HoneySuckleDreams

be careful about piece online. We just bought some headlights for our Suzuki hair dresser 4x4 from them and we got the lights (eventually! I think they have been on holiday for the whole of August). They both fit, but one of them is a manual adjustment not an electric one. So we paid a lot of money and ended up getting the cheaper version. Having said all that, wifey fitted them (eventually, fitfully and in the end ecstatically!!)  so they now conform, which is the important thing. We went to a local scrap place for the citroen headlights, 90euro the pair, including all bulbs...bargain. You can always try those piece d'attacher (or whatever they are called) first. But...as I've never heard of your car (that's not to say that it's a very good car i might add), you might struggle...or be amazingly lucky. Bon chance.  

a fox will apparently eat between 3000-4000 voles a year. So get yourself one of them and I'm sure the problem will disappear

to be more precise... Can anyone point me in the direction of a company that does class iv treated 50mm x 200mm timber beams or thereabouts (50x195 or 50x220 would do, or even 44 or 47 wide) I think they are called Madriens here. I've tried panofrance, asturienne, chausson, gedimat, bigmat....etc.etc. The standard sizes seem to be 75 or 80 by 195. In my mind i'm buying more wood than I need, and I'm on a tight budget. The french seem to think the wider the better, whereas, IMO, it's the depth that matters. Bizarrely, they seem to sell the joist hangers (sabots I think) 50mm wide, but not the wood. ta

Hi, Just to add a little bit to the conversation. I picked up on the skiing/snowboarding quote. Be careful thinking that the winter in the Pyrenees is all a snow, it's a bit hit and miss at times, so dont go thinking that it's wall to wall snow for 5 months. You mention 5 resorts within 5-20 minutes. Where exactly? the problem with resorts being close together is that they all suffer the same weather. Be it no-snow i.e. 0 resorts at all, or too much snow and a nightmare to get between. Just a thought if you are wanting to fill your CDH with skiers/boarders. It's also very French/Spanish. Could you convince the brits to part with their hard earned?

our suzuki 4x4 has just failed the CT as we can't use the plastic deflectors anymore. He also said our Citroen should have failed last time (February I think it was) but he forgot to mention it as he was too busy pointing out that the lens had the same crack in it that he mentioned 2yrs earlier. We've been here for 5 yrs and not had a problem before so it looks like the law has definately changed and we're off to the breakers yard to get some replacement lights.

good point.... The more I think about it, I think matching the LNB to the dish is of primary importance. I think I will be looking into getting a Lenson Quad LNB

Another: I think you misunderstood. The current single LNB gives a good signal, but only on certain channels. The donated Quad LNB doesn't give a good signal even on those the current LNB is strong on. I'm still away working at the moment, but when I get home I'll try the Quad with no skew and see if that helps.

Anton: The neck is a bit smaller but you can pack out the clasp with bits of old inner tube. I think the dish might need realigning a bit because of the weight. I'm going to see if I can buy an actual proper fitting, they come with an inbuilt level as well I think. Another: The actual LNB sensor bit has a skew already, so it looks like i don't need to fiddle too much with that. It seems to be a bit hit and miss at the moment with the signals anyway with the current LNB. I can get 90% strengh 100% quality for BBC1 HD but only 60%/20% for RADIO4LW (the HUMAX gives a much better insight into the signal strength/quality when you switch channels than the old SKY box) Looks like I will be up on the roof again at the weekend.... maybe I will wait until England are knocked out of the World Cup and Murray out of Wimbledon before I try to fiddle too much.

hello We have a Lenson 80cm dish with the original LNB. My friend has donated a Quad LNB he no longer needs but was supplied by Sky. I've tried replacing the LNB on the dish to the donated one but get a big change in strength/quality. My guess is that the SKY LNB's are built to cope with the elliptical dishes, whilst the Lenson dish is circular, which is why i'm getting a duff signal. Is this thinking correct? Should I shelve out for a Quad Lenson LNB? Thanks for any help  

Hi I once knew what to put on an envelope to "return to sender", but i've forgotten. we have a letter for someone that does not live here anymore and it looks like an important tax thing. I seem to remember it's a 4 letter acronym, but can't for the life of me remember what it is. thanks in advance

I can enter our readings online via the EDF web site.

