Rabbie

[quote user="pachapapa"] I should have wrote...; The baby had his/her first apple.[:P] [/quote]"I should have written" would have been better english

But don't you just hate it when people get its and it's mixed up?

[quote user="woolybanana"]Can't one go to prison for pedantry, these days?[/quote]Don't think so else I would have been inside years ago[:D]

[quote user="Théière"]So reading that article it appears that the Americans are weakening their immune system which can't be a bad thing for the rest of the world [:)][/quote]In fact many experts attribute the increase in allergies to modern hygiene. The immune system is a bit under employed so it starts defending against harmless things.

[quote user="Russethouse"] I agree but the BBC tend to say  'the polices response' gggrrrr! Lets not get started about 'two times' when twice is a perfectly adequate word ! [/quote]Nothing wrong with twice but I do remember learning the two times table by rote sixty something years ago.[:D]

As a farmer in the UK I can reassure you all that we are cutting down on fertiliser due to the increased price.

Glad to see other people are also irritated by the same things that irritate me.[:)] Still trying to work out when a railway station changed to train station.  I suppose being grumpy is one of the compensations for being older[:D]

Many thanks for your repy. Always nice to get things confirmed by an expert[:)]

My wife and I are currently buying a property in France. We are both over pension age although my wife has currently deferred her pension as she is still working. Initially we will be using the french property as a holiday home and so I assume that EHIC forms will be sufficient. Is that correct? At what stage do we need to obtain E121/S1 forms? Again I assume that this will need to be when we move permanently or at least spend 6 months a year in France. Is this correct?  Once we get the the S1 forms how does this affect our access to treatment in the UK.

When I renewed my british passport in December I just used photos from the machine in our local supermarket. It was accepted without any problems.

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies[:)] It took a bit of time before I got a clear explanation from my mortgage advisor so I knew this forum would not let me down

Currently applying for a mortgage in France. Our french mortgage advisor has askd us if the property will be domestic or business. As we have not decided yet as to how much we will be involved in running a business we need to know what the consequences would be between the options. This would obviously affect our decision about business use. Any info/advice welcome

So are dachshunds!. Currently sharing my sofa with 5 long-haired miniatures.

Brittany ferries have told me that the Portsmouth - Caen crossing tonight has been canceled due to industrial action. Does anyone know if this is a one-off or will it affect other sailings?

There are always risks in life but remember that the vast majority of people die in bed. Does that make you happier about going to bed tonight? :-)

[quote user="Jane and Danny"]I don't know. I don't have an analog decoder any more to check. According to Eutelsat, they plan to continue the analog channels via AB3 only up to 31 November 2011. Danny [/quote] Do you mean 30 November or 1 December?

[quote user="cooperlola"]< The collar-type electric "fences" are tempting, especially if being run over is the alternative, but they do produce all sorts of psychological problems in some dogs.  Far better is ordinary electric which is physically visible - at least the dog has something to associate the punishment with whereas the collar ones just make a dog terrified of the collar (as you'll find out the second or third times you try to put the thing on.) EDIT : Here's a good article which might interest you: http://www.agilitybits.co.uk/bits/obedient/recall.html [/quote] We use the electric collars to stop our dogs wandering onto roads. They are the passive type that works on a signal from a wire going around the perimeter. The dogs get a warning signal if they approach the wire nd a small shock if they get closer. They very quickly learn where the fence is and respect it even without their collars on. They are always happy to have their collars on in the morning so I don't they have been traumatised by it.

THis Q and A from that site seems to answer the question Q. I have personal pension plans worth £10,000 and £12,000. As they are both under £18,000 can I cash them in? A. No. As both plans together exceed 1% of the Lifetime Allowance, the maximum level of cash that can be taken is limited to 25% of the capital value. If a cash sum of more than 25% of the capital value is paid, the payment will be unauthorised and will be subject to a 40% tax charge on the member and other tax charges on the scheme.

I am going on information given by Friends Provident. They did ask about unused Pension funds and these are included AFAIK. I will be seeing my IFA shorly and will get him to confirm what the real situation is.

[quote user="Mikep"]Are you sure about the "trivial" rules, John? My understabding was that the sum total of ALL your personal pension funds had to be below the trivial limit for you to take it as cash. If this is right, you could get into a real tangle! [/quote]I can confirm that this is the case. All your pension funds must be less than  £18,000 if you cash them in the tax year 2011-12.

I seem to remember hearing that the advantage Eye level grills have is that the fat can squirt straight into your eye without you having to bend down

England by 8. A fair result IMO

Just read all this thread. Very amusing. It has however persuaded me that having a gite is not such a good idea

An interesting thread! Having been looking for a rural property with land for our horses I have seen a fair selection of properties where the owners have returned home and others where they are waiting to sell before leaving. In one case the owner had bought the property without his girlfriend seeing it so no surprise that they have returned. Fo my part I am confident that we have done our homework befoe moving - bringng our french back up to standard etc. The difference in property prices mans we are releasing sufficient equity to provide a comfortable income. I am sure it will also help that we both have spent significant periods abroad in the past. In any case wish us luck

We use an invisible fence to keep our miniature dachsunds under control. They are small enough to be able to exploit any gap in a conventional fence but the invisible fence works brilliantly