Trishaa<P><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><EM>Trisha<EM><FONT><P><P><IMG height=198 src="http:www.gifmania.co.ukDisneyWinniejpoohlef.gif" width=133><P><P> <P>

Sorry Di, it wasn't like that -  fatter and far more brightly coloured with a very definite pattern on his back (it's such a shame I didn't have my camera with me) Although now I've heard of the peacock moth I'll be on the lookout for that - it sounds great too.

Yes Peter, his wings are flapping around for me   How do you add these onto your signature and where do you find them? I had no idea that they also had bull rings in France, I thought it was only on the Spanish side that this occurred.  Do they kill the bull as well or is it just a 'chase me' sport? I do love the door and the wonderful thought of the cakes. I recently bought old ten pins and bowling balls (on good old e-bay) plus a croquet set and I'm wondering if our neighbours will find them whacky - I'm far more interested in the unusual French interests than the very 'british' ones.

Hey, that's great Peter, where did you spot it?  It looks like a fun one to watch. Trisha

While walking to our local village an enormous brute of a caterpillar crossed my path.  No joking he was as long as my hand and thicker than my thumb with wonderful colourings of orange/green/red which crisscrossed his back (so I guess he might be poisonous to other creatures).  My 82 year old partially sighted mother who was with me had no trouble seeing him!  I've never seen one before so now wonder what on earth will he turn into - does anyone know?  Trisha

Is it just the good ol' brits that go in for these mad and eccentric sports?  I'm thinking of lawnmower racing, gurning and such like.  Personally I'd love to have a go at lawnmower racing - that sounds like great fun - I think our neighbours would certainly think we were barmy brits if we suggested it Are there any funny French antics to be had in the country which would be good to either join in or view? Trisha

hey, that's a brilliant website - thanks It is on the peripherique that I've spotted the 'car on fire' - so now I know.   I'll be looking out for the others  Cheers to you, Trisha

OK I'm going crazy over some of the French Road Signs that I see so can someone point me in the right direction please On the whole I'm OK with lots of them but some of them I just don't understand - what are they trying to tell me??  I guess the one with the car on fire means that going down that road could cause your car to instantly ignite - or is it just going to overheat in hot weather.  There are so many others that are a puzzle too so is there a website which gives them all?  I'm frazzled by it all, Trisha

Hi,  I've been on the Skype website http://www.skype.com/products/skype/windows/ and they say the minimum requirements are: PC running Windows 2000 or XP 400 MHz processor 128 MB RAM 15 MB free disk space on your hard drive Sound Card, speakers and microphone Internet connection. Any broadband connection or minimum 33.6 Kbps dialup. GPRS is not supported for voice calls. Results may vary on a satellite connection. 56K modem will work but you may have some dropouts and my hubby says there is a slim chance that it might work with Windows 98 but he's not sure. I hope this helps a bit. Trisha 

With hubby in the UK and my 82 year old mum staying with me I decided to do some gardening so that on his return he'd be chuffed to bits with my progress.  So donning my Dr Martin boots and a rake I went into our field to rake up the long cut grass in a pile - when I thought I'd got most of it together I smugly thought I'd have a small fire!  What a huge mistake, after an extremely hot sunny day it took off... going completely out of control and before my eyes it began to quickly spread.  I ran to the house and screamed for my mum to help and continued screaming 'au secours' for our neighbour as I filled water container after water container and ran back and forth trying desperately to put it out, even stamping on the edges as it grew.  Eventually my neighbours wife arrived with a hose (we haven't bought one yet but it's now a priority) and with her help plus my dear ol' mum we girls eventually put the damn thing out.  My face is now a deep shade of red, mostly through shame, I know it was the stupidest thing I could have done - I feel such an utter fool for being so dumb and I'll never attempt it ever again.  I just needed the chance to say please if you ever feel like doing the same thing - a word of warning - DON'T. I've invited the neighbours over tonight to say 'thank you' and put a bottle of champagne in the fridge, it's the least I can do at the moment. Trisha

I've never had mic problems with Skype, but we have got Skype phones (bought in the UK & cost per phone £29) so I'm presuming that makes a difference as you're not using the computers mic or speakers.  We are connected via Wanadoo ADSL in France and the lines have been perfect - I can hear and speak with no interferance at all on the line.  I now want all my friends and family to go on-line and it will be 100% perfect

Wow we've just got SKYPE (Voice over IP) and it's fantastic. Hubby is back in the UK and I'm speaking to him via the internet absolutely free of charge - wonderful.  We can chat for as long as we like and it doesn't cost a penny in telephone charges.  If I want to talk to someone who doesn't have internet connection or SKYPE it's still far cheaper than an ordinary land line.  I just had to pass this on in the hopes that it can help others too. Happy Chatting, Trisha I couldn't see if it's been posted before but it never hurts to add it again

'Doctor also told me I am unable to take HRT because of the brain haemorrhage I had a few years ago' I hope you don't mind me joining in but I've just read this from Jan and it surprised me as last year I too suffered a major brain haemorrhage but wasn't told of any problems with HRT.   I  lost just over 3 stone due to the haemorrhage as it affected my tastebuds and appetite.  Not a great way to loose weight but at least there was a positive side to it.  I still can't manage tea, coffee, red wine -to name a few, although thankfully white wine is now OK and recently I actually enjoyed a chocolate for the first time since it happened.    I'm so pleased that France has such a good selection of herbal teas even in restaurants, whereas I've found the UK are a bit slower on the uptake. I've been keeping my weight down by eating Atkins style as I certainly don't want to pile it back on again.  I've recently read about the GI diet, it appears to be close to Atkins in many ways, although it stated that you had to be tested to find out what GI level you are before commencing the diet and I've no idea where to be tested.    Well done to Belinda - you look great.  I would like to loose another stone to get down to my target weight so you have spurred me on to keep going.

