Babbles
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Posts posted by Babbles
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I've just used the one month option FYI if anyone is thinking of using it , it took 4 days to set up so give yourself time!
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I saw them in the Gers on both Friday and Sunday, I'd had a pretty tricky meeting with our immos boss trying for compensation and I was just glad to see mother nature doing its thing, seeing the natural beauty of the Gers I don't care that I wasn't the first to see them this year just glad I did[:)] and it kind of puts the rest of life into perspective.
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Betty, maybe we could job share as to keep work to a minimum![:D]
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Bring it with you, we used Dulux trade paints for the interior and are very pleased with the results, we were looking for "period " colours and have been unable to source them in the SW. If you are using a removal company to bring over paint the tins/buckets will have to be placed in a large tin trunk like thing incase of splillage (not all companys will carry paint). Apart from price of french paint they do seem quite "old fashioned" I brought some eggshell interior woodwork paint with me which was recoatable in 6 hours but all the french paint said 24 hours and the brushes had to be cleaned with white spirt whereas the british paint cleaned with soap and water, so if your trying to complete a job whilst on a break in france you can get quicker results with british. The French make better bread but the british know how to make paint [;-)]
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Dream Commuter, you have / had very valid reasons to come to France and commute but the program implied that Joe Average would be able to do it, which frankly they can't I would hope that somebody making such a bold step would do their research if they take encouragement from what you and your familly have done, great but not treat it as a blueprint. The program fell way short of my expectations of the Money Program and seemed to edited by a GCSE communications student who didn't quite understand the brief and probably heading towards a resit
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Scottish People thin? Does that make deep fried battered Mars Bars a new aid to slimming?[+o(]
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I would ask for an extension of time at the Maire and /or the person from the water who gave you the deadline, there are still thousand of Fosses which don't comply and still won't by this september so hopefully they will see sense if your only asking for 6 month extension from what I hear they are so far behind in issuing the complience certificate it will probable be next year anway[;-)]
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You can't go far wrong with any of the Canon EOS if your looking for a digital SLR, there are a good range of lens, you just have to watch which lens mount it has as not all lens fit all cameras, I've only got the 350D but invested in 2 good lens and am happy so far[:)] Saying that I've just bought the PanasonicDMC-FX50 which has a Leica lens and is a great small pocket camera (has the widest angle lens of compact cameras) which I take with me to record our renovation work as I don't always have time to fanny about changing lens[;-)]
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If your French isn't great hire a translator, really takes the pressure off and our is a mine of useful advice on where to go and suggestions for builders etc thay might charge a bit but I would budget it in, I was close to tears in EDF trying to sort out our electric with the unhelpful man you really don't need to put yourself through that sort of thing, it might seem to others on this forum that its too much hand holding and you've 7 months to become fluent but you've loads to sort out before you go so don't beating yourself up over it[:)]. If your not a natural when it comes to learning a language keep trying different methods till you find one that suits you, mines a mixture of Michel Thomas and TV5 on sky (good to watch the news to see whats important to the French) I tried having lessons for over a year but just didn't work for us but also I try to read french magazines of interest to you (your local newsagent can get hold of a surprising number of magazines if you ask) and you'll soon pick up the vocab for things your interested in.
But I think the biggest tip is don't get paranoid, as an "incomer" its easy to think that bad or difficult situations happen because your English I had a really bad experience in our local bank and was quite upset when I got back to the house, but a month later I found out from our gas man that the lady in question was just a cow (even to the French) and was sacked for it, but all that time I thought we were unwelcome. Give yourself plenty of time to adjust, it maybe perfect from day one but if its not get into a routine that is familiar to you till you feel more comfortable with things.
I thought people were joking when they said bring paint with you, I'm really glad I did as its soooooooo expensive in France and not that good but it does seem a bit barmy!
My emotional experience of moving is not through moving to France as for now its a second home , but from moving to the States for 6 months which was a trully awful experience, partly due to my lack of preperation and too high expectations[;-)]
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Thanks Bugbear I'll add it to this weeks list of tasks to do, which is getting longer by the minute when I stop and think about and write it down,and then I just need to remember to take it with me!![:)]
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It was all far too rosey, do people really believe that sort of c* *p, I used to have a job where I had to regularly stay in travel Inns or other such souless places ,you soon get sick of it no mater how nice you proper home is, The only really valid point I saw in the program was that homeworkers are more productive when I had office days at home would be a 12 hour day , which was a damn site longer than my boss worked!
