Gemonimo

I have just returned from a few days away and find that my pool liner has 'slipped' and seems to have 'pleats' in it.  Not only that but the base looks a bit like the surface of Mars - shallow indentations and raised bits.  It is four years old and I was told the liner should last at least ten years.  I have taken care of the Ph, chlorine etc and can't think what has happened.  The land around the pool hasn't moved or cracked.  Are you out there Poolguy?  I'm in need of a few comforting words.

Paul does look a bit like a pudding, but there again, Bruce is no oil painting either but I didn't invite him just to look at him, more to listen to his music. Pathetic I know, but I can't do my housework unless Darlington County is up high... VERY high.

OK Frenchie, I'll let you have Bruce for Christmas if you'll let me have him for the New Year (and the rest of the year please....)

I quite agree WJT, whenever I 'drip' coffee, I end up with something rather luke warm and not very good. As for the temperature of a percolator, well I can control it on the stove top but I haven't a clue as to the temperature. And how about storing the beans? I store mine in the freezer (don't know why). Am I the only one doing this? While we're on the subject of coffee makers, does anyone remember those rather odd coffee makers that had two glass globes with a glass tube between the two to 'aspire' the water from the lower to the higher globe? I think they might have been Swedish.

Are you going to get an electric or stove top variety WJT? My old pot is a stove top model and can be controlled for strenghth - as soon as I see clear water glub glubbing over the coffee cage, I give it five minutes. That's for Kenya but other varieties might be longr/shorter. And the smell, mmmm!

Whilst I like expresso, my favourite coffee of all time is the Kenya coffee I percolate (you what?) in a forty year old Corning ware percolator that I bought in Boston. Italian guests have even been known to ask for a second cup.......

Maïté for the food Bruce Springsteen for the music Patrick Poivre d'Avor for the conversation Mark Tuly to keep everything in perspective

 I'd like one too! You have done a brilliant job BB - congratulaltions. Jen

And if you don't like the crépi once it's up, just try taking it off[Www]

I seem to remember  something called 'Topral' which if my memory serves me correctly is a ready mix and comes in a range of different colours.  It was quite a time ago that I used it and works out relatively expensive the M².  I guess it depends what you want. At least with the ready mix you get the same colour all over.  Good Luck

Muscoka, it's called a 'bac à graisse' but even if you install one, I wouldn't water the garden with what's left. Our first system was a bit like yours but in addition it collected all the bathroom/loo water[+o(] The system was called a 'fosse étanche' and had to be emptied on a regular basis depending on the size of the fosse and the number of occupants in the house.  It worked well. 

Big pumpkins are always a problem which is why I grow buternut squash or potiron (petit maron). I was invited once where the whole meal consisted of a big potiron hollowed out and filled with saussages, ventreche (pork belly), cream and cheese.  The whole thing was baked in the oven and was delicious.  I've never dared try it as in know that with my luck the whole thing would disintegrate in the oven.  Aaaargh! 

Hello GG - normally I'll add the cream at the end but I've never noticed a great difference if it is frozen with it already in.  A quick whisk with a hand held blender usually takes care of any problems.  Soup is one of the few advantages of winter and apparently if you have a bowl of soup before every meal (well, not breakfast!) you won't gain weight.

The cabbage salad recipe is wonderful and being able to make it in advance an added bonus.  Thanks Sweet dix sept.  Whenever I make pumpkin soup (or any sort of squash soup come to that), I flavour it with cardomom pods and enrich it with cream.  Cardomom goes well with carrot soup, too. I freeze soup in empty orange juice cartons - takes up less space in the freezer.  Happy soup making everyone!

Knowing my children will ALL be home for Christmas.

Frankly, Sweet 17, not a lot unless you want to be arrested!! Seriously though, if you have someone in your life who speaks a different language, you do sort of  'absorb' the language without actually realising it.  And as for Arte, I quite agree, it is by far the best channel but I can't get it - my telly is soooo old I can only get 1,2 and 3 and then only when I have a kitchen fork stuck in the back of it[Www]  Artisanal or what! Jen

Does it actually matter if it is good, bad or indifferent French TV?  The most important is that you are listening and hopefully understanding the language and when you feel confident and understand well, then you can move on to cerebral stuff. I struggled for quite a while until I took a French lover[:-))]  and during ten happy years my french improved greatly!  So well done J.R. there will be no looking back for you[;-)] I do confess to listening to the BBC world service at night - I'm an insomniac.

I learnt how to say TA GEULE!  thanks to Keith Floyd. He brought a lot of colour into our culinary lives and I certainly wish him well.

I'm no expert J.R. but I would have said "puis-je (pourrais-je) parler avec quelq'un au rayon menuiserie".  But I can't explain why!  Jen

Hello Sweets... The DDE is the Direction Départmentale de l'Equipment who are the guys who build and maintain the roads in France.  Sorry about my 'fossé' - it's a ditch (I suppose that's the word) running alongside a road.  I didn' put any fertilizer on my rather pathetic little plot as it didn't cross my mind! The dirt from the ditch must have had all sorts of good stuff in it[+o(] as my vegetable just went beserk. This year I plan on putting some horse poo on it but the horse poo man doesn't deliver and I only have a little Fiat..........!!  As gardeners go I'm a bit of a novice but I had fabulous courgettes and very deformed parsnips. Jen

Quite agree with you Gardian. I hope it is a great success and that the fares will compete with the low cost airlines. I just love trains - fast, slow, I don't care. It's the ambiance that is just not there when you fly. Jen

Keep going Sweet dix sept... We all know it's not easy and you are really doing very, very well. Do you ever have a spritzer as opposed to a 'real' glass of wine? That way your allowance will last twice as long. Courage! Jen

Saw the typo as soon as I'd pressed the 'post' button! Silly me! Does anyone know if coriander freezes?

If anyone needs extra topsoil, I get mine from the DDE in lorryloads when they are cleaning the fossé near me and it doesn't cost a dime. My veggies this year were the talk of the hamlet they were so abundant and without fertilizer! Jen

Quite agree with you Jinty. The patak curry pastes are perfectly acceptable and I use them all the time. I do sometimes grin my own spices but only when I have tons of time. My biggest problem is getting fresh coriander and when I grow it, it's a case of now you see it, not you don't as it goes from being a leggy plant to seeds.