Yes, Miss Marie de Gaul.
My idea is that you have quite a bit of time on your hands. Why not run
down to Pisa and give us a report. We hear Stateside that she's about to
fall over. The tower, that is.
It is August and French ants are on "vacance." No telling what they are
doing. Most likely ignoring American ants asking them "Ou se trouve la route
a Epr??s, Which the French ants are insisting on pronouncing "eeeep"
My other idea is that if you aren't gonna pronounce those consonants why
bother to put them in there in the first place. I feel it important to
pronounce every consonant that I come to.
DonNEZ moi la cl?? ?? la chamBRE, SiL vouS pla??T.
French is a beautiful language but through decades of misuse and
slothfulness, the average Frenchman has lost the ability to speak it.
> Good afternoon one and all, I was pottering about in my tool-shed this
> afternoon when I heard a pattering type noise. I dicovered that little
white
> things seemed to be bouncing on a piece of polystyrene, closer
investigation
> revealed that these were falling from the roof (corrugated iron) and that
in
> between two sheets there was a swarm of ants chucking down them down. I
> suppose they are ant eggs, but what on earth were the ants up to? There
were
Good afternoon one and all, I was pottering about in my tool-shed this
afternoon when I heard a pattering type noise. I dicovered that little white
things seemed to be bouncing on a piece of polystyrene, closer investigation
revealed that these were falling from the roof (corrugated iron) and that in
between two sheets there was a swarm of ants chucking down them down. I
suppose they are ant eggs, but what on earth were the ants up to? There were
ants everywhere, nasty. Any ideas?
Mary in France.
> I hope I'm wrong - I thought maybe they found a termite nest and
> was dropping them down.
> June
No, June, it is definitely EGG BALL. I have seen it played in France a lot.
Unlike American Egg Ball which lasts 60 minutes and lots of points are
scored. French Egg Ball is indeterminate in length and involves a
considerable number of ants scurrying back and forth and on the rare
occasion, about every 3 or 4 days shouting out. "Goooooooaaaaal" which is
like a touchdown here. By that time most of the players have lost interest
and ALL of the spectators have long since removed themselves toward home.
I have absolutely no idea what David was going on about in his reply....oh well!
Ant eggs are indeed white, and are slightly wider around than the ant itself. They are oval in shape. If the little white things are eggs, it's possible that for some reason, the ants have decided to move their nest. I've found that this happens when the nest disturbed and have actually witnessed the move myself on occasion. It's quite funny watching them. Pandemonium, ants everywhere, most of them carrying an egg. It seems strange that they'd drop them from that height, but on the other hand, I can't imagine it really doing any damage to the eggs. Do they then travel down to the eggs and retrieve them?
Brenda in Lethbridge
pinkb@em.agr.ca
> Mary Allen
Good afternoon one and all, I was pottering about in my tool-shed this
afternoon when I heard a pattering type noise. I dicovered that little white
things seemed to be bouncing on a piece of polystyrene, closer investigation
revealed that these were falling from the roof (corrugated iron) and that in
between two sheets there was a swarm of ants chucking down them down. I
suppose they are ant eggs, but what on earth were the ants up to? There were
ants everywhere, nasty. Any ideas?
Mary in France.
!
I hope I'm wrong - I thought maybe they found a termite nest and
was dropping them down.
June
Hmmm, could it be that David has spent too many hours outside in the heat
and humidity?
Robin
Hi Robin and David,
Robin, I find David hirarious. :-)). Ant ball, yet. Hmmmm.
I've been reading about the Formosian termite that made its way
here in the 1940's in wooden packing crates from China.
Now they are popping up in our southlands.
They are white and blind. And have interconnecting tunnels
that spread out about 300 ft. so it's impossible for an
exterminator to get at them. Bob Stewart no doubt could
tell us more.
But, back to ant ball. It's much more fun to think
about.
June (Watching Buddy Guy - Blues Guitarist-
Yeah -)
We had lunch in an Italian restaurant when France and Italy were playing a
few weeks ago. There was only one other customer, and the restaurant staff
were watching the game it on TV in Italian. Between the announcer and the
spectators in the restaurant (who would all start yelling in Italian every
so often) it was pretty exciting. Now I have very little idea what was
going on in the game, but I gather the staff were not pleased with the
outcome.
David Smith
In a message dated 26/08/98 21:32:29, you write:
<< French is a beautiful language but through decades of misuse and
slothfulness, the average Frenchman has lost the ability to speak it >>
Hi David, I don't think that I would call it beautiful, it is certainly b.
difficult! Around here very few people own up to speaking English so I have a
pretty hard time. For example, yesterday I had to but a new modem. A charming
man fitted it for me but I was amazed at how even computer-speak (not that I
know much) is totally fifferent. They aren't even computers but ordinateurs.
Mary in France.
In a message dated 26/08/98 21:48:55, pinkb@EM.AGR.CA writes:
<< Pandemonium, ants everywhere, most of them carrying an egg. It seems
strange that they'd drop them from that height, but on the other hand, I can't
imagine it really doing any damage to the eggs. Do they then travel down to
the eggs and retrieve them? >>
Hi Brenda, I think there were some around the eggs but I was so busy spraying
them I didn't notice if they were retrieving them. The eggs weren't oval and
from the noise they made whilest dropping from on high made me think they were
rock hard. I swept them away so can't give more info.
Mary in France.
In a message dated 26/08/98 21:59:47, JMD@URIACC.URI.EDU writes:
<< I hope I'm wrong - I thought maybe they found a termite nest and
was dropping them down. >>
My heavens, I hope they aren't termites. I don't think we have them here, says
she hopefully.
Mary in France.
In a message dated 26/08/98 22:10:04, you write:
<< No, June, it is definitely EGG BALL. >>
They must have got caught up with World Cup fever!
M
Mary,
Re: World Cup fevor --- LOL - June
In a message dated 27/08/98 00:44:40, you write:
<< We had lunch in an Italian restaurant when France and Italy were playing a
few weeks ago >>
Hi David, I watched quite a few matches on French TV as my satellite was not
covering the World Cup. It was quite a strain at times but by the end I had
increased my vocab. enormously."La tete du Shearer" has now become a bye word
in my family.
Mary in France.
