Gondrin

My thanks to all who have replied to my original post. The varied responses have helped us ( well, me since it was me who was doubtful) )to decide to pay the builders bill now and not worry what the exchange rate is going to do - clearly, that way madness lies.

Although i know that this question is impossible to answer I would like other people's opinions if only because my wife and I are not in agreement and it might help to resolve the problem. We have a builders bill to pay ( in euros) and he is happy to wait until July for us to do so. My wife thinks we should pay it now in case the exchanges rates worsen. I wonder if the situation will improve a little if we wait. What do others think?

`The problems with Leylandii, in my opinion, are: 1. They look horrible when the natural flora consists of mainly Oak and Ash 2. Nothing wil grow under them or for some distance either side of them 3. Uncontrolled (and they get out of control very quickly) they cut the light for considerable distances and do not provide much privacy for the bottom two metres My neighbour in France is cursed with these trees - he didn't plant them - and has had to pay a fortune to cut them back ( and when cut back they look horrible too) and they still cut out the evening sun from our garden. My neighbour on the other side planted some despite our polite request not to: fortunately they died (the trees not the neighbour and nothing to do with me just drought and deer) which made us extremely happy. They are horrible trees not even any good for firewood.

But nasturtium seeds made a very good substitute for capers; just soak them in brine for two three days then put them in vinegar (white wine is best) and pickling spices. Not sure how long it is before they are ready - just have to test them. Use them like capers in cooking

Thanks for the replies. I don't think the mairie has anything to do with it any more - they just pass the application on. We have applied for a filter bed system (and was advised on the application by my wife's uncle who is mayor of another commune). It is to be put in by a local and reputable compmany. We have not had a soil test form but they clearly want a permeability test which I can do and a plasticity test which I cannot do at the moment(because I don't know how). There is also the issue of how the hole was dug which they seem interested in. All the rest of the queries are simple clarifications. They have not visited the site as far as I know. They do seem to be being very picky and perhaps they are trying to buy time. I think there is also a principle here: there is nothing in law (as far as I know) to stop one doing the tests oneself: however, I suspect they don't like it much and might be trying to discourage people from doing it. I am not trying to bypass any law - I want a sound and legal drainage system: I just don't want to be paying out money that I do not need to.

We have had our application for a new fosse returned with some additional questions three of which I am not sure about. They ask if the test hole to gain a soil profile was made by drill or by a JCB digger. It was actually dug by hand: does it matter how it was dug? They ask if we tested for the plasticity of the clay: is there any way this can be done other than by an expert? And they wanted to know if there were any "traces d'hydromorphie" and at what depth. I do not know what this means (nor does my wife who is French). We have tried to avoid paying an exorbitant amount for a soil study and I suppose that they (the Services des Eaux et de l'assainissement) might not like this, although our presentation was praised by the clerk at the Marie. Any advice would be helpful.

I think that i may have picked this up over Easter (from a tick ) but awaiting blood tests. I wondered if anyone had any experience of this, how rare or not it is, whether there is a vaccine and whether it is worth having?