Quarmby

I have inherited a goldfish pond with my new house. I know nothing about goldfish. I have been feeding them , but someone told me that you shouldn't feed them in winter. Is this true? I live in Herault (34). For the purposes of fish feeding, when does winter start here?

He's never actually broken any rules. His decision to accept a loan from a minister in his own department was imprudent rather than improper, and he was cleared of the accusation of using his office to influence a passport application. I'm no supporter of his, but it would be nice to get beyond the Prince-of-Darkness tabloid politics.

When I use my own mix, I put the water in first, then the flour/salt/sugar,  then the dried yeast on top of the flour. In this way the yeast does not come into contact with the water until the timer kicks in and the paddle starts. (This is what the instruction book tells you). I have always assumed that if I use the Lidl-type flour with yeast ready mixed in, then I couldn't do it on an overnight timer because part of the already-yeasted flour would be in contact with the water. Has anyone done this, and with what results?

Am I right in thinking that you can't use ready-mixed flour (ie with yeast already added) in a bread machine with a timer programme, because the water will start to activate the yeast straightaway? I make bread on cheap-rate overnight lekky, but can't use the Lidl ready-mixes for that reason.

After several years of frustrating experiences in French shops, I realised that when Napoleon called the English a nation of shopkeepers he was saying what he admired about them. He had obviously had one gallic shrug too many when trying to buy a new bonnet for Josephine. I agree with the first poster. French shops exist so the staff have somewhere to socialise. Top of the list for indifference and rudeness are bricolages, closely followed by pharmacies. On the other hand, public service outlets like mairies, CPAMs etc, which have no profit motive, I have always found patient and helpful. Who can explain it? Who can tell you why?

Thank you for that reference Clair. Just what I was looking for.

We have just moved house, but our enjoyment of our new property is spoiled by the loud incessant barking of our neighbour's dog. (It's a Dobermann). Has anyone ever used these gadgets that make a high-pitched sound to deter their barking? Are they effective? And why don't dogs ever get sore throats?

Aoutats take a while to reach their chosen dining spot, which is why you don't notice the bites until the evening. Immediately after doing what you have to do in the garden, remove all your clothing and shower with soap. Launder the clothes before wearing them again. They hate sulphur, so I used to dust my clothes and shoes with it (get it from garden shops). It's quite effective.  

Good article by Polly Toynbee in today's Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/sep/02/education.labour

I'm not sure there's anything new here - faith schools have always been able to discriminate on religious grounds. One of their advantages is that they can get rid of disruptive pupils far more easily than maintained schools, which is why many irreligious parents choose them. Far more worrying are these faith academies, where any fruitcake with his own ideas on evolution etc can put down 2 million quid and own a school. They were the idea of Tony Blair, the well-known Christian and warmonger.

If only it were that easy! Termites travel under the ground, and will attack the stump from underneath. I bored holes in mine, poured in BBQ fluid and gradually burned / hacked it away. It's a slow process.

I have just noticed that Xylophene now comes in a gel format. This would make it a lot easier to put on. Anyone used it? Does it penetrate well?

I don't know where you are, but round here termites will find a tree stump pretty quickly and start to eat it. When they are through the queen will fly off to start a new nest, possibly in your house timbers. Just a thought.

A python I should not advise / It needs a doctor for its eyes / And has the measles yearly However if you feel inclined / To get one (to improve your mind, / And not from fashion merely) Allow no music near its cage / And if it flies into a rage / Chastise it most severely I had an aunt in Pakistan / Who bought a python from a man / And kept it as a pet. She died, because she never knew / These simple little rules, and few. / The snake is living yet.

Mrs Bridges, the fat cook in Upstairs Downstairs, was always making Pies. Whenever you saw her she was rolling out the pastry for a Pie, or filling a Pie, or taking a Pie out of the oven. Yet you never saw anyone eating a Pie. What happened to them all?

Désolé, Cassis, but the bites are not the same. For a start aoutats are not after blood, but moisture, which they need to develop into their next stage. They tunnel under the skin, which is why their "bites" are often up to 1cm long. Google "jiggers" which is what the Americans call them and you will discover all.

Aoutats don't bite around the ankles. They travel up the body to foldy/sweaty bits - behind knees, armpits, naughty bits. Bites around ankles really do sound like fleas. You need to spray, and then spray again some time later - two weeks I think - to kill the new crop that will have hatched. Fleas can be eradicated.

Corbet Woodall! I'd forgotten him. What about Bert Foord? You used to get proper weather with him. And that Cliff Michelmore. Wore a suit, spoke properly. No need to use the bleeper when he was broadcasting. And you could get fish and chips for 1/6d.

I am in between compromis and acte de vente, and I have discovered that our vendor is in dispute with a neighbour over repairs to a shared staircase. She said nothing about this before the compromis. Whatever has to be put right with this staircase, we are up for half the cost. In UK you are obliged to disclose any disputes at the time of exchange of contracts. I know that in France you buy a house with all its "vices cachés", but is there any way we can make the vendor take some responsibility for a pre-existing problem?

I have just been given a Peugeot 103 phut-phut bike. It has no number plates so I assume I don't need a carte grise, but do I need to insure it? I already have car insurance.

Chris, you can't leave this forum. Who shall we turn to next time we see something with ten legs and giant mandibles crawling across our breakfast table? While I agree with you that people with serious issues or problems deserve proper answers, it is also true that you don't have to be solemn to be serious. As the previous poster said, it would be helpful to know if you had some particular issue in mind that prompted you to write. As for the ranters and personal abusers, there do seem to be mercifully few of them on this forum. Read the Daily Telegraph  forums and you will quickly reach the conclusion that most of its contributors are barking mad. By contrast we are positively Cartesian in our reasonableness. Don't leave us, Chris.

My wife took my photo with a digital camera and we printed it on good quality gloss paper. The result was accepted by CPAM and by the passport office when I came to renew my passport.

Here's a funny thing. For as long as I can remember British foreign policy has been dictated from Washington. We host American military bases, we join wars at Washington's behest, we pull out of them if Washington disapproves - as it did of Suez - and, recently, a British Foreign Secretary was dismissed because he was insufficiently hawkish about Iran. Yet every move by the European Community - at every level of which Britain is democratically represented - is greeted with howls of rage by the Little Englanders who contribute to this forum. I know very little about the Lisbon treaty, but I do know that Rupert Murdoch opposes it, and that's good enough reason for me to support it.

My car is four years old this July. What happens about the controle technique? Will I get some sort of official form in the post, or do I just take it and get it done, or what? How does the system work?

I wish I could experience some of your pushy shop assistants, Callie. Mpst of the ones I deal with regard serving you as a serious interruption to their spare time.