Framboise

I am mother of four, now all grown up sensible young people. No teacher has the "Right" to manhandle a child, especially not a six year old, but I maintained "MY Right" should the situation warrant it.   However, it never became that necessary since a certain look from me always did the trick, but coupled with the word "RIGHT....." delivered  in a certain tone they all knew I meant business.    Personally  I recall a maths teacher from my old secondary who could control a classful with one such glare, he was hard as nails and everyone knew it yet he was the most respected of all the staff.  Admired and loved even despite the fact he never laid a finger on any of his charges either - he didn't need to.  However, there are cases where there should be a proper punishment for persistant chancers which would certainly halt the progressively worsening behaviour, but removing a parent's Right to Punish was never going to help the situations we see now.   That saying I do not believe a 6 year old should be launched at his mother - twice - over a matter that was apparently already dealt with so the teacher in question is wholly wrong.   The school governors should be made aware of this case and deal with it as they see fit. 

Trumpet, you are addicted!     Methinks you would be a nervous wreck should you lose your internet connection, but as to contemplating chucking the computer out of the window, well I doubt you would have the guts to do it.   After all, you would lose your accessibility to upset some of the finer egos out there in the ether and then you wouldn't be able to apologise for ruffling their fine plumage! I have limited access anyway due to that wretched Xbox360 that shares the internet connection.   Maybe you should get a Xbox online and you too could fight your way around Normandy as my other half does - for hours on end..........    zzzzz   zzzzz   zzzzz [:D]

What about Man Bags then?    Wish hubby would get one as he fills my bag with all his rubbish, and then moans that I cart so much garbage about!      

If you think moles leave a mess, just wait til you see the giant ruts and excavator tracks the fosse installation leaves behind.  Ours was done 18 months ago and those tracks are now concrete hard ridges about 18 inches high so first job with our little Kubota will be to try to flatten them out. As for brambles, well the only way to be finally rid is to wrench 'em out by hand.  Sorry!!

I worry about you Trumpet!  Ladies handbags.............................

Reckon you have monsieur Loir in residence.   Ours brings his grub home and covers the floor in grain husks etc.

Some people are humourless aren't they?  If you cannot laugh in this life then you are doomed  [:D] 

 By the way, is it a rule that white vans always have three in the front, woman in the middle and the other passenger with 6 days growth on his/her chops Thats the mother-in-law obviously!!

Pssiticosis is the main problem with birds, especially with ones caught in the wild.  Its in the dust on their feathers.   After ten years I'd say you are safe though

We are considering having a wind turbine  to help with leccy costs, especially as we are atop a hill and there is always a breeze up there to keep the thing going.   Maybe use it on a pump for the well too. Are they expensive in France?  Can you buy them from a Brico like you can here in B&Q or is it a specialist purchase like solar panels? Anyway not interested in a nuclear reactor.  Hubby (alias Dr No) is fed up with the upkeep on them, much less the amount of labour he had to employ to run the thing and the copious cash it cost to buy all those lycra catsuits they insist on wearing - we are downsizing after all!!   [:D]

Shoe collection is a long term commitment.  Handbags come and go, but shoes....................[:D] I have one pair that are 26 years old and still stunning, but I have shoes for every occasion and every outfit, varied colours, heel types, sparkly ones, ethnic indian bridal slippers.  Endless combinations.   That does not mean that I will not add to the collection in France - a gal cannot have too many shoes - because I discovered the TWO shoe superstores outside Alencon and I succumbed to the lure of this glorious pair of red polka dot stunners that I simply had to have -unquestionably!   Hubby has learned that he has got a lot of shoe storage to build into our new home in France in order to house the Collection. By the way, I prowl about the car boot sales in my search for the Sassy Shoe Acquisitions.  You would be amazed what I have found and they are not expensive buying that way, yet the satisfaction is wearing something you know looks fabulous regardless of only costing a fiver maybe and other women DO notice beautiful shoes I assure you. I am as you may have guessed, a Shoe-aholic!!   And in reply Trumpet, sometimes I won't wear a particular pair for years and then an occasion occurs and I think "Aha!  I have just the shoes for that." - saves all that panic when you have a wedding or somewhere to go cos findng the outfit is bad enough for we girlies.  [kiss]

