Wozza

We just knocked down part of an old building attached to our house and had it re-built. We knocked over 50% of it down, so had to pay the 19.6% VAT. Don't know if this info is of any use!

I believe that the filter can go where you want to put it - the restrictions regarding distance from the house are for the fosse only. All subject to approval of course..

[quote user="Llwyncelyn"] Are these such animals as removal firms here in France? [/quote] Try Pages Jaune under Demenagement (I think that is spelt right, but without the accents) - we are using the depot of a firm in the Charente for storage, so they definitely exist.

Try Connexion - they certainly sell them and do servicing.

There is one in Confolens - you follow the signs for Ansac-sur-Vienne from town centre. It is on this road. If you come this far, you may as well visit two others in the area: One on the road from La Rochefoucauld to Montemboeuf (maybe 5km out of La Rochefoucauld) The other on the N141 between Angouleme and Cognac, but only a couple of km out of Angouleme on the left hand side. Warren

Natwest in Jersey certainly offer all of the above for Sterling, USD and Euro, with debit cards in your chosen currencies. Not sure about the Yuan, but worth asking them. Warren

Gary Great advice - I have a French PC running on Windows XP and I manage to get by installing most software, but do you happen to know what 'system restore' is in French PC Speak? Warren

[quote user="Gluestick"] (Boyles Law- hmmm or is it Charles Law?? Or even a bit of both [/quote] Boyle's Law: P1 V1 = P2 V2   T1         T2 As in P1xV1 divided by T1 equals P2xV2 divided by T2. So, assuming temperature inside container and outside is the same, then this makes sense - open the regulator, you increase the volume, but decrease the pressure (as liquid turns to gas). However, irrespective of the ambient temperature, the temperature inside the bottle will always be lower in this case, as the gas is in its liquid state inside the bottle, therefore at a lower temperature (as in water is at a lower temperature than steam). So, unless you know the gas pressure and temperature inside the bottle, compared with the gas temperature and pressure at the nozzle, prior to combustion, then this is of little use. I've forgotten Charles's Law, so can't advise if it is of any more use, but I have my suspicions.....

[quote user="Chris Head"]  My clock project didn't work out. Time and design wise. [/quote] Chris I assume the design was OK - you just ran out of time? Warren

[quote user="powerdesal"] Alternatively, has anyone got info about French equivalents. [/quote] My neighbour runs a woodburning boiler for his CH and water in the winter (uses an electric water heater when CH no longer required) - he is very happy with it and reckons that if you have a good cheap source of logs, it is the cheapest way to heat your house. He has such a source, I don't! If you want, I will ask him tomorrow the make and model of the unit and any other info you want. It does take the half metre logs. He runs it àn oak and chestnut, but mainly chestnut, as he tells me that this burns more evenly in the burner than oak. Warren

Senrabbit I was in Intermarche today (in Chasseneuil, 16 if that is close to you) and they had strawberry and lemon jelly in stock. PM me and I will send you some as an apology for my stupid jellyfish joke! Warren   Sorry - just read original post again - you aren't that far away! Down the N10 and across a bit, 50 mins from Ruffec.

[quote user="jpe"] The vets here are obsessed in my opinion with dry food.  My poor old dog who sadly died this year at the ripe old age of 17 was overweight and the vet kept saying if you fed her less and on this dry stuff she would have lived longer, now I don't know of many dogs who live to 17 as I told him every time, he shrugged.  He has now started the same thing on my remaining dog who is 11 and as fit as a fiddle and not in the least bit overweight.  [/quote] Does your vet by any chance sell that really expensive 'science' type dry food diet that he gets huge commission on? Mine does, and he has suggested that we start our perfectly healthy 2 year old husky on it, even though he could find nothing wrong with her, but just because it is 'better for her'.

Luke I'm not sure where you live, but our local insurance guy (in 16) offered to insure our pets (I think he thought he would be able to retire on our premiums!), and he is an AXA rep. He does also offer other insurers policies too, though. I'm sure if your local agent can't help, then your vet will certainly know where (or if) policies are available - I seem to remember seeing most pet policies advertised at the vets in the UK. Warren

[quote user="brit"]Does anybody know about hiring a sandblaster in the vienne area to clean up some old beams or any info welcomed [/quote] IMHO if there is a lot of soft wood on the outside of the beams, sandblasting is not the best solution - I made this expensive, messy and time-consuming mistake. For sandblasting to work effectively, the surface needs to be hard (so, for example, if you are removing paint from solid beams, it should be OK). Our beams had a lot of soft wood on the outside, which only came off with wire brushing / sanding. Warren

