just john

Trebley sad, and not without a little deja vous, some poignant comments and questions will come from her no doubt, while he will need all his strengths . . .

My experience is that it best to treat him like the close friend he was, even though that might have been through his wife. Visit now and express your sadness, call in without arrangements if that was normal, offer to help with simple things like going with him shopping etc, normal things but when the first effects of being alone will hit home. Give a card personally with a note, visit again later, perhaps apero time, and ask about the arrangements which are normally quite quickly made. Whatever you do, don't say 'you know where we are if there is anything we can do let us know' Far better to demonstrate that you are there by calling in on normal occasions.

I have posted on this several times but was unable to find previous posting; depending on what other works are required my French builder took a different enlightened view, that the character of the walls were there to be appreciated, not covered up, so his course of action was to insulate the ground floor and the roof, simply renovate the stone walls with pierre apparent, The floor was tiles and concrete onto earth, these were dug out, a dpm laid followed by celotex insulation and a screed before retiling. the roof was basically water tight but a bit tired, so it was completely removed, new oak beams to replace the tired stuff (more rotten than was thought) and then new insulated panels complete with rafters and plasterboard laid.  http://www.laydex.com/documents/TechnicalDetails.pdf  The result is a cool house in the summer and a warmer house in the winter.

I was quoted around €1300 to move the meter from the front of the house to the side (about 10 metres nearer the road where the main cable is), during the site survey I was also advised from their inspection that it could involve a certified electrician or a conseil inspection to reconnect since the house had been renovated. My French builder advised against any such move because in addition to the cost and the inspection (not thought to be a problem since it had been rewired by certified electrician) the meter would be changed along with a more expensive tariff. I did not proceed.

Maman visits her son for dinner who lives with a girl roommate.   During the course of the meal, his mother couldn't help but notice how pretty his roommate was.   She had long been suspicious of a relationship between the two, and this had only made her more curious.   Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to believe there was more between him and his  roommate than met the eye.   Reading his Maman's thoughts, his son volunteered, “I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you,we are just roommates."   About a week later, his roommate came to him saying,   “Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the silver plate. You don't suppose she took it, do you?" ''Of course not, but I'll e-mail her to be sure."   He sat down and wrote :   Dear Maman:  I'm not saying that you ‘did' take the silver plate from my house, I'm not saying that  you ‘did not' take the silver plate But the fact remains that it has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.   Love,  your son.   Several days later, he received an email from his Maman which read:   Dear Son:  I'm not saying that you ‘do' sleep with your roommate, and I'm not saying that you ‘do not' sleep with her. But the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her OWN bed, she would have found the silver plate by now . . .   Love, Maman.

[quote user="Alan Zoff"]Politicians the same everywhere. Do as we say, not as we do.[/quote] Do the rules even apply to them? national security et al[Www] The old adage goes, there are only two rules, 1, don't break the rules 2, don't get caught . . .

[quote user="Bugsy"]Why not do what we have with our field. Arrange for a local farmer to cut it and give him the bails of hay in return. works for us.[/quote] [quote user="Saucedecochon"]If I were you I'd start by getting down the Mairie and hiring the driver and tractor de commune. Ours is a nominal cost about 28Euros for a morning which will sort out the grass for starters. Once its cleared and shortish it won't rip the guts out of an ordinary 105 cm cut ride on. I have about 2 acres to cut with mine, and I get in a highest cut 1st part of season, then another once its dried a couple of days later, both on firing the mowings to the side, leave it 5 days then do it slow on mulch, and before long we can play cricket on it. [/quote] I agree with the above, I am in a similar position, about 12Ksqm, some quite level and some not, I have a local farmer cut it with a mega Fiat tractor rig, in about an hour, 3 times a year for €100, anything else, tree felling, tree stump removal, re-landscaping etc, all available at the same rate, and no fuss. We are trying to encourage wild flowers and flutterbys so do little else apart from spreading wild flower seeds, though we do do a little close mow around the house when there. It looks good enough to me.[:D]  

Cats in the cradle

Fascinating listening to Jeanette talking on Radio 4 this morning, merrily telling how she enjoys dispatching chickens by twisting their necks cause they 'are so stupid', whereas squirrels either get splatted by a spade or shot with her air gun! [:-))]- still kookie after all these years![8-|]

[quote user="Richard51"][quote user="woolybanana"] Had they been members of the national Socialst party, preaching anti-Jewish propaganda, then we would all immediately have wished them removed. [/quote] Exactly - if anyone says anything that even hints at criticism of Jews / Israel, then there is righteous outrage and indignation - even though we have Israel committing serial war crimes with blatant disregard for human rights.  It seems that Muslims are the 21st century's 1930s Jewry.  Islamophobia and hatred in Europe has become 'de rigueur'. Mrs R51 [/quote] Doesn't Israel have reason for its stance? While I would say that the hatred you suggest is limited for the fundamentalist extremists, there is bound to be distrust as to exactly who these are; I don't feel comfortable with someone in a hijab stood behind me at a cashpoint for no other reason than they are not identified, nor do I see justification for the UK having to appease the ECHR, while France presents a case worthy of discussion provoked by Sarkozy and the subsequent BBC prog does it not?  

