Rob Roy

Great PG, thanks. I won't have to keep asking friends to bring baking powder from the UK now!

[quote user="Cerise"]Mary - No is answer to your question, not like Dry Martini.  Can't find this in France but the answer is to refuse entry to house to any English guest not bringing bottle with them.[:)][/quote] Thanks Cerise - I didn't want to buy it then find it disgusting like Campari or something! [+o(] Some English friends came to see us last night - with a 1 ltr bottle of Dry Martini as a present![:D]

I don't know about an aperitifs cupboard - with all that lot you'll need the whole cellar! Can anyone tell me whether Noilly Prat is similar in taste to Dry Martini? I find it very hard to get DM here, and am wondering whether NP will work with Vodka just as well[:)]

Is anyone else worried about these two, or is it only me? [img]http://bestsmileys.com/thinking/6.gif[/img] Ifeel I have entered a parallel universe![blink]

[quote user="Sunday Driver"] Could the problem stem from the fact that people tend to view their cars more as mobile lounges/offices/holiday charabancs, rather than metal/plastic/glass structures which are capable of partial disintegration in a collision, with the resultant potentially catastrophic impact on the occupants? How many people effectively choose their cars on the basis of cosmetic design, interior fabrics, in-car entertainment, climate control, etc. without specifically taking into account the results of crash test statistics and safety reports? Of course, current standards of vehicle design and construction give greater levels of protection, but does this merely serve to instil a sense of invulnerability when driving? A car driver does not generally expect to crash or to be hit by another vehicle during their everyday driving, unlike, say, a motorcyclist would regard himself as being highly vulnerable to both events. So, if it isn’t going to happen to them, do people lose sight of the dangers of not ensuring their passengers are properly secured in the event of a crash? Until it does happens to them, do people have any concept of what it’s like to see their six-year-old child hurtling past their left ear and through the windscreen with the force of a baby elephant? Or are the seat belt regulations just another one of those finicky driving restrictions (like not being allowed a few bevvies, or not exceeding the speed limit, or not using our mobile phones) which we don’t really need to follow – unless, of course, we get caught. Or we crash……   [/quote] I think you are quite right SD. My husband has probably seen more crashed cars than most as he was/is a panel beater. He would always look at the cars we bought from the point of view of quality of build (or how easy they would be to repair[;-)]) and would often tell me I could not have this car or that one for those reasons. This also served a very useful purpose when our eldest son started to drive as he had seen enough damaged cars in scrap yards and garages when out with his dad to know the results of drinking and driving, careless driving etc.

Yes, we have a bottled gas cooker too.

Yes exactly! Not to mention the chickens (who eat the slugs)[;-)] The donkeys are the only ones who don't like either dogs or cats!

[quote user="rog"] Thanks both for your input and Anton , I had not thought of going back and doing it that way.....not sure that Madam would like to be here on her own though..We have 3 dogs 5 cats and a cockatoo and whilst we have numerous offers of accomodation from friends and relatives  it cannot, with the best will in the world, include Noahs Arc!! And thats the catch, no sale here, no cash to purchase there and I think no landlord would accept the menagerie if I tried to rent.You can probably start to understand my nightmare. Rog [/quote] "When needs must" as they say - would it be so awful for your wife to be here without you for a while? You sound as though you have friends here, so she won't be entirely alone, and with all those animals she will have plenty to keep her busy! I had to return to the UK to work for 2 years (renting a flat) while my husband stayed here and it wasn't easy, but necessary for our situation at the time. I flew back for a long weekend every month to see him - if you book your tickets at the right time in advance you can get some good deals. I also arranged with my employer to work late every evening in order to accumulate the time off each month to come back.

[quote user="Alcazar"] Ha....the manual..........of course, why didn't I think of that? I have a folder with every manual from everything we've ever bought! Thanks! Alcazar [/quote] God, I'm so impressed! I find our manuals all over the place, not the kitchen appliances of course, only the tools and garden machinery![:D][;-)]

[quote user="Lollie"] Cant but a cat cos have rabbit and a dog ....... Lollie  44 [/quote] A cat will soon learn to get along with a dog and a rabbit; we have dogs, cats and budgies who all co-exist quite happily.

