Mrs Trellis
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Posts posted by Mrs Trellis
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I asked two French friends today and they decided just prunettes. Very edible and a bit more acidic than plums.
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We are happy with bedside tables and with wardrobes (although the inside is chipboard and one has torn). The bedheads are a sort of woven wood and one has broken. The cheap canvas chairs bought nine years ago are fine tho a pain as they have horizonal stitching and dirt collects in the seams
The kitchen cupboards seem strong enough but the white surface of the doors has cracked in places, including corners. The work surfaces are the sort of glued together wood which went well with the cupboards but one surface has a big crack and they stain easily. Having to keep buying oil for them is a pain and so it's probably our fault - they would stain less if heavily and frequently oiled.
Oh, and the bed we bought for our son had to be replaced as the slats kept falling through. (It's such a pain to edit these posts that I can't be bothered to insert that further up!)
The kitchen is just over 3 years old so maybe Ikea standards are lower these days.
Shame Leroy Merlin is 60 miles away, we will have a look at Castorama and LePayre.
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We thought the fruit on our trees were mirabelles but apparently those are yellow. Ours are dark purple cherry sized plums (not damsons) so what are they called - apart from mini-plums? They make great jam and crumbles
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Love the photo! Wouldn't take him long to claw his way out!
I can shut the bedroom door in the daytime and kitten (still haven't decided on name for her, pretty, white and slightly fluffy). She does it early in the morning I think. I just had a sheet round me last night and she did it again. She can integrate but likes to be with me. If she has the run of the house she also pees on the throw on the sofa, and in the dogs beds. It's unpleasant having a smelly house!
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Our lovely kitten is now 4 months old. She uses a litter tray to poo but frequently pees on the bed, or sometimes the dogs' beds. It's a nightmare - bad enough on the duvet but in summer it goes straight through to the mattress.
I keep her in the bedroom so I know what she is up to and she is not being bullied by the other cats. I never catch her at it, so can't shout, clap hands or shift her onto the litter tray. I know as soon as she's done it by the smell!
The only place we could shut her in is the bathroom and she'd hate that and cry. She is so cuddly but we can't buy a new mattress every day! OH says plastic sheet - too hot! and anyway I don't know where to get one and the bed's a funny size.
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So people can buy a list of phone numbers of Brits living in France?
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My friend had a phone call telling her that her computer was in trouble and open to viruses. A man with an Indian accent and I think pretending to be Natwest bank. She said, 'Oh dear, that sounds serious'..... and was told to turn on her computer. She then pointed out she doesn't have one! The phone was slammed down.
Worry, as she used to have a computer and would not have thought to wonder how someone in another country could view her computer and see problems. Also how did this person get her phone number, know her bank (or it could be a lucky guess i suppose, and know she is English? Has the bank got a security problem I wonder.
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Seems a daft question, but what to bornes and ogies look like? Our new house had 6 markers, one a 'borne ancienne' and the others 'ogie' with orange caps. That was listed by a geometre 30 years ago and we haven't found any of them yet; some could be buried in undergrowth but the one at the entrance is not visible. I just wonder what I'm looking for! Is the stone marker just any old lump of stone or would it be shaped or have writing on? Are the posts likely to be any bit of wood or a recognisable one?
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Rollers seem to splash more. You are supposed to water down the paint a bit for pads but OH says not necessary for the large bucket of white we are starting with.
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I think I was right in wanting a village house and not a ruin in a field. There are many advantages and we got to know lots of people.
Now our it's our residence principale, we still love it but are moving a modern house on the edge of the village, with parking and great view and no close (alcoholic) neighbours. Still a small house but now we will be able to walk onto our terrace instead of climbing up 39 steps to it.
I think the distinction between maison and residence is that you can own lots of houses (money permitting) but only live in one as your main residence. This is relevant when it comes to completing tax returns.
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Can we get paint pads in France? Not seen any so far and OH prefers them to rollers as says they give a smoother finish. As we have to paint the whole house, it would be nice to find them.
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it seemed a good idea to ditch France Telecom and use Orange for the phone as we already had their Internet and it saves money and give us free calls from our landline.
