Lay My Hat

It's the caterpillar of the Giant Peacock Moth. I posted about the moths on our blog here - http://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/200 ... -moth.html if you want to see a pic of what the caterpillar will turn into.

I read a synopsis of a recent international tourism managers conference a couple of days ago. All were doom and gloom, except the French and the Americans. The French announced that they would be focusing on value adding, and the Americans said that on no account should you put your prices down, bec...

Dishwasher over washing machine every time for me

If the Wizard and I were staying for a week or less, I doubt we'd bother doing any washing, but we would certainly pick a place with a dishwasher over one that didn't, all other things being +/- equal.

Jimbo: I think your drake is probably smart enough to know that if he stays put a wandering female will spot a vacancy. If he moves on he has to compete with other males. I definitely wouldn't attempt to catch him. As a wild creature, being chased and caught really will distress him.

Jimbo: If your ducks are Mallards, then the drake won't mourn for long. Bobby's right – they mate with anything, and on every possible occasion. Female ducks are sometimes drowned in the mating frenzy, and certainly nip of pretty sharpish if more than one drake hoves into view. Swans will often mate...

Isn't the very low daily rate only if you take out a year's contract or something?

Ann - according to Lafranchis (the most authoritative of the French field guides for butterflies) on le Vulcain : Dans le Midi, l'imago se réfugie en hiver dans les bois et les rochers, et vole dès que la température se radoucit. [Imago = adult butterfly] I would expect to see a few come out of hibe...

As a result of blogging about poplars following this thread and shamelessly harvesting the information from it, I have discovered that poplar wood is bois blanc and primarily used for cheese boxes, although it has quite a few other uses as well.

The blog post is here: http://tinyurl.com/5r9g4z.

First of all, an apology to everyone I promised checklists to – they may appear one day, but at the moment I just can't push them up the priority list. :( I can offer a small substitute though, of more use to some of you than others. We have 'soft launched' a new website called Loire Valley Nature h...

Pete – our local dairy farm, who have a stall in the market, sell 'ordinary' cream as well as creme fraiche, cultured butter, yoghurt, fromage blanc and unpasturised, unhomogenised whole milk. If you have a local dairy, check with them what they can supply.

They are magnificent beasts aren't they? I once saw a small group of red deer stags from the train in Cumbria. They ran a short distance then wheeled around in unison to look at the train going by. Fab.

Bet you are still feeling weak at the knees after your experience though

IKEA are also opening very soon in Tours (well, Chambray les Tours, on the N10 - perfectly easy to get to). But I'm with Mols on the nature of the shopping experience at IKEA. The first time (of only 3 times in my life) that I ever went to an IKEA store they had crowd control barriers out the front!!!

<r>Katiegirl said<QUOTE><s>[quote]</s>yesterday we found some fantastic bread called un Miche, dense, moist and not a hole in sight.<e>[/quote]</e></QUOTE> Miches are one of the black arts of breadmaking – they are a type of wheat flour sourdough. I am busy brewing one up in my airing cupboard at th...

Poulpe and Holiday Ray are both right about the inspiration for Monet's waterlily paintings. The garden near Ray are world famous waterlily breeders, and most of the cultivars in gardens today have their origin here. Monet bought the waterlilies for Giverny here.

The seed mix provided for jachère or set aside in Europe was also used in the belief that it encouraged a lot of pollinator activity, particularly bumble bees, and would therefore result in higher crop yields (more thorough pollination = more seeds). Curiously, and rather sadly, a large study in Hol...