hoverfrog

I'd be interested in this question too. We're not taking our sheep to France with us, but intend to get another couple when we're there. Having had to conform to the new rules in the UK for moving sheep/registering land/flock numbers/tagging, etc, I'd like to know what the french rules are before we start again!

if the pc was a reasonable spec then it may be better to install W2K on it. We've updated several, installing W2K then updating the drivers via the net. W2K is more stable and a lot easier to work with (speaking as a programmer and a user!) Make sure you get a full system printout before you start otherwise you will be wondering just what was the make and model number of the video card it had, etc,.... We introduced my father to a personal computer when he was 80 but we got him an iBook. No viruses, etc, to worry about and virtually maintenance free! He took to it like a duck to water, even though his last expeience of computers was when they took up several rooms. As a journalist he knew how to type, so that wasn't a problem, and his last years were greatly enhanced by having email contact with friends and family across the globe. I have seen it written numerous times on the net that the best computer to give to friends/family is a Mac, usually an ibook or iMac, otherwise you will be maintaining it forevermore

[quote]have you got any over flow pipes leaking? there might be a leak from say the hot water coil into the hot water tank and out to the overflow, has your hot water become dirty? is the boil valve faulty ?...[/quote] water divining is not as batty as it sounds! We had a 28' x 24' shed built, and when digging a hole for the concrete base, to find out where the mains water ran, the chap got out his divining rods. He was accurate to within an inch!

following a tip on this forum we tried et brokers (online) They estimate your cubic meterage with you then contact over 2000 firms in the uk for quotes. Came back within 24 hours with quote which we went with - no idea how good the firm are as we don't move for another 2 weeks, but well recommended and all the qualifications. £1622 for Wiltshire -> Limousin is bl**dy good in our opinion! Renting a 7 1/2 ton van (even half-price) was just as dear when you add the ferry and deisel.

my insurance broker (in UK) told me catagorically that any no claims bonus you have for one car is not extended to a second car, you have to start again from scratch. You can however chose which of the two to use the said no claims bonus on! I have two daughters driving and consequently have 3 cars insured in my name as it was simply too expensive to start them off with their own insurance. It was cheaper for me to transfer the no-claims to the daughter's car and start the no-claims for my car from scratch again - even though my car is worth a heck of a lot more than hers! They're on their own when we move to France though - but they will have knocked up a couple of years of having a full license so it's not so bad. Had to do it sometime!

I used to pick it by the bucketload and feed it to the sheep (then eat them!) but it's something I could well do without, on or off the menu

we replaced a very old Jotul with a brand new Harmony, and to be honest it was a waste of money! The jotul burnt anything (from trees to old fischer-price) but the Harmony only does wood, and doesn't knock out anything like the amount of heat The salesman was warbling on about 'excess heat' - to which we laughed and replied that there is no such thing in this house, and we were right on that count as we find it better to light the open fire in the other room (big tudor chimney) than to try and get the Harmony going. YMMV of course!

the immoblier (Fralimo) in the centre of Eymoutiers has ADSL, so I reckon you'll be OK. We have the same problem - there is a line to our house (La Veytisou - just down the road from you!) but we don't know the number, and not all of our commune - we're classed as Neuvic Entier - is covered. Here's hoping!

are Stihl bits easy to get in France? I've just stocked up on bits before moving just in case! I also had several hours instruction in maintenance (and usage) - invaluable. I heartily agree with the comments about safety - and the worst offenders round here are the local farmers who take their saws up ladders to cut down trees with no protection at all One point often made is never lend your saw to anyone (in fact I've heard that it's preferable to lend your wife before your chainsaw! Glad the saw's mine and not his )

I think we're pretty safe with cream, but we'll still check just in case! Best to let them know I suppose, and we don't want to start off on the wrong foot - especially as I don't intend moving again EVER if I can help it!! hoverfrog

if "tit=sling" comes from the S USA, where does "over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder" come from???

looks like we'll be meeting the maire sooner rather than later! He'd better not say no as I've already bought the paint...

