Tresco

Re advice "Don't give a woman advice; one should never give a woman anything she can't wear in the evening" Oscar Wilde. (I have to disagree with Mr Wilde on this occasion, i'm hoping for a leaf blower for xmas). The following is one of my favourite little quips about women - just to show what a well balanced individual I am, "An occasional lucky guess as to what makes a wife tick is the best a man can hope for. Even then, no sooner has he got the hang of the tick, than she tocks". Ogden Nash

What did God say when he created man? "Surely I can do better than this"   Why are all dumb blonde jokes one liners? So men can understand them.

I'm surrounded by vineyards here, but am yet to see one with any sort of hedge within, say, 4 metres of a row, so you may have to make a choice between the privet and the vine. Your neighbours may spend the next year or so shaking their heads and doing that "pfoof!" (thats french 'phoof!, not English poof) if you choose the privet. You do often see a small rose bush or other plant at the end of rows of vines - these are to provide an early warning of any disease ior bugs which might affect the vines. Mick, it's the most fanastic day today, clear blue sky, the sun is steaming the dew off, and the mist is hovering above the vines. Hope it's nice in England for you.

Thanks, but in this instance too much knowledge has turned out to be a bad thing. I spent more time watching the pulse rate last night than listening to the questions.

Sorry to those in uk/without french tv. Zone Rouge is a quiz show, and i've become a bit of an addict, but, although I try and try, I cannot fathom the rules relating to the contestants pulse rate. Can anyone explain them to me.

Well, thats spooky, cos he said it in a french accent

Agree with that SB. Sarko - when I first moved here I kept seeing him on the news eyt. 'Who is that man' I cried, I found him rather hypnotic, and I recently realised that he reminded me of Peter Mandleson, not the real Peter Mandleson, but the cartoon swoopy spooky one with the spinning eyes and Darth Vader-like attributes, who used to on one of Rory Bremners shows.

I don't know whether it's 'everyday' or not, but the other night, watching the top 100 emotional moments show, presenter said 'le top ten' several times'. (And isn't it wierd to watch a programme like this and only recognise 15 out of 100 'moments?). Also, and this is straying from the point so sorry, but watching 'Questions pur un Champion', a contestant, Gerard, was told 'good luck to you'. What was that all about? If he was English I couldn't tell, and he'd won three programmes in a row by the end.

Next to where it says control panel, above here roughly, it should say pm waiting, or similar. You need to be logged on for it to be there, which you are at the moment. If it's not there you can click on contol panel, and scroll down the list until you come to PM's received (or something like that). Hope this helps.

Hi, we are west of Cognac. We love it. The tresco thing comes from a really idylic short holiday we had there about 5 years ago. It's very expensive to get there, and to stay there, but there are no cars on the island, apart from the few inhabitants cars, so it's very very peaceful. Tresco Abbey Garden is fantastic - that gulf stream effect again (we went in February). Before that we had a couple of days in Cornwall where we spent a whole day at the 'lost' gardens of Heligan, which were still under the process of restoration at the time. 43 trees planted, just under 100 to go.

Panqur, would you say that Eire is still very much a non-secular State, I mean does the Catholic Church still play a large role in provision of housing, health and social care, either directly or through its charities? You also pointed out that society there is in a state of flux, and I agree. My impression is there are a lot of issues bubbling under the surface which have yet to find full expression in societal conflict. I hope Eire deals with them better than many other European countries. I love the whole country, we have many relatives, North and South, and have never had a bad time there, but like you, I feel I can have a better quality of life here. Re Sweden, my brother has lived there for about 10 years, speaks the language fluently (on the telly as well), but there is a price to pay, both financial and cultural, to move to somewhere with a ranking that high, and he would say that the factors which have to a large extent underpinned society, and helped foster high levels of social cohesion there, have been fracturing for years. Very interesting place, Sweden.

Hi Mick, I agree about the hard (physical) work, when it's for yourself though! Just got 140 bare rooted trees delivered so I have no choice but to love it.    

  RE the current situation in the Ivory Coast "I'd be wary about a serious debate about it here, for fear of bringing out the racists versus the PC brigade" (Will the Conq). Well I'd be wary too, Will, but because I doubt very strongly that I, or many other people here know enough about this very complex situation. If there are racists on the forum, they are hardly numerous, or indeed a homogenous group, any more than the people who speak against racism on the forum - I assuming that you would include them among the PC 'brigade' you refer to?

Deby, i'm sorry but I really think the answer is no. I have never entered France without being asked for my passport. Perhaps you could enquire at your dads local passport office to see if there is some solution.

Or writing Private Eye, rather than reading it?

[quote]Tresco, is that the lot who wear very tight shiny trousers in bright colours like Marc Bolan and Sweet did in the 70's or is that the Satinists?[/quote] Thanks Val 2, that was very quick

It was a good joke, it wasn't offensive, but it was just that, a joke, it isn't real, Val 2. 'Political correctness' is very much maligned, but I have a lot of time for it. I suspect i'm one of the few here who think that.

There is a real, if disected Nelson quote in there "you must consider every man an enemy, who speaks ill of your king, and above above all, you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil". (Still thinking about the dinner party guests, in thread stared by Quillan recently, but could I have Nelson as the waiter, Quillan?). Reminds me of a story only a couple of weeks ago about a sailor in the Royal Navy who claimed his right to practice his religion on board - he's a Satanist.

Hi Mick, I'd love a little tractor too, but its not worth me getting one and I live here. A neighbour may know someone who has both a tractor, depending on your decision about the field/s and a mini digger for the other work. Re the trees. I don't know if you are in France at the moment, but if you are you should probably stake the trees you have already planted, if you have not not done so already. You'll know all about the fierce westerly wind we get in 17, if they get rocked about at the rootball they may not survive. The land, well it's lovely to have land, but wandering around 2 football pitches picking up weeds is no fun, and it makes no difference to the weeds. You could have a lovely area of (hard)woodland, you will no doubt have been regaled with tales of how many trees Charente Maritime lost in the great storm a few years ago. You could have a huge orchard too, but someone else may know how much maintenance is needed to keep it nice. It sounds great anyway, whatever you do with it, and if you want any more detail about the option I have suggested please ask - doing all this sort of stuff at the moment not too far from you.

, but why Mel Gibson? I thought he was Australian. tresco

Buy, probably, but it's a lot of land for a rotavator. Whats the soil like, and what do you want to do with the field. Running out of time, more on trees another day - but do tell us what you did with them, how big they were etc?

Was there a house thrown in 'free' with that price. It has to be a mistake. Friends pool from Desjoyeaux, last year, was 10 by 5 for one with nice curved edge and 'roman steps' and cost roughly E20,000 (not including landscaping which could add a fair whack). Was he talking in Francs, perhaps?

We changed to fr.weather.com when meteo started charging, also does 15 day forecasts and a good world service. Can anyone tell me  why c*o*c*o is a rude word? Reply to her, without doing the asterix thing, and it looks like you're swearing at her.

That suggestion makes a lot of sense. It's irritating to open up your email to find 6 messages from James, all with the same title, so you have no idea to what they refer in terms of forums or topics, but I have to add, it's even more irritating when you have never subscribed to the service in the first place

Sorry Dandaz, there are about 30 pics in my big book, but none of them are in a trailer. When you put your trees in, if you planted them in/with peaty type compost, it might be an idea to water them again now, unless you have had a bit of rain in the last few days. Even though theres a lot of dewey stuff in the morning, that peat can dry out very quickly.