londoneye

are you sure?!!!!!!! about all trees having ants !!!!       I do  believe you - why haven't i noticed before though?   perhaps its the quantity that varies and they do seem a lot larger than the uk variety, or am i imagining this.    well i  did confess to knowing nothing about trees so managed  to prove my point quite effectively there! many thanks

Yes - me again on trees - sorry but not big on trees.    Have just cleared large patch of our acre of land, and there is a huge tree which had to be cut a year ago in order for our fosse septic to be installed.   We are in process of cutting up for wood as and when we get time.     However for around 30 sq feet around tree there were brambles (ever seen day of the triffids? - you will understand).   Having now cleared all of these away there are about three slightly mullered trees which are very pretty and which I beleive can be whipped back into shape now they have some light and other bare essentials.    However there are a couple of baby oak trees which i would like to move - i assume october (ish) to be best time to do this? Secondly, all trees are absolutely covered in ants - i am guessing that these are nesting in the fallen tree and when we have cleared and cut all of that away they may disappear of their own volition - however I could 100% wrong!  Is this the likely cause does anyone know, and should I be taking measures now to get rid of them (the ants that is). thanks

does anyone know where to get a brico depot catalogue from (apart from the obvious!) - EG i cant see anywhere on-line from where it can be ordered, or am i missing something?

sorry - not entirely relevant but i have note book computer and first time had storm over here (computer was plugged in) got a message on computer akin to end of world nigh.   scared life out of me - turned off and on - ok.   figured power lines had been cut, next time storm was acoming i cunningly unplugged computer (thinking myself very clever!) - yes, same message - guessing because of connection via livebox - although i have a wireless connection on laptop, it was in at time.  Anyone know, similarly to Mickey jim, how on earth i protect my computer |!

oh dear that should be 'i live'- sorry - been getting numb fingers and pins and needles lately - on my way out perchance?

Does anyone please know of someone/firm who carry out garbage removal - i like close to St Yrieix in 87.   When i say garbage i am talking tonnes of the stuff by the way - imagine 25 generations of a french family, a large barn, stables and cottage and full and thats what we are talking about!      Oh yes plus s**tloads of old tiles and rubble and stuff.   Any contacts would be appreciated.

just for info - in case anyone doesnt know - eventually plucked up courage and went back to m. bricolage where they didnt have the correct size blade, and before i had even had a chance to open my mouth the helpful man said - (along lines of) - oh gosh we dont have that size but i can order you one if you want'  - there you go then - proving it doesnt pay to be a shrinking violet and i should have just asked him first time i went in there instead of looking at shelf and giving up cos it wasnt there! But thanks all for the help.

Ive got that too - i think its probably good stuff - first time ok, second time took both of us to hold the little blighter down, third time he somehow sensed bottle hidden in my hand, covered by towel, at distance of ohhhh couple of miles (!) and promptly set off for Paris ! I think you can use it on dogs too, so perhaps i will get chance (not that i want to!) to use the remainder on the dog at some stage!

oh chris - you sound like the book i have been strugging with - only joking !!  will now have to try to hold up a copy of your email with my third hand !! thanks

years ago i lived in Israel for 2 years, and once was hospitalised for dehydration (drip jobbie) - i had no awareness of the seriousness as i didnt even actually feel unwell, a little tired maybe (but who doesnt in this temperature).   ~When it suddenly does hit you, and your legs give way and you pass out, then its not nice!!    Trouble is i dont actually get thirsty (and surely i am not only one?), so family i worked for put alarm clock in field and set it every hour and made me stop and drink - worked a treat.    Seriously though, it really doesnt take very long at all to get to hospitalisation stage, and its unpleasant and not worth it. As per other responses, we have been starting early - stopping and continuing early evening through to 10.00 ish (if we can find work which is sufficiently non-intrusive to neighbours).   Cuts down on valuable wine-drinking time i must confess, but then we came here to work, so there you go.

shopping is about the easiest thing here!    Doesn't matter how limited your french is, at end of day a shop wants to sell you something so generally i have found them to be very helpful.   anyway if you are talking supermarket you dont have to do more than exchange 'bonjour' 'merci' and the like at checkout!    I have got very brave the last two weeks (we have been here for 3 months now) and I have mustered up courage to approach the meat counter, even when there is a large queue behind me listening (!) as opposed to only buying meat pre-packed, which i confess i did at start to avoid the issue of having to speak french in front of all those interested by-standers in the queue.   Isnt it amazing how you hang around waiting to slip up and whisper something in your inadequate french, only to look around and find 35 people behind you, agog to listen to your every shamefully stuttererd word!!  Doesnt matter where you are, it will happen, so you might as well bite the bullet and get in there straight away!    I did from day 1, and responses to my somewhat painful use of language have been astonishingly generous - one person even complimented me on my french!!!    And i wasnt buying something large enough to warrant such extreme grovelling either, in case you are thinking that! On line shopping is definitely not what it is in the UK, although you can get large goods delivered from castorama - you pay a hefty delivery charge, but  i have used them a few times and they were pretty good.   Beware though of lulling yourself into a false sense of security.    When you have congratulated yourself on ordering, received confirmation and sit back happily having not had to speak a single word of french - what happens?    Yes,the day of the delivery you get a call from a 'lost' delivery man, who speaks with a dialect that even French people wouldnt understand, is (seemingly) quite a way away from you, and firmly believes that the appropriate method of finding you is to telephone you every 5 ,minutes, updating you on his whereabouts and demanding further directions (presumably because my last set were so appalling or incomprehensible that the poor man was even more lost!).  Trust me, it made the prospect of going into the shopping, pointing at the damned thing and shoving it in the car look very attractive!!

