Well today this suburban ménagère woke up at 5.30 listening to thunder outside, seriously hoping that the roof did not spring a leak.  I then felt guilty that my ex-cat Stanley (I say ex because I still love him but he doesn't love me quite as much as he used to since we left him with a neighbour whilst we lived in London for a good while) - I digress, I felt guilty that he was outside in the thunderstorm (said neighbour is on holiday so we get our ex-cat back for the holidays), so I stood…

After the dogs have been fed, watered and walked they are both snoring gently at my feet as we enjoy our first aperitif. The terrace, a gravelled area in front of the chateau, gives way to a landscape which is simply stunning; a freshwater lake with swans gliding idly past and paddocks either side with impossibly beautiful horses in them, gracefully shimmying and strutting through the grass. The sun, still shining, bounces off the creamy walls of the chateau. Way after 6 p.m. it is heavenly…

Interviewed on his upcoming tour MSNBC anchors refer to him in the third party and at one point get his name wrong. Love him or hate him, he is on form here!

About two weeks ago, I was sent a really gorgeously packaged "Zao" eye shadow. As receiving make up in the post is always better than tax bills (better than most things actually), I was pretty chuffed. Then I opened it and my heart sank. It looked distinctly mauve (this was despite it being called Pearly Garnet) and mauve is really Not My Thing.

But two weeks in, I can report that I was totally wrong about the shade; it actually gives a really nice, 'better than Mother Nature gave me'…

Prologue

Finally, the car scrunches along the gravelled drive.
After fourteen hours on the road, the last of which was on teeny-tiny lanes approximately 2 kilometres away from our

destination, the view is worth the wait.
Dense hedging gives way to reveal one dreamy, turreted,

chalk-coloured chateau. The elegant country house looks straight out of a fairy tale, its round towers shooting up to protect it.

Two months ago, when I’d said ‘yes’ to the question that…

Hello food lovers.

I recently made a 3 tier wedding cake, for a good friend as a wedding gift. It turned out to be a very beautiful cake indeed. My sugar paste flowers are coming along nicely. They are quite easy and I enjoyed making them, even though there is a lot of work and patience involved. Calla lilies & Stargazers.  I was so nervous on the lead up to it as I brought it from France to the U.K. and that in itself could have given me a breakdown! but it made it, and it was…

I’ve always quite fancied trying a water softener. We’re a family with dry and sensitive skin and I’d heard glowing reports and tales of improvement from other sufferers who’d installed water softeners.



I also absolutely hate cleaning so anything that reduces limescale build up and thus cuts down on…

[Source] http://academicearth.org/electives/psychology-internet-troll/

We all behave differently when alone. Anonymity frees us from a perceived obligation to act in accordance with certain social norms. For example, most people refrain from picking their nose in public, but dig with abandon when alone. This isn’t revelatory – fear of judgment is a powerful motivator and is well documented by…

I rather wish he hadn’t, but our young Australian houseguest reminded me at dinner last night that the longest day is fast approaching. He comes from near Adelaide, where night falls comparatively early, even in the height of the summer. As part of his grand tour of Europe, he has spent a couple of days on Skye, where the sun barely sets.

June is racing by in a frenzy of activity. I’m ticking off landmarks with depressing rapidity. Last week, old friends from London flew into our…

After she wrote that article in the Mail last year, it seemed like just about everyone had an opinion on Sam Brick. Love her or hate her, for a while you couldn’t get away from the media storm that became known as ‘Brickgate’



James and I have had our fair share of unpleasant comments made about us on social media since we started…

As you might know I've been looking for a LHD car as my hubby works in the UK a lot and with 3 kids in a small village now I can't manage without one.  My plan was to buy a big LHD car (we have to fit 3 car seats on the back seat and small cars just won't fit the in) around 8-10 years old in the UK (probably one which someone has brought back from an overseas relocation). 

Anyway last week we saw a perfect X5 - not a bargain but reasonable for the mileage/age on sale at a LHD…

As I mentioned previously, my partner and I are planning on moving to France and working for ourselves. As we are not planning on moving for another 3-4 years I thought it might be worthwhile to start establishing the business now. That way  we have a chance to test the waters and see if it takes off, before we commit…

After the diagnostics were redone & presented to the Notaire, we had to arrange to sign a Procuration (Power of Attorney) so that the purchase could commence without us being present (we were off to Spain for 2 weeks for a friend's wedding).  We rocked up at the Notaires office with our 3 little angels ;) and read through the draft compromis.  I always find these sort of documents interesting - yes bizarre I know. But I like to read them thoroughly to see there is nothing odd in there. …

I have heard today that the European Commission has agreed that the CLEISS acted wrongly by refusing me a form S2 for pre-planned treatment in the UK on the sole grounds that I am a UK retiree residing in France.

Needles to say I have heard nothing from the CPAM in Chalon sur Saone or the CLEISS itself.

However, in the letter the Fench authorities have told the Commissioner that I was able to have treatment in the UK, which is totally false. How could I when they had refused to…

Continued from page 1

Here I've used a piece of Plexiglass; this will act as a window on the back wall.…