5-element
-
Posts
2,626 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Never
Posts posted by 5-element
-
-
[quote user="Biloute"]
after watching him I was telling myself 'I don't get it, I know I shouldn't agree with what he says, but somehow he managed to make me think I do'. [/quote]That is spot on. Unfortunately I get exactly the same - and I passionately dislike him and all he stands for, he is such a dangerous and treacherous dog. But he is an consumed artist at playing his audience, comes across so sincere, so sensible.
I just think: "If he can manage to almost convince me, what about the people who already agree with him?" and then I wonder if anyone else stands a chance. Some people at work already talk about him as if he has already won the election and is our new president[+o(]
Rumzigal - I didn't get the joke about Arlette Laguiller and Francois Bayrou either[:(]
-
Yes you're right, Tay - I have totally given up on lettuces - rocket does well, though, and ruby chard and other chard OK too. In the summer I have to water every evening - and frankly, it's not worth the water bill. This, in spite of recycling every drop of grey water - including from the shower!!!
Last summer, even the tomatoes seemed to get fed up with too much sunshine... but what grew really well was pumpkins (triffids, more like!) and some round courgettes... I had tried several clumps of coriander, each in a different location etc. and they all did badly. Even my red onions set did badly - but perhaps it is because I put horse manure on the ground in the spring instead of the previous autumn?
Sorry original poster, this is getting away from coriander... I have to say that green coriander seeds are very yummy though. As for the leaves, picking them once the plant has bolted is supposed to give them a soapy flavour. I like to use whole bunches of coriander in one go, so I can't rely on the one I try to grow.
-
[quote user="Tay"]The key to successful growing is to keep the coriander well watered. [/quote]
Well, that figures. It gets so hot and dry here with the canicule, and I can barely keep up with watering the tomatoes as it is! Thank you Tay for that crucial piece of info - I will try again, and put it in the shade - but I had always associated coriander with hot climates, so I thought it should be happy here in the Midi!
-
I spent months on a (predominantly American) forum, before I finally sussed out what LOL means. Before the penny dropped, I thought it means "lots of love", and was marvelling at how friendly they are, those Americans, sending little bits of love here and there to everyone....
-
[quote user="Dick Smith"]I'm afraid this is very predictable - my favourite book would have to be the complete works of Shakespeare. If only one play allowed, then the Tempest.
[/quote]Favourite French book??? Is my computer playing tricks too?[:D]
One of my favourite Fench books of all times has to be "La Peste" - Albert Camus.
-
Thanks Clair, I knew about lessive St. Marc, and had no idea it is the same as sugar soap... somehow sugar soap sounded good, in my mind it was a bit like sugar wax for legs!!
Thanks also Saddie. Yes they are ceramic tiles, and they are hideous, and I am sick of them. I will probably stick with lessive St. Marc - when I get around to it.
-
Does anyone know what is "sugar soap" in French - i.e. the equivalent. It's not "savon de sucre", I know that much! What should I ask for in Bricomarche or Mr. Bricolage?
Sorry if this is a dumb query, but I have never used, or seen, sugar soap either. It is recommended for cleaning out wall tiles prior to painting.
-
Sunshine, I will be very interested in an answer too. Only once have I successfully grown coriander, from a plant I'd bought in the market. Since then, every year I bought a pot, and every year it just bolted and made flowers very quickly - not much in the way of leaves. OK you can still get the seeds that way - but even growing it from seed, it's never really worked out. You are near Cahors, so maybe the climate is roughly the same as here (although mine is more Med, and you more Atlantic, i.e. more damp?). But that shouldn't make a difference.
Maybe we are feeding the soil with the wrong compost.[:(]
-
[quote user="Tresco"]
, don't you see this row of symbols (with the ball and chain symbol) when you open the 'reply' box?
[/quote]
Well thank you, Tresco, and Russethouse. All these years, and nobody had ever told me. Now I might know how to make links clicky too, hooray!
-
[quote user="Cerise"]
Witchlette from the Tarn & Garonne[:D]
[/quote]
[6][6][6][:D]
-
Good to see you LL. Who can resist a thread on vegetable gardening????
-
Yes you've got it Tresco. Especially since you are supposed to keep your mouth closed, not smile, and think soft thoughts so that all your essential goodness can shine through your eyes alone. I was allowed to keep my earrings on, though - Apparently in the US if you want a visa, you have to take those off too. Maybe you have to wipe off your make up, take out your false teeth, goodness knows what other indignities.[:D]
-
There is one I always go back to: "The Vegetable Expert" by Dr. D.G. Hessayon, PBI (Experts Series) - vegetables in alphabetical order, lots of good illustrations, troubleshooting section, etc...Not so great on eco-friendly gardening.
To complement this (and also good for your French, which I know is already pretty good), "Le Guide du Jardinage Biologique" by Jean-Paul Thorez - this is the bible of organic gardeners here in France. Published by Terre Vivante
Good luck with your gardening. I had imagined I would grow all kinds of wonderful vegs here, after leaving muddy Lancashire and tribes of slugs, but here it is just too dry, so I am only growing onions from sets (they grow by themselves, and I love red onions), and of course tomatoes. Although, those need a lot of compost - we have 2 compost bins - and feeding organic matter (Or Brun is what I use) AND they still needs lots of watering. Maybe it is not so bad in the Lot where you are.
