WJT

[quote user="Quillan"][quote user="WJT"]That is odd, I have never heard of this. We had a building renovated her in Dordogne and left some exposed stone walls and in fact in a different area took off some interior render and exposed the stone.[/quote] It depends on when (year and month) you did this and were you using an architect? [/quote] Quillan, it was a few years back and we didn't use an architect. I wasn't aware that it was no longer allowed. Loads of properties here in Dordogne have internal exposed walls.

That is odd, I have never heard of this. We had a building renovated her in Dordogne and left some exposed stone walls and in fact in a different area took off some interior render and exposed the stone.

We have been wanting the pound to strengthen for many years now and then last year we decided now that we live here permanently we should invest in Euros. With this and also as Norman mentioned owning a house here I am now finding the outlook for the euro very worrying. We still have interests in sterling and would not mind seeing it weaken slightly more but definitely don't want the euro to weaken too much and have a fear that it may collapse.

Grecian, I have just read this thread, I will keep looking in to watch your progress. Well done for staying strong. You have already come such a long way it appears you may have the worse behind you. Well done again.

We are in the Dordogne and we just received the annual municipal bulletin that is sent out at the beginning of every year with all the local information. It states in regards to bonfires (destruction des végétaux par le feu) that they are forbidden from 15 February through 15 May and then again from 15 June through 15 October. So it is allowed for short windows but to be honest we always forget what these are and think most of our neighbours do as well. Our village is quite rural though so perhaps it does vary throughout the department.

I thought you were talking about the fall in the price of oil. We installed a pellet boiler last year that is wonderful but figures the following year oil is now cheap!

[quote user="Pickles"][quote user="WJT"]Does anyone not think there is a chance Alain Juppé may be the next UMP leader?[/quote] The man who was banned from public office initially for ten years? The potential leaders of the centre-right have been so focussed on fighting amongst themselves that they have created the conditions for Sarko's return. Brilliant work there, lads. [/quote] Oh dear, I didn't know. It looks like France is on a loser no matter which party gets in. :(

Does anyone not think there is a chance Alain Juppé may be the next UMP leader?

When the taxe fonciere prelevement came out it shows up now as DRFIP ALSACE. Apparently they are now handling this for our are in Dordogne. So perhaps country wide?

[quote user="suein56"][quote user="Cendrillon"]Sue I love the idea of the ex SDF cat being taken on a foreign holiday for Crimble! LOL Pure magic[:)][/quote] Well we will have to see what she makes of it. She has adapted well to being in a non-French household though at times she does look at OH and I as though we are truly beyond her ken. What she will make of a UK Xmas I have no idea as we haven't been to the UK for years. [quote user="Cendrillon"] This story has the makings of a good film for Christmas[:)] [/quote] She is star quality. She lived with a loving owner for 14 years who then died. The inheritors of the house chucked Mme Minou out on the streets where she languished - handily cold and wet - for 4 or so months, garnering stress-related diabetes along the way, till we were told about her. Now diabetes-free (good diet) and 16+ we feel she has to come with us as it would not be fair to subject her to separation and more stress. Sue [/quote] How wonderful Sue56. Hope you and Mme Minou have the best Christmas ever. :)

[quote user="idun"]And that lindal1000 was one of the good things I found about France when I first arrived, that people on low wages were getting decent benefits to make up their lousy wages. Surely better to be working than not. Ofcourse that was the 'trick' in the olde days in France, because if someone was not working, then not only did these allowances stop, but so did unemployment benefit and health care....... things are much improved. There used to be a lot of 'normal' people begging back then too and a very good reason why dearly departed Coluche, started the Restos du Coeur. Also since I remember in France it has been hard for young people to find employment, and also hard for anyone over 40 too. There always seemed to be a 'window' where one got a job......... eventually........... and stuck to it for life.......... what with ancienneté one would only be getting decent pay at the end of a career anyway. edit, nice to see you post WJT [/quote] Thank you Idun. :)

Yes thank you that is a very interesting site. To be honest find it hard to believe that France is more productive than the UK though. :/ , So it appears Luxembourg, Norway and the US are the top producers.

