suein56

Hi We had our kittens vaccinated [if I remember correctly] at around 12 weeks for the first dose and then 4 weeks later for the second for Feline enteritis, leukaemia, etc. It seems today that you can worm kittens from 4 weeks with Drontal as long as they weigh more than 1.5lbs or  0.7 kgs - I buy the tablets from the vet, though as our 4 kittens were the product of a 'wild' rescued cat I let the vet do all the necessary the first time around as he was much more accomplished at administration than me! We use Frontline against worms and ticks - which I buy from the pharmacy or garden centre - wherever is cheapest. It says you can use it from 8 weeks old on the box. Sue Edit: the kittens grew up into loving, friendly cats - though initially we were concerned they would be 'hiss and spit merchants' like their mum. We eventually inherited mum too and she turned into a loving, but wary, cat too - though it did take about 6 or 7 years!

The answer might not be straightforward. I would suggest you ring Ryanair but be prepared for variation when you are at the airport. My daughter flew from Nantes to Manchester last night - Thurs 10 Aug - with hand luggage in the cabin ie bag with camera, mobile phone etc. We had rung Aerarann and they said to pack everything in the hold luggage with purse, passport, ticket etc to be hand-held, then when she arrived at check-in discovered she was allowed to have small cabin luggage after all. There was tight security at the airport with armed police strategically placed and very careful scrutiny of all belongings - the staff were very security conscious but extremely pleasant and agreeable. Sue

[quote user="Carolski"] Thanks so much, that sounds wonderful, shall wait for more info with baited breath! C [/quote] Hi Sorry for delay - daughter's flight with Aer Arann was due in 21h15 Sunday evening at Nantes but it did not turn up til 2h next morning. By then we were just relieved it turned up at all. Got home at 4h30 and after a snack fell into bed at 6h this morning, We managed a few hours sleep. Been feeling like a zombie all day. The hotel was: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g488277-d614481-Reviews-Hotel_Palais_Cardinal-Saint_Emilion_Aquitaine.html click on : candid traveller photos for an idea - it really is excellent. Visitor reviews are lower down the main page. Apologies - in my reply I gave the impression it was this June just gone we stayed there. I meant to say that we stayed there in the month of June, but it was a couple of years ago. From the comments of visitor 2 on the page - June 2006 - it does not seem to have changed at all. I would agree with all the nicer comments of visitor 2 - we do not eat breakfast so cannot say whether visitor 1's comments were typical re breakfast. We did not have a room with aircon, or if we did we did not know it! We had a balcony etc overlooking the garden and far views of the pool but it was not room 14 . We found the Hotel exceptionally good and a fraction of the price of the other hotels in the town - don't know why. I would definitely like to go back there. Sue  

Why should DVLA want to contact you if you now live in France? If you need to contact them then I find the quickest and easiest way is to email them - they reply and sort things out really quickly that way eg when I reregistered my car in France and sent DVLA  my old road tax disc and they lost it so did not reimburse me until I contacted them. Sue

[quote user="Carolski"] Would love to go and visit  St Emilion at the end of September and  plan to do an over night stop near by; (we dont want to stay in the actual town but outside in a pretty country location). Would much appreciate any independant recomendations for an auberge or similar that wont cost a fortune but will provide good breakfast, comfortable rooms and a wonderful memory to take back with us! [/quote] Hi Carol Why not stay in the town - it is really pretty and 'cos it is on the top of a hill the views of the surrounding countryside are really superb. We stayed in a super hotel which had part of the original town wall from 1565[?] as the garden wall. There are ancient gate-ways with the remains of the original wooden doors from the 16C and you just drive through them in the town - magic. We only went to visit St Emilion 'cos my daughter said we would love it - we weren't expecting more than a tourist trap, but we were very surprised - it was splendid. Can't remember the name of the hotel we stayed in but it was very reasonably priced and the food was exquisite. We were there in June. I will look it up when we get back from Nantes airport - going to pick up afore-mentioned daughter. Sue

