select into temp tables withough using EXECUTE in plpgsql

I have a query surrounding somthing taht seems to have been a relatively
FAQ. It concerns the use of temporary tables in plpgsql.

Which initially resulted in the good old 'oid xxxx not found' error.

So I learnt from the maliing-list that I should be 'executing' (with EXECUTE
Command) my queries because expressions used in a PL/pgSQL function are only
prepared and saved once (without using execute).

However I would like to select ditinct valuse in my temp table which seem
impossible as:

" SELECT INTO is not currently supported within EXECUTE. So, the only way to
extract a result from a dynamically-created SELECT is to use the FOR ...
EXECUTE form described later."

(http://www.postgresql.org/docs/7.1/static/plpgsql-description.html)

I either cannot find or do not understand the documentation for this " FOR
... EXECUTE form " being described somewhere later in the docuanetation.

So to recap I'm creating a temp table fine.
I'm EXCUTING an insert into the temp table fine.
Then I cannot select from the table
in the form:

SELECT INTO int1 count(distinct(value)) from TEMP1;

Then it happily drops the table (without the select).

Any advice on how to select from a temp table into a variable wuold be
gratefully recieved.

Many Thanks

Edmund