Weedon

[quote]Weedon - I don't think borrowing money is a bad thing at times, many a good business has started on borrowed money. What I would say is in the case of a B&B unless you have another income you shou...[/quote] I am not against sensible borrowing  at all and completely agree with all you say.  But again, as you say, borrowing in order to fund a B&B, and particularly the deposit, if there is no additional source of income I see only lots of tears ahead. On the other hand if Fay goes into it with eyes wide open after taking lots of advice and makes a successful and happy life for herself and her family I would be offering many congratulations on a job well done. weedon

[quote]Hi again, i don't want to debate but i'm shocked by Weedon's reply!! Of course anyone who wants to start a business in France, and not only a B&B but all kind of businesses has to be very caref...[/quote] I have to say that it takes more than a piece of advice on caution to actually shock me , as you put it, but that may be just a figure of speech. Quillan has put it better than me in his last reply and it has to be stressed that it is easier to borrow money than to pay it back, I know everybody understands that but sometimes judgement can go awry in the excitement of a possible new venture.  I can remember not so long ago when some people had overstretched themselves in obtaining huge loans for homes and the noise of the keys dropping through the letter boxes of the Building Societies was only deadened by the footsteps of speculators as they rushed to the auctions to buy up cheap properties.  Many of those were the "experts" who had previously advised on borrowing! weedon

So, you are going to  Sell Chez Shells By The Sea Shore weedon

[quote]First congratulations Motorhead you certainly appear to know your stuff or B******t baffles brainscan you advise me on some points1 The second stage of the tank the liquid stage aerobic (you say,) sh...[/quote] We have exactly what you describe in our F/S, a plastic bucket with holes in it for which we were given a load of magma which should be taken out from time to time to be hosed down (near the tomatoes!).  If I were you I would get onto whoever supplied the tank and ask for them. We have gone down the DIY chemin on lots but on the F/S front I was happy to start with the maire and pay others to do it for me whilst I supped the beer and took the pictures. Incidently since we moved to France I have had many a good chin wag about fosse septiques but cannot once recall discussing my sewer in blighty. weedon

Fay,  from your replies to the many answers that urge caution it would seem that you are wrestling between the anticipation  of a new life for you and your family and the possible hardship of achieving your aims. Please, please do not underestimate the effects it will have on you and your family doing  it with borrowed money.  I know I am repeating what others have said about it but I can tell you from experience that running a business tight on working capital will have you under immense relentless stress. I have no personal knowledge of B&bs nor Gites but from the information I have gained from this forum and other sources, just as an interest on Brits in France, I can tell that its not an easy life. This is not at all a slight on Céline, but I would not take advice from a mortgage broker because it is not they that take the risk.  Much better that you listen to others in a similar business line to the one you are considering.  I know that some others may think that I am overly pessimistic but my advice is not to consider doing it with borrowed money,even in the short term as a bridging loan. weedon  

I used to spend about 3 hours every sunday, reading the newspaper front to back and back to front.  Over the years that equates to about 6 months solid reading.  Since moving to France 4 years ago I have read one or two second-hand sunday rags and for the life of me I can't see now why I wasted those 6 months. I have to make do with the ParuVendu to light the fire in the winters now and as its only 2 sheets you have to have good kindling or else there goes the next 6 months. weedon

[quote]Hello I'm confused I was told that after three months I had to transfer my number plate. My plate is so special to my family, we lost our twenty year old Daughter two years ago and she would loved h...[/quote] Sorry to come in a bit late on your problem. As your number plate is so precious to you, could you not transfer the number to another family members car. At least that way it would not seem like giving away a memory. I have never done it but I believe the transfer process is simple to do. weedon

Excellent idea Furryknickers (ok if I call you Furry from now on?). It would be so good for your neighbours morale now that Paris has not got the Olympics as I am sure he is devastated. I am sure you are aware that certain etiquette has to be followed when introducing a sexually mature gerbil (older than 10 weeks) to another.  I suspect your neighbour is sexually mature so that is one problem they will not have.  When you introduce them be sure to wear gloves because they might fight and you don't want to get a nasty bite from the neighbour do you?  The most preferred method of introduction is the split-cage.  Place an aquariums divider in the cage to divide it in two.  You could buy one from the fish section of your pet store or you could make one from chicken wire, but the important thing is that scent passes through it but the gerbil (or neighbour) does not. Pay special attention to them biting each others feet when they cling to the wire. I had a gerbil once that had most of its toes off her front paws because of this problem.  At least if this happens your neighbour could go a couple of sizes down in shoes so some good would come out of it.  Leave them in this split cage for about a week or two switching them to opposite sides every day to get them used to each others scent.  This will mean that you will have to feed the neighbour on a regular basis.  After about a week try removing the divider and watch them very closely for at least half an hour.  If everything goes well, you can relax somewhat, but keep a close eye on them for the rest of the day, just in case.  Once they've snuggled up to each other to sleep, you're generally out of danger.  Job done, as they say, unless the gerbil rejects your neighbour, in which case you have opened a whole new can of worms. If you would like advice on worms, this so happens to be one of my pet subjects and I could help you with them should you so wish. weedon  