Actually I now have two other lizards, a water dragon ((He is called Becks as he has a mohawk-style spine on his head a la Beckham!) and a bearded dragon (Oscar, the grouch from Sesame Street).   These are much smaller but they have such funny little characters and are both tame, to the degree that my three year old granddaughter handles them both with ease - she adores them. Yes I know people think I am weird liking lizards, but I always wanted a Fruit Bat when I was a girl.  Everyone else wanted a pony of course...................   [:)]

I know nothing about computers apart from typing and stuff, however, we have the AVG things on this machine and another one called Spybot that an expert installed for us and they work perfectly. Can't praise them enough.  At one stage our machine had more trojans than Helen of Troy and AVG disposed of the lot for us. However, we made the error of buying Norton in the beginning and the thing caused absolute mayhem on the machine, hence why I got the expert in to sort it out for us.  He said that Norton was more trouble than its worth and to AVOID.

Shoes.   I have got about 80 pairs in cupboards, under the bed.  They lurk in the most unexpected corners. Don't tell hubby...............             [:$][:$]

You think giving tablets to a cat is bad? I had a 3ft monitor lizard a few years ago, my lovely Homer, but he had to have some tabs for something or another and was not best pleased to take them either.  Hence, Place lizard on lap in armlock.   Another person grabs his head with the intention of prising open his jaws, only he does not wish to do this and thrashes about like a crocodile, whacking you with his tail and hissing angrily. After several attempts and being clobberred by a muscular tail you resolve that the only way to do this is to trick the beast because if nothing else he was darned greedy.   So you take tablet and hide it in a knobble of cat food, et voila!  He has scoffed the lot. Of course if I'd had the stomach for it I could have got one of his frozen mice and put tablet into the mouse's mouth, but yuk no thanks!  And then the wretched Vet says "Oh I could have given it by injection of course.................."    Cheers!!

I thought they always waited for me - either direction - so they can pull out in front at full pelt then slap it back down into second, all the while admiring the scenery as they wrestle with a map.   You don't suppose there are more than two of 'em do you.........? Have you had a close encounter with French White Van Man yet?   I met him when he tailgated me for miles on a long, straight, wide road that he could have easily passed me on at any time, yet he chose to hang on my bumper instead with his headlights blazing.   Maybe he thought I was an English builder as I was driving our 4x4 pickup truck, but I wasn't dawdling along by any means.   Perhaps they get a kick out of it like English White Van Man does?    However, when I drive my modified Clio out there I collect hoardes of spotty teenagers admiring the wheels and exhaust on her, nor do they believe that she is MINE cos I am not an aforementioned "spotty teenager"!     Our neighbour thought it as my son's car as well.   One thing is for sure - the day I feel the urge to buy a Rover will be the day I know I am old [kiss]

And you can tell migration time has arrived because the ferry fares escalate overnight. Then on arrival at Portsmouth you are either marooned in a line of caravans whose owners want an in-depth conflab about chemical toilets, or behind a line of small cars all with their hazards flashing despite the fact you are in a queue that will sit there for another hour before loading.  And you can guarantee someone will get out of the car and proceed to do a keep-fit regime (usually the socks 'n sandals brigade), making all the kids in the coaches snigger at the wally who reckons himself. Get off at Caen and end up trapped behind George & Mildred pootling along at 20mph as if glued to the centre line, only to have them veer off alarmingly when they spot that Champion is open.   Arghhhhhhhh! Ah those crazy hazy days of summer.   Where are they???? 

Again, TGV from Montparnasse, 1 hours 20 mins.  Disembark any of the stations in the Orne, L'Aigle onwards.  Beautiful!  

