Doodle

Just read the thread so best wishes to you both. xx Chris

Laurier, I forgot to add that she also sells a few plants that are grown in the garden so a good recommendation for the area. It's a pity you missed the yearly plant fete at the chateau in bagnoles last weekend however, at the end of september I can recommend a very good plant fete weekend at Ceauce. This one includes plants, shrubs, trees, garden ornaments and small stalls selling allsorts or handmade things and then when you are spent up and weary, you can sit alongside the pond having bought a sausage bagette, frites and a drink alcoholic or not to end a very good day! Now you know what we get up to!! Regards, Chris

We live on the borders of the orne and mayenne. As you say the area is fairly comparable to the UK. Depending on where you are in the Orne, why not visit some of the open gardens. One I love in particular is Le Jardin Retire in Bagnoles de l'orne. It is open throughout the summer friday - sunday 10:00am till 6:00pm, 3 euros entrance fee but well worth the visit and Annie the owner will give you a tour or you can wander around the '14 rooms' by yourself. www.lejardinretire.fr/ Regards, Chris

Hi Anton We have visitors over from the UK so I haven't had a chance to get on the pc and so apologise in taking so long to reply! The reason for asking is that my french neighbour has been driving around the mayenne circuit for the last couple of years. Last sunday he was at the folcar track somewhere near Granville. We wished him luck with the rallycross and that's when he told us that it wasn't rallycross but folcar. Not wanting to show our ignorance we didn't ask what the difference was! Thanks for the information and the links. Lauren and his team mate Arnaud do quite well considering they've only been at it for two years and Lauren was in his forties when they first started rallycross. The first renault was wrecked after the first season and they are now on their second renault which arrived back on sunday night in a bit of a state! Chris

Please could someone explain the difference between driving the rally car circuit in mayenne and the autofolcar circuit in the manche. many thanks, chris

I've got the same beetle problem but not on a large scale. I usually kill off the dandelions with boiling water so may try the same method down the beetle holes and see what happens! Chris

I love this..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDom2atw2OQ Chris

'you bury your treasure, you burn your rubbish' that was the reply when I asked a friend if her father was being buried or cremated and that was over 25 years ago but her words have stuck with me ever since. Chris

We decided early on that we wanted a rustic-ish practical kitchen, not that I really knew what that was but I knew I did not want a fitted kitchen as previously in the UK and I definately did not want wall units as most of the time I couldn't reach the top shelves so a total waste of space as far as I was concerned (difficult as we left behind modern minimilist which we loved at the time). So we bought a couple of units and a porcelaine sink from Habitat in the UK and brought them over in a hired van and once we'd moved in permanently we bought a free standing armoire with a pull out storage section (which I absolutely love) and a butchers block from Habitat in Rennes. We re-used the previous owners melamine work tops by turning them upside down and covering them with marble tiles (veined and pitted) which we bought as seconds and used the same tiles for a splashback to complete the rustic-ish look. I knocked up a curtain from some chicken printed fabric I found on-line in a sale to cover a space where the under the counter fridge had once been before realising we needed something much larger and which now houses pans and casseroles and then made a matching tablecloth. All in all I think we've achieved something that resembles rustic and as the saying goes 'the beauty is in the imperfection'.

nope not the only one, I bought mine from a garden centre in mayenne and it died within a year, chris

Just thought I'd share this with anyone who might be interested! Got up this morning and it was and still is pouring - miserable BUT we have just have the bretagne/p-d-l porsche club pass through our village (and our house so no need to get wet!) and it has really brightened our day. Fabulous cars old and new. Last October we had the Mayenne classic car club pass right by our door fantastic to see them all and there were lots of them. I guess we're quite fortunate as we are on route to the 3 chateaux of Lassay which they tend to visit and then end up in Bagnoles for lunch. Chris

Some of our friends are vegetarians so its melted cheese, mixed peppers and cherry toms cooked on the raclette, with jacket spuds, salad and garlic bread followed by a quick wipe of the raclette ready for peaches, plums or whatever soft fruit served with vanilla ice cream - that's all! Chris

watercress soup !

agree with you sueyh. is it me or did you think that Monty looked a little gaunt on last night's programme. I do hope he is well enough to be doing the programme don't want him going the route of Geoff gone but not forgotton! Chris

Went to our local intermarche on thursday and diesel was 130.9. Yesterday it was on sale at 134.9. The first saturday of each month usually sees a reduction in fuel prices so I do wonder if the price goes up a week or so before to allow for the reduction. Chris

My french neighbour has in the last fortnight got herself a pc and connection to orange. Everyday I get several test emails with the title coucou so I've been replying using coucou. I think before long she'll have driven my cuckoo !! Chris

Hi Sweets, One of the reasons I like the Roberts retro istream is that Roberts have a help line you can ring if you have a problem using it! I'm not techno minded so will probably need help but that said it does seem relatively easy to use. Have a look at the comments on Amazon.co.uk and Robertsradio.co.uk as there is some very good info. You can also have a 30 day free trial. Cheaper to buy from Amazon though. My friend is very impressed with theirs so that's a good enough recommendation for me.

We originally bought a stool bed from Sofa Workshop and was so impressed that we bought 2 leather sofas and a chair 15 + years ago and they are still like new even though well used. The reason we bought from them was their extensive knowledge about leather plus the build quality. Their workshop was near to where we used to live, just outside Petworth and they were happy for you to make an appointment to have a look at the workshop and as you say you could get some good bargains especially when the sale is on or on shop display items. Expensive yes, but excellent quality. Chris

Just wanted to say thanks to all for the info. If necessary, I am going to borrow a friend's Roberts istream radio, i've fiddled about with it and it seems really good and just what I'm looking for. Chris

Thanks all for the replies. I now feel I have mislead you all in that I want the radio in case I have to have a short stay in hospital and I would like some english to listen to as well as the hospital TV/radio which quite frankly did my head in on my last stay! Thanks, Chris

I would like to buy a radio. It doesn't have to be travel size and I'm not too bothered about the price as long as the reception is good and I can listen to the BBC radio stations 1,2,3 & 4 here in france. Anyone got any recommendations please? Chris

http://www.francemonthly.com/n/1202/recipe.php I like this site very much for recipes. Hope it goes well. Chris

This may sound a bit daft but we get through a lot of bottled water - 2 litre size clear plastic type. Last year I put in a few 1 & 2 year old fruit trees and as well as fleecing the top I cut the bottles vertically then placed them around the trunks 2-3 per trunk this allowed the air and light through and I think gave a certain amount of protection from the few bad weeks of winter (dept 53 north) we had. I also found it stopped the cat from sharpening her claws on them! Of course on a really windy day they did tend to end up else where in the garden but that was easily remedied with a bit of sticky tape! Chris

Thanks Dog, I have since found out that it is the lavae of a privet hawk moth if you would like to have a look at it here is the link...... http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1669 regards, chris

I've just found in the garden a caterpillar, smooth lime green with white and lavender vertical stripes together and repeated every few centimetres. It is about the thicknes of my middle finger and is around 4 inches in length and has something resembling a small brown horn at the bottom end I say bottom end as unless it walks backwards it must be its bottom! Very strong clung to the OH's garden glove like glue. Can someone enlighten me as to what it is please? Thanks, Chris