Its being so cheerful that keeps you lot going! Well done the UK and put me down for tickets in the new athletic stadium if I can get my zimmer frame through the turnstile when the time comes. weedon

Having recently watched the celebrations of possibly Britains greatest hero Nelson. The thought has occurred to me that he might have had difficulty in getting past all the red tape involved in obtaining one of these proposed identity cards with his one good eye and only one arm? weedon

[quote]what a sickener just bought a brand new v-twin dogs whatist honda hydro ect ... with twin dodas ect and it under steers like a bar steward and 2 days old got a puncture i...[/quote] Dave,  you want to watch those thorns and the penus, they can give you a nasty prick. weedon

Do we have our own rival for "two jags Prescott"... "two pumps Dick" weedon

[quote]Not sure if there's any interest, but after giving a book which I'd read away to someone on another forum, I came up with an idea. The person who I was sending the book to, offered to cover the cost ...[/quote] If you go to www.bookcrossing.com there is a sort of book swop world wide. You leave a book in a public place for somebody to find and enjoy.  On the inside you put some sort of details which you then enter onto the website and where you have placed it.  The next person does the same thing after they have read it and on and on it goes. You can go onto the website to see details of where books are currently waiting for others to pick up. weedon PS There have been 299 books released in the Provence area in the last 3 days for example.

[quote]This new wave/range/class (whatever you call it) of people who have come to France in the past couple of years have done because the relative cost of housing has allowed them to. Were it not for that...[/quote] Neatly summed up and agree with everything you say. weedon Now back to my lurking.

The fly that on your bread has wiped its feet, Has also been and wiped then on the meat. But worse than that, this morning (for a treat) It trod in something nasty in the street.   Enjoy Weedon

[quote]Weed on, you are not talking about the same thing. I shall attempt to explain. The other post to which you refer was bemoaning the fact that the customers were reluctant to pay for the use/wear ...[/quote] As it is with some people that in order to stress a point they cannot help but to start off with a juvenile form of p***take. I have a thick skin which has been developed over the years of running a small business right up to the point where I said f***em and retired to France.  A lot of the aggro came from people who thought they were able to do every job themselves and were of the mind that people with dirt under their nails had no education and no training in what they were doing.  So when I come back again it will be as a shrink when all I have to do is buy a couch and listen to people and their problems, and if I cannot help them it will be their own fault and here is my large bill. weedon

[quote]Wow 400 euros for brain surgery. I know I'm twisting Weedons words a bit but then he did it to mine. Rodney found he could do it with half a brain so maybe he'd tried the DIY lobotomy first or maybe n...[/quote] I seem to remember not so long ago a few here were bemoaning the fact that they could only charge peanuts for a hard days graft. Maybe they were the same ones on this thread advocating the DIY approach, certainly one of you is.  As I am unable to see any of your names I can only guess at who you are, and similarly you are probably the ones that although I sign off at the end of my postings you fail to recognise my true identity...a customer. The day will come when we are all DIYers and then you will have no alternative but to get your drill out!!  Always providing that you have the cash to buy a sharp drill and there is somebody out there making them? Apologies to the original poster who only asked a simple question. weedon  

If you do a Google on brain surgery no doubt it will tell you how to do your own frontal lobotomy and I dare say you can save yourself a bit of money doing the job yourself rather than going private.  Personally I prefer to take my chances, should the need arise, with somebody who had done the job before and at the end have the power of speech, hearing and smell out of the correct orifices. If you go to your local Mairie they will give you details of people in your area who can take soil samples and will advise where to place the tank and filter bed.  The paperwork is shown to the maire who does an initial inspection and will liaise with the people doing the job. On its completion the maire (or his advisor) will then tell you your system is approved and you have no worries. Would'nt it be a shame to do all of that work yourself only to find out your system was in the wrong place and inadequate. My advice would be to get it done by the book with the assistance of the Mairie and if 400€ turns out to be the going rate then so be it as I suspect that you have plenty of other bigger bills coming along. weedon  

