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Thibault

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Everything posted by Thibault

  1. Yes - you're all correct - it was Richard III, a much maligned king.  However, we must remember that history tends to be written by the victors, so we should not be surprised at the fact that Richard was "put down" by the Tudors - it was in their long term interests. One interesting fact, though.  After Richard's death, Henry Tudor had a Bill of Attainder passed against Richard which accused him of lots of things including "...the shedding of infants' blood...."  This was a fairly standard charge and was not specific to any particular person.  If Henry Tudor knew that Richard had had the Princes in the Tower murdered, don't you think he might have had this mentioned in the Bill of Attainder?  
  2.   Llwyncelyn wrote: I always change the soil in the greenhouse keeping mole hills and used compost that sort of thing and go down eighteen inches and use Jeyes fluid as well. Thanks for that advice.  Do you use the Jeyes Fluid neat or diluted?  
  3. [quote user="Renaud"]Quiz question: Who was the last British king to lead his troops into battle?[/quote] Good Ole George Number Two .....but who was the last King of England to die in battle?  
  4. Having just taken out all our outside tomato plants because of blight, we have just noticed that the tomato plants in the greenhouse are starting to show signs of the blinking thing. Obviously we will get rid of the greenhouse ones as well.  But, rotation of crops is not possible in the greenhouse as all we grow in there are tomatoes. Will we have to change the soil in the greenhouse?  If so, how far down do we need to go? Are there any other treatments possible to prevent blight attacking next year's crop? Any advice will be greatfully received.
  5. When I was at school in Australia, we learned the usual bits of British history - Romans, Angles, Saxons & Jutes, Tudors and Stuarts and the reforms of the 19th century etc all in chronological order.  We also learned about the discovery of Australia, the arrival of the first settlers, the relationships between the Aboriginals and the settlers, the various Governors and their ways of governing and all the various people involved in the exploration of  "inland" Australia etc.  We also learned a lot about the geography of Australia. However, that was more years ago than I care to remember, so I am not sure what children are taught now.[:)]
  6. The nation state we know as France today is relatively new (in historical terms).  After all, Nice and Savoy only "joined" in the mid 1860s. The history of the French crown over the years has been to painstakingly acquire all those independent duchies etc one by one to "grow" France.  It has led to some interesting marriage alliances.  For example, Eleanor of Acquitaine was quite a prize for the King of France - what a pity she gave him only daughters and Henry II all those warring sons [:)].  Then there was Anne of Brittany - married off to two Kings of France and again, only daughters.  Both ladies wanted only because of their lands.    
  7. [quote user="LyndaandRichard"]If it is global warming (if that theory exists) why isn't it hot? [/quote]   Because global warming leads to extremes of weather, hot, cold, windy and/or wet.
  8. [quote user="Will"]   I worked next door to Datsun UK in Durrington, near Worthing            [/quote] At Tesco's Will?  
  9. We have used LD Lines since they took over the Portsmouth-Le Havre route.  We have always found our cabins clean, tidy and comfortable.  The early morning self-service breakfast has always been good.  The loading/unloading at both ends has been carried out efficiently and usually on time. The main problem with the day crossing (if you use the "ordinary" family lounge) has been the extremely noisy, ill-disciplined British children whose parents make little attempt to keep reasonably quiet. We have had no problems at all with any of the crew.  The "housekeeping" and "catering" staff have always been cheerful and friendly. Of course, I can only speak of our experience.  We must have made over a dozen crossings with them and the above applies to all of them [:)]
  10. [quote user="spg"][ Horrible, empty pain isn't it; nothing ever fills it.  Sue [/quote] Yes.......not a day goes by without thinking of her.  I  don't mention it usually because most people don't understand how attached one can become to an animal. 
  11. For the last few months of her life, we had to give our clever cat 5 different pills a day, two of which had to be taken whole.  While she was feeling OK, this was not too much of a problem, but as she began to feel less well, it became a game of "cat and mouse" to try to get her to take them.  We tried wrapping in cheese, in corned beef, in Philly cheese, in ham, and various combinations of the foregoing.  Some days, it would work but on other days, she was suspicious of anything we put near her mouth. We had "lessons" from the vet about using a pill popper but didn't actually use that method in the end because she reacted badly to the vet using it and us amateurs didn't have the skill to do it quickly [:(] Our neighbour swore by prawns to get her cat to eat pills - she just hid the pill in the body of the prawn which he ate very quickly.  Ours, of course, would not look at a prawn. It is a real game and so frustrating. Our clever little cat died 17 weeks ago yesterday and I still miss her.
  12. Have you noticed the pricing stragegy at Ikea?  The same items are on sale in UK and France.  The prices are exactly the same in number terms but one is priced in pounds and the other in euros. EG  We bought an item for £35 in UK.  We found the same item for sale in France at 35 euros.  Why this difference?  Is it really market forces or a simplification of the computer systems that the same number is used in both currencies?
