crossy67

Wow, that sounds complicated.  Thanks for the informative reply and the link Q.  I know feel I know everything I need to know to confuse myself with lol.

Any one care to explain the way the French electricity tariffs work and what these red days are all about and how to choose the best tariff for a full time resident?  I have read about it but can't figure out how it works.  How does your meter know what is a red day or any other colour?  It's a mystery to me.  I have tried searching and can't seem to find it explained, only mentioned.

Thanks Dog.  I have done a few searches (admittedly after asking the question) and can't find any answers from anyone that has managed to do it.  Maybe there is a market to "export" some[:)] I know our estate agents husband recently bought some, she mentioned it in passing, maybe he would lend me it in return for some form of show of kindness[I]  I really don't fancy getting to the top of a 3 stoty building on a main road on top of a ladder, I might just be starting and ending my new life in a disappointingly short time scale. I ned to replace the barge boards, do some minor repairs to the roof and put some flashing round the chimney breasts. 

How difficult is it to get scaffolding in general, I assume I will need permission from the Mayor and insurance too?  We are going to be in 16 South Charente and I need to do a few repairs to the roof and barge boards, whilst I am up there I would like to clean and paint everything.  The house is 3 stories high and on a crossroads so I don't really fancy risking my life on a ladder. Any one know of any companies that could erect some for me and an idea of what I could expect to pay would be great. Thanks. Ian

You been drinking Dog?  lol

Good post Q.

That's my plan[I] Can't wait to try it now but I will have to leave it until the weekend, can't risk a bad head tomorrow. Again, thanks all you might have solved a real problem for me.  Not being able to drink red wine is a real problem.

Thanks, you may have just saved my life[8-|]

Ok, I have yet to find one that doesn't.  Sulphates are used to stop fermentation, preserve the wine and to ensure the grapes are clean prior to fermentation as I understand it.

Would it be possible to have two wood burners on one flue.  We are thinking along the lines of having one down stares and one in the room above, they would use the same chimney, would we be ok using the same flue?

Thanks for the links, the histamine sound promising, all wine has sulphates in so that would not explain why some wines cause such a bad reaction whilst others are fine.  Reading the bit about the histamine really rings a bell with me, not all the time but quite often if I drink a glass of wine I will wake in the night burning up, this is said to be another side effect.  So it looks like I need to buy some Claratyn and some asprin just in case I am allergic to Prostaglandins too.  I can't believe some of the things my body doesn't like any more, getting older is depressing.

I was wondering if anyone else suffers rogue headaches after drinking wine.  I get real stinking headaches like a migraine after drinking as little as one glass.  Strange thing is it only seems to be certain wines.  When I was over last month I bought three 5liter plastic barrels, I drunk the 1st two with only a bit of a hangover if I abused their copious quantity, fare enough.  Then I opened the last barrel, every time I take a drink I get a banging head ache.  The 1st and last barrels were both Vin De Payes Del Aude but the labels were different.  It's a nightmare, I love red wine but it's like Russian roulette.

Thanks Panda[:)] 

lol.  Julie is a vegetarian ans I am almost there eating meet once every couple of weeks.  Got to admit though, it does look kinda like a lime .

We were really lucky, we transferred a large chunk when the rate was really good a month or so ago.  Since then it's gone pants :-(  The man I was dealing with when we did our transfer said he expected it to continue downward for a while and said he didn't expect it to be back at it' s current level (September 2010) for a good few months.

Oh my god that's beautiful, wonder what they tatse like lol limes I bet.

[quote user="ericd"][quote user="crossy67"]Aubeterre-Sur-Dronne.  [/quote]   .......There are two Aubeterre-sur-Dronne ....Creuse and Charente, both cannot be a majority of Brits ??? [/quote] Sud Charente, sorry.

Aubeterre-Sur-Dronne.  There does seem to be a lot of Birts in all the areas we have been to, when we where last there about 4 weeks ago I couldn't believe the number of British reg numbers.  Apparently the population drops to about 350 in the winter, could be interesting!  I just don't understand the attitude of some who would rather start their life in a new part of the world with an antisocial attitude, if you start that way how are things ever going to change or be better than you left behind.  I would rather appear naive than cynical .

Get your point but that is the UK where we don't even say hello to our neighbours.  France is totally different, we are greeted by almost every one walking towards us on the street, even adolescent teenagers, it seems to me (maybe totally naively) that France is much more sociable and the introduction or presentation of your self to the head of the local community would be a courteous thing to do and it cost's nothing.  I am not going to pucker up and ask him to bend over but I want to get off on the right foot. 

Prehaps your experiences of the local officials would have been different had you had the courtesy to introduce your self lol [:)].  I have always thought it was the done thing to do, way before I even considered France as a home or even a place to visit on holiday.

Yes, the day I am supposed to be flying back to the UK.  B*gger!  Oh well, I would rather be stuck there any way[:D]

I for one have every intention of presenting my self to our local Mayor, they are there for there community and I want to integrate and become part of that comunity.  Not wishing to start a racist debate but there are minorities in the UK that have been criticized and are to some extent marginalised by the indigenous population because of their unwillingness to fully integrate, this will not be me. I am wanting to start a business and to my mind my business's depends on my local communes success, I am really looking forward to the challenges of trying to bring more people into a small village and improving things for others.  This will help others in my community and hopefully I will benefit too.  As a side note, we in the UK don't seem to have much of a community or any community spirit.

Is there or was there once a sink on the other side of the wall and does it have a groove down the middle of it?  I have seen them on a few old houses where they have been used as the drain for the old stone sinks, the groove forms a small hole in the wall that is blocked until you want to drain the sink.  They have the stone sticking out from the wall to stop the water making the wall wet and causing damp.

Spam?

We did exactly that.  Went in looking for something specific and bought something completely different.