i have a very very large tree in my garden, which i believe may be a horse-chesnut (then again it may not as i confess to knowing not a lot about trees).   If it helps its currently got little yellow flowers coming on it with lots of bees.   although i know i will have to have it dealt with at some point professionally from the perspective of height, for the moment it has branches cascading down, almost willow fashion, to the ground, and i wondered if it would hurt the tree to prune these a few feet up from ground?   I appreciate this is a pretty pathetic description of what i want to do, but if anyone can interpret this into tree-speak and respond i would be grateful.    I did rather optimistically get a pruning book before i left uk but am still trying to understand terminology therein and every time i pick up a pair of pruning shears, whilst trying to hold book in third hand (which i dont have!) I lose the will to live, or lose bottle actually and - well, go back to the bottle and the book again without actually touching any trees!

just had another go at flymo and  did manage to get to client services this time - and the answer was - Mr Bricolage! - where i have already looked - never mind - back to drawing board.    

i dont think i was very accurate in which part of the washing machine process!   blade is actually cutting fine to be honest, its holding the b****er down to get it to do it - eg its vibrating so much because blade is now uneven, that its like controlling a runaway washing machine .....     for other posting thanks for that - in truth i had found flymo site of course but find french web sites particularly unhelpful in some respects - taking aside the language of course (!);  worst of which has to be the Brico Depot site - why do they bother !!!!!!     still, if thats all i can find to complain about life cant be bad can it!      i will try once again to master the flymo site. thanks both

correct we are not married - and neither of us have children - probably still possible but a tad unlikely now! although house was/is mine in technical financial terms i guess, my partner is doing loads of work on it, so it seems unfair that he is not listed as co-owner, the reason why i have decided to try to get changed to both names.

my trusty flymo lawnmower blade is behaving strangely since other half had a go at sharpening it - now more akin to spinning washing machine than mower. i deduce therefore that a new blade will be required - have looked in bricolage but they dont seem to have any 30cm blades and wondered if anyone knew where to source flymo spare parts in france, rather than have to get blade sent to someone to post on etc from uk. thanks

it is my sole property so i had understood there would be no CPT incurred - thanks for both responses - i had worried that it would be something which may notbe possible in france.   i will contact notaire in near future once we are settled a bit more (only been here 3 months) and sort it  out. thanks again

thanks for that - we do always put puppy in kithcen at certain time of night and cat will then come and sit with us - also he is the only one allowed upstairs (on my pillow ifi am honest!) so he does have some time with us on his own - just feels like not enough time.   I have to say my worst nightmare was that the cat might move out, but thankfully that didnt happen, and i dont think it will at this stage.

Hi Our house in france was purchased solely in my name, not in that of myself/partner.      Would it be possible does anyone know please for me to change the house  to be in names of both myself and my partner?    If so what would be the process. many thanks in advance for any responses.  

Dear all We are now the proud owners of a 8 week puppy, in addition to our three year old very scaredy cat.  Puppy, needless to say, sees cat as something very exciting to play with, especially when cat runs.    The cat did creep up to puppy on first day when she was asleep and try for the big swipe - only she was so keen to get in and away quickly that she barely touched her and she didnt even wake up - still cat looked pleased with itself ! Since then the cat follows the puppy at a discrete distance of around 10 feet - wherever puppy is, cat is behind.   Occasionally cat goes closer but never as close as on the first day.     i am starting to get upset at seeing cat sitting 10 feet away from me at all  times,  like a kid left out of a party invite, so can anyone give me the benefit of their experience in this area, and let me know what i might expect next!!  my gut feeling is that so far progress has  actually been ok on this one,  but i want my cat back how he was!!! thanks

never worked that one out!    did  wave a length  of our 30 foot blue hose pipe at other half for many  hours after his fright shouting, look i've caught it !    only one of us found this amusing, very amusing actually because entertainment is a bit thin on the ground in our area !

ha - made me laugh - when young i was with my somewhat hysterical sister in pretty much unchartered territory (at that time) in thailand and she thought we had snake in room - and it had bitten her - ran out to wake up whole village (lord knows why really cos it would have been two days to get to mainland!) - all locals helpfully rushed into our hut (it was middle of night) only to find the supposed snake which had bitten my sister was indeed a section of rubber hosing in corner of room!   so, been there done that one - only thankful i knew no thai so couldnt understand what they were saying about us !!

I quite like them myself but other half is less than keen to say least.    He claims to have seen a very large snake in our field - well over a metre long and around 2" thick.   Went to have a good look but couldnt find it myself.    Suspect fear may have enlarged its size somewhat in his imagination (!!!).   But now have very young puppy to keep cat company (heh heh they hate each other) and wondered if anyone knows whether there are poisonous snakes in area of Haute Vienne at all?   Or poisonous enough to do small puppy and/or cat damage ?    I do hope not or i can see that i will be marched into the field to catch it  some time soon! any replies appreciated - aha - additional information  is that it may have been 'greenish' (clearly he wasnt hanging around for a good look!)  

in similar vein - i was eaten alive last night and am positively demented today - like a flea ridden monkey probably describes it best! anyone used any good local products for the bites themselves?   or a good spray for deterrent ?   once found a fantastic anti-mosquito roll on thing in greece and bought up practically whole shop worth but sadly all now finished.    i must be especially tasty because even if i wrap myself head to foot i still seem to get munched up.

Hi My partner hasn't quite mastered sufficient french yet to brave the dentist for his tooth ache - or to brave dentist and not potentially come out with a sparkling complete set of dentures or some such thing!    Does anyone please know of an english speaking dentist in the general area of st yrieix la perche, haute vienne please? many thanks