Rob Roy

I'm not sure what 'bricontes' are, so apologies if I'm stating the obvious, but have you tried a local wood yard? That's where we would go for seasoned timber.

[quote user="Quillan"][quote user="Mrs Trellis"] Our last kitchen was from Ikea and not a great success.  The doors are white painted and chip and stain easily.  We are wondering where else in France to buy reasonable kitchen units.  Went to Ikea recently hoping to find nice wooden doors but they have stopped doing the ones we liked.  Not into bright red or high gloss! Would is be possible to buy the cupboards from Ikea and the doors elsewhere?  For example order from B & Q?  OH thinks there could be a problem as Ikea units come with pre-drilled holes which might not match doors from elsewhere. Failing that, who else in France does affordable kitchen units? [/quote] I bought my new kitchen from Leroy Merlin (http://www.leroymerlin.fr you can find a store here) and am very happy with it. I used their planning software which is reasonably good considering it is free. If you get a store loyalty card prior to placing your order you get a 10% discount on the first order, even on sales goods. At present the sales are on and some ranges have 30% or more off. As bright colours are all the rage there is a strong possibility that the type of doors you like are in the sale, worth a look I would say. Leroy Merlin always have the same carcass's so in a few years time you will be able to fit new doors to the same carcass's very easily with not banging or drilling. [/quote] We were looking for some kitchen units at the weekend; I had reaserched on the Net and found Leypayre was too expensive for us; we visited Castorama but it was difficult to tell what things cost and what was available as individual items. We then went to Leroy Merlin and found everything (carcasses) displayed with sizes and prices, a complete display of door fronts, that you choose, the same with work tops, as well as various display kitchens that gave you ideas of what was possible. The staff were very helpful and we were very happy with the service offered.

My wedding ring has never been off my finger since we married (40 yrs ago last month) and my engagement ring has only been off when I was at work as a nursing auxiliary as it was not allowed on duty for obvious reasons. Otherwise I wear the two all the time for everything; I can rarely get  them off now anyway. I also have worn my grandmother's wedding ring on the middle finger of my right hand since my mother gave it to me about 25 years ago. My husband wears a signet ring on his 'ring' finger that I gave him when we got engaged and has never removed it (to my knowledge!), that won't come off now either.  

The price will depend on how good the harvest is this year. Two years ago I paid 10€ a bale but last winter it was 20€ due to the poor harvest last summer. These are smaller bales than the large ones you usually see these days, which might be about 40/50€ - this is the size I get: [IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/Bouillaguet/The%20Donkeys/Donkeyswithstrawbale1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/Bouillaguet/The%20Donkeys/Happinessisbaleshaped.jpg[/IMG] I'm not sure that you'll be able to control a large bale (they are very heavy) once it starts rolling and they don't necessarily keep in a straight line! Why not ask if you can go and collect some loose straw (filling plastic sacks) from the farm as they are sure to have some.

Why not ask you local wood mill if they could put it through their machine? Being in the Limousin you can't be far from a mill!

We've bought a electric heated towel rail and the installation instructions state "...an omnipolar switch, with at least 3mm of distance between contacts, must be employed." My husband would like some clarification on what this involves please, as he not installed one before.

It certainly looks like the old chaux we've replaced in many of our walls; very easy to clean/pick out, then replace with a new lime mortar mix which is more tedious but very satisfying when done.

Thanks Leo, I'll pass on the information. Tony, I've sent a reply, thanks.

I know it's a long shot but has anyone got a small gite available for a couple for a week in August? Any area on the west coast or inland as far as the Limousin; we have some friends who have decided on a last minute visit to us but also would like a week somewhere on their own

Could you post a picture of the shades you want to use to give a better idea of the fittings needed?

I've read through several threads regarding Kindles and one thing I'm still unsure about - If I buy a Kindle from the Amazon French site, re-register it to one of my Amazon U.K. delivery addresses and then want to buy books from Amazon U.K. to download via my PC (using Expat Shield). Can I pay with my French bank card as I would with other items I buy from Amazon, or would they block me? I've looked at the French Kindle books in English, but the U.K. site seems much more suited to my tastes. 

What about donating them to the new English Library in the Correze? https://sites.google.com/site/englishlibraryinthecorreze/

It's the IE-based tab top right of the screen, beside the spanner (tools) icon

Crickey, it's like putting a pin in a map to decide on your holiday! Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I'll mull them all over and let you know.

Peanut Butter??? Yuck![+o(] Kit Kat has never been as good since Nestles bought out Mackintosh - especially the ones sold in France that are made in Germany.

It could well be me [8-)] but I still find the site is not compatible with Google Chrome and I have to use the IE tab button to make replying more user friendly. I use W7, Google Chrome and Modzilla Thunderbird.

Not forgetting the 15th August, Feast of the Assumption, when the Virgin Mary ascended into Heaven. [:)]

I have a PAYG French mobile that was with Orange, but it has been cut off as I used it so rarely (only wanted it for emergencies whilst driving). However we are off on holiday to the U.K. at the end of May and I think we ought to have a mobile with us whilst travelling. Has anyone suggestions on the best tariff / provider for me? I've heard Virgin have a much longer credit limit than most French providers and others say a U.K. sim card is a good deal (although not much help between here and the tunnel unless they post to France!)  

It looked good when you posted the other pictures; now it's finished it looks stunning, so do the gates. Congratulations!

May I ask where you got your pump from and how deep is the water level in your well?

We've also used the HG Range on pamment floor tiles in the U.K., first to clean them, then to seal them. We found their products excellent.

Your experiences seem to echo our, Wilko, at two different banks. At the second one our (french) accountant said he had never before met anyone so rude and obstructive!  The problem, IMO, is that the so called 'managers' that you deal with in France have neither the depth of knowledge nor the authority to actually make decisions as they do in the U.K.

[quote user="Kitty"][quote user="Louise"]I have another query... when you register with the Mairie do you include babies in the numbers e.g we have beds for 12 people but 2 cots so do I register for 12 or 14. I think I should register for 14 ???[/quote] In the UK, where I have a holiday let, when you say, for example, "sleeps 10", this means that the house "sleeps up to 10 adults and children over the age of 2".  Children and babies under the age of 2 are not included in the numbers.  I gather that the same applies in France.  So, in my opinion, you would register for 12.  I assume that you could ask the Mairie to verify this. As for twin beds, I have a house with two doubles and three twins and that works out well.  No one has ever complained that I have too many or too few double beds.  Sometimes, people put the twin beds together. There certainly was a thread about this in the past but it was probably 3 or 4 years ago and I can't find it. [/quote] Is this the one? http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance/cs/forums/525547/ShowPost.aspx

Just to update all those who were so helpful - we bought a lovely shiny new LED HD TV on Saturday and I've also ordered a new Humax HD Freesat box via Amazon and coming this week with friends from the UK. In the meantime the TV is working with the old box and OH was delighted with the clarity of the F1 and football! Getting French TV will now be phase 2. Thanks everyone.

The lavender fields each side are awful IMO and just distract from the main use - the postings. Why the whole screen can't be used I just don't understand. I also want to know why there is a huge white gap at the top between the page titles and this reply section, it's really annoying.