Fantine<br><br><br><br>Susie

Yes, I have been following the website daily. I have seen 4 seperate vols go over. It was very exciting. They always do go over us, Spring and Autumn. This year I did actually report on the website mentioned above - so where you see sightings in the Dordogne, that was me!! I tend to hear them first then run out of the house or around the garden until I spot them, they have a very distinctive call like a short honk and rarely fly silently. BTW Chris - I like your website, very informative especially with the additional link to the Grues

[quote]When I am in Switzerland I use Russet , as there are no Bramleys available. Russets are nice to eat and "pulp" up nicely when cooked. What is that on your Picture Viva : May I have a guess: Is i...[/quote] Russets and Canada Gris share the same rough skin and have the same pulping qualities. Have not seen Russets here but I always use Canada Gris which are excellent.

We have got an abri over a liner pool with salination system. It's been installed since May. This is our findings: We have had problems keeping the Ph levels down. This, I believe is because we have very hard water here and the pool was new and had been filled from the tap. It now seems to have levelled off and stabilised at 7.2. The salination system has been producing 'chlorine' well to the extent that I have had to turn the production dial down to zero to get the chlorine level down, then trying to find the right level to set it at (10%/20%/30% etc). Whether this high chlorine level is to do with the abri or not is hard to say. You don't lose water through evaporation with an abri and it also cuts out the UV rays, so the chemical levels aren't being altered by these factors. The water temperature with the abri is excellent. I have a pompe a chaleur which did not need to operate until the end of september. I have it set to 26.5 and it comes on in the morning (after 11am when the air temp is warmer) as the water temp has been dropping to 25/26 overnight - this was the temperature of our old pool without an abri or pompe a chaleur during the summer of 2004! So, the abri is certainly keeping the water warmer by at least 5 degrees compared to friends pool's (which have now been winterized), in fact by the end of the day the heat of the sun has raised the water temp back up to 28 and I am still swimming nearly every day. Cleaning: we have just given our abri a thorough clean, mainly because the seeds from next door's silver birch tree had gotten in through some small gaps in the rubber seals at ground level. Other wise the abri was not really dirty except for the rubber seals that touch the ground - they were a little slimy. With regard to salt water/abri combination, our abri is coated aluminium and so should not be affected by rust. We have only had to clean it on top where is was dusty/dirty. I would say that a good clean every couple of months would be sufficient from experience (which is less than my bathroom!) We have had no experience of any mould or fungal growth. On reflection (and had I known about them before we decided on the spec of the system) I think I would have chosen to have an Automated system for the Ph and also for the salination system, that way there is very little to do, and no regular checking of levels. I hope this gives you some useful info.

The US could forward it onto Malawi - there's five million people there desperately needing food: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4345246.stm

[quote]No, not worried. I'm not the type to fret and fume before something actually does happen. No point in panicking over something which may not happen. There are stocks of the grippe injection in Fran...[/quote] Not fretting, nor fuming or panicking but don't you remember the chaos, culling and countryside retrictions just a few years ago with the mad cow disease in the UK not to mention all the knock on effects to other areas such as economy.

Yes, I am worried. I think is inevitable that it will reach France and England and living in a rural area with thousands of ducks, chickens and geese, it cold be right on my doorstep. Keeping chickens is something that I have casually thought of doing in the past three years, but this amongst other reasons has definitely put me off. Did you read last week that scientists in the States have recreated the strain that killed millions worldwide in 1918 in an effort to understand the new Bird Flu strain? Can you imagine if it were to be accidentally leaked or that got into the hands of terrorists? The World seems to have been hit by disaster after natural disaster this past year or so.

Buy a packet of seeds I planted out a packet in a row of the veg patch during the summer and have had loads, it just keeps on coming. You could plant in a pot but I have found that they do far, far better if planted out in the open ground - cover with a cloche come the frosts. Any local seed supplier should have them or you could get them mail order. The variety I bought was called 'Slobolt' (a variety slow to bolt to seed, unsurprisingly!).

"I remember reading about five months ago in 'Le Monde' that private tuition for schoolchildren in France was becoming increasingly in demand" I have received three demands from local families to teach their children English (collège aged children) since September. I have started doing a TEFL course with i-to-i as I have no previous teaching experience, and so having researched the subject and read many forums, made the decision that it was the right thing for me to do. I'm on module 3 of nine + two extras, but already I have learnt so much and it has given me more confidence. My French tutor (GRETA) has also indicated that they are always looking for Native English Teachers, so long term this could give me a 'small' income. BTW, I have insisted that I be paid by Cheque d'Emloi

How topical.... on todays TF1 website newspage "Les emballages non biodégradables hors-la-loi dès 2010" Créé le 11 octobre 2005 Mis à jour le 11 octobre 2005 à 20h37 Les députés, par un vote unanime, ont décidé mardi de bannir tous les emballages en plastique non biodégradables de France. La mesure deviendra effective à compter du 1er janvier 2010. L'Assemblée nationale a décidé mardi, à l'unanimité, d'interdire la commercialisation ou la distribution de sacs ou emballages en plastique non biodégradables sur le territoire français à compter du 1er janvier 2010. Les députés, qui examinaient pour la cinquième journée le projet de loi d'orientation agricole, ont adopté un amendement prévoyant ce dispositif. Le ministre de l'Agriculture Dominique Bussereau s'en est remis "à la sagesse" de l'Assemblée pour l'adoption de cet amendement, qui stipule qu'"à partir du 1er janvier 2010, la commercialisation et la distribution de sacs ou emballages en plastique non biodégradables sont interdites sur le territoire français". "Un décret fixe les modalités techniques de cette mesure ainsi que les sanctions et les conditions de vérification de la biodégrabilité des emballages susceptibles d'être commercialisés ou distribués", précise l'amendement, présenté par les députés UMP Francis Delattre et Marc Le Fur.

