hoverfrog

thanks for the reply, but that's as far as I got too! I understand the words, I just don't understand what they want or where to find the figures they want, and when they ask for what I've paid and/or what I received in the same box which one is put down as a negative? I'm somewhat wary as the 1st year I had to do forms I put what should have been a minus amount in a plus box, and now when I fill in forms I always get asked "are you sure you haven't had any of this this year? You answered yes in a previous year..." - invariably with a follow-up letter of "are you really, really sure?" It wasn't a significant sum, about 200€, but it made 400€ difference to my income tax payments :( I'm glad I started looking at this early - I think I'll go and have a chat with URSSAFF :) I know I'm on a tough one this year, as I had payments from my parent's estates for which all the tax has already been paid in the UK and they will have to be declared on (some of) the forms :(

I'm trying to fill in my declaration online, with net-enterprises.fr. I'm special BNC, by the way... I can calculate my total receipts OK, but then it goes on to: restations de services - Primes et cotisations complémentaires facultatives (DC) Reportez dans la case DC le montant de vos primes et cotisations complémentaires facultatives (visées au 2ème alinéa du I de l'article 154 bis du code général des impôts). Il s'agit des primes versées au titre de contrats d'assurance groupe souscrits auprès de sociétés d'assurances ou de mutuelles - retraite et prévoyance complémentaire, perte d'emploi subie - et des cotisations complémentaires versées aux régimes facultatifs mis en place par les caisses d'assurances vieillesse des professions indépendantes non agricoles. Il n'existe pas de rubrique correspondante sur votre déclaration d'ensemble des revenus. OK, but a 'prime' is something they give you, and a cotisation is something you pay them. Which is the negative one??? Does this include the top-up health insurance - what I pay out and the reinboursements for treatment? --------------------------- Montant de vos cotisations sociales personnelles obligatoires (TA/TC) Reportez dans la case TA le montant total de vos cotisations sociales personnelles obligatoires (maladie, retraite, invalidité décès, allocations familiales) déduites pour la détermination de vos revenus professionnels non salariés non agricoles 2007, à l'exclusion de tout autre prélèvement social (CSG, CRDS, contribution a la formation professionnelle, contribution aux unions régionales de médecins...). Do I find this out from URSSAFF, CIPAV, RSI or who??? I think it's the figure from URSSAFF on the "prelevements mensuels 2007" they sent me on the 25/10/07 - it says "cotisations a prelever en 2007 on it, although some are regularisation for 2006... Confused? You bet!

funnily enough when I did rural science at uni they were all raving about direct drilling! The major drawback was that it involved using weedkiller in large quantities. In my book there is no substitute for digging - and digging properly, removing perennial weed roots as you go. Double digging, on the other hand, would have exactly the effect you describe (sub-soil on the surface) where the topsoil was thin as it is round here. There's autumn digging and spring digging, however mine seems to get spread out between the two!

there are sites that tell you the average price per m3, however they can be misleading as they only deal in averages for a wide geographical area. The best bet is usually to look in the adverts and see what the immobilier are offering in a particular area/state of renovation/whatever. No easy answers - anything is only worth what someone is prepared to pay. I would say to go away and define what exactly you are looking for, but chances are you will find your ideal/dream place and it won't be any of those things! Bon chance in the search though :)

Fertiligène make a product called "Cloque du Pecher", which can be used from February to June and Sept to November. You can't use it within 75 days of harvest. I found it very effective on full-blown peach leaf curl about May last year. Available in garden centres, DIY stores, etc.

parsnips are OK from Feb (frost no problem after sowing) but carrots are usually later. In my experience, up to a month later from the UK sow date is fine. The growing season in France is later but quicker, so sowing earlier/later will have no adverse effects and you may well have an earlier crop from a later sowing depending on your location! At the end of the day, it all depends on the weather - a bit of a gambol, some risk. but then that's what gardening is all about!

"resurface" the driveway in lumpy stuff. Signs are only good if respected, so if not then make it so they can't do more than 10 mph! Not your jurisdiction? Well just happen to let fall some 'big' pebbles and make it so that they can't exceed your speed limit... I think they call that the 'ways and means committee' :)

there is no perfect house - in France or otherwise. There is only the "perfect house for you". I think the OP needs to think about why they are looking for a property in France, and why France. Once they have defined their views then perhaps they can go looking - although in keeping with the subject line the answer often is how much the property is wanted, and how much you are prepared to pay.

our tapwater was too acidic for the swimming pool test kit - basically the water out the taps was off the scale, so managing the swimming pool was a nightmare! Two years down the line they've changed the water treatment plant. We still get blue deposits in the sink and loo, but the Ph is more neutral than it was. Oh, and the pool developed a leak so it went to the tip. Can't win! :)

Corrèze is lovely, magnificent even, - but Tulle is depressing, so don't go there. I'm going to get shot down in flames for that remark, but it's just an expression of a point of view! My daughter #2 has had a lot of set-backs recently, so as a diversion I suggested we spent the day at a reasonably nearby town. Tulle was within reach, so we spent a couple of hours walking/driving round, then she said "Brive isn't far, is it?" and I replied "no, let's get in the car and GO!" Brive is a great place! It's alive, it rocks, one has the impression that the inhabitants are alive! Anyway, in answer to the original question : http://www.linternaute.com scroll down, pick an area, and average buying/renting prices per M2 is there.