I love browsing throught this part of the forum being a total foodie who loves baking and trying new things.  I'm always coming across new and exciting recipes here - has anyone ever thought of creating/publishing a book with them all in for others to share?  There is such a mine of information from such like minded folk that I'm sure it would be a real success. 

After reading this thread it gave me the urge to make some too - so early in June I set about the task and have been delighted with the results.  So much so that I wish I'd made more as I'm now running low on it.  Next year I'll know better.  So now I've got the problem of what to do with the elderberries - don't say make wine, making that in France sounds a bit bizarre when there is so much good wine around!  Any other suggestions?

Hi Ian,   I too would love the Vin de Noix recipe pls  it sounds scrummy .  Going back to the main thread, in the Amanda Hesser 'The Cook and the Gardener' she has a recipe for cassis, whilst it starts off as alcoholic, she macerates the blackcurrants in the eau de vie (or vodka) after picking them in June/July.  Then in December she boils the fruit, alcohol and sugar before straining it into the bottles!   So the end product must be totally alcohol free presumably.  In the same book she has a recipe for Raspberry and Cherry Eau de Vie which I'm going to have a go at. I was given a bottle of homemade cassis from the lady we bought our first house from.  I've still got some left although it's now 15 years old and as she's since died it's got sentimental values.  I'd love to find out Selange made it, it's fantastic stuff.

We are also having problems with our grass - we bought our new home in the Allier in April and were just starting to get the garden in some sort of order.  We even found we'd got fruit bushes and rhubarb in the undergrowth.  Then on our last visit in June my hubby fell over, whilst completely sober, and broke his wrist!  He's had a metal plate fitted in it but is out of action for some time, so now we're back in the UK with our garden in France becoming a completely overgrown jungle.  I'm certain that when we get back there we'll find tigers and elephants roaming in it

Wonderful buttery vanilla icecream with lots of vanilla specks - if I could only find a recipe that made it as good as they do!  Plus flaky buttery croissants - I had a go at making them, it took me all day (put the dough in the fridge, roll it, put it back, wait 20 mins, then do the whole thing again goodness knows how many times).  When I finally cooked them they were terrible so I take my hat off to all the fantastic bakers of france .  And I haven't even started on the wonderful cheeses, Saint Marcellin, Delice de Bourgogne, sec/demi sec goats cheese - ooh the list goes on and on.  Who can resist a good cheese with a scrummy wine and plenty of fresh french bread - a veritable feast.

Has anyone flown into the little airstrip at Lurcy Levis?  We believe that it is still in use but each time we've visited the place is deserted!  The race track next to it gets lots of use.   

Thanks Deby, we will certainly be gathering the prices for all the things we need but it's good to know of Zyke (hadn't heard of them before).  We've even considered solar heating, although we're in dept 03 so it's doesn't have such a sunny climate as yourselves, but every little helps In the UK Paul did all our own decking so I'm sure he'll be having another go in France - he's now brought all his woodworking machinery across and can't wait to get started on a project.  We have a jacuzzi already (bought in the UK) so he can get started on the bits around that to keep him occupied Trisha

On Radio 4 recently I heard only 1 episode of an abridged reading of Amanda Hesser's "The Cook and the Gardener: A Year of Recipes and Writings from the French Countryside".  It sounded delightful (set in Burgundy) and so I'm thinking of ordering a copy - but has anyone read it or tried her recipes from the book? I'd love to hear your comments Trisha

Thanks for all the info, after looking into it we've decided that for the extra cost to go all out for a completely sunken pool.  Now we've just got to find one that we both like and that fit's our budget Trisha

I just wanted to say 'Thanks You Guys' - this is a great thread and it's answered so many of my questions all at once on the bugs I've spotted (and hated so much- especially the long legged centipedes). Thank heavens for this forum - you are all a mine of info and so helpful to the new guys in the block Trisha    

I know you have to have planning permission etc for normal sunken pools, but I'm sure I've heard that if only part of it is sunk in the ground that it doesn't apply - does anyone know if this is true and if so how much can be put in the ground before the regulations kick in?  I've seen a few companies that have the above part surrounded with decking which looks great so I'm quite tempted to go down that route.  I'll check with the marie as well because maybe it varies from area to area It feels like I'm opening a can of worms with a pool - but I guess it's all worth it in the end with the summer coming and so much to look forward to Trisha

OOOh delicious - once you've translated the recipe will you share it with us?  I'd love to have a go at making it too.  A few years ago I made my own Limoncello, really yummy stuff and so easy to make.  I'm also going to 'have a go' at making cassis as my neighbour kindly wrote down his recipe for me.  On the food side I recently made Lime Pickle - it certainly doesn't go with any French dishes but my hubby loves it I just love experimenting with food and drink so any good recipes are always worth trying. Trisha

We must be going around with our eyes shut - thanks for all the names of the companies   We didn't fancy transporting UK units and we do believe in supporting the French economy where we can.  I would like granite worktops so I'm hoping that they will be easy to purchase - do the French use grantite in kitchens very often?