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Wendy

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Everything posted by Wendy

  1. A friend of mine who is a midwife in Australia told me once that the words " she wants to push! " are enough to make maternity staff spring into action anywhere; my OH had to scream those words down the mobile during our race to hospital three years ago - and we were 35 km's from the clinic! we made it by 15 minutes...and the lift was out of order...my 'walk' up those two flights of stairs was straight out of  the 'ministry of silly walks' - where was the OH meanwhile...? fishing his camera gear out of the car boot[:-))]
  2. I had my fifth child here 3 years ago and checked myself out of the clinic on the third day even though I was expected by the staff to stay for five. I recall being asked if I would like to receive a visit from a paediatric nurse after I arrived home and agreed as it is always a good idea to have at least one visit. She came to see me when bub was 2 weeks old and rather than look over him she just asked some questions and gave me some info as to the clinic I could take him to for vaccinations etc. I think the home-visit system you have in the UK is excellent and wonder why it is not implemented here. I suppose though that the French Mums have a good family network around them at these times so get plenty of help and advice from their Mums and Nans. Three weeks to go then...? good luck and I envy you ever so slightly (taking in the 'ouch' factor)...bubs are just scrumptious[:)]
  3. Wendy

    Re: Atkins Diet

    Whatever happened to 'eat less - move more' ? My doctor some time back said you can eat whatever you like so long as you: * leave the car at home and walk several times a week * take the stairs and not the lift * walk to the TV rather than use the remote... * eat 'backwards'...huge brekkie, big lunch ( no bread or potatoes after lunch ) then small dinner. Fats are fine so long as you spend more time moving than you spend eating...    
  4. Failing that, try Amazon France. We are actually concentrating on english books for our three and six year old right now as we want to establish english as their first language. But we throw in the french books too for good measure.[:)]
  5. Even so Clair; he is an absolute idiot. He came back to something a whole lot worse. Hope they throw the book at him.
  6. We were out in the car yesterday and found it hot enough with the windows down - but this clueless couple forgot their own baby was in the back of the car and went shopping for several hours leaving him trapped and locked up in a closed up car in the baking heat. He died. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1035641/Boy-2-dies-baking-hot-car-France-parents-shopping-forget-him.html (Yes, it's the Daily Wail...newsprint snobs can feel free to ignore) Give me five minutes with 'em is all I can say.[:@] Damn shame the guillotine is no longer in use...        
  7. In answer to the OP - we live 20 mins from the border in Perpignan and have found that the fuel is always, without exception, cheaper over the border in Catalonia (not 'Northern Spain' - call it 'Spain' to the locals there at your own risk - they won't even speak Spanish! ) We often drive to Jonquera to fill up - I am baffled as to why the French fill up at the station just prior to the border on the French side - it is usually at least 20/30 cents dearer than in Jonquera which is only 10/15 mins away at the most. Old rivalries perhaps...? Anyway, strangely, we have found the diesel we buy in Catalonia seems to last longer than the 'stuff' we buy locally...  
  8. That's okay, 'irrelevance' is my middle name. No, I am nowhere near it. Although I love that particular region. My name comes from an isle that produces a wonderful bottled product by the same name... A guest brought some last year and shared it [;-)].  Such laughs! [:$]
  9. [quote user="chessfou"][quote]I would be interested in learning, but suspect I'd have even more memory problems with my French vocabulary if I did so.[/quote] Well, if your French is reasonable and especially if you have a little Spanish, you should find it possible to make sense of simple Occitan - have a go at the tourist info signs on ancient monuments and you may also find that your local paper has a page of Occitan at least one day a week (e.g. Sunday's "Centre Presse" in Aveyron). [/quote] I live right on the border dividing Occitan 'France' and Catalan 'France' - those words would certainly gleen an interesting reaction from my neighbours on both sides...none of them consider 'Spanish' as being a part of either of their language. In fact, don't even MENTION 'Spanish' to the Catalonians here ! I recently had a guest stay here from Narbonne - he stated quite strongly he was a 'Cathar' and claimed all people native to Narbonne were so. By the way I am directly descended from Philip III of France; his daughter Marguerite married Edward I of England (my 26th Great Grandfather) - she was his second wife after Eleanor of Castile died. I am descended from this French line [;-)] You'd never know it eh...[:$] ?
  10. Sounds like 'destroyer' should be 'destroyed' - there are more than enough pesky canines in the ownership of irresponsible people than are necessary. Good luck and make sure you keep 'destroyer' to yourself and yourself only...
  11. [quote user="LyndaandRichard"]We left our dogs in the car with the windows up today in the sun for about 20 mins while in the supermarket. But we have a convertible and the roof was down[:D] [/quote] Why not leave them at home in the house - or do they have 'canine rights'...? Even I cannot stand being in the car when it is hot - feel sorry for your dogs - but at least I make my own choice. Leave 'em at home when it's hot. Being Australian ( or one of you ) I thought you would know better....