Auchan (in Perigueux at least) now have several 'Eco' caisses with no bags. It started out as just the one but it must be a third of all checkouts now. On the rare occasion I go to Leclerc I take in my panier that is always in the car as they don't do bags at all. I used to enjoy Waitrose's scan as you go. I thought of it yesterday as I loaded up onto the conveyor belt at the Eco caisse at Auchan only to put it all back in the trolley seconds later - what a waste of time and effort especially as I've got a really painful back.

Fernand Contadin aka Fernandel - nope, never heard of him. Avant mon epoque.

Would that be Joe Hamman, known as the French John Wayne??

[quote]Oui, bien vu Liz, in extenso: 'Billions of Blistering Bilious Barnacles', well done, all of the big shots on here pipped to the post. By the sound of it, that must have come 'du diable Vauvert'. But w...[/quote] Du diable Vauvert... means "a long way away" "trés loin". ex: La chine est la diable Vauvert. Boy am I chuffed with myself to have got the answer in first!!!! This came up in my French class last week.

The times would depend entirely on which tarif you were on. We are on TEMPO and have been for a couple of years. When you change over they come and install a completely different meter specific to TEMPO. Then I suppose that the signal they send out will only be received by TEMPO meters. Heures creuse for this tarif are 10pm to 6am. You can check what 'colour' tomorrow will be on the little additional plug-in box that you get or on this website http://particuliers.edf.fr/article482.html where you can also see historically what day's colours were (they are often the same each year, but depends on what the weather conditions are like - if it's very cold they whack on a red day )

"A hundred can also be "une centaine" : There were a hundred people. Il y avait une centaine de gens" Une centaine, une vingtaine, une trentaine etc, is ABOUT a hundred/twenty/thirty etc. not necessarily exactly that number.

St Astier, just to the west of Perigueux has an indoor pool. My children go there with the school. There is one in Perigueux next to the Pompiers station but I don't know if it is operational or not. There will be a massive new one being built in the next year or few in Perigueux district, I think at Champcevenil, which will be indoor/outdoor/flumes/jacuzzi etc. There is also, a little further afield, Angouleme, which has one of these 'leisure' fun pool complexes. I haven't been to any of them, so I can't give you any more info than that I'm afraid.

In reply to the initial question, yes, I know of someone (50+) who has re-qualified as an electrician since moving here, so it is possible. Sorry but I don't have any other details.

Oh quite definitely the high contrast colour film.

[quote]I believe the taxe d'habitation is based upon the rental value (as a residence) of a dwelling. Type in "taxe d'habitation" in Google or another search engine and you should get links to a lot of info...[/quote] Isn't Td'H based on the declaration of the property on the H1 form ie: how many rooms, surface habitable, how many bathrooms, sinks, toilets, pool, terrace etc etc.

Yes, it's a Nerium Oleander or 'Laurier-Rose' as the french call it. Comes in flowers of pinks, whites and more rarely yellows with variagated leaves. Frost tender, so protect with horticultural fleece.

I have a liner, my parents in Spain have a tiled pool. I would chose liner every time. Tiles are 'hard', noticeable when walking around the shallow end or sitting on the Roman End, the liner is smooth and soft (because there is a layer of felt underneath) and is a lot more comfortable on the tootsies. My parent's pool has lost a number of little mosaic tiles in less than two years since installation. The grout around the top of the pool that is not submerged gets dirty. Grout would need replacing after a number of years I would guess. Tiles, as Hendo said, would crack if there was a slight ground shift, think drought summers/wet winters on a clay soil!

I buy (have bought some today) 'jarret' from the supermarket - dictionary translates it as back of the knee/shin. Lots of meat on it with a bone down the middle, allow 2 to three pieces per portion. €8,90 a kilo - the cheapest lamb cut. I use it in stews, my favourite being one with Morrocan spices and orange peel/juice in the stock served with rice or cous-cous.

There's actually a forum for sloes!! http://www.sloe.biz/forum/index.php

"Had to switch off the computer as the voltage seemed to be dipping , the lights in the living room were like blackpool illuminations" I love storms like this - didn't see it as I'm not in that part of France. When we get storms of that intensity EVERYTHING get turned off and unplugged and the mains unit coming into the house is switched of. A couple of years ago we lost a lot of gear through a lightning strike on the pylon in the garden.

Cranes. They are starting their migration to their winter homes in Spain. The migration cuts right across France from NE to SW. They are quite a sight if you are lucky enough to live under their flight path (which I am). Literally thousands flying in several 'V' formations, honking away. Last year they stopped mid-flight, circling above our house, maybe waiting for the stragglers to catch up to to get their bearings. When you see them you know that autumn us here, but equally in the Spring when they are on their way back up to Scandanavia it a joyous sight as Spring has arrived! They have already been spotted at Seine et Marne. If you want to see if they are approaching your area you can track them on this website http://champagne-ardenne.lpo.fr/grues/point_sur_la_migration.htm#