Tresco

There was another Wendy James, comedic actress, who played the lead in 'Buttterflies', late 70's I think, but she also starred in something before that, Its driving me mad because I can't think what. Off to google if no one knows - obviously got toomuch time on my hands.

As greg says, customs should not be interested if the plants are for own property, certainly not in the plants you mention. It's the right time of the year to dig the plants up and get them into pots. I know some people, experts in fact, might say shake the soil off and replace with lightly moistened compost, then cover with bark chippings, but with a Bay of this size I would try to keep as much of the soil around the root ball of the trees as possible, to save damage to the roots, and prune it. Don't underestimate the weight of the soil for when you bring them over if you do this. They should all be fine till Spring, as long as they don't dry out completely, and a barn with a bit of light, or even a sheltered corner near a wall should be ok, if you wrap the pots in horticultural fleece. I think it can get very cold in Limousin? The expeption is the hellebores, which apparently hate being transplanted at any time, and can take as long as 3 years to re establish. Don't lose heart though, they say that about Peaonies, and mine flourished and flowered in the first year. To bring it I dug it up with tons of soil around it. I was  brought quite a few plants which had sentimental value, as you wish to do. I know I could have replaced them here but i'm glad I didn't. I stil regret leaving my Rosa 'Kiftsgate Phillipes' which was a fairly recent gift from dear friends. By the way, don't forget to tell your house purchasers, if appropriate, that you are taking these items.

[quote]Dont see anyone saying well done to GW,here goes WELL DONE,and maybe one day the french will come round and thank the yanks for what they have done for this country I live in,with out them there would...[/quote] Surely the first world leader to jump up and sincerely congratulate Bush was Vladimir Putin, the leader of the Russian Federation. Is that any comfort to you, 10 4?

The Americans are forgetting their history. They have a  lot to thank the French for. Wasn't it a French General, Lafayette (sp?) who led a decisive victory over the British, at or near the end of the War of Independence. The statue of Liberty was a tidy little gift too.  

Come back quick. I don't know how much info is still in the archived threads, but there may be some quite recent threads of interest to you. You may not know this but this forum went through a 'change' recently during which a lot of information was lost in cyber spave. Some of it is retrievable, by using the search function. It's a bit unwieldy but it may throw up some issues you need to consider. Then there are all the people who have been here in France for a long time, and seem to be endlessly patient and generous in answering questions or giivng advice. tresco   tresco

Jude, we (friends and us) chopped down about 10, the largest was about 50ft high. This was in UK. The guys clambered up the trees to cut off as many big branches as they could, and then cut the trees in sections so we didn't have the huge whole trunks falling. It was definately one of those jobs I wished at the time we had paid someone to do, but it was safely done in the end. Of course you are then left with an enormous amount of wood to deal with. We shredded all the leaves and smaller branches, and added them to the compost, gradually. The rest provided bonfires for about 2 years. If you are worried about whether you are allowed to cut these trees down for some reason, you could ask at the Mairie.

'Giant'? I thought he was one of the dinky ones. I could not then appreciate him as a player, because he played for the 'evil scouse empire' in the 1970's. Quite liked him on A Question of Sport though. I don't know whether he lived in Shefield, but for some reason he was often in a pub my sister worked in in the mid 80'S. She said you could hear his very distinctive, squeaky voice above all others. It's always as when people die so young, (re John Peel and Fred Dibnah, but I think we notice it or feel more affected when it's Sports men and women.

