vickybear

Back for a moment to the question of hand luggage.......I can't find an answer to this and Ryanair do not have information on their site. My husband is flying to the UK next week for a wedding. He sent his case to the UK with his parents last week and has booked a flight only, no luggage. Does he now have to book a piece of luggage on the flight as he still has to take the items which were going in his hand luggage? In total these consist of a wedding present, card, shoes ( which he forgot to put in his case )! Weight around 3kg! Will he have to pay now for a piece of luggage? Cheaper to do now than at the Airport. Any info gratefully received. I appreciate the question seems trivial in relation to the discussion which has gone on before this, but we still need to know. Thanks all.

There's no right or wrong here, just different. We all love our cats. I had a friend in the UK who lived on a very busy main road. He adopted a cat through the Cats Protection League and had to guarantee to them that he would NEVER let the cat out of the house. If a rescue society is happy for a cat to be kept in all the time but at least have a loving owner, who are we to question? As mentioned in another post, one of my cats is 22, the other is 12. I have never locked them in. They have always had cat flaps to the outside and come and go as they please. We've bought cat friendly homes and been VERY lucky. I once hit a cat on a main road. I stopped and picked it up and took it to the vets. It was gone midnight and I scared the poor locum to death who was living above the vets. The cat was very poorly but survived. After 2 or 3 days I located it's owner. She had recently moved into a house on the main road and in the previous 2 weeks had lost 2 cats on the road. This was her last cat. I feel she should have taken more care after the first one, let alone 2. She put her house up for sale that week and was gone soon after, with her poor little, jaw wired puss in tow! If Mrs Animal has her cats in runs good for her. They won't know any different and I'll bet they get loved to bits and will live long and happy lives.

That's really funny......I don't know if you meant it to be???  I said the one on the left is POT!!??

Thanks Christine. I've checked out the web site and it looks like a 2 hour journey to my nearest but that's fine, at least I can make enquiries sooner rather than too late. Don't get me wrong, my old lass is in fine fettle ( fingers crossed, touch  wood etc ) so hopefully she's got years in her. She's deaf as a door post and as a result miaows like a fog horn ( think deaf elderly people talking ) but our local vet says she's in better condition than some 13 year olds he's seen! Last time she was there he made all his staff come in to see her! This is her ( on the right, the left one is pot!! ). Her eyes are a bit faded and she's all bones but she's still enjoying life.

I probably know the answer to this will be 'no' but, does anyone know of a Pet Cemetery service in France. In Rossendale, near where I lived in the UK, there was a Pet crematorium and cemetery. You took your pet when it had passed away, there was a chapel of rest, you could even attend the cremation if it was for your pet only. Then you got the ashes back in a casket. All the staff were absolutely wonderful on the 2 occassions I had to use the service. They were kind and understanding and you really felt you could let your feelings go and not feel foolish. The cost was around £100 each time which, after the years of joy my husband and I had had from our pets, was a small price to pay. We have 2 dogs and 2 cats here in Charente and I would like to do something similar when the time comes for them ( my old cat is 22! ).

Hi Zeb, found your post on a search. We are also in Charente. I note your husband speaks French. Unfortunately our French is not at a great level yet. Can you tell me if you know of anyone at the Chambre de Metier in Angouleme who speaks English as we need to take advice on setting up our business. Also do you know of an English speaking accountant? Normally we get by with our current standard of French but for something this important I think we need to be discussing it with an English speaker. If neccessary we are prepared to take an interpreter with us. Thanks

There's some programme on TV soon about some bodybuilder guy who's arms exploded as they got too big. Is that you Chris?   Hello again all, got my password back after a looooooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg wait!

Thanks for all your replies so far. The lady neighbour is besotted with my little terrier dog, so maybe I'll just take her ( for a visit - not as a gift!! ). No, seriously I think I'll do the flowers idea and the photos is a good idea too. Actually, I've just had a brainwave. Think I'll take a photo of the terrier in a little frame for her to keep! Just off to find one........many thanks again x

Have done a quick search and not found answer and it's urgent [8-)]. Hubby did big favour for French neighbours yesterday and we're now invited for lunch today - 12.30. We can see the table set outside and by the looks of it they are going to some effort. This is our first invite to a French house for lunch. Are we expected to take anything or would they be insulted after the favour done for them ( involving a long, long journey following said neighbour on his new tractor - 10 hours driving at 20 kph!! ) We live a long way from the nearest shops so are a bit stuck for a gift. Any advice gratefully received. Thank you.

[quote user="Dick Smith"]£3.95 on ebay - just ordered. [/quote] Dick, As you will see from the racquet instructions, it will say not to touch it when it is switched on. Unfortunately, under the affluence of incerhol one night, I decided to demonstrate said swatter to my visiting parents and brother / sister-in-law. The resultant 'BANG' as my finger made contact had my lovely family in floods of laughter for almost 5 minutes. Apparently my face was a picture! It hurt, it burned my finger, it is not recommended [:(] Have fun!

[quote user="Dick Smith"]Where in England, pliss thankyew? [/quote] Hi Dick, I got mine at a retail warehouse in Manchester called Stax, however I've just had a quick look on Ebay and they have lots for sale on there for Buy it Now prices of around £4.00 including postage. Mine cost around £2.00 so you don't want to be paying too much more than that...some of the Ebay ones are a tenner! Put 'Fly Swatter' into the search field. If you have those discount stores in your town that sell everything you never wanted you'll probably find them there. Fully recommended as the fly even sticks to the racquet for easy disposal ( nice [+o(]  ) Happy swatting!