The trouble is the Internet is always cutting out and of course the phone with it. Then the phone rings 3 or 4 times for no reason. Also the phone extensions no longer work and I have missed calls, not hearing the downstairs phone. We never know if we have missed calls and of course can't check the Orange website when the Internet is down.... The contract is a year. Most frustrating!
After the year, is there any better supplier?
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I put this as a reply on someone's topic, but no reply. Try again!
We live in France so can't benefit from Saga car insurance with breakdown cover. I would like better breakdown cover here. When we had an accident the insurance company got us home but we had no car for three weeks and had to make a long journey by train to collect our car. What would have happened if we'd broken down in another country hundreds of miles away? (The driver of the breakdown lorry was surprised when I asked him to take us to the garage with the car. We had no way of getting there easily, even if we knew where it was and it wasn't somewhere with easily available taxis. Some years ago we had a problem in Cornwall and the breakdown lorry took the car and 4 of us back to Nottingham. Brilliant!
Is there in France the equivalent of UK style breakdown cover?
I can hope.....
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I think your guest was a nutter! There are probably Italians who are relatively normal.
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I think this is an 'eats, shoots and leaves' example! You'd need a big suitcase to pack gentlemen, or even an ordinary bloke.
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So that's what it's for! How can I copy this? I know some people who would also appreciate it!
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My sons are a bit skint at the moment, and so are we, so I was trying to get info on the bus to see if it is significantly cheaper than flights. Now there is only Ryanair to our area and prices are high in the summer.
Friends have used the bus from Victoria coach station to Cahors in the past so I looked online. I got to Eurolines which stated that Cahors is a destination but the site took me to National Express which tells me there is no such destination!
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Our last kitchen was from Ikea and not a great success. The doors are white painted and chip and stain easily. We are wondering where else in France to buy reasonable kitchen units. Went to Ikea recently hoping to find nice wooden doors but they have stopped doing the ones we liked. Not into bright red or high gloss!
Would is be possible to buy the cupboards from Ikea and the doors elsewhere? For example order from B & Q? OH thinks there could be a problem as Ikea units come with pre-drilled holes which might not match doors from elsewhere.
Failing that, who else in France does affordable kitchen units?
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Electric fencing sounds a bit harsh! There is strong green fencing that looks hard to climb but it is very expensive and we will be skint for a while. Money needs to be spent on the house as well - though cats have priority, obviously.
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Mine too!
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I know someone who lives and works in France but is insured with Saga because they had a UK address when they took out the insurance. He says it's unlimited cover. I feel uneasy about this! He said to try them - the cover would be better - but it would be dishonest and anyway my insurance history includes 4 years in France.
I would like better breakdown cover here. When we had an accident the insurance company got us home but we had no car for three weeks and had to make a long journey by train to collect our car. What would have happened if we'd broken down in another country hundreds of miles away?
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I think the info about DRIRE is out of date. We got our carte grise 3 years ago. Contacted DRIRE who said they don't do a cert of conformity. Contacted Citroen in France and found it was cheaper to get a C of C from the UK branch!
We are now about to get a 2 yr old UK reg car into the system. No C of C came with the car (wretched Bristol Street Motors told us to get from DVLA! Rubbish.) We contacted Citroen Uk again but I can't find their email reply. It will cost of course. They don't provide a C of C with their cars.
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Engineered wood sounds interesting. Do you know of a brand name and where we'd get it in France?
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I was thinking tiles for our next (30 year old) house, but OH says he doesn't want to get out of bed and step onto a cold floor. So he wants wood style laminate but I'd prefer real wood. He says laminate easier to fit. We did have quite a good laminate in last UK house and it looks fine after 4 years. Any thoughts on price/suitability of both? I prefer tiles because we have several pets and there are often accidents! At least wood looks OK if a bit dented and stains can be sanded out.
When to pick walnuts?
in Gardening
Posted
We have a couple of large walnut trees in our new garden. How do we know when to pick them? Or do we wait till they fall to the ground?The previous owner collected 24 on 24th June for St Jean's wine or something, but we want them ripe.
Also, when and how should they be pruned?