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I've a number of mouse size holes next to the floor boards in the bedroom [:-))] and have bought said squirty stuff, do I need to put anything on the floor boards first to make cleaning the exbanded foam off them easier, there not great floorboards but I don't really want stains or rough patches on them
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Looks good, just set sky as I normally remember after the event!
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Hi Maude
I struggled to find sous couche, even in a large Castorama but found some in tiny Mr Bricolage, it was with paint effects rather than where you think it would be i.e. with the gloss paint, the other thing that confused me that there were loads of types of sous couche for masonary paint but not for wood, I'm not in france till next week but I will try and remember to get the make of what I'm using if that would help[:)]
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It doesn't sound as though it will comply to the new regs, are you in a village with drains as you will have to join into those , and fill in or remove the fosse[+o(] I'm assuming that as they are in a garage that there isn't room in the garden? We viewed a house in the Gard with this kind of set up and was going to prove too costly to fix it, so I suggest that if you continue with the purchase that you get a quote to fix it and make it a clause suspensive with a price attached to it so you don't end up footing the costs.
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As far as I am aware the vendor is responsible as they have to have insurance on the house until you complete and its the insurance that should pay.[:)]
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I keep trying to find something that is like double or whipping cream, like you would use on a trifle or with scones or sandwich a cake together with as we hate wizzy cream out of a canister[+o(] and thats all I seem to be able to get or something in a plastic pouch with a nozzle on the corner which isn't too bad at a pinch.
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I too have a loathing of mobiles, but our house is in the middle of nowhere I often go to do renovations on my own leaving moh to run our business and am often driving around france on my own, so its for safety more than anything else (also moh wants to know how much I've done eachday[;-)] and that I don't sit on the terrace too much drinking an apero[:D])
I've tried letting the phone find the strongest network (by turning it of) but it always seems to find Orange but if I try to use Orange it always cuts me off hence changing it to SFR which does work.
Thanks for the info on O2
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The guy who recommened it to me (and sold it as well) said they were robust , mine must have been a friday afternoon one!
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Thankyou for that, I am a luddite when it comes to my phone, I've now looked at the website and I'd missed the extra bit off (doh) but being able to buy it for just a month at a time is good value I will certainly be using it next time I go.
When I/m over there most of the time it wants to connect to Orange but at our house there is no signal, so a friend showed me how to find an available newtwork which it does easily enough but my question is what rates am I paying when that happens and will I still get the bolt on benifits?[blink]
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I have a pay as you go O2 mobile and do use it when in France and I had /have the old europe bolt on which was under a £5 a month I recieved a txt saving that something was changing and to txt europe to O2 , all well's I thought but then recieved a txt when in France saying I already had the bolt on, what am I doing wrong! I don't think I've been evr offered anything at £10[8-)]
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I too had an Acer Laptop, crashed at least three times a day the biggest pile of P** I've ever wasted my money on and speaking to moh I've wasted plenty![;-)]
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We've just had the single version of the sink fitted and I think you'd be hard pushed to find the trap fittings at a non Ikea shop, as you've said you've just ordered your kitchen could you not pick up the trap and tap when you pick up the kitchen as its an item that they always should have instock, I had no joy trying to order things on French Ikea website from here in the UK, I tend to take the bits with me when I fly out as I always get lost going to Toulouse Ikea[8-)] and always end up fast heading for the Spanish border! Or I'll send up to 30kilo boxes using payperdrop on ebay (as recommed by someone on this forum and proved to be really successful.)
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I'm really interested in what happens with this as its not dissimilar to our events concerning the fosse, I'm hoping that as we asked for clarification on drainage and have copies of the email it will go some way towards getting some money back for the fosse, my question about the fosse is, does not conform because your developing the property or would it have been redundant anyway if you kept the same number of bathrooms etc and its just the change in the law that now makes it redundant as that should effect what price you pay.
Estate Agents giving Misleading information.
in Finding/Owning French Property
Posted