  12. In answer to the OP - yes, this seems to be the norm. We sent out 15 invites for my son's 12th birthday here and only two kids turned up...the others did not bother to reply RSVP at all. And those two kids had obviously not been to a normal, run-of-the-mill birthday party (as WE know it ) before as they found the balloons, party favours and party food ( pizza slices, sausage rolls, fruit salad, ice cream, sweets, soft drinks, etc ) quite a curiousity. Just take a trip to your local 'Quick' or 'Macs' on a Wednesday or weekend and you will see that those are the places the French seem to favour as venues for their kids birthday parties. I have also seen the 'birthday cake' these places serve out...pathetic - they look like a large chocolate cookie rather than a proper cake. And the staff who have to 'entertain' the kiddies at these 'fast food parties' all look as though they have drawn the short-straw... I think in your case, as with ours, those French parents were just too suspicious of something 'non-french' being offered to their kids. Or else they are just plain rude. I think both apply.
  13. 'Nut allergy'...yet another trendy condition we never knew of a few years back. When I went to school in the late 70's all my school mates ate peanut butter sandwiches and none of us suffered any ill-effects. However I notice these 'food' allergies do not occur in European kids... Is it something in the 'nuts' these days ?
  14. I am here almost five years and still cannot cope with those writing pads with small squares. However the kids here all have lovely handwriting so they are doing something right. We have been teaching our youngest kids to write so I had my sister in Oz send me some exercise books with horizontal lines. Lynda and Richard - that creepy crawly avatar of yours is bothering me - I keep swiping the screen thinking it is a rogue ant...!!
  15. Actually Callie in Australia we are very well educated about leaving dogs in cars in the summer heat - but some cretins still do it, even at the beaches. It is common there though for passers-by to 'smash the car window - ask questions later'. The police there are very understanding about this. I know of  cases where the car/dog owner has returned to find a very angry mob, and police, standing around their car/very distressed dog.  They get prosecuted heavily in Australia for this kind of thing.  
  16. We have none at all in our region with even partly covered car parks WoolyB's Bro; and being in the 'deep south' I am at a loss to wonder why this is. Shopping in the summer here is hell.
  17. We arrived to shop at a local Lidl this past week and entered the store passing a black car parked near the entrance...nothing special about that. It was quite hot being in the early afternoon. On leaving the store, well over an hour later, we passed that same car and I noticed a large dog in the back seat leaning against the window panting heavily. Three windows of the car were all wound up except one which gave about an inch and a half of air if that...the poor dog! Time was tight for us as we had guests arriving at two and had to barrel off so I quickly went back into the store and informed a member of staff about the dog's plight in that car which must have been stinking hot. I only hope that something was done. Why the hell do people do this ? why not leave the dog at home on hot days ?? That dog was in that car for the hour plus that we were there, god knows how long he was actually trapped there for... Honestly some people...makes you want to wring their ruddy necks![:@]
  18. You will be wanting books that are not French translations of English versions...? Go to Amazon France - I cannot at this stage recommend any authors as my son is only 6 and reading from the Ecole Maternelle books distributed to him - but you need books by French authors, not English one's translated into French. Good luck Edit: Here are some authors which might provide food for thought...I would suggest avoiding at all costs the French-Canadian authors purely for the fact that they speak an odd and different type of 'French' ( old-stuck-in-the-past-french ) - just ask the local French here themselves... But try these guys for measure... * Flavia Bujor * Marcel Ayme * Cecile de Brunhoff * Rene Guillot * Claude Violier * Xavier Armange Hope that helps you...do you not have a local library though...?  
  19. [quote user="Sunday Driver"] Never a good idea to lie to the gendarmes....[8-)]   [/quote] Oh come on..if it does not pay to be dishonest here why then is this lady so afraid of her lying and deceitful 'friend' ? It goes without saying that if the 'dishonest one' is French and the 'honest one' is not...the 'dishonest one' will come up trumps... I would lie, act-to-the-hilt, and deliver a performance worthy of entry to RADA in order to nail this creep.
  20. In our experience Nationwide always give the best rate available. Having said that, the 'rate' as such is not calculated until Nationwide actually receive the transaction in their system  and this can take days depending on where you are when you are spending - they use the 'inter-bank' rate. We have a Gold Nationwide Card, take it everywhere we go around the world,  and would never be without it. No fees, no charges...what more could you want? I honestly do not understand why more people do not have one. We have guests who use Lloyds TSB, HSBC cards and the like to pay their bill here and the fees/charges they are paying on those cards are astronomical...why do they do it ? Talk about 'uninformed'!      
  21. If you drop us a PM I can forward you a copy of what we use. If you're not registered, you'd be better just using a receipt book as it keeps everything much less formal; if the CD isn't your main source of income you wouldn't necessarily need to register. More importantly, I'd be making contingency plans if I were you in case the water and/or electric aren't connected by the time the guests arrive. You certainly are living life on the edge! Contact details edited by the moderators. Please do not post your personal details on the message boards.
  22. It would help if you would allow us a little more information as regards to the name of this company. Go on, give us the name! Can your Friends not book their Gite direct with the owners rather than using GdeF?  
  23. Deny all knowledge of him as either friend or aquaintance; lodge a complaint with the Gendarmes that he has been harrassing you. Fight fire with fire.
  24. Frederick, you have discovered the secret to a happy life... Developed a taste for vegemite yet?[:)]
  25. Correct Cassis...and Catweazle was our first PM after Federation back in 1901! I should also tell you that I have friends actually descended from the Wombles too...oh boy, there are great days ahead for us yet Down Under[:D]  
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