Living here, these are the things I brought on my one trip back, or asked others to bring for me. Pg Tips tea bags Books, loads DVDs which I find very expensive here, unless you slog through endless slash and gore films in the bargain section Any tree or shrub which you love and are not certain to get easily here Clothes from TKMAX reading glasses from ASDA 10 quid Pataks curry pastes 2 days Newspapers, preferably Sat or Sun. Photos nicked from mum and sisters. tresco

Hi Chris, we have slogged through our print outs from various websites here - not in your area, and pepinieres catalogues, but have not found any that stock 'intermedia', or 'aria', which I think is a very similar tree, apart from the leaf shape. If you are absolutely set on that one variety, if you get bare rooted saplings from the uk, that is if you intend to plant in the next 3 weeks or so, they are really easy - unless of course you are coming on the plane,  but even 10 of them will be fairly light and manageable.  If you do bring bare rooted plants over they need to have the roots in damp shredded newspaper, not straw, so you must specify this if ordering from a uk supplier. tresco

You have already been given some very good advice and I hope I don't offend you if I focus on clearly personal matters, but your posting is very personal and emotional in tone. What comes through to me is that you are very unhappy in your current situation. My first thought was that your user name could as well be 'wishIwasnothereandinthiscurrentsituation' Becoming single, after a long (even unsatisfactory) relationship is quite a shock to the system - to be parted from your son, who may be tall, but is still very young, also, could prove to be equally or more traumatic. (I speak from experience). Does your son want to be able to maintain his relationship with his father, if he comes here, or with you, if he stays in the uk? You clearly have a long relationship with France, but would you be 'running away' from things as they are now, or running to something good? Well, I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide. tresco    

Not just for you Alan, but for everyone We got caught, and rightly so, about 18 months ago, going the other way from Caen. I was dozing, when I would normally have been saying 'are you speeding etc etc etc?'. We got pulled and got a 750E on the spot fine, we were doing 100 in a 70 limit. The road was wide, empty and straight, but the limits are there for a reason. Often, in France, I think the limits are over generous. Others may be able to say whether you will be nabbed, or not. What I can tell you is that I have seen more mobile speed traps in France than I have ever seen in UK, so it's best to adjust and stay well within the speed limit. tresco

Sorry, there is no easy answer; I would: Empty the room as much as possible, et least cover large peices of furniture. Lightly sand the enormous ceiling. Hoover Paint with undercoat (sous bois) Sand again, lightly (don't forget the covers). hoover Paint with your chosen paint - eggshell in english, low gloss would be my choice under these circumstances. It will probably need at least two coats. I have an appalling repetitive stain injury from 15 years ago, doing ceiling work. It wasn't a house, but a charitable project I took two weeks annual leave to get involved in. Please DO NOT try to do this in a day, or even a week. I would advise, for any work where you have to have your arm in the air, to only do two hours at a time, at most, with a huge break in between. Please please take note of this, as you will not have any noticeable major ill effects, probably, for 2 weeks, even if you do it for ten hours a day. The mess and chaos is bad, but, not as bad as the alternative, and you should be done before Xmas. tresco  

I'm glad because I am the luckiest woman alive. I live with my favourite person in the world, I don't have to scrabble around in the morning and go to work 9-5, and I have the peace and tranquility I have always craved. I spent today planting trees, not for me, but the future, and I have just watched a fantastic programme featuring many of my favourite footballers of the last 15 years. Bliss. Tresco

Thanks, I see what you mean. It is really hard to see bikers isn't it, unless we drive as we are taught to, looking in all mirrors every few seconds, and as you say Miki, doing the full observation routine before manouvering. The thing is, they just seem to appear from nowhere. I would be very interested in what any bikers, especially those who are also car drivers have to say. One more question for the pot; why do bikers so rarely seem to have any part of their protective clothing in reflective or even brightly coloured material. Not getting at bikers at all here. Tresco

I appreciate the concern for bikers and all other road users too, but don't understand how car drivers using their side lights during the day make bikers less safe? Can someone explain. My father worked in a civilian capacity for South Yorkshire Police for about 10 years, and was involved in recording details of thousands of road acidents. His attitude to lighting up in dull weather and rain changed completely as a direct result. This was also before wearing seat belts became compulsory for front seat passengers, and we were among the only family I knew who all grew up using sealt belts. (given my fathers appalling driving, it was a good job). Driving at night, we tend to over rely on seeing oncoming beams from other vehicles. What about unlit vehicles, people with unlit cycles, obstacles round bends - for instance broken down vehicles, large dead animals etc? tresco  