An update: My friend has more or less decided to buy a [new to her] machine which uses XP as she does not feel she could cope with a different operating system such as Linux as she has only just got used to Windows 98. For this reason, and finance also, she does not feel she could cope with a Mac either. There are plenty of secondhand XP machines about which then means she can continue using all the free protection software such as Zonealarm, Avast, Pop-up Stopper etc. On her behalf thanks to all for the helpful input. Sue  

Hi I am reliably informed that advice will be free if you consult your local notaire - here in 56 anyway. It is a little like the free 20 minutes or so you can use to consult [some] UK solicitors. Like the UK though if you are given advice and then use the notaire , or solicitor, to follow up on the advice then you pay. There was also a govenment body that TU used to quote ANIL www.anil.org - I think it was to help renters though I don't see why it should not work in reverse and make clear the obligations for both sides. We rent and we were told, in clear terms, the whys and wherefores and responsibilities of both parties. So the detail should be in the rental agreement somewhere. If legal French is a problem [it is for me!] there is a translated version of the notaire's site and lots of topics are covered - it would really surprise me if your situation wasn't there somewhere. http://www.notaires.fr/notaires/notaires.nsf/V_TC_PUB/GBACC Sue

[quote user="Ianhaycox"]It depends how you connect to the Internet, but if on ADSL you could use a hardware firewall that is built into most broadband routers. However if your considering spending money on hardware it might be a better investment to just buy a new PC and use supported OS'es and apps etc. The other option, which is a bit more radical, is to keep the old hardware and replace W98 with Linux, e.g. <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a>, it's free and comes with all the apps you'll need and is much more secure on the Internet. [/quote] Thanks to Ian and to the others who replied - you have certainly given my friend enough options to consider. I forgot to mention she is an internet newbie, with an ancient Pentium 2 machine, buried deep in the countryside with no possibility of ADSL in the [near] future. I shall pass on your helpful replies and let you know what happens. Thanks again Sue

Users of Windows 98 - I hope there are still some - could I ask what you are doing to protect your computers now that Bill Gates has withdrawn support for Windows 98 and Zonealarm has followed suit? I ask because a friend of mine is very confused about what to do with her old pc - she would like to continue to use it on the Internet but is terrified it will suddenly become prey to all kinds of nasties now that she cannot update her firewall. She is using Avast for antivirus and that continues to seem fine for Win 98. I would like to be able to help her so I have had a quick look at all the usual products but support now seems to be exclusively for Win 2000 and XP. So: the question - Has anyone found any firewall product that is offering to continue protection for Win 98? Sue  

Hi Flexicover.co.uk will cover  travellers up to 85 years old. They are quoting approx £62 - £79 online for a person of your MIL's age - for 4 weeks duration - depending on the level of cover required of course. We have used them regularly in the past - though we have not needed to make a claim as yet. My OH had an angioplasty some years ago and this was a problem for some travel insurance companies but not for Flexicover. Sue      

Also, check the diameter of the spike as they vary - as, obviously, do the diameters of the washing pole. We bought a rotary washing pole from Lidl and it definitely did not fit in the concreted-in spike I had used for the previous pole which had been a Brabantia. The Lidl pole had a bigger diameter. My OH had to create a new installation set-up - he was not too impressed with me at the time for failing to notice the difference in the diameters. Sue

[quote user="Babnik"]All I did this morning to get me up and running again, was to replace the Wanadoo DNS server with the neuf telecom dns server, which seems ok. [/quote] I am most impressed - how did you manage to do that? Sue

Angela There is something strange happening if you cannot have your washing machine and your dishwasher on at the same time with an abonnement of 12Kw. We only have 9Kw but can run the washing machine [2Kw] and the tumble dryer [3.8Kw all by itself] at the same time as the water heater [2.2Kw] and lights, fridge, computer etc and the power does not fail unless you also plug in the kettle [2Kw] by mistake at the same time! [;-)] Sue

[quote user="Leslauriers"] When you dial out it automatically selects the Free line unless you over ride it and demand to use the FT line (useful for UK 0800 numbers). If the ADSL goes down you still have the FT line available. [/quote]   How do you dial UK 0800 numbers using FT. I have tried and failed. Sue