[quote user="Quillan"] I couldn't agree more with Jonzjob. The thing about the UV or sun indexes I had heard many years ago but it is nice to know somebody asked a manufacturer and what I was told (and repeated many times) is correct. Eleven years ago I watched my neighbours paint their shutters and I saw the paint they were using, Bondex (tin says life is 9 years). I noticed others were painting theirs over the months and they were using the same. I thought I should do mine so went and bought a tin and it was very expensive compared to what I paid to paint my windows with in the UK. Short story is I am halfway through painting the shutters for the second time in eleven years and am surprised how good the paint has lasted. A quick sand over, nothing has flaked off then two coats of Bondex. The only difference is I can now read the label and it tells you to take the shutters down and paint them horizontally. Meanwhile an English guy in the next village paints his every year or so and swears by the paint he brings over from Wicks. He showed me the receipt for the paint and I worked out that five years of paint from Wicks would buy be enough Bondex to last thirty odd years and I would only have to paint them three times, I hate painting shutters. The cheap white interior wall paint you buy from Brico Depot is, it has to be said, rubbish. It is OK if you are renovating and want to seal plaster or plasterboard then paint properly but its ability to 'cover' is very bad. I did try some Mr Bricolage white mono coat and that was OK although in truth it needed two coats. Leroy Merlins own paint used to be good until they changed the supplier. I used Dulux coloured paint and that was OK as well (I didn't have a choice as Mrs Q picked the colours). [/quote] We have had the whole of the interior of our house painted as well as all the shutters. We used French painters and so called professional products but there was some that we had re plastered and used two English artisans for this and the painting and used Renaulac paint and they said that the paint was excellent with excellent coverage much better than the English paint they were used to. We had bought too much and had loads left over because the coverage was much better than they calculated we needed. Quillan not sure what Renaulac you used but the Renaulac we used here was much better than the so called professional paint the French artisans used. The same for the Renaulac wood products. I have found it to be better than any English paint even though it is more expensive and it is of course designed for the French weather.

I have found the Renaulac paint from Brico Depot to be excellent.

We had a pellet boiler (Hargassner) installed last November and we are very pleased. It costs a fraction of what our old oil boiler cost to run and will more than cover the cost in a few years. Our oil boiler was very inefficient and very expensive to run so it is a pleasure to run our pellet boiler in our old drafty stone house all day without worrying about the expense. We do have a hopper (silo) that holds a little over three tons of pellets that is housed in our cellar near the boiler that automatically feeds the boiler. We have the pellets bulk delivered by a local company that delivers three tons at a time and blows them in the silo. We also received a rebate on our tax return that helped offset the cost as well. Can highly recommend it.

I have been reading for a while now that there is an EU directive that will allow a person to choose the country of origin or domicile for inheritance purposes. I thought it had been put forward in France and was recently voted on but not passed yet? I know some papers get things wrong but how can the Connexion get their front page story so wrong? If this is true perhaps we should see a correction for their totally incorrect front page article?

We had the same thing happen and we had anti freeze in our system. The plumber that put the anti freeze in said that there is a fine line because if you put too much in it is not good for the system. Perhaps an excuse! We also had shower mixers and taps crack even though the system was drained. Mr. Clair is making me feel guilty because we are claiming on insurance. We are looking at replacing the three cracked old cast iron rads new cast iron ones that look identical.

That is wonderful news!! What a beautiful soulful sad face she has, you are right in saying very elegant. It looks like she will now have a wonderful life. [:)] Thank you Jouals.

Hi Frederick, I had to step out and just saw your message. I did turn the main supply off, I am worried mostly about the cental heating pipes and the cast iton radiators. When we had the extension done the plumber fit and filled the rads before the windows were fitted by just a few days during Novemeber and there was a cold snap. On a Sunday one of the iron radiators cracked and flooded the new extension which was a nightmare. This is what I am mainly so worried about. [:(]

That is good news, but not for you if you want to use your dishwasher or sink though! Thanks for that I will keep my fingers crossed. I just have visions of the house being flooded and the worst of my visions is the iron rads upstairs being cracked ot the pipes burst with water pouring through the downstairs ceiling. The one we just had re-done that was like pulling teeth with artisans! [:(]

I am very worried, we left the vents open in the house thinking it better to leave the house with some ventilation. [:'(] The house is in Dordogne so I know pipes and all sorts may be frozen. Can anyone tell me if the pipes are indeed frozen, I assume there wouldn't be floods until the water thaws? Edit: Sorry, I was very quick to post without reading the thread properly. So sorry Bugsy to read about your problem.[:(]

Pads, he is so lovely and of course lucky! Well done for your patience and kindness.

I agree. We are surrounded by this in France, it's heart breaking. Perhaps there should be a campaign to educate.[:(]

He is gorgeous!!!!!! Next plunge is to get him a companion. [:)]

Trying to find all the Merry Chritmas threads. Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!! [kiss]