phylisbide

My card was hit a year or so ago - and the first I knew was when I couldn't use my card in a local retailer' - so checked with Nationw and was told that a fraudulent sum had been debited - one dollar - by Napster in US - never showed on my account as it was caught immediately by their fraud team. Took a little while for new card to be issued.

Hello I am using Windows Explorer; Windows xp; The error message is: The program is not responding. To return to Windowsetc.. If you choose to end the program immediately etc.then.. You chose to end the non responsive program Internet Explorer... then the page you are on and the original webpage disappear and you have to start all over again. Very aggravating. PB

Think I have removed cookies but not sure how to clear the cache memory without losing things I want to keep. Any advice welcomed. PB

When I am on line and move from one page on a website to another, the screen regularly freezes up and I am given the error message - which then results in the webpages all closing and having to open up the original web page all over again. It has been driving me mad for about a month and I can't find out how to solve the prob once and for all. Any ideas please? phylis

I have had a Sanef doofer for a few years. If I apply for a free Alis one, can I just stop using the sanef one - thereby no longer incurring charges? phylis

One of the main reasons to use local artisans is financial long term view - should you wish to sell the property in the future, only registered artisans' invoices will be counted by the notaire as allowable against 'Plus Value'. Materials must be purchased by the artisan and included on the invoice to count too. Any materials you bu from the local brico merchant will not be included by the notaire. Thus, if your English builders are registered as traders in France, ok - This may not be an issue for you as things stand - but could be significant down the line. Your local Mairie can provide a list of trade in your area - or perhaps ask neighbours for recommendations. At the very least they will be on hand down the line for any snagging or other needs.... Phylis

Most silver leaved plants will tolerate hot/dry/non regular watering. There are many strains of lavender and in our French garden we seem to have planted a range which means that they are in flower somewhere all through the summer. Altea (hibiscus) also does well without regular attention (despite not having silvery leaves); PB

My nderstanding is that the tenant should pay for the usage of water and electricity but that the landlord pays the standing charges. PB

My husband makes oak doors and the nicest finish we have found is either Fiddes or Osmo hard wax oil. The Fiddes is cheaper. The clear satin finish is beautiful - very easy and quick to do as it is liquid and you paint it on with a brush. There is also a 'limed' finish which keeps the light oak colour wIthout changing the colour if you prefer that. It will need to dry - so you will have to leave it perhaps overnight. Any retouching can be done easily in the future, either on a rag or again with a brush. We have this on our living room floor - which opens straight on to the street - and it has been there for four years - haven't had to retouch yet. It doesn't go orangey - take care with some of the other oils as they can change the colour. Phylis

Thank you, Chris. Some weeks ago I found a lost and very tired fledgling blackbird on the path and it was so exhausted it had lost the power to call for parental help - I spent the whole day giving it water and looking for worms - difficult in the dry spell we had at the time. By the end of the day it recovered enough to call for its parents and they returned to feed it. I then 'helped' feed it for several days - cut up raisins and worms - very special. There are now three blackbirds in our little garden and the younger scruffy one is seemingly quite tame - not afraid of me being close by. Lovely. PB

When blackbirds are born, is it obvious which are male and which are female -( ie, yellow beak, black feathers) or do these characteristics develop later? I recently hand fed a fledgling which fell out of the nest - but not sure if it is now visiting the garden. Any ideas? Phylis

If you freeze the flowers in an ice cube they look really pretty in a g and t ....

We have had the same problem. One thing that seems to help is making sure the room is dark - they seemed to be arriving because the light (warm) was attracting them. I have installed blackout blind which we close before returning to the UK and the last time we visited there were only a couple of flies on the floor. Previously it was hideous - literally a carpet of dead and some still moving. I assume ours were arriving through the stone walls - but not sure. I have also considered using smoe bomb thing in the roof space - but not sure if it would be any good. Are there any products we could try? Phyllis.

Hello - thanks for your inputs. We are online in the uk  but not in France. We have an old digital sky dish and digital box. We also have a spare tv and a viewing card which is active and a hi fi system.  We were told that the sky dish would give us radio in France. We shall presumably need cabling /scart /connectors - will these be available at a brico? Is this so,mething we can set up ourselves or do we need an expert?  We might need an idiot's guide...pb  

I have been told that if we install a Sky dish with a card that we can receive BBC radio4 in France. We don't want television - just a decent signal for Radio 4 for occasional use -  which even on the 'international ' radio is hard to listen to. Is a dish the answer? Would we need any other gismos to make it work? Is there another way to get Radio 4 - any ideas welcome. Thanks Phylis

I recently received a letter from Nationwide, relating to a transaction of euros last autumn - they were advising that they had just received a charge from CA Normandie which they would debit from my UK account. pb

I assume it is much more difficult to determine an asking price for  a property when there isn't an identical property next door - in rural areas on both sides of the channel there are likely to be more individual properties - in towns and cities where there are roads or estates of similar homes it must be an easier process.pb

Hello We usually travel from Le Havre and have found the journey steadily improved over the years - new portions of motorway etc. Does anyone do the journey from St Malo to this area - we have yet to find a route which doesn't take longer despite looking shorter on the map. Ideas welcomed. PB 

Are there any areas where lorry drivers are picketing? We are on our way down through France at the weekend. Keep hearing snippets about blockades in cities - any update would be helpful. Thanks PB

On the plan cadastrale ours just has a number, and we were thinking it would be nice to name it - not only for instructions to friends or delivery people - but just because it would be nice - although we have managed up until now - do we have to check with the Mayor?

Would probably need a bigger oven dish - and haven't seen many recipe ideas...

Here's a question that I can't find an answer to - why can you eat duck 'pink' and not chicken? Same question I suppose applies to beef and lamb and not pork. Any ideas? Phylis

No probs PB

Sorry, thought I was being helpful. Phylis

If they are bearded iris, the rhizomes should be in the sun to thrive - they like a good dry summer. Folklore also says that they should point South - the opposite end from where the leaf comes. I have a border full of them, planted quite randomly rather than as per the folklore,  and they get no attention at all through the summer in 24, but every year they come up trumps - or is that trumpets - of big, blowsy flowers. Phylis Bide (a rose)