet problems. The easiest way to stop them appearing is to go to the tools menu in internet explorer, then open the Internet Options... dialog.  Hit the advanced tab, and the second section down is Browsing.  Are the Disable Script Debugging boxes checked?  If not then check them and all should run smoothly. Hope this helps

One very noticeable difference is that sofa-beds are much more expensive in Ikea France.  But then again, when you look at the truly horrible "click-clack" designs available elsewhere in France, maybe Ikea think they just can't lose

It is worth remembering though, that the advertised price usually includes agency fees, and that the money going to the seller will be less than the stated price.  So if you make a lower offer, the actual percentage of profit for the seller falls off quite steeply (as the fees will stay roughly the same). All depends whether you feel the original asking price is vastly inflated or not.

I know what you mean, I've been here 9 months now and still find it a bit tricky sometimes. It doesn't help that it differs from region to region either!  But here in the Lot, the trick seems to be, a kiss on each cheek on meeting (but not a "real" kiss, it's more like making a kiss sound whilst touching your cheek against their's). Being a woman I get to kiss both the men and the women, whilst men seem to only kiss very close male friends, but all women friends. Otherwise it's a handshake for them. If you meet someone on the street, or in a shop or bar, it doesn't seem necessary to kiss goodbye.  If you have been in someone's home, or they in your's (for a meal or visit) then kissing goodbye seems to be called for. Round here it's only the first time you meet someone on any particular day that you kiss on meeting. And as for which cheek to kiss first, I've never been able to work that one out, and often used to do a fair bit of nose-bumping whilst swooping in on the wrong side.  Then I read a post on here that suggested just holding still until the other person made a definite move for the favoured cheek, and that seems to do the trick.

[quote]The expression comes from a comedy sketch by Eddie Izzard where he goes on about how useless some of the French you were taught in school was. The synopsis was that he went into a forest and released...[/quote] I'm a avid Eddie Izzard fan, and know the "Le singe est dans l'arbre" story almost by heart. Imagine my huge delight when, walking by the river in Cahors last year, I spot a small courtyard containing both elements essential to the story! Imagine also the probability of my being in the company of a visiting english friend who is also a big Eddie fan. Imagine the ensuing scene... Me, pointing wildy at monkey on chain in tree  "I don't believe it, look, LOOK.. Le singe est dans l'arbre, LE SINGE EST DANS L'ARBRE!!!" We laughed until the tears ran down our legs Good luck Dilbert, just make sure you use your "best laid plan....." and heed not the mouse with the flipchart  

Another good site is the microsoft knowledge base http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1 This is the site used by many microsoft support staff to search for answers to problems.  Just paste the error message you receive into into the "for" section and you will probably find the answer you are looking for.

Mmmm, lovely soft carpet underfoot, heaven!  Not very french though, sadly. I always found carpet very easy to keep clean, a weekly run over with a hoover (not one of those silly "pull-it-along-like-an-uncontrollable-puppy-on-a-leash" things, but a good stout upright model).  Nowadays I have lovely chestnut parquet floors, not too hard to keep clean either. But the next house is having under-floor heating (and fella prefers tiles anyway) so tiles it will have to be.  So my question is, what is the best way for someone of a slightly idle disposition (me) to keep them clean. Please don't tell me that they have to be swept every day   And you have to sweep before you wash them don't you, so you end up having to cover the same area twice?  Or is there a special do-dah that kills both birds with one stone? I know it sounds idiotic, but I've just never had tiled floors before, and life is too short to be spending half of it cleaning them

[quote]Hi- often the cheque itself isn't really from the person who sent it-it could be stolen or counterfeit .[/quote] There was a report on this on Watchdog a few weeks ago.  The problem, as Lizzie rightly points out, is that the cheque is usually stolen.  When you get your bank statement, or you check your account on the internet, the cheque amount appears on your statement, giving the impression that the cheque has cleared, and that "funds are available".  This is not actually the case, as it is not until the cheque is returned to the originating bank that the problem is spotted, and the cheque bounces. This often takes several weeks, especially when the cheque originates from another country. By this time the unwary gite/B&B owner has already checked his bank balance, and believing the cheque to have cleared, sent a cheque to the fraudster, refunding the difference between the original cheque and the real cost of the booking. They interviewed a representative from one of the big name UK banks, asking why bank statements show funds as being "available" before a cheque has actually cleared, and he was unable to give a satisfactory answer.

I've just noticed that BBC2 is showing the GCSE revision aid bitesize programs French 1 and 2 tonight between 2 and 6am (that's british summer-time, not french time). Never seen one of these before, but I think I'll tape them and see they help to remind me of all that stuff I thought I'd forgotten Pants!!! Just went to set the video, and according to Sky it's not on BBC2 England at all.  Seems it's only BBC2 East, and I can't get that here in France Double pants!!! It looks like the BBC internet program guide has thrown a wobbly, and the programs were actually shown last night.  Forum Admin, please feel free to delete this post (I can't).    

[quote]Ah that explains something my husband said today. He had heard that back in the 50s Monaco almost reverted to French rule - Rainier was single, with no children. Now can someone explain this please....[/quote] According to the Telegraph, it is not Prince Albert's current childless position, but that he might never produce an hier that was the problem (see below)...   Under the terms of a treaty imposed by the French government in 1918, the 700-year-old Grimaldi dynasty would have died out and Monaco would have become French territory if Prince Albert came to the throne and died without an heir. The change to the previous rule of primogeniture was slipped through the Monaco parliament ... It will allow one of Prince Rainier's daughters, Caroline and Stephanie, to inherit the throne from Albert, if he remains childless. Under the old constitution, the succession was limited to a ruling monarch's children: so if Albert were to die before his father, the title would have passed to one of the princesses. But if Albert became sovereign and were to die without issue, his sisters and their children would not have been eligible to inherit. The reason for this was that in 1918 France had become concerned about the principality's future because Louis, the 48-year-old heir to the throne, was a bachelor. The next male in line to succeed if Louis died without an heir was a German prince, the Duke of Urach. At the end of the First World War Paris refused to countenance a German monarch in Monaco, so it imposed the constitutional provision that only the monarch's own children could inherit the throne. To avoid the demise of the dynasty then, Louis adopted the daughter born to his mistress 20 years earlier.  

Assuming you have one of the £20 Sky Freesat cards, and are using a Sky box, you will need to phone Sky.  Despite the blurb that accompanies the card, in reality it seems it is ALWAYS necessary to do this to activate the card.  If you are living in France, and don't have a UK mobile, you will need to get a friend in the UK to phone for you.  The things you need to note down and pass on to your friend can be found using the Sky remote-control Services Button; then 4 System set-up 5 System details then make a note of the manufacturer, model number, version number, serial number, viewing card number, operating system number, EPG software version. (You won't need all of this, but it may help to avoid any akwardness when calling Sky). They will also need to tell Sky the UK address the card was supplied to, and the telephone number. If Sky ask if the digibox is connected to a phone line, the answer is no. Happy Viewing!

Swissbarry, shame on you! Another thing that we "women of a certain age" have to watch out for (in the wee-ing department) is not to dampen our undercarriages when overcome by an explosive laughing fit    

Hi Clair According to their website http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/zonealarm/znalm_details.jsp  it will run on Windows ME, see system requirements below...   "System Requirements: Windows 98SE/ME/2000 Pro/XP. Pentium II or higher. 30 MB of available hard disk space. Internet access. Minimum system RAM: 48MB (98SE/ME), 64MB (2000 Pro), 128MB (XP). Supported protocols for email scanning: POP3 and IMAP4 for incoming; SMTP for outgoing."