Frank

Hi Don't know if this helps, but I visited the impots last week to get our first tax return and was told the form wasn't available until mid April and to be completed by end of May.  Jetlag

Hi everyone, Had a thought the other day about the habitation tax.  We will be completing the form H1 with our architect in the next couple of weeks( he will be writing to impots confirm only part renovation, all part of his excellent after service!!) for part completion of our renovation works.  We were thinking about having one bill (for simplicity) for all three houses and then add the other two when completed.  Now my thought was, if we live in one house and the other two are gites and only let for the summer, is there any way of getting some sort of discount??? Or is it wishful thinking on my part[:D]  Whilst I am expecting a very large bill this year, it  would be a nice surprise if there were discounts available, it would help towards a very large unexpected bill for the privilege of renovating!!!!  Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Jetlag  

Ditto[:-))] Did your 'email' have a message with link to email solutions corp by chance?? Jetlag

thanks pickles[:D]

Hi Just a query, I have had an email sent to my email from my email that I didn't send!!  How did this happen?? Is it as Will has said about someone elses computer?? All virus, firewall etc. updated and running so not sure how this has happened.  I don't want to change my email as I use it for business.  Any ideas anyone???  Many thanks in advance Jetlag

Hi, we brought our 13 yr old dog to France a couple of times before we finally moved here.  No probs with her health, if anything, she has found a new lease of life chasing lizards etc. and our vet encouraged us to take her with us, (she has never been in kennels as we always had house sitters to look after her for hols), so with us she came!!  We chose to use the  tunnel for the crossing as has already been pointed out, it is stress free and you can stay with your pet ( I couldn't bring myself to leave her alone in the car on a boat!!)  We made plenty of stops for her to exercise and take in some fresh air.  So don't let others put you off, you know your dog and you know if he/she will be ok with the journey. Happy travelling[:D] Kimberly 17

Here is my experience of returns etc. I had  fridge 15mths old with rust spots that appeared on the door .I telephoned the shop, the chappie came out, made a few noises about it not being normal and said it would take a month to sort out the problem.  Two weeks later, I had a brand new fridge and the chappie removed and disposed of all the packaging and positioned the fridge in the kitchen.  I was well impressed with the service[:D]!!  I haven't had any probs with other shops either to return or exchange items I had bought in error , which seems to happen a lot[Www]! 

Many thanks Blanche Neige, I will give them a visit this weekend. Kimberly

Hi Seb My neighbour metioned the same to me, she read it in one of the magazines that deals with laws etc.  I have signed mine just to be sure.  I think the fine was around 100 euro and the gendarmes had been 'instructed' to enforce the law!! Our insurer wasn't aware either, maybe it is a new law??? Kimberly 17

Hi everyone, didn't know where to post this, so asking here in the hope someone can help[:)]  I am thinking of buying a childrens book as a birthday gift for a 3yr old mad on cars!!  Is there a french equivalent to the tractor tom/cars type books etc seen in the UK or something someone could recommend please??  Not having kids myself does make it difficult on knowing what is 'in fashion' in a small persons book world!! Any help greatly appreciated. Many thanks Kimberly  

Thanks Mickey I think I will ignore it!! Kimberly

Hi Mickey Just received same email from orange for update to new gestionaire system..............................is it compulsory to upgrade or can I just ignore the download when it arrives.  I don't use outlook as my email default, I use the dreaded messagerie, but can access outlook, but then I 'lose my emails' from messagerie to outlook, so would rather stay with messagierie as all info there.. Any advice ab out the download etc would be helpful, many thanks Kimberly  

Hi Pete This is our first year in gites and we advertise with both french and english sites, some free some pay, and we have received bookings from the pay and free sites. We also get a lot of refferals to our website from the free sites.  We have a very good success rate with the French sites which in comparison to the english ones, are very cheap. Whilst I agree with others on this forum that free is not always best, I am in the camp of any advertising be it free or pay can only be good and I am quite happy to put my info out there[:) Happy Googling Kimberly

not one of mine either[:(]  It's nice to be unique[:D]

Hi Paul, we bought an old school and although we could change what windows we wanted on the interior, we had to have permission to change the school windows that face the road and they have to look exactly the same when finished but we can have pvc, so worth checking with mairie beforehand. Kimberly 17

Hi everyone Thanks for your suggestions, will have a dig through the info I think it may well be the Viburnum[:D] Kimberly

Hi everyone, Has anyone got any suggestions for a fast growing hedge, not the wonderful leylandi, but some thing bushy that will grow to about 1 mtr height, easy to keep and cheap[:D]!!!! Any helpful suggestions greatly appreciated Thanks in advance Kimberly 17

Hi Andrew Thanks for the info, I have a notice in the info folder for the gites and I have put together a little safety notice for them to sign after the arrival tour (suggested by our architect), but I think I will have a panel printed and put it up in the pool area, just to be on the safe side, you never know[:D] Thanks again Kimberly

Hi everyone, originally posted in Gites but moving to here!!  I have been reading through past posts on pool security and fencing and I have come accross a posting from 2004 which mentions a notice to be published along with the regs for the pool fencing for AFNOR standards. We have a fence with self closing gate and the correct AFNOR notice on the gate, but I cannot find anywhere the notice the poster writes about.  Does anyone know of it and is it obligatory??? Does it relate to liability insurance or something entirely different??  If anyone has some helpful information it will be greatly appreciated [:D] Thanks in advance Kimberly 17

Hi everyone,  having read through past posts on pool notice and safety, ( we have fence with self closing gate) I came across a posting in 2004 about AFNOR regs and a notice that has to be posted to be compliant with regs etc (not the one that comes with the fence/gate).  Does anyone know what this notice is or if it is legally required for 2 or more gites or where I can get it?  Many thanks in advance for any helpful advice on pool safety issues Kimberly 17

Hi guys, thanks for the replies, yes it was the port address steve, I managed to get info with mcafee techy, but still not fixed problem.  Page still says action cancelled, will keep trying, but thanks again.  Kimberly

Hi everyone Hope someone can help with this one.  I have updated security suite to latest mcafee and have installed ie7.  I am now having probs with an ip address being blocked.  I have looked everywhere to try and find how to unblock ip addresses but cannot find how to[:(]  A particular stats site I use needs the address unblocked for me to view.  I have narrowed the investigation down to this problem, so if anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated [:D]!!!!!  (I have carried out all the usually elimination test, uninstalled programmes etc one at a time ) Thanks in advance jetlag

novice or beginner not sure which i am, just wish i never had to do the plastering job. However, I offer this tip knowing that I will probably be called rude names later but here goes. To slow down the setting time of the plaster I add a little of the MAP (used for fixing the plaster boards directly to the walls) be varying the mix I find I can greatly increase the setting times, now I have stopped making plaster moulds with the buckets, I can get in onto the walls. Still not smooth, still not perfect, but hey ho. Hope you fingd it useful. Hope mine also will not fall back off the walls because I've made a cross breed type of mix. More plaster on me than the walls but still smiling Phil

I learned something new tonite, I didn't know the moon was yellow up close[:D][:D][:D]! Nice one

Shall I send as email meg and mog??? don't think it is one for here lol!!!!  He is gorgeous though ..yummmmmmmmmmm[:D] Kimberly