ali-cat

We will be going down to the vets later this afternoon to find out how the kitty is & if the operations were successful.  I've spent the whole morning thinking about her (& thinking of names!) while Mr Cat is trying not to get emotionally attached in case the news, from the vet, isn't good (notice how matter of fact his original post was - I even edited a bit of it & stuck the smilie face at the end!!) How hard should we try to find out if someone owns her?!!  She is in good health (apart form the horrific injuries she sustained on the road) but is very thin.  Do all cats in France have to have a tattoo or chip?  I really hate the thought of someone missing & looking for her & not knowing what has happened ..... but I equally hate the thought that someone wasn't looking after her very well & having to return her to them!!  

[quote user="Cathy"]How do British people rescue dogs here in France?  Do they never go back to the UK?[/quote] Mr Cat & I have decided that it'll be seperate trips for us back to the UK this summer, so one of us will at home with the cats.  Sad, soft, stupid - call us what you will ..... but that's us!! [:D]

Coming from Cognac last evening, we were crossing the D939 when I spotted what looked like a kitten in the verge at the side of the road.  Stopped the car and Mrs cat retrieved a circa 5 month female kitten with no movement in her back legs. Contacted the vet and had her examined within the hour.  Turns out that she is basically healthy but had been hit by a car and has two broken legs that can be pinned and her tail is also broken and will have to be removed.  She needs further tests today to determine if there are any nerve or bladder issues.  No  tattoo or chip and we don't know if she wandered onto the road or was dumped there.  The deal with the vet is either that she will 'do the minimum' and then place the kitten in a home or split the fees 50/50 with us, if we keep her. We were a three cat family but lost one of our boys soon after moving here 18 months ago.  A brindle female was not what we wanted and not at this time but what can you do.  If all goes well she has a new loving home, with us.  [:)] Mr Cat    

Isn't life getting complicated. In the wake of the credit crunch jitters I've had to think hard about our banking and investment needs and the need to cover French inheritance laws,  currency transfers,  hedging against currency fluctuations, protection against bank failures and inflation beating interest rates. I've come to the conclusion that,  as well as retaining our UK and French current accounts and currency broker, we probably need two independant offshore sterling accounts for each of us (me and Mrs Cat) and at least one Euro savings account or assurance vie each.  A total of 8 bank accounts and a currency broker account!![blink] Is there any limit on the number of accounts you can hold?  Makes me long for the days when I had one savings account and a weekly cash pay packet! Mr Cat

Russethouse - Thanks for the very useful link.  It was reassuring to see that joint accounts appear to provide protection up to £70k for joint accounts. Pads - As we are naming names - Alliance and Leicester and Bradford and Bingley were considered vulnerable plus (though not as exposed as Northern Rock) and HBOS (which owns the Halifax) also saw steep falls in share values.  There has been some bounceback.  Best not to panic but keep a close eye on them. Mr Cat    

[quote user="Pads"] Ali cat Hello..... Where did you check to find out if you bank was one of the vulnerable ones? Am I right in thinking if you keep less than 30,000 in each bank you are safe  from any loses? [/quote] Hi Pads I just typed my bank's name and "vulnerable" into google and it brought up the gory details.  As I understand it the UK scheme covers 100% of the first £2000 and then a percentage (90%) thereafter up to a maximum of £35,000 compensation.  Offshore accounts in IOM, Jersey, Guernsey are not covered by the UK scheme. IOM offers cover of 75% up to £20,000 (£15,000 total compensation) with lesser schemes in Jersey and Guernsey.  I believe the guarantees relate to each depositor and if you have seperate accounts in banks that all belong to the same group you may only qualify for the £35,000 max rather than £35,000 for each account. Mr Cat    

[quote user="WJT"][quote user="Sprogster"] The risk of a major downward correction in the UK property market has defnitely increased in the last few days. The UK banks to protect their balance sheets will continue to reign in their lending to the point that house prices will fall because of the lack of available mortgages. [/quote] I'm not sure if that was in response to me but my question was in regards to the confidence of keeping savings in the banks/building societies at the moment. I have read that there could be a few that are vulnerable. [/quote] Thanks for the alert on this WJT.  I've just checked and our bank is one of the vulnerable ones.  How much can we trust their reassurances that they are "not another Northern Rock" - and are offshore subsidiaries (IOM) covered by the UK depositors' guarantees?  Worrying times - but what IS a safe haven now that transferring funds to euro-land means an immediate 'loss' and all the insiders have already bought up the cheap gold? Mr Cat    

Glad to be of help!! [:D] Let me know when you're heading this way ..... & we can meet (with no "meat" for your OH & me!!) for coffee & buns!!  [:-))]

There is a fantastic large Biocoop in Cognac, as well.  They have all the soya you could ever want ( I go through bags of the large pieces - for curries & veggie bourguignons etc. - which are great!!) They also have all the beans, lentils, brown rice (the proper stuff you have to cook for 40 mins!) & barley varieties under the sun & a very good selection of really lovely whole grain breads. They are at 8 Rue de Poitou, Chateaubernard - if you want directions, PM me & I'll send them to you!! [:D]  

[quote user="moonbus53"]Thanks to all for all the advice, websites and comments - even the cheeky one (it made me chuckle). All we need now is a clear night - it has been cloudy every night since the thing arrived - then he can get started! Moonbus [/quote] Ah - that's where the Cloudy Nights website comes in :http://www.cloudynights.com/ Seriously - you can learn a lot from reading other peoples experiences and what to buy and not buy! Clear skies Mr Cat  

There is plenty of information on the web if you google 'beginner astronony' or whatever and plenty of forums where you can ask questions e.g. http://www.astrocentral.co.uk/ http://www.maidenhead-astro.net/beginner.htm http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/telescopes/messages Getting to grips with a telescope can be a little daunting at first.  I never got past the experienced beginner stage myself but can help with setting the scope up etc.  PM me if you have any problems.  Regards Mr Cat

Many thanks for the update on the tech.  I've managed to cure most of the issues with a little filling and filing but it still deserves an expert's attention. How is the Esquire playing and sounding now that it has had time to settle in? Mr Cat    

I'm not asking this to cause trouble - maybe it's that I'm just a bit weird ..... but why are you opposing the wind turbines?  I've always thought they look wonderful, I really do!!  (a bit like a modern sculpture - & a lot better looking than some of the "art things" that get ridiculous amounts of money to be "created"!!) & surely they are to produce renewable energy etc.? I can honestly say that I'd rather have a wind farm behind my house than a great big electric plant or pylons etc.