[quote user="cooperlola"]Zeb, presumably from what you say at the end of your reply, the Parex is lime-based?  I understand from other threads that it is the sand which gives the colouring to the finish - what kind of colour result did you get with the Parex?  The OP struck a chord with me as we're about to do the same thing ourselves.[/quote] We have also just used Parex to do some internal walls. I am pretty sure that it is lime based. Regarding colour, if you go to your local Brico, they should have a Parex catalogue (there are also cheaper alternatives to Parex) - there is a choice of 40 or 50 colours. With Parex, it is all pre-mixed - you just add water, so sand colour is not a factor. A neighbour in our hamlet just creped the outside of his house with Parex or similar - the colour is best described as tangerine, and he is very pleased with it. I'm glad that we can't actually see his house from here! Warren 

They sell it in our local Leclerc and Intermarche in the 'international' sections, or there is always the local Brit shop that is bound to be nearby. Problem with our local supermarkets is the flavours - lime etc, not always the best for trifles. If you come and plaster my bedroom, I'll give you a packet or Rowntress raspberry jelly - can you refuse (you must be a good plasterer, though!) Edit: Just saw this post - any help??? http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/822836/ShowPost.aspx

Some nice stuff there - and I thought I was clever making a composter from old pallets (3 nailed together!). I suppose the use of pallets is due to a difficulty / expense buying wood in UAE? If so, it must be a joy when in France, but then I suppose you don't have the tools? Warren

[quote user="mmaddock"]Anyone got any idea when the one in St Junien (87) is on? Cheers, Matt [/quote] Don't know about St Junien, but there are loads just over the border in 16 on Sunday 17th - check out this website for that day http://www.sortir16.net/ Warren

Try this one - it's the same sort of thing I referred to being available at Bricodepot: http://www.vachette.fr/fr/produits/produits_gamme_slm_5000a2p3.aspx Warren

Brico depot sell them - they are on page 418 of April 2006 catalogue. I would say look at their website, but it only shows store locations, not products. They have three types - €89, €181 and €349. Warren

Surely this post is obscene - the budda should be wearing a bra - you can see a nipple!

When your E 106 expires, you should get a letter from the DSSS saying you are no longer entitled to healthcare in the UK - if you take this letter to CPAM, they should register you under the French system. We waited till we had this letter before registering, and it was all fairly easy and straightforward. I'm not sure that if regstering before your E106 had expired, you have complicated matters? Someone of more knowledgemay be able to advise you better, but we found CPAM (in Angouleme,16) extremely helpful and knowledgeable of what Les Anglais needed and should do. Warren

DB Sorely tempted, as our two year old siberian husky needs company (apart from the 7 cats - she is annoying one as I write), but, alas, our mobile home is complet for now - we (the OH) can't wait till we get into the house so we (the OH) can rescue all the dogs on the forum!!!! I hope that you find a good home - they are truly wonderful dogs, faithful, beautiful, and of course, very, very energetic (minimum 45 minutes walk every day - I have lost loads of weight since we got her, tempted to get a sled to save my legs!). They love cats - especially to chase!!! We have just about trained ours, Anoushka, not to chase them, but when we aren't looking....... A little story whilst I remember - our husky loves to chase. I was walking her this week and she scented a ragondin (coypu), which is her favourite! She disappeared, which is not unusual, but after 10 minutes, I began to worry as she hadn't returned (she usually just comes when she pleases, as they are impossible to train, but hate not to be in the lead on a walk). I retraced our steps and walked down to the stream, where I found her - she had chased the ragondin into the river and had fallen down the vertical sides onto some brambles, which had got caught under her belly, in front of her hind legs. However hard she tried, she could not swim out and her head was just above the water. I had to walk back to a ford and walk along the raging torrent to get to her and then got scratched to hell ripping out the brambles to release her. It was absolutely freezing, and I was as scared as the dog! Got her out OK, but on returning home she avoided me for a whole day - as if I was the reason she got trapped! There's gratitude! It didn't last long, though - she loves me again! There is a moral there somewhere, just trying to figure it out. Warren

[quote user="jpe"] before that it was the sky digi box and her tail kept blocking the remote! [/quote] I don't know what it is about those boxes, but our 17 year old loves it - she hasn't been out in 2 days because of the weather! Must be a pooh day tomorrow - the forecast says fine! On the other subject, our vet in the UK used to tell us that it was of little use vaccinating cats after they reached 10 years old - they had either had enough vaccinations to build up resistance or they hadn't - after that age the injectoions were of liitle effect. We did then stop vaccinating our eldest cat who lived to 19 plus, and died from unnnatural causes (ie she probably would have lived longer). Having said that, we still have all ourcats vaccinated in France just to make sure all their passports are inpeccable, but each time, one of them has a bad reaction to the jabs, more usually the older ones. If we thought wewould never go back, we probably would save them the stress, but you never know..... You do what you think is best, it may not always be right, but your heart is in the right place... Warren

Me too - sort of! I could log on, but then couldn't reply to any posts. Every time I clicked the 'reply' button, I got a 'page unavailable' message. As I'd had a couple of glasses of vin, I thought maybe my laptop's drunken drivel detector had kicked in and barred the way (happens too frequently!). Warren