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Dont panic! Where is it, how much is there? How do you know it is dry rot? What type of house is it? Could be damp mould, dry mould, shifted tiles, a leaking gutter or loads of other stuff. Half the old houses in France have some sort of rot, beetle, damp problem etc. Tell all and we'll try to help. Tim

Somewhere between Private Eye and the News of the World. If this is the best job of vilification the Left can do then they are truly as barren of ideas as the campaign suggests.

But see a book called Chaucer's Triumph, just published, on Amazon. Self Published and doing well. But as Angela says, it is a bigger risk.

And the little bag they carry for their necessities  is called a 'baise en ville'. I wont translate as I am sure you can work it out.

What is a nightjar's call like? I hear something sharp at night and can't identify it. Tim

But in fact the most important things are to decide on your readership, quality of book and how you are going to sell it. In my case, I researched a topic - The Civil War and Genocide in the Vendée -  locally, which was a really good way to get to know the area. My readership is Brits who want to know more about the history of the region they live in. Then looked at publishers, but the delays they wanted were very long and the return to me was very low. So, found a UK company who specialised in this type of book (The Short Run Book Company, in Windsor) who were very good. Don' t print too many!  Then selling. Well, bookshops want about 25% or more, but a I put a few in these. Finally, network quite a few, give lectures and sell some, always keep copies in the car and stop when I saw a Brit house, but most important, flog them in the local supermarket car park, which is where Brits congregate. Illicitly of course. And Angela Bird was kind enough to put it on her site too. Realistically, you ain't goin' to make a fortune. If you break even, good, be satisfied with that. So far I reckon I have sold half the run and hope to get rid of the rest by the autumn with a bit of luck. Anyone wants more info. let me know. And if you want a copy of the book, it can be arranged as it would be good to see what is possible with self-publishing. Tim  

No, it was because my daughter's name was on the credit list and they wanted to acknowledge her heroic efforts in what is a backbreaking, underpaid, discriminatory, old boy ridden industry.

For removing hemmoroids?

I imagine your local GP could give you a few ideas of gynos in the area.

Both GDF and EDF are going to lose their monopolies in France in a very short time. Has anyone been approached by alternative suppliers so far and if so, what did their deals look like?

Thanks for your advice both of you. Will get them sorted tomorrow. Tim

Cuckoos dont make nests nor do they hang around to watch over their brood. But they do call when they have laid I think. Funny, never heard one at night though. Couldn't be a sheep imitating a cuckoo could it?

Careful it could be my sister, so no digs about fleshy strawberries please;

Last night was perhaps the noisiest since leaving London. Frogs all round, owls, cattle and my lovely nightingale, maybe a fox barking. Plus another bird I haven't yet identified. Who ever talked of country tranquility?

Weeble, being stalked on a site is to say the least worrying. Is there any way you can let us know what to watch out for or is it entirely a personal problem?

Sober? Seems a bit bare. I guess this is a second home from your job and stuff. What is the plant drawing behind the table?

Planted lots of bulbs this year - daffs mainly- in big flower pots. Would now like them back so I can use them for other things. So, can anyone please tell me if I carefully get the bulbs out and stick them all in a huge old pot I don't need whether they will finish their growing and be ready for replanting next year. The flowers have all gone and the leaves are going brown. Thanks Tim

In fact I think I might still have mine here somewhere - the Anne Summers one.

Up till a couple of years ago martinets were sold in the pet section of the local Super U. But locals told me they were still used sometimes on kids.

The new Europe certainly does not give freedom to work and live where you want to. Ask the Poles and Hungarians, the Romanians. And why are most jobs in the service sector in France reserved for French nationals, why don't the French recognize others' qualifications? As for the fears of Turkey?

Logan, this view is really rather idealistic isn't it? The market is controlled by the strongest and richest in their own interests. Look at the USA, subsidising cotton and killing competition at home whilst dumping it cheap abroad. Europe with food exports is the same thing. Totally free markets are an ideal that can never work, like freedom without responsibility.

Incentive can only be encouraged when the targets are feasible. So, let young people buy their property part by part, as they can afford it, the rest belonging to a housing association of some sort. (Though not the same as in UK at the moment). Let them work as hard as they like until they pay off the house in say 20 or more years. Also, tax profits on houses, even first homes.

Try this. http://www.northernrock-guernsey.co.gg/

Yes, but, as in UK, insufficient provision is being made for youngsters to get on the ladder.  Here in the Vendee wages are generally low ,though at least people are employed, and youngsters cannot afford to buy, even the little ticky tacky boxes so loved by the developers. I don't accept that a 'have' and 'have not' situation is reasonable. And yes I know about working hard and doing overtime, but that would be difficult in France where overtime and the 35 hour week are inhibiting earning power. And I am no leftist, believe me.

Renaud, I'm sorry to say that my lines about Chesil Bank were all my own, but I think the book is outstanding. Tim