one of the first things we want to do to our new house is paint the outside - at the moment it's a nasty shade of untreated-concrete-render grey Now I know you'll all immediately say "ask at the mairie", and no doubt we will introduce ourselves at the 1st opportunity (after re-reading the thread in another forum about one's 1st visit to the mairie!), but I wondered if anyone has any experience of this? The rest of the houses in the commune are various shades of render or white->dark cream, so we don't envisage a problem with cream, but don't want to upset anyone if I get my paintbrush out ASAP (which is what I intend to do before the 3 yr-old arrives)!

following advice on this forum, we transferred all our money for our house through Nationwide, as I had an account with them anyway. I can corroborate that a sum I transfered from Nat West cost me a lot more We paid the deposit in October, and based on that exchange rate worked out how much we needed for the balance. I've just transfered the remainder, and because of the fluctuating exchange rate we saved £3,700! As ours is a cheap house by most people's standards it definately pays to shop around and transfer at the right time.

I'd just like to point out I wasn't being cynical - although re-reading my post it didn't come out quite right Because it's a legal requirement for a vendor to accept an offer of the asking price - which does eliminate gazumping - the estate agent's friend could not legally pursue it after you'd offered. It's nice to know that the agencies also respect the order of enquiries - we were 2nd in line for a house in the UK (many years ago!) and were never contacted although we discovered later the original sale had fallen through.

not sure exactly - 1.4something.... Thanks for the good wishes - we'll need it! Yesterday the 3 yr-old flooded the bathroom (and consequently the living room too) and the tumble drier broke. One less thing to take - but this year has just got to improve!!

I've stocked up on marmite and gravy granules, as I gather they are hard to get hold of, but other than that I'm looking forward to eating more french food - and hoping the renovation work will offset the effect on my diet! Anyone know what the tea situation is like? The OH likes his cuppa

that's what I was afraid of - hence no potting up the undisturbed rootball for my plants! Have just packed up the garden chemicals prior to moving - and seem to have accumulated a large collection of assorted weedkillers, and very little else! Every picture tells a story they say - and as long as I have no ground elder, convolvulous (sp?) or couch grass in France I will be happy

you should be able to do a clean install, but not an upgrade. As a developer I've had to do this many times - usually with Japanese XP / English XP. As it's a new computer what have you got to lose? You should have the discs for any additional software that came bundled with it, and drivers are readily downloadable from the net if the defaults aren't optimal.

is it as much as a problem in France as over here? It's taken me over 16 years to tame the ground elder and couch grass here, and now I have to move Now I know what Dad meant when he said it took him 20+ years to make his patch of London clay into decent loam before he retired elsewhere! I've been stripping the root balls of all plants I'm taking just in case there are these cursed weeds lurking!

dig by hand, taking out every bit of root you can. Cover with at least 6" of horse muck (our 'supplier' used wood shavings in the stables so a substantial proportion was partially rotted shavings) and leave for a year (or at least 6 months - do in autumn ready for a late spring) Dig by hand again - the couch will be fat but straggly and easy to pull up. The wood shavings stop annuals and a lot of the more surface rooted couch, so the net effect overall is a patch that is easy to cultivate, has very few weeds, and those that did grow are easy to remove. Worked for me!

I transferred the rest of the money for our house today, and because of the fluctuations in exchange rate it cost us £3,700 less than we anticipated when we bought it in October No shortage of projects to absorb the "surplus" - I bet kitchens and plasterboard have gone up in the meantime!!

I believe it is a legal requirement for the seller to accept an offer if it is at the asking price. This would be why the other person "pulled out". At the end of the day it's up to you - do you think it's worth it and what you want?

just had a quote from et brokers for £1622 for Wiltshire -> 87, which I thought particularly good as we have such things as a full size pool table, 4 poster bed and an upright piano, to say nothing of the trampoline!! So, thanks to whoever it was mentioned them

here are a couple of links I bookmarked, HTH! http://www.askoxford.com/languages/fr/french_letters/specimen/ http://www.cvconseils.com/cv/vincent.php3