round of introductions

[Sue Dyer]

Sue,

My wife would like to be very good friends with Sean Hughes, and worse. She fancies the pants off him.

She asks does he remember her from a show he did a while ago...er... somewhere in London?

Sorry - I almost missed yr post!!

I'm sure Sean remembers all of his fans Actually, I was always impressed after gigs how he seemed to remember key facts about folk he'd met ages before. He always takes time to meet up with people after shows for a drink and a chat. I know/knew quite a lot of stand up comedians and can say Sean seemed to lack the arrogance some of them display.

Was the show stand up or a play? He was in "Art" in the West End with Colin Buchannan (Dalziel & Pasco) and he was excellent in that. He's kind of forgotten for his stand up a bit now but I can leak the news that he is making a return to stand up and probably appearing at Edinburgh Fringe next year!

[paolo]

He was doing stand-up and it must have been about 15 years ago. Kim was with her then boyfriend, who went to the loo during the performance. While he was away, Sean found out as much as he could about him from Kim, and then proceeded to freak him out on his return.

I find Sean Hughes a very kindly presence, the sort of person you can just look at and cheer up. Another one is Michael Palin.

[Fraise]

Hi,I'm Fraise(yep,I know,strange choice of handle,but-well,that's moi).We're sort of undecided whether to live here full time or not-dept 17.We've bought a lovely house that is being restored as we speak-to rent out.We paid a guy to design a website for us-it was almost finished and was due to be up and running next week-he's been transferred abroad by his company and can't finish it.Don't really know what to do next-he says he'll refund our money.So many decisions! Do you think it's worth paying someone else ? Will we get our money back-hope so,he seemed a nice guy.Ho hum.... Hey,love the site by the way. Bye for now ,Fraise x

[Alan Knighting]

Welcome to the Forum Fraise,

It would be a pity to re-invent the wheel. If you have seen, and like, the work so far and want to continue with it why not ask for a copy of it (everything) on a CD. You could then hand the project on to someone else to complete.

Look around the Forum, you will find people who will do it.

Alan

[paolo]

Welcome Fraise - like the name

If your site is near completion, I could have a look at it for you and perhaps I can finish it and get it out there for you without too much work. Otherwise you will find there are a couple of qualified people on this forum who can help (for a fee!).

[Fraise]

Thankyou for the suggestion Alan-if we can get hold of him I'll ask for a CD. Paolo,that was very kind.I'm thinking maybe Alan was right when he said welcome to THE forum I forgot to put that "17" is in France!Doh!!I wasn't thinking globally-sorry,I am now!

[Vitraux]

Hi All,

I am new to the forum, my name is Ann and I live in the Dordogne, France (Dept. 24) just outside Bergerac.
Previously lived in Poutou Charentes dept. 16.

We run a B & B (but not very well as we don't seem to get any bookings) just kidding, we have only been open a couple of months and will probably have to wait until next Spring.
Anyway my husband is a Stained Glass Artist and we are in the process of opening a Galerie d'art.
We also hope to run residential courses on Stained Glass.
So we will be busy in the coming months, we love France, we have previously lived in Lanzarote, and Cornwall.

Like the forum as it is a nice change to speak to people who are not all based in France, it puts a different perspective on things.

Looking forward to some good discussions.

Ann.

www.stainedglassinfrance.net
www.bed-and-breakfast-in-the-dordogne.com

[Sue Dyer]

Hi Ann
Welcome along!!! I'm sure the bookings will happen. We've been going 3 years and used to literally whoop with joy when we got an enquiry never mind a booking. Course, we didn't have this brilliant forum to help out!!

I've done some stained glass, I like copper foiling too. I tend to go thru cycles with hobbies - cross stitch, reading, book binding but I probably spend too long on the computer these days and should pick back up on the glass.

welcome again!!

[Alan Knighting]

Aaron,

The "monument" was apparently a public water supply and is known as a "pant". Perhaps because when the villagers were thirsty, by the time they got to the fountain, they were panting like hell!!!!! hence.."pant".

There is one similar at Blanchland as well as Robertson's Pant at Alnwick (built to commemorate someone called Robertson?). I have no information about the one in Bamburgh.

You can find a 1907 photo of the “pant� at:-

http://communities.northumberland.gov.uk/006107FS.htm

Before, and after, you will find a whole gallery of pictures of the village.

Hope this helps.

Alan

[altyfc]

Thank you, Alan... that has been a great help. Bamburgh's pant now has its own Web page!

Aaron

[Alan Knighting]

Aaron,

If I uncover any history of the Bamburgh "pant" I will post it.

My wife and I are both from that part of the world. One of these days I might even post a "who are we?" or "who were we?"

Now that the "pant" has it's own website I'll bet it is "panting" with excitement!

These little local things are important in life, aren't they?

Alan

[altyfc]

Thanks, Alan... yes, they are important and, with time, we'd like that site to be able to cover the whole of the UK with this kind of level of detail. It'll take quite a few years but I think it will be worth the effort in the long term, and a great resource for visitors and locals alike. If you discover any more with regards to history (I've just written a very generic description for now), then that would be great, but what I have will do for now. It's just nice to finally know what it is!

Thanks again

Aaron

[Dave Kinder]

Hi
I'm Dave and I've been a regular reader of the forum for a while and thought it was time I got a bit more involved

We've had a small place in northern Tuscany for just eighteen months so we are fairly new to the rental business. Our first full year exceeded all our expectations and we are learning all the time about what makes a good rental property, how to handle guests, enquiries, etc.

The forum and the site in general is a great source of experience and tips, particularly for those like ourselves who are still a bit wet behind the ears.

Bye for now

Dave

[paolo]

Welcome Dave!

Good to hear about your successful year. How are things in Tuscany? Is it now over-supplied with rental properties, like parts of France and Florida?

[Dave Kinder]

Thanks Paolo,

northern Tuscany seems to be still relatively untouristy. The majority of visitors in the area appear to be either people who don't want the cliched rolling hills and plane trees and are looking for something more of a genuine "Italian" holiday, or they are second/third genaration English/Italians who regularly spend their summer breaks in their family villages.

It doesn't appear to be over-supplied with rental properties as yet although there are a suprising number from the UK who are either trying to work fulltime or have retired to the area - summer temperatures in the mountainous north are generally not as stifling as those around Florence, Pisa and Siena.