We installed a Rosieres (2nd hand) and it is great for adding extra heat in the winter as well as for the cooking. With the fire ticking over you can slow cook in the oven, keep a kettle hot on the top as well as feeling toasty warm when it's -15 C outside![:)]. In the summer, when it is out, the cast top is great as extra workspace for keeping the veg glut from the garden cool until you have time to deal with them[;-)]

Don't believe the rumour John, they are at least 60 years old.[;-)]

Thanks everyone for the helpful information. Re Ikea - I don't think I could drag my husband in there on point of death [:-))]- he had one experience of Ikea in Nottingham when we took our youngest son to university and that was more than enough for him!![:)]

I don't mind the rain really, in fact I prefer it to the very hot weather, but feel very embarrassed by my weed - sorry veg - patch![:$]

It took us nearly 10 months - 8 months of which we were waiting for the bank to decide about a mortgage, which they then declined [6]. Went to another bank who took 6 weeks.

My M-in-L is flying from Norwich to Bordeaux in a couple of weeks time. We have not been to the airport before and I wondered if anyone could tell me whether it will be difficult for her to find her way through customs etc. She is 79 and very on the ball, but finds Stansted daunting (unsuprisingly!) which is why we are trying this route for her as she only lives about half a mile from Norwich airport. Is there free parking at Bordeaux for us, and is it difficult to find a place to park? (Limoges is a nightmare now due to all the UK long term dumpers[:@]) Thanks.

Thank goodness there is someone else who can't stand Michel Thomas - I thought it was just me![8-)] Re. the private tutor suggestion - this is exactly what we did as my husband found evening classes far too daunting and gave up after only a few weeks. We approached the French teacher at our local high school who agreed to give us private lessons and it was great. She geared them to what we needed and to what we would need to know when we arrived e.g. buying things in shops (food and furniture), understanding directions, the body parts of a car (my husband was a car body repairer!), etc etc. Now when she visits us she says we know far more French words connected to house renovating than she does![:D]

Andyh4 wrote: "Undoubtedly there were some horrific acts carried out. However, a 30 hour inhumane train journey is maybe not the worst of such acts - and the guy leading the claims for compensation is fighting for money to compensate for the train journey Toulouse to Paris." If these people are fighting for compensation for the train journey, and not the eventual outcome of that journey, where does the line get drawn? Can my husband now fight for compensation for the transportation, in cattle trucks, endured by his father and others from southern Italy into Nazi Germany (more than 30 hours) as a prisoner of war? Or is that justified because he was a serving officer in the RAF rather than a civilian?

Thanks for that. I don't think you have pursuaded me to try them though[:)] And guess what - the [img]http://bestsmileys.com/sun/2.gif[/img] is out today, hurrah!![:D]

John, what are vine peaches please? I have never heard of them before.

[quote user="Christine Animal"] Ooh, la la !  Wait till Cassis sees that link...   [6]   [/quote] He won't be a happy bunny!![Www]

[quote user="catalpa"][quote user="Gyn_Paul"]And another thing... with a fixed shower head (esp an overhead 'watering can' type) how do you rinse those bits of you - shall we say - a little less accessible than others  (no, NOT the soles of your feet!) ?[/quote] Yes, that is exactly why I don't like and would not install the fixed showerhead type. [:-))] The practicalities of cleaning the shower when there's not a flexible shower head hadn't occurred to me. Good point. [/quote] I had not thought of either of the above points - and I always fancied one of those fixed heads, oh well![:(]

I'll have a word with our neighbour tomorrow (who is a farmer and recently bought some land) and ask him for an opinion.

I'm sorry, Bee, I have just looked at all my cookery books but can't find a recipe. I think I must have got it off the internet through searching, and can't remember the proportions but I would think an apple and blackberry recipe would work wouldn't it?

[quote user="Christine Animal"] We don't because we don't have a microwave to thaw them out quickly if we are in a rush.   [/quote] [:D] If anyone hasn't read your post in the Food & Wine section CA they will wonder about your obsession with microwaves![:D][:P][;-)]