[quote]Should brand new houses now by law have a Fosse Toutes Eau rather than a Fosse Septique? Can anyone please explain the difference- because I'm not sure what I've got ( long story!!!)- I just know we...[/quote] Irrespective whether you have friendly bacteria working or not, if you do not have a vent somewhere between the house and your fosse or you do not have proper traps on your drain outlets the gas will find an exit through the least resistance...in your case the kitchen sink.  Not an expert but learned through my own experience. weedon

[quote]Mr SB came home from some brico place last weekend (I do let him out by himself now and again, but the last time I did he went to Latvia where apparently the women are lovely , so I might have to rev...[/quote] Mrs SB I pity you on your family travels by car.  It is, I think, well known that whilst men are only able to do one thing at a time, ladies are a little disadvantaged when it comes to the map reading department so it is a little worrying that Mr SB went Bricoing via Latvia.  I would have thought there was one nearer! weedon

[quote]Hear hear! Motorhead! I could say that as I have a van/car and a trailer and must have all these tools to look after my own property then I shall take none of their value into account when pricing my...[/quote] There are 2 main categories of business that the owner operates hands-on.  They are the here today and gone tomorrow type and the ones in it for the long haul who have common sense, grit and determination in equal large chunks. The H T A G T types are that simply because they fail to build into their pricing structures replacement of equipment and think it is a doddle until their tools break.  The ones I I F T L H have worked it all out properly and charge the correct rate, but also realise they are never going to be millionaires because their clients can work out quite easily how much you earn per day and resent paying you more than what they think you need in order to keep a roof over your head. As far as grass cutting goes, mine takes me about 5 hours with a ride-on and I ask myself should I be unable to do it myself how much is it worth paying somebody to do it perhaps once a week.  If I had to pay more than say 100-120 euros I would have to consider getting it done once every 2 weeks, albeit that it might take longer than 5 hours in that case.  So I think that you might have to be selective in your pricing and not charge strictly by the hour for everything.  There are going to be some you charge per job and some per hour and with lots of luck and sweat with an emphasis on regular customers you make a reasonable living. weedon

Without wishing in any way to pass water onto anybodies fire, why does anybody wish to alter font size and style? I find myself in the lucky? position of being able to do so if I wished but in the unlucky? position of not being able to identify posters unless they put a name on their bottom!  Aviators are all very well but to the technically inept are as useful as a f**t in a spacesuit Occasionally I find that a poster has altered the font size so small as to make it unreadable and others have changed the colour which had I been colour blind would have meant a complete loss of impact.  So, is it meant to be the equivalent of having a cherished number plate on your 4x4 if so I am happy with my Standard 8 and would much rather be able to put names to postings.  It would be so helpful if you put your name on your bottom and such a nice way to identify you. weedon  

Thanks to all the responses.  I have deleted the message and blocked the sender who was persistent to the extent they sent 2 others with different prefixes advising my emails were now blocked. I simply sent one to myself to see if it worked, which it did.  Hopefully I have seen the last of that particular one.  It comes to something when you have to send emails to yourself, I really must make the effort to get out more. weedon

I have an email from (service at wanadoo.fr) (I have put in the At in place of the ampersand) which tells me in english to follow the instructions contained in the attached file or else my account will be terminated. The file looks pretty big and I am reluctant to open it as I am paranoid about having my bits fiddled with.  Is it likely to be genuine or am I right to be suspicious?  I cannot think of any reason why it should be terminated as I pay by DD. weedon weedon

[quote]Once again my thanks, OpelFruit and Weedon. I must admit I would never in a million years have thought of Exchange&Mart or Dalton's Weekly..... and me a London lass, as well! Weedon... could I a...[/quote] The questions we asked were to fit our own criteria and they would be the sort of thing an owner would know.  For example, it had to be not in a village but not more than a couple of miles or so from a village, about a couple of acres with some outbuildings, the house preferably would not be up against a boundary, with no immediate neighbours, how far the nearest neighbour was and what sort of road led to the property. Access to a fax or email is usefull so that you can send pictures. Apart from the above you need to know about water, electricity, the good old fosse septic and whether it could suffer from flooding. Just as a matter of interest we did in fact buy the property as a result of an advert in Daltons Weekly.  We used a chap called O'Connor in Tonbridge (advertises in Living France magazine) to check the paperwork and we used the same notaire as the seller weedon