We have some french friends who constantly harped on at us for buying of the 'tinterweb rather than from local shops. However, they have just bought a garden shredder from (of all places, somewhere in Scotland), for about 200euro less than buying it in France. That included delivery and turned up in 3 days. They originaly thought it was a scam. Other friends now look at buying car parts in the UK first rather than from the french sites.

Actually where we live (SW) we have been told to report sightings of the Asian Hornet which was introduced by accident a few years ago. It's no more dangerous to us but apparently can cause problems with honey bees.     not your average hornet I hasten to add, this is  a Giant Asian hornet

Shouldn't do that. Hornets are a lot less agressive as wasps and won't really bother you, and rather less common as well. I know it's difficult to ignore them when then come buzzing but please try to.

Jane and Danny. Yes you're right. I can buy a LNB clamp and another LNB that allows me to point to the Freesat satellite as well as the one I need for the french stuff. it's just on my limit of technology but I'm happy to give it a go.

Thanks cooperola The good thing about working for a public French company is you get a lot of time on your hands. So i spotted the Panasonic box thingy during the day whilst whiling away my happy hours. It's either that one or the Humax. And the good think about the twin tuner is that I can put the TNT stuff through it as well. Tip top. Many thanks

sorry....my earlier post light have been confusing you can buy a Sky+ box 2nd hand (with a paired viewing card) and get the HD stuff OK, it's the recording bit that wont work without a subscription. It seems a waste to have a SKY+ box without the recording facilties. My tv has (will have, as it's being delivered this week....fingers crossed) a TNT HD integrated tuner, so that sorts out the France TV ok. In a simplistic world I thought I could get an external recorder and have two inputs. One from TV to record the French and one from SKY HD to get the UK stuff.  I thought the Freesat recorder might have been a good alternative as it gives UK HD and (hopefully) have a 2nd input to receive the French TV.   thanks for the info though and sorry to highjack cooperola's post  

hello just a quicky cooperola, what is the DVD recorder you are using? We would like to record stuff and I am just starting to investigate the technology a bit. I still need an HD source for the British TV and the SKY+ boxes won't work without a subscription. I thought about FreeSat+ HD but they seem to be quite expensive. So.... Ii can get a normal HD freesat box + external DVD recorder I will...just depends on the cost

Here's an update. I would laugh if I wasn't grinding my teeth so much. Director of the company owing me money set up another company just before Xmas then liquidated the old company. At the creditors meeting it turns out he took 670K out of the business last year in remuneration and dividends. Plus gave 100K to the other director who then quit (still outstanding loan). Overall debt to 70+ creditors....647K. Nothing we can do without concrete proof. There is an outside chance that the liquidators report is bad enough for him to be prosecuted and his new company has to cover the debt of the old. But we (the creditors) are not holding our breath. The laws an ass.

Hi I've just had two letters from CIPAV in the last week. The first saying that they want 2800 of me this year, the first 1500 due mid-april (pension) The 2nd letter saying that at present, with my 4-points, my pension will be .... 24euro a year. As I'm not going to be able to work into my 90's, is there any way I can get this amount to pay reduced? or, by investing 3k a year into the pension will I eventually get something back when I retire..... if I live that long. It seems a huge imbalance at the moment. It always seems a huge amount when you get a demand for that amount in one go. Is there something I can do about this? I didn't earn near the maximum for the BNC last year.

There are a couple of guys in the gers who have set up business creating English sausages/bacon/pork pies/gammon They are around and about at various markets and have french buying as well as the habitual ex-pats

Yes thats the one: Piege écopiege from belarbre.com I think

In the Jardin Massey in the middle of Tarbes they have put special ring thingies around the infected trees about 3 mtrs up. This is connected to a bag with something in it, I assume, to kill the beasties as they descend. I'm not really one for killing things but I guess the park authorities have to watch out for the public a bit more than if you have them in your back garden. Sorry I can't be more specific about what the rings are.

Swissie...likewise for us, we left a small village just east of Loughborough. Best time of year with all the blue bells coming up. We got invited back once when passing through, and the new owners had dug them all up! Breaks your heart. I hope the outwoods still have theirs. Black Kites and Scops owls are back here too. The Woods around here are just starting to stir, but soon it will be too hot and the ground will go from permafrost to dried out concrete.

I think it was the painter Whistler who when confronted by a women who said "$10 for an hour!!!" he said, " no ma'm $10 for a life times experience" An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision