Noisette
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Posts
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Posts posted by Noisette
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Have pity....it's a bit early in the morning for looking at upside-down photos 😁 Perhaps after a coffee.....😂
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Could some kind person explain why the photos I attempted to post all appear upside down? Uploaded from 'Images' on an Asus laptop running Win11....I've had problems with them uploading on their sides, elsewhere, but this is a new variant 😂 No option for whizzing them around in a drop-down menu, either....TIA
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Is it me or is this the coldest, wettest spring for at least 15 years? How are your gardens doing?
From what I can see of mine from the windows, the early flowers are certainly lasting longer due to the low temperatures, and the paper wasps are getting knocked back a bit, but that's it for the silver linings 😁
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My chickens certainly are and I go with the flow. We base our days on sunrise and sunset 🙂
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Um..could a mod 'improve' the title? 🙂
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Ooooh...double bluff? 🤔
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Are you declining to take part in the 'mea culpa', 'we're all doomed', ecolo hysteria, Harnser? 😁 How refreshing! I wish I had your ability to come up with trenchant counter-arguments backed up by facts. Seriously.
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On 16/02/2024 at 08:57, Lehaut said:
Black catting, good news for those who want to move to Scotland
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-68119951
Pfffff....they won't be stripping off when the AMOC switches off 🤣
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It's normal for here. There are days even in January when the sun shines, the temps rise, it feels like spring and then everything evens out again. What is guaranteed is that when the tulips are flowering, we have a spell of hot sunshine and the show is quickly over 😁 Don't worry, ALBF, it's going to cool down again over the weekend and next week....
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Thing is.....most people who end up in their 'right place' don't then spend much (if any) time on expat forums or expat FB groups. I've yet to figure out why I do 🤣 There must be an infinitesimal part of the psyche that just can't let go.....
Originally the forums were a marvellous resource for finding one's way around, avoiding pitfalls and sharing experiences with like-minded souls in the same situation. Norman (bless him) is carrying on that tradition 🙂
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On 10/02/2024 at 10:31, alittlebitfrench said:
There must be some reason why I get on more/have the same sort of thinking with the French than say the British. In fact, I could apply that to most European nationalities. Do you know what I mean ?
I don’t mean that in a....’ooh I’m sooo French’ or ‘I’m so European’….sort of way.
So what is it ? I am sure I am not the only one who feels that way.
Yes I know what you mean, Yes I believe you, Haven't the faintest idea why and No, you're not the only one 😁
It certainly didn't come from my family as grandparents were mildly hostile and parents didn't care one way or the other. It was simply the case that from the first time we set foot in France, it was right. Luckily it still is 🙂
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4 minutes ago, alittlebitfrench said:
Ooh hang on a minute.
Nos went to Guadelope.😀
I am guessing its male…
https://www.oiseaux-birds.com/fiche-colibri-madere.html
It is a sub specious of a hummingbird.
Yes, judging by the colouring it was a male. It had a beautiful deep red throat but couldn't capture that on a photo 🙂
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1 hour ago, menthe said:
Bravo! Very nice and very difficult, I imagine.
Thanks, menthe. That's why it took me two weeks to get a halfway decent photo....they're soo quick!
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Behave yourself! 🤣 On the birdie theme, after two weeks I finally managed to capture a colibri (hummingbird) in the gîte garden.
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13 hours ago, cajal said:
The snowdrops and crocus/croci 💐are in full bloom in the garden. Yesterday I saw a second butterfly 🦋 of the year and some bees 🐝. Unfortunately, there isn't any food available for them yet.
I found a big bumblebee on my snowdrops yesterday and the Winter honeysuckle Lonicera fragrantissima, Witch Hazel, Sarcoccoca and Hellebores are providing some flowers 🙂
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Well for a start, you'd deduct the capital from the previous house sale. Mrs ALBF is in banking, isn't she? I'm sure she'll be able to house ALBF in the manner to which he's become accustomed 😁
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Damn! If I'd known that they were going to blockade the Antilles I'd have been off like a shot on the microtractor 🤣
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Yes, Norman, when you look at the météos for these holiday destinations, they're not all they're cracked up to be. La Réunion is the same, if not worse. Cyclones, hurricanes, wet seasons etc etc. None of them can hold a candle to Goa or Kerala in January. I hope your restaurateurs manage a better holiday next year! Funds permitting, I'm off back to Goa. Apparently it's been rather overrun by young Russians and Israelis, which won't have done much for the ambiance, but at least the good weather's 99% guaranteed 🙂 It's a shame it's anglophone but nowhere's perfect...
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It's not that special, TBH. It rained for 11 days out of 14 (just warm showers, mind) and the western coast of Basse Terre is very windy. Fine if you like being sandblasted 😆. The food is.... erm..... repetitive. Parking is horrendous and there's only one main road to get around the island. The plusses are that it's Francophone, everything is very French (obviously), beautiful scenery and vegetation, cheap rum and lovely people. Oh and going on a plane again after too many years without being airborne 🤩
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3 hours ago, menthe said:
I am often surprised by how much my French friends and neighbours seem to be happy to spend on food. Even those of modest means will splash out on oysters and foie gras on high days and holidays.
I have noticed high value items in supermarket baskets and trolleys the contents of which differ substantially from oveladen trolleys in the area of South Wales where I lived.
When I go on my walking breaks with French friends, they would spend huge amounts on cheeses, meats, pastries (whatever the local specialities of the region) to take home to family, neighbours and friends. I mean large amounts by my standards....lol! Perhaps over 150€ on a jambon sec or 50€ on a couple of tartes de mytilles.
I'd splash out if I was entertaining but, just for us, I'd nearly always find an alternative if something was over-priced by my reckoning.
Quite agree, Menthe. We're living on one UK State pension and even when three of us were living on 2 pensions, I never felt 'flush' enough to spend €25 on an apple tart from a patisserie that I could produce myself for €5. In fact, I'm not a very good française at all, as the aim when moving here was to be as self-sufficient as possible. Not from meanness but just the pleasure of having land and being able to produce our own food. The raising, conserving, growing etc. goes down much better with 'my' French farming family than it appears to do with the townie and Parisien friends but then they can't even begin to imagine living on what we do 😁
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9 hours ago, alittlebitfrench said:
Apologies…..google correct had a bit of a turn.
This is being discussed on many Brit forums and it seems that mostly don’t like the actions of the French farmers. But then again before Brexit many Brits used to buy their food from the UK and have it delivered to France. So they have no idea of the country they live in. More concerned about their swimming pool.
I was pleasantly surprised by how many do support the farmers! There are the inevitable selfish whingers, of course, but on the whole the Brit community are much better informed and positive than I would have expected. Perhaps we're all agreed that it's time to call halt on the greed of the big supermarkets?
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8 hours ago, alittlebitfrench said:
It was a play on words. Nosette is from the ‘Lots’. read it again. 😀
Anyway yeah, looking for change. We were looking at Voiron. Which is a nice little town between Grenoble and Lyon.
Noisette is from Lot et Garonne. It's not the same as the Lot 😛 I know Voiron! We stopped off there many years ago on our way down to the south coast. Lovely little town..... In fact, we always planned to live somewhere over to the east, anywhere between Dijon and Gap, but hey ho...best laid plans and all that 😁
As for not getting around France much, I've just got back from Guadeloupe so nana na na na heehee
ETA: The glacier is still there in Chamonix, but it's shrinking fast.
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With regards to desirable properties, certainly just over the border in Périgord pourpre, there seems to be a healthy market for châteaux amongst Brit buyers. Something to do with UK TV, perhaps 😁 Another factor in buying big, old properties is the never-ending idea that you can earn a living (or at least supplement your income) by running gîtes.
Hasn't ALBF gone quiet? 🤣
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I don't doubt for a minute that you're content (I'm glad you are)....the incoming Brit figures speak for themselves.
I don't ramble but I do drive a lot, anything up to 200kms a day in all directions, on minor roads, to visit friends. Apart from the vineyards, my overall impression remains that there are vast areas of untamed forest and friche in Dordogne. But that's most likely because Lot et Garonne is tiny in comparison and most of it is cultivated, whether arable, sylviculture, orchards or vines 🙂
Do you happen to know anything about the veracity or otherwise of the stories concerning the role played by the Dordogne Resistance (or maybe the opposite, and it's collaborative activities) and it's subsequent impact on the département in post-war years? We were told that the Dordogne was a severely impoverished département as a result of being 'punished' for those activities, and that it's only relatively recently that it's managed to shake off that legacy. I've no idea how true that is.....Ashamed to say that I won't be digging into archives to find out, either. I prefer to leave the past behind. But I do wonder if that might be a reason for a difference in property prices.
Of course, it could just be something simple like slight differences in climate. Hence the steeper prices the further south you go. The Gers might be considered 'rude' but it's certainly not cheap 😂
Whatever the reasons, France is so beautiful and diverse that there's something for everyone, even ALBF 😉
Posting photos
in Forum Technical Support
Posted
I tried Dave's suggestion of saving a photo upside down, then posting it, but it stayed upside down 🤨 I've found an (old) explanation of why it happens on Google, but no solution yet...