  13. I think in terms of the global warming and its causes debate, people will read into the various arguments and points what they want to see.  It is a well-researched technique for resolving potential conflict in our minds - cognitive dissonance - works every time. [:)]
  14. The original colour scheme throughout our house was white walls and wood - beams, panelling, stairs etc.  When we came to repaint the walls, it soon became obvious that the white was not brilliant white.  We eventually found that B & Q Calm Colours - Antique White was the exact match. It is a slightly creamy off white with none of the starkness of brilliant white. 
  15. I would be interested to know how the Brits have ruined one country (I assume their own).  I would also be interested in how they are now ruining France.
  16. Another option - increase the supply.  Build more houses everywhere - villages, towns etc.  Make one couple households move from 3 bed houses to 2 bed houses - for example, when children leave home, make their parents "downsize".  [:)]  Build more flats and fewer houses - better utilisation of land. But on a more serious note, have you noticed that in large cities like Birmingham, there is a lot of accommodation above shops which appears to be unused - I am thinking here of the shops along the Stratford Road, for example.  These buildings are very large Victorian buildings, often 3-4 stories high.  Why not encourage the owners to convert these into modern flats for young people or those who would like a city life style?
  17. Presumably it was one person, one vote.  Presumably everyone who wished to vote, voted.  I assume that no corruption was involved in either of the rounds.  In a democratic political system, doesn't one have to accept the verdict of the ballot box?  If you feel the  "wrong" candidate was elected in a free, fair and democratic election, surely the response is to organise and work towards voting that candidate out at the next election, rather than violent demonstrations, burning cars and burning schools etc.  After all, isn't that the way democracy is supposed to work [:)]
  18. A few years ago near Lewes,  a farmer stopped using herbicides and his wheat field was a mass of poppies.  People came from all over the place to see and photograph them, so many in fact,  that there were quite a few traffic problems.  Unfortunately that seemed to put the farmer off, and we have never seen  poppies in that particular field since. At the moment, the ox-eye daisies are blooming all along the main roads, especially in the central reservation.  They are a beautiful sight and hopefully the silly ******* who "mow" the verges and central reservations will not cut them down until they have had a chance to seed.
  19. We use large zipped plastic storage bags from Ikea for duvet, pillows and other linen.  They are specifically made for this purpose and breathe, but prevent damp and mould.  I don't know how they work, but they definitely do work.  They are fairly cheap - about 3-4 euros each and I can get four pillows in one case or two king size duvets.  I also include a couple of lavender sachets.
  20. When we had our caravan, Reims used to be our overnight stop - an ideal position which allowed us to get from Calais in time for tea and onwards to Macon for the next stop.  The campsite was always crowded and very overpriced.  We wondered why, with all the revenue, the facilities looked as if they were in need of a complete refurbishment. (They were clean, but shabby).  Then, one year, the campsite had disappeared - gone without a trace.  That was the end of our association with Reims. The campsite was located in the middle of an enterprise/industrial/business zone, so I guess that it was intended for redevelopment in the long term, hence the run-down facilities.
  21. Prasutagus - we are thinking of using the Dieppe-Newhaven crossing (out overnight via Portsmouth and back via a shorter day crossing) but are rather concerned at your description of the disembarkation process. Would you explain what caused you to describe disembarkation as the worst you have ever experienced?
  22. We have just acquired a 06 Ford Focus and are having great difficulty in finding the correct "spot" to put the beam deflectors.  We have tried the facing the wall trick but there doesn't seem to be any difference.  This is using Halford's circular deflectors, as recommended.We have also tried the Ford template but this doesn't seem to work either [:@] Has anyone any experience of putting deflectors on this model?
  23. I do love a real pizza.  I gather that the French in the South reckon they invented the pizza and the Italian stuff is a poor copy. Some French friends invited us round for a pizza party.  The man of the house proudly told us of his skill at making them (and they were good, too).  He just forgot to tell us that his wife made all the pizza bases and left them ready to be used, prepared all the potential toppings in advance, made the salad and chilled the wine [:D]  However, we couldn't fault his skill in arranging the stuff on the top and putting them in the oven.[:)][:)][:)]
  24. In that case, perhaps I should think about setting up in business as a bread baker [:D] The previous owners did use it but as they had 18 members of their family to stay at any one time, I guess they were prepared to spend the time and use the wood to set it up to provide sufficient pizzas. We are in 71 - do you deliver from 24[:)][:)][:)]
  25. Thanks Chauffour, we'll have to give it a try one day when we are feeling strong [:)]  We haven't measured the oven, but I think it may be a bit bigger than 1 metre diametre.  It is the type which projects from the building into a one storey extension and is about 9 feet long.  Is there a different method with the fire, to cook bread?
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