virginia.c

Ever since I arrived in France this summer I have had lots of problems with my mastercard. It has been rejected in various places, from garages to restaurants. There's no logic either to where and when it is rejected. I can use it one morning to pay for petrol, only to find it then gets rejected by the next store I go to on the same day. It happens regardless of the amount. Because both my credit cards are mastercards it is starting to cause a real problem. I have a French bank account but prefer to use this for bills and direct debits as many do. I've just got off the phone from talking to one of the card providers. Apparently there is a problem in Europe (particularly in France) at the moment, where cards are being rejected and there is apparently nothing which can be done about it. According to the card provider they are approving the purchase when it comes through to them (via the electronic thingy) but it is then being rejected by the French Bank who are allied to the particular business one is trying to pay for goods/services here in France. I will have to reactivate an old Visa credit card now, although, untl I do, I won't know if this issue is one which affects Visa cards. Interestingly, the Master card provider asked me if I had a visa card with me which I could use!! Has anyone else had similar problems?

Back in May we put up two bird boxes. They were made by a twitcher friend who apparently made the entrance holes the right size for blue tits. Over the last couple of weeks I have seen a couple of bluetits looking in and today I saw one behaving like a woodpecker. It was hammering furiously around the entrance hole. I wondered if it was because it was too small but a few minutes later it emerged comfortably. Why the sudden activity? It wouldn't be nesting now - was it just checking out a possible new home for the Spring?

Blimey. No chance of me ever becoming a hacker. I've only just got to grips with a livebox (well, when I say got to grips with.........)

she sometimes uses her dishwasher and I've been eating her pate, duck confit, jam, bottled fruit and veg for a couple of years now with no ill effects. Don't suppose much can survive the very hot oven...

A good friend of mine bottles and preserves everything from pork to fruit. She simply washes in very hot water with washing up liquid then puts the jars into a hot oven. In doing this the jars get sterilised - get dry and then don't crack if hot contents get put into them.

thanks Dog, I have pm'd you. Re the garlic, there's only one natural home for it and that's Transylvania.......... pronto.

Interesting. How long do you find the fragrance lasts for?

I will give them a call first thing tomorrow, thanks Cat. May even be worth a trip down there!

Do you have pet passports? What sort of advice are you looking for?

thanks Clair, I have tried the health food shops and they only do the tiny bottles. Im going back about 15 years to the last time I bought a few larger bottles in Provence, it was just pure lavender oil which you could put a few drops on cotton wool/dried lavender etc and which gave out the most heavenly smell for days after. Dr Hauschka do an oil for body use but it is a bit extravagantly priced to throw around the house!

Can anyone help here? I have been looking for lavender oil, very commonly found in Provence of course, but so far in the Dordogne I can only find tiny bottles. I use it as a room and fabric/drawer freshener but you do need the intense fragrance of the pure oil to really last. I've looked in vain in Perigueux, Thiviers, Excideuil - any ideas? Many thanks

I'm no expert on the subject, but I wonder if in cutting up and thencarrying the wood to your house, you risk some of them falling out and landing somewhere else? Very difficult when you can't have a bonfire without risking other vegetation - I have similar problems. I suppose you have no recourse from the people who carried out the termite diagnostic when you bought the house? If they missed the "traces" of old activity, could you claim something from them which could help towards the cost of the new treatment? Good luck in getting it sorted out pronto.

Wish my dog would eat it. Why his breath always smells of day old trout I'll never know, particularly as he never eats fish, let alone trout. Agree wholeheartedly with the comment about the smell when you walk on it. For exactly that reason I let it grow everywhere too.

Two hours average. Depends on time of day and a couple of times we've been held up at unexpected times. Completely agree with the Purley Way comment!

I have just set up phone line and broadband and was told that I could only suspend the line and not the internet?

thank you Scooby, good advice.

I have very similar issues.  Downstairs where the bedrooms and bathroom are, two thirds of the space is in the bedrock - it is built on a slope.  We had trench and drainage like you but I found that last winter an Ebac dehumidifier worked wonders.   I bought it in the UK on the recommendation of a friend who runs them in her house here.  My house is not heated and downstairs is very cold during the winter months.  After being here for Christmas we returned to England leaving the dehumidifier on permanent drainage 24 hours a day.  It was fantastic - beds dry and the whole floor area also.  Like the other poster I put all my bedding into the vacuum bags as I am concerned about dampness and insects. I bought the Ebac on line.  If you google them you will find them.  Good luck!

I wonder if anyone is aware of French lessons going on in or around Hautefort?  I have sadly failed this summer to progress with my language skills and would like to spend the next couple of months putting this right.  Any info gratefully received.   Cheers

I'm off to the English vet this morning  for the rabies booster so I'll ask him about both.   Last time in France a friend of mine had been given a bottle of iodine from her vet to put on her dogs paws when they were suffering from harvest mites.  Not to kill them, but to prevent infection - does stain their paws an interesting colour!

tried it and the message (in English) says that it is the customer service number and free from France.  They are closed til tomorrow so I'll try them in the morning as you suggest.  Thanks again!!

Aaaaaaaargh.   It's the same number with the robot telling me that the number has been changed to the 0800 number  WHICH DOESN'T WORK....... I'm selling up and moving to Germany

thank you  Dept 71.  I hope you get your line when you get there!!  I don't even have a line from the pole to the house yet - but I will try the number you gave with everything crossed!

A question about what number to phone.  I have tried the new supposed English speaking helpline today ie 0800 364 775 which I was directed to by a recorded message on the old 0033155 etc number.  I have tried it a few times and a recorded voice tells me that the number is not recognised.  Anyone know of any other number I can call?  Hells Bells, I think I may opt for semaphore and smoke signals.

Ah........  Is the Plasmo the worst that a tick can give a dog? and, what are the symptoms to look out for?  Is there nothing you can get to protect against this?  Worries me particularly because my dog is now 12 and won't have the same ability to fight things off as he did when he was younger

plasmo?  aoutats?  what horrible creatures are these?