grumps

Many thanks people, that's good enough for me ! Regards, Mark.

Hello all, I'm plumbing another bathroom using PER. I don't need a lot of pipe and I've got enough red to do both the hot and cold runs to the basin and shower. (The WC connects directly to the manifold with flexi.) I've also got enough blue outer casing to replace the red casing on the cold runs ; thus making the visible colour coding correct - although everything will be hidden. (I can't see why but) is there any reason why I shouldn't do this ? ie.  are the coefficients of expansion different for the red and blue ? I really don't want to purchase another roll for such a short run. Thanks, Mark.

Thanks for all your replies, which confirm my reservations about ready built shower cubicles. I'll build a proper one with a porcelain tray, tile all the bathroom walls and fit a good quality corner opening shower door, ending up with 2 sides tiled and 2 sides glass. Parfait ! (Bizarrely ; the porcelain trays appear to be cheaper than the plastic/fibreglass ones !) Thanks once again, Mark.

Good afternoon, It's a lovely sunny day here in Morbihan and lunch was exceptional !! Now : Does anyone have an opinion regarding ready made shower cubicles ? We are about to start fitting our second 'bathroom' which will not have a bath, just a sink, toilet and shower. The house has oak floors on chestnut beams and consequently presents some levelling challenges but we don't like tiled floors and we will be keeping the wooden ones. Our first 'proper' bathroom functions perfectly, and we see no reason why we can't have a shower cubicle on the wood floor as long as the shower tray remains rigid. I've been looking at the various options to create the shower and initially thought that I would install a porcelain tray and build a tiled wall round it with one large glass entrance door. Having visited several Bricos to get prices for all the bits and bobs I've noticed that there are ready to go units available for quite a bit less money than a bespoke unit would cost. The quality is variable and reflected in the price but some units actually look and feel quite good. My initial concern is that they all have plastic or fibreglass shower trays instead of traditional porcelain and I wonder if they might be too flexible. I'd be grateful for your thoughts and experiences regarding these units. Thanks, Mark.

Hi, I've just restored my vintage (1970's) Rotel Receiver and everything is working splendidly. It's driving '70's Bose speakers and it sounds fabulous whether it's Puccini or Pink Floyd ! (Even better than my modern Bose setup). All I need now are 3 fuse lamps for the backlighting of the radio scale. Does anyone know of an electronics shop in Morbihan ? It would be nice to see it illuminated ! Regards, Mark.

Hello Minnie, Thanks for your reply. Yes, the vet has looked them over, given them their injections and micro chipped them - as per my original posting. I omitted one thing though - they will of course be free of charge to a good home and we will be happy to 'deliver' if transport is a problem. All we want is for them to end up safe and happy with a nice person/family. Thanks, Mark.[:)]

Hello people, Thanks for your replies - most welcome. All the recommended sites look good and the general consensus seems to be that online shopping for these specialist items is the way forward; so that's what i'll do. Yes EmilyA, I have got Persiana...........utterly delightful recipes from a very good chef and (her) salads are superb. Happy new year !!! Mark.[:)]

As this forum is entitled 'French Food and Wine I may be in wrong place, but..................... I like to cook (French, Indian, English, Chinese and Persian cuisines). Now that I live permanently in France I've started stocking my cupboard but I cannot find a shop or supermarket which sells some essential ingredients for Persian food. These include : Dried edible rose petals Harissa and rose harrisa pastes Sumac Rose water Dried barberries Tahini I can make my own pomegranate molasses and preserved lemons but I can't make the above ingredients. Does anyone know of a specialist shop which might sell these items. I'm near Baud, 56150 and would gladly travel (say up to 40 miles) to obtain them. I'm sure there must be somewhere in L'Orient which is nearby but I haven't found it yet. Any help will be appreciated. Mark.[8-)]

Good morning, This is my first 'posting' so if I get any forum 'protocol' wrong ; please forgive me. My wife, cat and I retired to our old pile of stones in Morbihan in July. On 31st October we were fishing on the River Blavet at Minazen when 3 tiny kittens appeared from the undergrowth. We estimated that they were about 3 weeks old - very small and still had blue eyes. There are no houses in the vicinity and the kittens had obviously been dumped so we had no option but to take them home. They have since thrived and get on well with our older male cat. However : our house is still in a state of renovation and is currently entirely unsuitable for kittens ! We shut them in a bedroom during the day which is relatively safe. At night they sleep in a large cage which they seem quite OK with. They are very keen to get out !!! Our challenge is this : the house has 3 floors and is at present largely 'open plan', in that the internal walls have yet to be plaster boarded. In addition the loft has no inner lining and there is a gap under the eaves large enough for the kittens to get out. The place is like a building site and is potentially dangerous for them. We are doing the renovation ourselves and estimate it will take 2 tears to complete. We've waited for Christmas and the new year to pass and now wish to find good new homes for the kittens. They are completely weaned and toilet trained (they use their litter trays perfectly !). They have had their innoculations and are micro chipped. The vet confirms that they are in excellent health. If anyone would like to take 1, 2 or all 3 of them on we would be most grateful. They are as follows : Pickle - lovely female, called pickle because her colouring is like Branston pickle ! Rascal - another lovely female - very pretty tortoiseshell with lots of white and white feet. Tinker- very good looking boy, black with a white face and bib and 4 white paws. They are lovely and if our house was in a more suitable condition we would probably keep them. We are near to Baud in 56 - any help would be much appreciated. Mark. (Grumps) [:)]