 autosport.911 creator dies  

There are today 5 million Muslims in France, the largest population in western Europe, largely as a result of the country's colonial past in north Africa. And their presence has increasingly since the 2005 riots been a central issue in French society. In 2009 the government instituted a national enquiry, with town-hall meetings and debates that resulted in much hand-wringing, over what it means today 'to be French', not least in the light of the country's ban on wearing the full Islamic veil in public. Now there is widespread belief that with the far-right National Front led by the charismatic Marine le Pen, there may be a re-run of the 2002 shock elimination by the party of one of the main contenders in the first round of voting.  .bbc.Radio 4 'France & Race, question of identity' -  Tues 8pm uk /

''those who make remarks contrary to the values of the Republic will be instantly put outside the territory of the French Republic, there will no exception, there will be no leniency''  .bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe- Unlike Britain, where UK's safety is compromised by rights of appeal that can drag on for years . . . [Www]

elf & safety is just a smoke screen to cover the financial demands generated by the union lefty leaders in order that they will subsequently improve their own pensions, loans and payments in kind above the pawns in their game; not unlike the miners who were driven into the valley of doom by Scargill while his own pension, property rights and payments were elevated beyond belief. As a one time union member I for one don't subscribe to their politics.

[quote user="Kitty"]  There certainly was a thread about this in the past but it was probably 3 or 4 years ago and I can't find it. [/quote] Hello Kitty, good to see you posting[:)]

[quote user="crossy67"]Update. Popped into the local Gendarmerie as I couldn't get anywhere with the details on the carte grise.  Turns out the car had been written off in 2011 and sold to a garage in Toulouse.  From there the trail goes cold unless we phone them, I'm not going to bother, the seller has a history of buying used car parts off Ebay so I think we can draw our conclusions from there.  I have no problem with damaged and repaired cars but when the seller has no paperwork and lies about it, well that's just a bit too much.  I understand the car would need all sorts of paperwork and inspections before a new carte grise could be issued, just not worth the hasstle and risk. Thanks for every ones input, much appreciated. [/quote] I didn't see that coming, damned devious pole and frustrating if salutory experience to boot, interesting that the local Gendarmes were such a useful source of info, saved in the nick of time so to speak, [:)]

[quote user="crossy67"]I seem to be loosing a few posts, I replied this morning but it's vanished!  Strange.  [/quote] Are you using the bottom post button?, the top one doesn't work on my log-in since the so called experts have had a play . . .

[quote user="PaulT"] [quote user="crossy67"] [quote user="Boiling a frog"]  contact the person named on the carte gris,  [/quote]  funnily he hasn't emailed it but he has managed to send me his bank details for the deposit.   my main concern is if it really is his car to sell. [/quote] I would very much take him supplying bank details and not the carte gris as this being extremely dodgy and fruaght with danger should you proceed. [/quote] Establishing the history of this car, essentially obtaining the cert de cession is what this transaction hangs on, the name on the carte gris may not be traceable, registering in UK is a practical route to reregistering in France, but does not prove title, his delay in providing this information does bode well, is there no equivalent of HPI en France?, a tap on the door by les flic in a couple of months time and it could all end in tears . . .

you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, [:D]  

70th Anniversary of Saint Nazaire Raid | On 28th March 1942 the Royal Navy's HMS Campbelltown mounted a raid on Saint Nazaire dock at what seemed like impossible odds of success The inscription on the Saint Nazaire memorial reads: “In proud memory of those who gave their lives in the attack on Saint Nazaire on 28 March 1942. They achieved much having dared all.” http://gb.saint-nazaire-tourisme.com/actualite/1280

I'm currently renovating some pine doors, which are about 100 yrs old but I've had them stripped, so need to be refinished, some are filled with wood filler and waxed for the stripped look; those for painting I'm using PU glue for joints (self-expanding) and after cleaning off excess foam, Polyfilla (suitable for exterior and painting) Decorators Caulk to smooth over, cellulose filler for holes, then two coats of primer, sand, two coats of undercoat, sand, two coats of top coat. (that's why it's taking so long) the finished results are looking good![8-|]

Tune of the day . . . Python Lee Jackson & Rod Stewart[8-|]    

Cost of the parts is negligible compared to the labour cost, probably best to get a few alternative all in quotes, locally there's a mobile mechanic who will come to you and his prices without garage overheads is much more competitive, do you have one you could ask for a quote?

not quite a perfect marriage then, no bun part!

[quote user="Chancer"] From the very little that I saw when I was in the UK, trailers for the impending program I had firmly came to that same conclusion Nick. just how appalling is my english grammar now, and I dont even know how to correct it [:(] [/quote] symbolic of the state of the nation perhaps and no hope for the cynics but I believe that in addition to saving british industry, most men realise for their benefit, that knickers are for ladies pleasure, not just for Christmas[Www] (5od the gramer)[:)]