Thank you Gay, I knew it was a regular poster. The card last year was great. I know it's a bit early for Christmas cards, but I am horribly disorganised about these things and didn't want to leave it. Tresco

Last year someone, (maybe SaligoBay?) posted a really lovely  E Christmas Card to forum members. Does anyone know the name of the company that made that card, or any similar ones? My family and friends mostly have email now, and I struggled to find cards I liked last year. Tresco  

I think my previous post was a bit abrupt, perhaps rude. Sorry. I have mixed feelings about this, but I really have a lot of admiration for people with teenage children who have the courage to make such a major move. If I had been convinced it was the right move for my whole family, naturally I would have done as other posters have. In such an instance, though, I would certainly not ask for the 'permission' of the children in the family. tresco

Elaine, thats fine for the parents, and what they go through, apart from where children are concerned. Just how thick do you expect your teenagers skin to be? How 'thick' was your 'skin' at 15 or 16? I am genuinely flabbergasted.

I stayed up till about 4.30, and found it really frustrating not to be able to follow every word. One thing I noticed was that 'it's too close to call' seems to have wriggled it's way, untranslated, into French. The former American Ambassador to France was really easy to understand though. Terrible accent, probably not unlike mine. Did anyone else see the long queues of people snaking around the block still waiting to vote after the official close of polling, I think in Florida. tresco

[quote]Alltogether now, (to the tune of the Westminster chimes): "Play on Pompey, pompey, play on!!!"

No don't bother, Alcazar, unless you have the time to do it by private message. I may be uninformed and ignorant, but I am not blinkered. I am genuinely confused. We were talking about MUFC weren't we? I did ask why do people hate MUFC, specifically, didn't I?. It goes way beyond 'historical' rivalries that have existed in my lifetime. Other 'monied' clubs simply do not attract the level of hatred that MUFC does. Some of my best friends are Man City supporters - i've always wanted to say that in writing. Even they don't understand everone jumping on what they see as their private bandwagon. (Lets leave Leeds, Liverpool, and more recently Arsenal fans out of it - its the rest I don't get) Iceni, I take your point about loyalty to your local team, and my gut instinct is that you are right, but the fact of geographical mobility makes it very different to when I was a child, when most people stayed pretty much where they were born, at least until adulthood. I spent 4 years recently going to see Tranmere, because I like going to matches, and they were my local team, but I will never say they are 'my' team. My partner, who was never interested in football until 4 years ago, is now a Tranmere supporter - and by the way, he hates MUFC too.

Here we go, trot out the same tired excuses 'they're rich' duuuhhhh - its coz they're succesfull. Would Scunthorpe not like to be a 'rich' club? Would you stop supporting them if they were, that is, if they were sucessful for years and years. 'their manager moans' - and yours don't? 'their manager will never admit they are wrong' - well, you and many others may hate Ferguson, but he is a very successful manager, who defends his players to the press and public, and gives them hell away from the camera. If any of you MUFC loathers have ever managed a team of highly paid people, would you use public/ritual humiliation as a team building excercise? If they are 'thrust down our throats', is that the marketing team at MUFC alone or the primarily the way the British Press seems to operate, on made up stuff about footballers and other 'celebrities, rather than news? What's really going on here, give me some proper reasons - not this hackneyed old tosh. tresco

I would like to know why people, generally hate Man U, you know, "we hate Man U and we hate Man U, We hate Man U and we hate man U......" and on and on. Not you specifically, but football fans generally. This Arsenal/MUFC thing is becoming a bit of a bore. As a life long Man Utd supporter, I think Arsenal are a great team, and love to watch them play, but then I am a woman, and don't do these things right, apparently.

Well, as a previous poster mentioned, with andouiettes it's the fact that you can see nodules and god knows what spilling about on your plate. I was a vegetarian for 15 years, and recently I had Horses Heart as part of a set menu.  I surprised myself. Quite tasty, and I love boudin noir, but andouiettes .....bleeeeuuuuch.