Tresco

James, I'm very very sorry to hear this. No one can ever know in advance how they will respond to a loved ones illness, but for you and Phil this must be the right decision. I am certain your father will be glad to have you nearby again. Maybe you should tell him that he is the reason for your return - to have this much evidence of your feelings for him will mean a lot, and you will only have to think of a false excuse otherwise. I loved your site, and by the way everyone, James emails are just as funny - I don't know how he keeps it up! Good luck guys. tresco  

We have a stainless steel liner right the way up the chimney, all costs roughly the same as Dicksmiths - we are in 17, Charente Maritime. The final decision was, 'where do you want the poele?'. Well, now I know the guy should never have asked me this question. He knew, and should have told me the best position for it in the fireplace. Unfortunately, at that very moment, I had visions of friends and family, on holiday and drunk, leaning on the lovely stone fireplace, in front of the poele, and burning themselves. "Put it near the back", I cried. Big mistake.  The woodburner needs to be as far forward in the fireplace as possible, otherwise all the heat goes up the chimney/into the stonework. I paid for this last winter, both in fuel, and humiliation - well, it's so obvious once someone proves to you that all the heat is rising to the (little used) room above, and TOH points this out at every available opportunity. The horrible thing is, he's right. (for once). tresco

Why are you proposing to chuck it, or sell it cheap, if it's good stuff? Is there no way you can work it in to your new kitchen, with new cupboard  doors? That said,  I know someone on the verge of buying a house in 17, that needs kitchen cupboards, and would let you know in 4 days if they were interested.

Sorry, here's another tip, always check your spellings. tresco

Cann't help with kots of your questions, but before we moved over we had ours, which was black, steam cleaned and the result was great, and never mind the adze marks. We now have a beautiful golden, natural wood ceiling. Heres the 'but': We had ours done before ripping out the old paquet which was rotten, and sitting on bare soil. This meant when the new floor had to be laid - membane, concrete, parquet, the ceiling took in all the dust and dirt that resulted. Someone more sensible than me will hopefully tell you the correct order that the jobs should be done in, all I know is, I spent about two weeks (spread out, because there is no way that anyone can spend that many hours with one arm in the air) scrubbing my newly 'cleaned' ceilings. S'nice to be retired at 42, but after that experience, I did not feel retired, more like ready for the grave.   tresco

Than you James for your comprehensive reply. tresco

If you want ceramic tiles (slippy and cold I think) the floor they are laid on has to be screwed down every 12 inches, I think, due to the movability of wood. Sorry I can't be more specific, but I have to add, whatever you decide on, make sure there is decent sound-proofing put in between what you have now, and what you finish up with. It's surprising how certain sounds can resonate through the entire house without it. tresco

I finally discovered that if you ask for, say 50, records to a page, they will come up, but that just gives you 50 posts to slog through, with no indication at the outset as to why they come up. It could be that it acts on just one word you have typed in your search. I have posted in the LF forum about this tonight.

The search facility, as Rita has pointed out tonight, is more of a liability than a facility. It chucks up all sorts of stuff, and you have to slog through it all to see if it is relevant. However, a blessing in disguise, ??? it never lets me get past the first 10 posts, sayiing there is an 'error on the page'.I can't find anywhere I can post my real name in my registration details - can anyone help with this. I don't particularly want my name on the internet, but I am aware that some users don't feel comfortable about responsing to 'anonymous' posters.The  intensly annoying 'time out' feature, for anyone wanting to respond to a post in detail. (Miki excepted, I salute you)I have been getting autoemails from james, updating me when there is a response to something I have posted in. I don't want them.Last but by no means least, the 'quote function' is a load of rubbish. There is no point having one if you cannot quote from at least one posters views, preferably more.Thanks for the forum, LF, but is it possible to sort the problems out? tresco    

Sorry Pixie, know all about plant death heart-ache, but with Geraniums, apparently, they do need a bit of light to see them through. Come on Normandy gardeners, I am very happy to be corrected. Now, we had some in Wirral, which I admit is very mild, and we left them out in a very sheltered position all winter, did not look at them once, and we even had snow, and thick ice at one point. Is there any way/where you could bundle them up, leaving a gap for the light? I used to use all sorts of stuff in colder climes, (sheffield) scrunched up newspaper, dried atumn leaves, bubble wrap round pots. Have you any kind neighbours with a bit of perspex in their barn roof? I am worrying myself sick about your geraniums, Pix, let me know what you do. Yes, Tresco, Scilly Isles, have you been?