In my experience it is considered polite to be on time. Neighbours/ friends who have come to us for an apero have brought with them small posies of flowers from their gardens. We are renting our house here and there are no flowers or shrubs in the garden so, so far, we have just taken ourselves. In future I will consider taking a small something with me - but I am not sure what yet - a few homemade biscuits perhaps. With regard to how long to stay - we were told an hour to an hour and a half is polite, but at our first apero the couple refused to let us leave saying we were going too soon - we ended up being there 2 and a half hours, second one the same, last one 3 hours! I felt that we had stayed too long but they seemed to think it was normal. Sue

Thanks Lori - as we have quite a few courgettes ready at the moment I tried out your recipe this evening and the fritters were delicious. Courgette bake tomorrow I think. Has anyone any more ideas? Sue

Strangely enough our local DIY places all do panels etc in white: Weldom, Brico Marché and Leroy Merlin. Sue

***Isn't it spelt "ouais", though?*** Yep, I agree, that is what I was told. Sue    

***Perhaps I should have posted one of the "daft messages" saying I had PM'd him....*** Sometimes it is: necessary/ diplomatic/ helpful/ politic/ polite or simply more efficient to do just that. That is what I have discovered.  Sue

Clair I too would be interested in the url, but when I click on the link within the forum post you mention I am then taken to a site 'under construction' ie nothing there. Has it changed of late, do you suppose? Sue

***We stayed 3 nights in Bayeux in a 3 epis last year, the breakfast was simply left on the table, hardly any contact but Madam did ask if we needed any more tea every morning, our bed was the lumpiest and oldest mattress on the planet but  no real harm occurred and in general we had a good time whilst in the area*** Yes, I can understand what you say as inspite of the lodgings we loved the place/area and had a great time there - if only we had made a better choice of B&B things might have been nearly perfect. Sue

***As for your own complaint, if they did not offer you a nice welcome, offer you a good breakfast, or was unclean and dirty, had poor towels, poor showers  etc, then the only way to ensure these places are kept up to scratch is to send in your complaint. G de Fr will send in someone in to inspect,  if one or two of those reasons were the reason for the complaint.*** Being British, and timid, we did not complain but promised ourselves that we would never return there. On reflection, and knowing what I know now, I wish I had complained - as it might have meant that no one else would have had to undergo the chilly reception, the uncomfortable beds, the paucity of bedding, the very poor shower and the extremely dingy, nay, dirty decor but ... I must add that the breakfast was good. Perhaps a French family, with more confidence and more 'nous' than us did complain and things have improved - I can only hope so. We never went back to find out - we just put it down to experience. As I said it was a while ago now ... Sue    

May I ask how when or how often GDF inspect properties after the initial visit? As past visitors to a French owned B&B my family and I stayed in a 3 epis establishment in Normandy a few years ago and it was dire. [:(] I only now realise how dire it was after reading about the excellent-sounding chambres d'hotes [2 epis ones included] owned by the posters on here. Sue  

No idea what Noz means, but we have one too; also Bazaarland; and one really odd sounding business whose name has just gone out of my head this second - I promise I will try and remember it, but what with this senior-moment-syndrome I seem to be suffering from at the moment my promises are not worth much. Sue

[quote user="WendyG"] It seems well nigh impossible to get six months travel insurance and I would be very grateful to hear of anyway in which this could be obtained.  I travel back and forth at different times to France up to the 6 months limit, and have to hope for the best, although I do have a kind of insurance through my bank.  Getting individual insurances for each trip would be very expensive and the yearly ones only cover for something like up to a 21/30 day trip at a time. [/quote] Hi Wendy We used Flexicover for 7 months cover in Europe last year, though I understand they will do longer if needed. They also do single trips - all arranged over the internet unless you have any ongoing serious medical problems you want covering, then you need to speak to them by phone. They have won awards for their cover so I guess they are not fly-by-night. You can also arrange it from any country to any country eg live in France, book cover for the UK or USA. www.flexicover.com Sue