Suandpete

    So if one goes to a doctor here in france to ask for a test is it called a PSA test or are they the English initials?

We would appreciate some suggestions on how to deter a very determined female adult goat from jumping on to the top of a six foot wall in order to come in to our garden!  our neighbours have a maison secondaire and are absent for about 50 weeks of the year, they have a property of about 2000 sq metres which includes a small house, extensive outbuildings and a small field. There is a goat which has free range of the whole property and appears to be totally unsupervised, the only food is what it can find and it has a paricular fondness for ivy. There is an old stone wall about two feet thick and six feet high between our properties with ivy growing up to the top of the wall from their side.  The goat has been climbing on to the top of the wall via a pile of roof tiles which came to within 18ins of the top of the wall, standing on the top of the wall to eat the ivy and then jumping down into our garden.  So this afternoon we spent an hour or two having climbed illegally into their garden, moving the tiles away from the wall.  As we walked away, convincd that we had resolved the problem, the goat appeared on the top of the wall, having presumably done it by running and jumping up. It is lonely and very friendly and seems to seek out our company! So tomoorow we will take all the ivy off of the top of the wall and would appreciate any suggestions on what we can do to further deter the goat from wanting to be our best mate! PS  Billie is a really lovely friendly animal - but we have two dogs, one of whom is not goat friendly and she ate all the new buds from a favourite small tree in about ten seconds on her last visit....

    Yesterdays performance was about 50, the day before maybe 40.   We have them about two or three times a year and they vary tremendously.   Once there were only 5 people and they gave them their money back rather than do the show.  Some of them don't have any big cats and seem to look after the animals a bit better than others.  Most of the animals like the 3 camels, 4 llamas and all the goats and ponies are just there to attract attention - they don't perform.

    I too am crossing my fingers hoping he can stay with you. I get quite upset at the way animals are sometimes treated - immediately across the road from us at the moment there is a circus; quite apart from the obvious problems of three female lions living permanently in half of a lorry trailer (the only time they get out is to go into the tent to perform, on days when there is no performance the covers on the side of the trailer are left down, presumably being in half dark keeps them quieter); there are a large number of other animals.  As I type this I can see a lovely brown pointer type dog which is tied to a notice board with a chain about four feet long - she has been there since Monday morning and has an extremely small amount of hay for bedding - not even enough to cover 2 sq ft.  The overnight temperatures are below freezing and she is very pregnant.  I can imagine what will happen when she has her litter.  We have 2 rescue dogs and they are nice and warm and cosy just about 10 metres away from where she is - I have very nearly gone and collected her a number of times during the last few nights - but I know they would just replace her with another - she is supposed to be guarding the entrance to the circus. And then there are the camels and llamas tied to the car park posts, and the turkey tied to a bush by a piece of string round one leg......... I shall be really pleased when it moves on for selfish reasons - I know the animals will be treated in the same way but at least I won't be able to see it everytime I look out of the window.

There used to be a detective series on UK TV called Morse, his second in command was called Lewis (played by Kevin Whateley) and a new series is just starting with the lead played by Lewis (Morse died at the end of the previous series).  Just seemed to make sense in your circumstances.

he looks absolutely super.  If you get to keep him (and I really hope you do) maybe you should consider calling him Lewis?

    I've seen it everywhere in the shops and wondered what it was and what you should do with it.  Does it smell anything like andouillettes (sp?) 'cos if it does I think we'll have to give it a miss!

AS far as I am aware the laws here in France  allow a slightly lower level of alcohol in blood for drivers than in UK.  I normally have one glass of wine if I  am driving and no more.  I  have however heard rumours that the legally allowed level has been cut to zero. I have seen nothing in the papers about this but the person who told me is adamant that the legal levels have been changed.  Has anyone else heard this?  

    Thanks everyone.

    Yes, that is who we are planning to talk to - just wanted to know what it is in French as it isn't in any of our dictionaries.

okay okay - it's dark here and I'm using the laptop.   Golf and ideas please.

But we're not sure what to ask for - any ides anyone?

does F11 work?  It does on our laptop...

    All the best - we'll drink to you tonight!

    I guess his situation is totally different from ours as he is "actif" and we are "non-actif".   Although sometimes it doesn't feel like that!

    No, we decided to let it rest for a while as we had the certificate signed by the Maire but we may go direct to Niort and see what happens there - maybe the new regulations are finally filtering through.  Interesting to hear that your husband managed to get one - is he from an EU country?  Does he work?

    Has anyone in Deux-Sèvres recieved their bill for the contribution due at the end of this month yet?   Last December we didn't get one at all and they sent two out in March - looks as if maybe it's going to be the same again this year?

    We're going to have Beef wellington as well - have you made it here before?  If so, what cut of beef did you use?

    Round here it would be foie gras or oysters.  Both pretty straightforward, just serve the foie gras with some brioche and some sort of chutney.  Oysters pretty much as they are - or maybe with some lemon or tabasco.....

    When we completed signing for our place the Notaire told us that now all the buried gold was ours!  Anything and everything found in the property had now become ours.......... Unfortunately all we found was 2 bottles of 50 year old Cotes de Layon.

    Likewise - twice and both deleted!

    Can anyone recommend a router to replace a Livebox for use with ADSL here in France?  I understand that the netgear routers have a good reputation but am unsure which would be the best one to choose.  Does one that says ADSL2 only work with ADSL2 or would it work with ADSL as well?   We currently have a Thomson USB "dongle" which is used with the Livebox - would this work okay with another router? Thanks in advance....

    Depending on which of our phones I pick up it comes up as caller unknown or secret.

    Francine sell one - several sachets in a box - which is usually with the packs of bread flour in all the supermarkets - it's fine.

    I found this post interesting because we have to deal with the same office (we too live in Deux-Sèvres) and have been here just over 5 years.  We have never (so far) had a visit from CPAM.  I wonder what they mean by regularise - presumably you sent them the same documents as usual.  We had the same letter saying that we hadn't sent in the documentation although we had, then we had the letter yesterday saying that we will be out of the system after the end of March 2008.  We are just waiting for "the announcement" before we decide what to do next.  Maybe we too should expect a visit?