[Rugby World Cup 3rd XV]

This plod bloke knows what he's talking about - is there anybody out there? Most results went to form except Sale's extraordinary victory. Bath should have beaten Toulouse but the bonus point might enable them to have a home quarter-final draw. It might be a very open HCup year. Always makes me smile watching this competition on French TV. Reminds me of the story about soldiers in the Falklands who thought the locals were a bit slow, so they called them "Bennies" after the character in Crossroads. When the senior officers found out they were banned from so doing, so they called them "stills" (still Bennies) Everybody knows what the H stands for!

[Rugby World Cup 3rd XV]

Who do you fancy dor the HCup then? Toulouse must be odds on; Wales (I mean Ospreys) should do well, but Quins showed that they are vulnerable. And Glaws, they haven't exactly filled me with confidence yet but we have a reasonably easy group.

[Water in espresso reservoir going green!]

Five espressos - no wonder the water looks green!

[Why we are getting out of the UK to join you....]

It's no different to the UK - it all depends who you come upon. There those who can and those who can't be bothered.

[Rugby World Cup 3rd XV]

Where are you all? Are the ELVs going to ruin our game? Not a great start to the season for us.

[BBCi player]

I also heard it but can't remember where.

[Spiders]

I've just carried out my weekly evictions. I have little doubt that I boot out at least 20 a week - that's 1000 per year. Not to mention those in the cave, probably another 1000!

[Shopper beware!]

One euro 30 per gram - that's more expensive than truffles!

[Reinforcing racial stereotypes]

You clearly don't shop there very often (Lidl)!

[Why we are getting out of the UK to join you....]

I haven't read the book - I've got a copy of "Wasting Police Time" which is a PC's version, and very dull to read. It isn't true, neither is Gadget's book/blog, although of course there are truthful elements. It is a partisan book written by a cynic. Yes, I know police officers are cynical (I was one for 20 years) but Gadget is a cynic. A clue to his agenda can be found in the fact that his material is published in the Daily Mail.

[Why we are getting out of the UK to join you....]

It still amazes me that people want to "escape" the horror of the UK. What do they expect to find in France? It is true that there isn't any crime in this rural part of France where we live, oh, unless you include the theft of my solar lamps, but that's not really crime, is it? Like many others we are here because we like it and it's an adventure living abroad. The longer I'm here the less different France seems to England.

The one real difference we are aware of, and it saddens me to say so, is that you can be out in a French city late in the evening and be very unlikely to come across drunken youths vomiting and fighting in the street.

[What's your favourite classic car...?]

Has to be the DS.

[idioms]

What about "Dream on!" and "I wish!"?

[Wine ideas?]

Although I'm normally fairly loyal to French wines I have found recently some Chilean and South African in Lidl of all places. 2 euros a bottle and I thought not bad.

[Wine ideas?]

It's cheap because it's carbonated wine. Go for Blanquette de Limoux or Saumur - they are méthode champenoise.

[Tiny beetles shredding my cabbage]

I think it is a flea beetle, although I read that May and June is their time. We did have colza (will the other word be censored?) earlier this year. One way of dealing with them apparently is to smear some cardboard with golden syrup and waft it over the top of the plants as they jump when disturbed - haven't tried this yet.

[Tiny beetles shredding my cabbage]

My cabbages are being eaten by tiny black beetles - swarms of them. Any ideas and how to control (I mean kill I suppose)

[rats?]

Sounds like a loir - dormouse.

[Rugby World Cup 3rd XV]

Twasn't a great performance by all accounts but a win and one at Bath is a start - n'est-ce pas?

[Bad tempered wasp]

The sap from house leeks works well.

I saw a gadget today that delivers a burst of heat on to stings and bites so the application of heat is obviously a possible remedy.

[Rugby World Cup 3rd XV]

I saw the highlights and thought we could have won, perhaps should with one certain try missed that could have left us ahead 15 - 6 (with a conversion). Reading the Fans Forum though had me worried as they mostly felt we weren't competitive in the scrums and lineouts and got penalised too often. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Pool Water Chemistry]

I gave up after about two lines.

[Rugby World Cup 3rd XV]

Remember it's a marathon not a sprint - oh do come on Glaawwss!

[Rugby World Cup 3rd XV]

Interesting article in La Depeche today - after two rounds of the Top 14 some coaches are concerned that the ELVs favour the defending side. Also, three French refs are going to watch the first GP games to see how English refs interpret them. If there is a differnce of interpretation then the French are, apparently, likely to ask that the ELVs be "watered down" so that the French sides don't suffer in the European tournaments. There might be tears!

[Rugby World Cup 3rd XV]

I think the tackle area will cause problems with players not knowing what they can and can't do. I don't know about this area but the other variations seem straightforward. The new law for the maul looks interesting and I wonder if the "rolling maul" will become extinct.