[quote user="Ian"]Is it just me, but I've always fancied sporting an arc of sharks teeth scars across my chest - just figured it'd be a bit of a talking point - akin to Quint and Hooper in "Jaws". [/quote] This might put you off![;-)] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/17/eashark117.xml    

[quote user="chris pp"] Oooop's. I Think you may have made a typo..   ""100 heron"" ? Chris [/quote] Cranes? wildebeast? -whatever.  Still a sign of spring!  

Mr Cat is also being given a very hard time about this beautiful girl.  I would love to be able to give her the loving home she deserves ... so I will keep working on Mr Cat (& our two other cats) ..... but also will be keeping my fingers crossed that someone will come along, see Nana & that their heart will melt - the way mine has.

Saw our first flight of perhaps 100 heron this afternoon heading North East over us (Dept 17/16 border). It has certainly felt springlike for the last week of so. Mr Cat  

[quote user="DerekJ"]Stick a front wheel on it plus a lawnmower engine and you've got a tuk-tuk. [/quote] Stop it - you'll make Ali-Cat nervous. [:D]  

Hello All I need a small trailer for transporting garden debris mostly and have been checking prices at Feu Vert etc.  For what I need,  the prices range from around 500 to 700 euro which seems a lot for occasional trips to the dechetterie. Then it occurred to me that we 'inherited' a small box trailer when we bought the house.  It is little old but in generally good nick apart from needing new tyres and a lick of paint.  It has a standard ball hitch and full electrics.  I don't know the manufacturer but it is definitely French with the model being R4 F4.  Is there anything else I need to know before using it? Photo below : Regards Mr Cat     [IMG]http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e332/Livingstone_Mark/DSC00008.jpg[/IMG]            

I'm a Horse.  A "Fire-horse" no less & according to Chinese tradition, that's quiet good.  Not sure why ..... passionate & very bad tempered (better ask Mr. Cat about that [Www])

[quote user="sweet 17"]In many ways, although we bought in a bit of desperation in the end, we have the stone, converted barn, the land, the wooden beams, the brace-and-ledge doors, etc. etc.  Some would say it's the best of both worlds, old outside and modern and bright inside.  But, and there is a definite but, I feel it lacks character.  Perhaps it's because we are the first family to occupy this place; before that it was just an old ruin.  And no, we didn't tackle the big stuff ourselves.[/quote] Would it be possible to add a bit of the missing character back into the house.  Replacing some of the "new" fixtures & fittings with old reclaimed ones would be a lot cheaper than moving house.  Not knowing what your house is like (don't worry I'm not angling for an invite!! [:)]) is there the possibility of changing fireplaces, uncovering internal stone walls etc.?  It may be messy - but worth it!

It is funny how you just know when something is right (I felt like that the very first time I saw Mr Cat! [:D]) We had narrowed our choice down to 3 houses, knowing that we had to buy something pretty soon (due to our rental arrangement running out) & went back for another viewing of each one, all on the same day, with the couple we had been renting from as we greatly valued their opinion.  When we walked into each house we had to admit it just wasn't what we were looking for.  Either too modern, too remote, too small etc. - & not for us.  Panic was starting to set in by this stage. The very next day we went to a new immo in Jarnac & the lady said "I've got the perfect property for you" ..... & she was right!!  We walked in, started smiling & could see all our stuff (2 cats, nine guitars, strange collection of gargoyles etc.) fitting right in!! [:-))] We are in the house a year this week - & it's home!!

[quote user="Russethouse"]I'd like to see a picture of his mother - his ex and current partner could almost be twins ! He certainly goes for a 'type'[/quote] But don't we all?  Certain looks or personality type will have an appeal to each individual - Mr Cat's whiskers did it for me!! [:D]

Could it not just be possible that they fell in love?  Boy, I'm such a sad romantic!! [:$]

Our "must have" list was dominated by "must be in a very quiet area with no main roads near-by" - so once the cats were sorted we decided what we wanted!! Old property with no major building work required - but decorative order not important.  1 - 2 acres of land, good sized rooms & nice views over the country.  If possible a gite or small "maison d'amis". A lot of the houses we looked at had either the attics converted to bedrooms which you had to limbo to get into or consisted of a group of 5 - 6 buildings ..... none of which had a roof or full standing wall between them!!  We also saw some wonderful French traditionally decorated houses - with carpet on the walls & ceilings ..... & we were also introduced to the wonders of "pierre apparent" wallpaper!! After looking at about 60 houses we got pretty much what we had been looking for - except not in the area we originally thought of.  We now have 2 acres of land, one of which is a large field at the side (totally useless, but keeps us private) a house which was renovated about 17 years ago (functional but needs a lot of refreshing - a bit like us, really!) & just about everything that suits our needs!! Some people would probably think that it's over renovated, but it still retains a lot of character & enough quirky bits to keep us happy. We also got our maison d'amis ...... which sits totally empty as we don't appear to have any "amis"!! [:-))] All in all - I think we did ok!! [:D]