I believe car plates have to be rivetted on, but trailer plates can be screwed or stuck on. This may of course be diferent for a trailer that has its own registration number...

I invariably can't resist, and start things off in the workshop and turn them round every day! Poly covers may well be supposed to be stable, but I think they only have a 3 - 5 year ife expectancy in the UK so that would only be 1 or 2 round here! Manufacturing may have improved since I studied horticulture, but as even patio furniture becomes brittle after a couple of years I wouldn't hold my breath for poly-tunnels. Maybe if you took them down and kept them out of the sun in the summer? I guess keeping them out of the worst of the frost would be counter-productive for your needs :)

I appreciate that UK driving laws have no bearing over here - I was merely using them as a point of reference/comparison. It is not unusual to see trailers on both sides of the channel with plates that differ to the car / plates that don't conform to car rules, including carboard tied on with string! I was somewhat surprised by the severity of the gendarmes - they apparently could have impounded both the trailer and the car, and I had to plead to stay on the road! I was fined because the licence plate on the trailer did not match the one on the car.

I'm afraid I can't answer your questions, but I would point out that any plastic in the garden doesn't last long here due to the strong sunlight - and we're supposedly central! If there are any garden centres/nurseries around you using polytunnels I would suggest you go and talk to them. When we first moved here I yearned for a greenhouse because I was used to having one, however plants grow so fast in late spring that I've not felt disadvantaged by not having one and starting things off a bit later. Overwintering is a different story though...

city/location for the 1st one, I put 'France' for the second and it accepted it. 484266 signatures to date - go on, make it 484267!

usually if you need a bigger/different size or shape/occasional use of a/ trailer you borrow your friend's one. What is the law on this in France? I got 'done' by the gendarmes recently as the registration plate on the trailer was not the same as the one on the car. It wasn't the case that the car's one was obscured by the trailer either! I was under the impression that in the UK as long as the trailer's reg plate was a legit one you were OK - maybe I was wrong! If you have to change the reg plate for each car here, is there a prescribed acceptable format or do you have to pay the 10€ and get a proper licence plate?

'hardy' usually translates as 'rustique', at least round here!

My two minor children have trust funds from my parents' estates, held and administered in the UK. The trustees tell me that if the interest is acrued then tax will be paid on it as the trustees are deemed liable for the tax. However, if the income is paid out for the welfare of the child then the tax can be reclaimed on their behalf. However, my children are French resident, so: 1/ can I still claim back the tax for them? 2/ will they end up (or will I!) paying tax on this income in France? 3/ if tax has to be paid, which country takes the least?

I'm not scary, I'm a survivor :D

LOL! So did everyone on the 4x4 forum :) I guess it's not every woman that plays with chainsaws and does car mechanics...

"official document with photo" - what exactly does that mean? I have my passport as my one and only form of photo-ID. They nearly didn't let me on the plane to the US as my passport is a UK one and I live in France, and at the airport they asked for two photoID. Eventually his manager told the chap that if I had a carte vitale in my name then that proved I live in France! Didn't stop me being flagged as a security risk when coming home though, so extra security checks and had to go through the super-sensitive metal detector that my underwired bra set off!!!

depending on your soil (and where you live), get one that takes a plough attachment. Rotovators can reduce the soil to such a fine tilth that come a good rainstorm it sets like rock (with lakes on top) and is immpossible to do anything with! Ploughing, on the other hand, aerates the soil and doesn't destroy its structure.

perhaps they just let them grow over in a forgotten corner somewhere - seems to happen quite a lot round here! There's an ancient camper van with more ivy than van near here that I keep meaning to photograph...

I had to scap my daughter's (french registered) renault clio after an incident with an elderly lady that left it a bit shorter... Apparently only certain places are registered as being able to scrap cars. Some of these make you pay for them to take it away, others will negotiate on parts. Other places will buy if off you for spares and deal with the scrapping (you effectively sell it to them, with all the usual paperwork) We had various offers including: 1/ pay us 80€ to take it away 2/ we'll take it but can't give you anything for it... 3/ it's got good bits, we'll give you 80€ for it. Obviously it pays to shop around!

I've never been offered the chance to pay on the spot - it's always stamps from the tabac or send a cheque. That sounds like I get fined all the time, but only twice! 90 euros for having front tyres on the limit. They passed the contrôle technique 1000 km before but apparently were too near the limit for M gendarme. 45 euros for my trailer having a different registration plate to the car. Oh, and I was supposed to be grateful to the young jobsworth who insisted on fining me (even though his superior advised just a caution!) because he didn't impound the car/trailer. The local gendarmes have a habit of setting up in our village - and I always get stopped. Next time I'm going to ask if w should "faire le bisous' as we see each other on a regular basis!