Recently two groups of friends of mine have booked gites on the internet. Both were very unsatisfactory experiences. One was described as modernised, and the photographs looked lovely, but the dishwasher was right next to the point where the septic tank had to be opened for emptying, (frequently, owing to a fault in an upstairs loo, which English people who had never owned a septic tank could not possibly hoe to understand, and the house, advertised as modernised, had only been modernised to the extant that it had a new boiler. The second house, was advertised as having a swimming pool, had a blow up pool that you needed to climb up into. Also, the gite was on the first floor, the resident proprietors had a bedroom which they used in the same area as the 'gite', their child and dog made frequenty use of the 'private' garden, and the gite was on the first floor; not on the ground floor as indicated. The fact that these owners asked my friends to look after their child while they went out to the restaurant just about capped it all. Incidentally, this property is now on the market. Those of you that are offering a quality service, keep at it, spell out exactly what you are offering, its the dissimulators that will go by the wayside.  

If the insulation is done very well, you may find that the noise gets quieter, and quieter, with some pretty frantic scratching in the meantime, which grows fainter, night by night, and then it just...dies off, depending on how long they can survive on your very exensive insulation materials. Speaking from en experience I would have got by without, tresco

Sorry Pix, not to have answered before, but please don't panic, unless you left on the ferry today. Are you here all year, or is it a holiday home? Have you got any potential places. We are looking into it, seriously. tresco

Well, we will probably have many years to discuss this in. I suspect many people in France, Germany, and Austria have the same views as Dunrunnin, as far as Turkey being mainly muslim - even though it is a secular state. I also appreciate how such majority views arise, although I disagree with those views, and particularly the subtext to them, very strongly. tresco  

Carol, now I know where you are, thought you might like to know there is a huge pepiniere near Corme Royale. Its on the main road between Saintes and Isle D'oleron, about a mile past the exit for Corme itself. They may well have bare rooted shrubs - they seem to have everything else. There is a smaller centre just before it, but thats not the one I mean. I havn't seen bare rooted shrubs in supermarkets though, although I agree they seem to settle better. There a very big Jardiland at Saintes which had good selection of hedging plants, this time last year, and also a good big garden centre next to Auchan in Cognac, which would be a bit of a trek for you I know. There, the more plants you buy, the cheaper they get. tresco

Oh Cjb, you married  a french woman!. How much did she charge you for lessons

Ther have been times when I have wanted to seek and destroy, as far as that woman is concerned. AAAAAAHHHHHH, hee,  hhee, oooohhh! Not least because, at one point, I thought I might be a bit like her, but not quite as stupid. I love it when he gets cross with her - not half as much as I would, my teaching career would have come to a sudden and violent end with her as a pupil. What I have found though, is that as the course goes on, she is in it less and less, so if you already have the full (8cd?) set then stick with it, you will develop a sort of 'that woman' filter. People have recently recommended Pimsleur as a similar (method), and in some ways better, alternative.

It is very difficult to know what to do. I know a few people who have lost money buying into what turned out to be very dodgy investment schemes. The people who have all my sympathy though, are the post war people who believed all that 'cradle to grave' stuff. It seems obvious to us now, with hindsight, but the post war generation were really duped. I have read much of the literature from that period, and seen most of the films etc, very convincing. What really, seriously annoys me is that 'that generation' includes people who underwent hardships and horrors that I hope I never have to endure, and that by the time things became clear, it was far too late for them to do anything about it. Even worse, that was the generation who abhored and avoided 'handouts' of any kind, the people who grew up either remembering the 'poor, and work house systems, or knowing about it through their parents.

Nothing we brought with us doesn't work, although the people who really truly know about electricity say some things don't work as well. They are probably right; for instance, I am convinced my iron is not as hot, and the kettle takes longer to boil.

Logan, I think most of the positive things you mention are applicable to UK, (although maybe fresh bread wasn't 22 years ago).   

Where in France are you Carol?

When I went to England, recently, for the first time since moving here,  I drove over the Snake Pass from Manchester to Sheffield. The scenery is glorious, much better than where I live. I was thinking, 'why didn't I just move to Derbyshire'? - but there was no way I could have afforded what I have here. So, I guess I'm with Weedon, for the most part, although the climate, nearness to UK, and TOH throwing his teddy out of the cot played a part. I really like UK, and consider myself very lucky to have been born there, and now to live in France.

Stew, while I know very little about philosophy, I do know about quoting sources, in an academic sense. I thought of that deconstructing thing independently, and am most disturbed to hear someone else has nicked my original thought. Still, it was fairly obvious. The rest of your post was great.

Yes, so true, or is it?????? Also, I don't know what Derridas thoughts on death were, but it's occurred to me that at the moment he's experiencing the ultimate in deconstruction. I know thats in poor taste, but I like it.

That would be Chienchyna.