Sorry but you are going to have to dig this stuff up to be truly rid of it once & for all - I don't think its easy to zap it with chemicals either..  Some sub-species grow on runners (like strawberrys or mint) and will invade with avengence, so alas you will have to get stuck in with a spade and dig the devil out manually.   I have one here that began as a rather delicate plant and is now a monster striding across the garden, so I have that job ahead too because it has even pushed its way through the weed-proof membrane under the gravel.  Its a thug.   

My moving-in bash is already in the planning stage, even though its many months away yet. I hope that by next spring it will have eased off with the rain a bit, so it will be awnings in the garden under which I shall do the English party-grub spread of sausage rolls, cheddar & pineapple on sticks, sticky chicken wings etc (all made by ME and not Iceland!), plus the usual French aperos as well.   The french agent who helped with our buying process suggested that we could always have something NEW for France and host a Bonfire Party on Nov.5th with fireworks etc - not sure how that would go down though seeing as it was catholics versus c of e, but its a reason to party non?? [:D]  

We had a Great Dane with a skin condition that we were told was caused by additives in conventional dog foods.   She was fed with boiled chicken and boiled rice, big pans of it simmerring in the hob every other day! We now have a lab x mastiff and a dogue de Bordeaux.   Eat anything, any time anywhere accompanied by yards of drool.  We do limit what they have as some stuff has an adverse "windy" effect and you do not want to downwind of that, but it does not stop them trying to scrounge.  [+o(]

Yes haha!   I could add that old chestnut "I've never had an accident, but I have seen thousands.....". Not true though.  However, last year I was driving through our road-humped streets here and some moronic woman pulled out from a side turning right into the front of my car, afterwards stating "I didn't see you...." - and I was driving a Toyota Surf.  A big black & chrome thing about the size of the moon.   I was also about 2 yards from the side turning when she drove at me, with me looking incredulous as she stuck her foot on the pedal and went for it!  However I have to say that it was a case of Toyota Surf 1 - PT Cruiser 0.   Minimum damage to me but her car was totalled. Serves her right too. Two weeks later out with my sister in a multi-storey.  Just rounding the corner into the parking area when another moronic woman slapped her Golf into reverse and smashed into my sister's new car!!   Then she tries to blame US for her putting the car in the wrong gear!    Needless to add we disputed this and the CCTV man came down and invited stupid woman to come and view the film he had of her careering backwards and into the front of my sister's car. As a woman driver I despair of (Other) women drivers, oh and Rover drivers.  Ignite blue touchpaper and retire quickly.....!!!! [:P]

Answer this then.   How come the baguettes and fiscelles we buy in France are still edible next day, whereas the ol' french stick from Sainsbury/Tesco et al is like reinforced concrete next morning?  In fact they might be confiscated as dangerous weapons - or have I seen  rioters wielding a crusty cob instead of chunks of paving slab? I chuck all my bread scraps out for the birds both here & in France and its all appreciated.   One of our dogs is also very partial to a nice bit of stale bread that gets dropped from the bird table, especially when it has a good sprinkling of green mould on it or has been soaked by the rain a few times.  And the longer left the better apparently.  Yummy!

Yes, and I am a  Very Very Good Driver, naturellement!     Oh except for parking sometimes - depends if I get the right angle.....!  [:$] Son has no bizarre excuse like being sucked into a puddle because he kerbed the car whilst apparently fiddling with the CD and a roundabout lunged at him, but I think the council have replaced the whirlpool puddle with a speed-bump now so there is no longer any danger of vehicles being sucked in.   Could this be a phenomena like the Bermuda Triangle?   The Cobham Triangle - dangerous to trucks, buses, aeroplanes and VW Golfs.   Perhaps the motorhome was casually trundling along a side road and that vast chasm opened up and dragged it sideways, I mean, that would explain how they got it in there?    [:D] 

Oh to even see the sun again!  Raining here right now on a dismal, cold, July day.  I put the CH back on - shamefull. I suppose it the fact its Wimbledon forthnight (month at this rate), then the Hampton Court Flower Show, as well as Glastonbury that causes the Gods to empty buckets onto us with a smirk on their faces.   And yes, after that one warm day July 15th we will be back on a hosepipe ban again