I've got a combination of a fly swat and electrical zapper thingy. It's shaped liked a tennis racquet but the strings are made of wire, it has a little button on the side and batteries. When you press the button the wire becomes live so you swat and zap at the same time. You get a mini firework display if the light is low and the added benefit of a workout as you run round the room brandishing the racquet like John McEnroe!  Unfortunately I bought it in England so can't help......just felt like sharing!

Hi All, Unsure if this is the right place to post this but.......................... Our very nice French neighbour needs to transport a tractor from his fathers house to his. He lives near La Rochefoucould / Montbron and the tractor is 215 kilometres away from here. Does anyone know or own a suitable vehicle ( a 17 ton beaver tail lorry ) which is capable of carrying a tractor. He is happy to pay the going rate for the transportation. Thanks!

Hi All, Unsure if this is the right place to post this but.......................... Our very nice French neighbour needs to transport a tractor from his fathers house to his. He lives near La Rochefoucould / Montbron ( 16310 ) and the tractor is 215 kilometres away from here. Does anyone know or own a suitable vehicle ( a 17 ton beaver tail lorry ) which is capable of carrying a tractor. He is happy to pay the going rate for the transportation. Thanks!  

Hi all, Thanks for all the info. Ron - I had already used your email on-line help as I found the address on one of your earlier posts for someone else. I can fully recommend it, I got a response within hours. Our return is not difficult, investment income only for this year. I put this on my email to the tax office and the lady there came back with forms 2042 and 2047 which I have to admit I was surprised at for something so simple.  I had thought it was form 2042 only. However, she has actually told me which sections of which form to complete so I'll do as asked, unless it obviously makes no sense when I get the forms. Then I'll either email her again, or PM you, kind sir! Thanks again, VB[8-)]

Hi there, I need forms 2042 and 2047 to complete our tax return, as it's our first year. I have been on www.impots.gouv.fr and found the correct place for forms, however every time I try to get the correct form 2042 by going into the 2005 option, it opens a 2004 form. I have looked everywhere on the site, opening all the forms to see if it is hidden!! Has anyone got the correct link or any suggestions? Thanks.

We use a web site called www.worldlingo.com which has a variety of languages, including chinese.....have a look, it's amazing. Having used it for all sorts of preparation for conversations to various french organisations, we put our lap top on and proudly showed it to our french neighbours, who promptly fell about on the floor laughing. From around half a dozen sentences we translated for them only one made any sense apparently!!  I think it's still useful though as the people we have talked to seem to gather enough from what we say to make sense of it. In addition, whether we are totally correct or not, the more we try the more confident we are getting and the more prepared we are to make mistakes and laugh them off.

KKK, I'm working on the assumption that there wasn't time to mistreat her. She was in the animal sanctuary by 6 weeks old, we got her at 8. Certainly the sanctuary staff would not mistreat her ( I hope ) as they always acted like angels. Whether something happened in her first 6 weeks to affect her I don't know. She's actually a cross collie/labrador so perhaps the earlier post regarding the labrador is true of her? At the moment she's sprawled out over my hubby who's trying to watch TV between her ears ( funny place to keep a telly, I know! ).

KKK - you crack me up [:D]

Hi Christine,  we have spoken to a few people about it. The main thing they want to know is whether she is left alone a lot and gets separation anxiety, but she has both of us here 24/7, and we got another little rescue dog to keep her company in the UK when we did have to work. She gets on brilliantly with the other dog, great friends and she is happy in herself, but she looks for constant re-assurance ( she gets lots of cuddles but is not spoilt ). Our house is generally very quiet, no children and in the middle of no-where, but occasionally we will firmly tell her to get in her bed if she misbehaves and you can guarantee that she will have a little 'wee' in her bed with nerves when she gets there. We have never hit her or shouted, and we've had her since she was 8 weeks so no-one else has mis-treated her, however she was from a rescue home and was the last of the litter, sitting looking very concerned when we saw her, so possibly that's where it started? She's a cross collie and I understand that they can be highly strung too? Thanks for the suggestion, Shelagh

Thanks all. The collar sounds like a good idea as we have 2 dogs and the 'nibbler' amuses herself chewing bandages, stiches etc on the other dog when she's got none of her own ( not that they're ALWAYS in the wars! ). Is Vegebon a French product?  I'll give anything a go to stop her doing it as she's certainly not very happy about this abcess!! Thanks.

Thanks to all who replied. Took her to the vet today...shaved it, squeezed it, sprayed it, injected her and gave her some horse sized anti-biotics and sent us on our way. No dressing as she said it was better to be in the fresh air......which means our little 'angel' has been licking it all day!![6] Apparently she will be prone to this now as she's always licking her legs bald. The vet offered to give her tablets to calm her nerves but I think at 2 years of age I don't want her on tablets for the rest of her days. Generally she's a happy pooch, just a bit obsessed with nibbling her own legs. Thanks again Shelagh

Anyway, I'm like those American blokes off the Budweiser advert when it comes to Blue's v Reds.........it's all Martian to me!![8-)]

Bit red.......it WAS sunny today    [;-)]

Or for the Mancunians amongst us, Hollands Pies.........