hugh

The availability 'in store' information is rubbish. Last week it seemed that Ikea Toulouse didn't have any kitchen stuff at all, yet when we got there, there were plenty of evrything! We hired a van form Ikea, cost about €50 instead of €299 delivery charge. We did have beds etc delivered when we moved in and had no prblems whatsoever, except the cost. As you speak french well, suggets you call the local store and see what availability really is.

It's absolutely gorgeous round Salherm. There are plenty of places to wallk and also lakes and there's even a Scottish pub just opened at Lilhac (though with a population of about 20 it seems diffiuclt to see how he will make a living!) and he's hoping to open a retsaurant too. Great views of the Pyrenees and rolling countryside. There is a boulangerie at the bottom of the hill at St Laurent. One thing to look out for is a proposal to build a seemingly huge holiday complex in the forest at Fabas. That might be a good thing or a bad thing but naturally the NIMBYs are out in force (well, about 30 of them). There's a public meeting at Fabas this very afternoon. Fuller details at www.vivreencomminges.abri.com

At the second attempt the local TV shop has managed to get our dish pointing in the right direction but we are still having problems with reception. The digibox is showing signal strength at a consistent 100% but the quality is at best around 25-30% and sometimes even worse which leads to break up of picture (even at 25-30%) (reminds me of the early days of On Digital!). We can never get decent BBC1 on 101 but it's usually OK on 951. Whilst most of the cabling is new, some of it is the old cables that the previous owner had. I've read that our problem maybe because the dish is pointing at the wrong satellite(s), but could it also be because some of the cable is not up to standard and should be replaced?