-
As the third (but lesser) Midi witch, I know for a fact that RG is SB but neither of them is LG.
I do know LG, how old she is, and what she looks like - and most of you are waaaaaaaay off mark[:D]
Is anybody over, say, 45, going to own up to how old they really are????
I thought I looked much younger than my age, until today that is. I had to go and have one of those new passport photos done, and I look about twice as old as I think I really look. And 10 times older than what I feel. Those photos make one look amazingly sinister.
-
Honey is used as antiseptic and also as preservative - (no, not as in condom).
In the jar you found, the honey might have crystallised, but it is still as good as new, and could outlast us all.
And usually, it is definitely not mescalin, or Liberty Bells.
-
BB, thank you for that resurrection.
-
Ah, yes, Dick, but you have been here longer, and have had more posts, than most of us![8-|]
-
Are you doing just a bit of "a propos", Dick? The off-the-cuff kind?[:P]
[:D]
-
Could you perhaps, Jon, be more explicit about what you see as "relentless negativity"? Can you spell it out, give examples? Some observations such as "there is a lot of dog poo in town" or "3 cars got burnt down my road this week" or "an increasing number of people in employment now are homeless and live in their cars" - is that relentless negativity?
And perhaps you could do the same with "positive comments"?
I'll get you started here, as I am feeling full of positivity today.
When someone enters a waiting room in France, they usually say "Bonjour" to everyone. Positive, life-enhancing.
If you feel really unwell and wonder what might be wrong with you, go to the GP, and he/she will immediately send you to the lab , for a battery of tests. And on to a specialist, without further ado. Positive.
As for the weather and the wonderful Midi light? Now I do feel waxing lyrical about that (and that's why I don't live in Britanny or Limousin).
I can go on, this is just a small sample.I can do both, and frequently do. That's what I mean by richness of life.
And I enjoy pot noodles too.
-
[quote user="Jon"] It is a frequent truth that those describing themselves as "realists" are as far removed from the world as those that they decry. .
[/quote]Do really think, Jon, that my being a French national born in France, of French parents, and having been through the French educational system and having worked in France, has no bearing on my perception of....France?
-
Ah ah! There is suspicion of doppelganger here, or perhaps a suggestion that LG and RG are in fact one and the same... I think we should get the other RG (as in Renseignements Generaux) onto them - or onto her.... or even, onto him? Who knows what lengths of impersonation some beings can get into...
Yes RG I most definitely am French, and getting Frencher by the minute. Born vanilla French, of vanilla French parents. Learned the 1789 revolution and the departements and Victor Hugo at school.
But I am also very British. Many French people think so anyway, including my French family. And I have the passport, and the pension, to prove it. Some of us hybrid can be a bit derangeant, if you see what I mean. A bit difficult to place. Especially since I have in-laws from across the seas as well.... I am grateful for that, it gives me a headstart I reckon.
LG, since I know you are not RG (or do I???)mmmm... I was going to say, where are you?
Let's all go and have meatballs in IKEA, this hotbed of Languedoc subversiveness.
-
Why do I stay in France?
BECAUSE I'M FRENCH, that's why.
Except, of course, the answer is infinitely more complex than that.
But I now make a claim to being the French person on the Witches of Eastwick team.
How interesting that, apart from "awareness of financial circumstances", one of the things that the W of E have in common, is they are all fluent in French!
From that, should one surmise that being fluent in French, and having much to do with French life (as opposed to "living in France") can damage your view of France?
Hey, I am retired too - but on a part UK state pension, so this is the same as being RMIste (for those of you who know enough about France to know what it is!)
In the UK, husband lost his work because of ill-health, is now on incapacity benefit. We are just getting by, and no prospect of any windfall or inheritance or cashing in of this or that. No more wind in our sails, not many options. Our very ordinary house is all we have now. But we still live like kings, manage a quality of life which is phenomenal, all things considered. We are RICH!.
But we have managed to retain our critical faculties, and we both intend to keep using them as long as they last... Being in England, or in France, has nothing to do with it... Without critical faculties, we would still be living in prehistoric times.
For those who complain about "negativity" where there is just another reality, are you so afraid of your bubble being burst that you cannot allow other perspectives to enter your world? If your boat is rocked so easily, what does that say about you?Why is it so important to pretend that France is some kind of theme park?
Personally, I find that it is best not to live in denial. I prefer to carve my happiness in an aware way, ditching the blinkers, embracing the roses as well as the s**t, the good and the bad. It is possible to love and hate at the same time - indeed, is there any other way?
-
[quote user="Cerise"]
I think the boredom that many people complain about is in fact frustration. [/quote]
Yeah Cerise!!! Exactly what I wanted to say.
I keep wanting to post, but there is always someone who beats me to it. Cerise, you are the last in a long line. Rumzigal, Teamedup, Miki, Languedocgal, and probably others.
By the time I have composed a coherent answer, we are 3 pages further on, or the thread is locked. How boring!!! (I mean, frustrating!)
-
I live in a very hard water area too.
And the plumber (well, one plumber, the one who turns up) told me that I should never, ever, use washing powder in the washing machine as it clogs up the pipes - use liquid. Same in dishwashers I presume (I don't have one, or rather, the one I have is live [:)])
Growing Corriander
in Gardening
Posted