Pun

Hi   Cassis we,ve fields of cows/bulls sheep but no horse riding I know of, "Idea maybe RODEO" BUT THE BULLS HERE ARE REALLY SLOW AND A LITTLE DAFT, So bikes it will be thanks CASSIS.

Hello alnmike, Sounds good to me, like you we are having the gite as one price, (everything included) we are wayout in the countryside here and thats why we,like to provide as much as possible many thanks

Hi smiley, We once had a canal boat called smiley "near chester" any connection, We dont have any hire shops near the future Gite, but thanks for the idea anyway,

Hi  beloulle thanks for your reply, once again its a great help

Hello susanAH Many thanks for your reply its given us a lot of ideas and the best way forward. once again thank you.

Ive really opened a can of worms last night while talking to a couple of friends ref Gites and if supplying push bikes and childrens swings etc was a good idea or not. Two of the four people do rent out Gites and both say No way. to many problems ref accidents and theft of the bikes. The odd man out couple "so to speak" say Yes to both bikes and swings/slides etc.   Well what do the gite people think?? Would I be letting myself into a load of trouble if I do provide good serviced push bikes for mum/dad/ and 2 kids "maybe a cycle trailer for the adult bikes to enable the smaller kids to be pulled along by the adult bikes. And a childrens play area with swings/slide/climbing rope etc etc, all would be mounted on grass. your thoughts please.

Hello  Ian, Nice to talk to you, The lady who sent the "E" mail really put a different edge on the gardening thread for me, Every now and then I go back to the U.K. (mid Wales area Bala) and as I drive passed Birmingham on the M6.  I seem to take note of those tall flats in the background and its then I thank my lucky stars we decided years ago to try and buy in France for our retirement in future years, When we first bought the house here and we,d signed and all the bulk of years of saving had been spent buying the house I did think for a minute "what the hell have we done" and as we drove passed what we once thought were really nice houses  in the mid-Wales area we lived in I now think we made the best choice and we,d never go back, It,s the one thing all the people here in France who have bought homes here either to live in or holiday in have in common, We all took that chance, and if by telling people the things we get up to helps make them have a better day? Then Im all for continuing the theme

Hi  chris, Thanks for your help on this one, it all came about just through general chat and as I said it was a new one on me, this is the wonderful thing about the I.NET, one can learn so much, Ive had an "e" from a Lady living in BIRMINGHAM  and she,s said she lives in a part of birmingham thats not safe to go out after dark and how much she enjoys the chat we all have ref the gardening and the verious things we get up to day by day, she said it makes the end of her working day a thing to look forward to "reading our life style" .and trying to picture the verious scenes, ie clearing overgrown gardens, seeing trees produce the secrete fruits in spring, we didnt know we,d got, making pathways etc, I feel you should have a goal in life as this lady said, she,s hoping one day to live a life like us. I really hope she makes it all come true.

I was invited by some new french folk (just moved in about 1 mile away) for a hello drink etc, and we all talked just about everything from thought on the death of princes diana to the cost of roses in France as to the cost in the U.K. As the evening went on the topic of french workmen and bad workmanship and what to do if you have a complaint and are getting know where, I was told by our new french friend to get in touch with your Insurance company as if its a building matter it causes the Insurance company to pay out and they dont like that, anyone heard of this way of complaining befor??[8-)]

As any regular reader of the living-france web will know Im in the middle of doing a place up so we can gite in a years time hence I look/read/and try to learn as much as possible from both advice given on this very thread and also by other peoples mistakes and so far Ive learnt so much , Has living France not thought of having a list /booklet ref the look outs and avoid this or that, or must do,s It really would be a help. any thoughts on this one??

Hi  john, Many thanks for explaining your thought on this one, I understand a little more now than I did, thanks,

Well it,s fruit picking time here in dept 23, and my neighbour has shown me a device for picking fruit from the ground and off ladders as you go higher up the trees, It,s so simple to make and cost next to nothing in materials, So sit up and take note. materials, (1) an empty 2litre plastic milk container, (2) A long strong bamboo cane, (3) A roll of plastic plant ties (the green stuff you,d cut bits off to secure the plants to sticks etc) (4) A means of cutting the plastic milk container ie I used a stanley knife. Cut the container at the bottom of the handle area so you have a square shape container Now cut 2 slits approx 1 inch apart and about and 4 inch long secure the bamboo to the container by threading the plastic plant ties through the 2 slits youve made ensuring the bamboo is in the middle of the two slits, thread enough plant tie to make a good sound holding device,as the fruit will end up in the container, Now cut a half  round shape at the edge of  the container were the plastic  handle once was, make a series of these half round shapes about every 3 inch (these are for getting around the fruit stems and pulling the fruit into the container You should now have a bamboo pole with a plastic container at one end with a series of half rounded cuts all around the open edge and secured ready to put under the fruit and pull to enable you to collect the harvest with ease, My  nieghbour has used this method for years and it works well, once made it last for year after year, good gardening.    

Hello Owens 88, Many thanks for your point ref "Mail" reply, As Ive said (and Im not the only person to come on the I.T. and say, why not show your views and reply so we can all understand. If your replying and your not breaking any of the rules we all agree not to break ? then why is this a problem?? Hope you understand my asking the question, its not intended to upset anyone but to help user,s share thoughts and ideas. regards Pun.

Hello  mikey, I owe you a big big  SORRY, I said I,d not recieved your "E"  mail and Ive found out why, When we asked to join the L.FRANCE WEB, we thought we had agreed to have the "E" mail recieveing item, But it works out we,d said No we didnt want to recieve "E" mails. So Mikey Im sorry for saying I,d not got yours, it was our fault and its now been sorted. Once again Sorry.  

Hi  Mikey, M any thanks for your reply saying youve sent me an "E" mail ref my asking whats the point in replying to the questions asked on this thread by sending your reply via "E" how do we know whats going on? As of 1-45pm France time to day sunday 20/aug. Ive not recieved your "E" mail you said youve sent. Please feel free to put any reply on the open screen for all to see, I feel thats why we have this free service provided, So we can all enjoy and learn by one an other,  Wouldnt you agree?? Best wishes to you and yours ,  Pun.

Mike, what is the point in being part of this or any web if your not sharing the reply?????

Hi ,WESTLAND Ive not had the pleasure of speaking to you, But Im going to be 100% honest with you knowing I,ll get some  folk thinking Im blowing off but Im not. Here goes, We live in dept 23 3km from AIGURANDE, we have owned one house for 6 years and bought a second house last september to make into a gite and become millionaire,s, (joke-joke) Now the second house is again 3 km from the first house, so all the folk around here know we have two homes, and not only have they helped us from day one (6yrs ago) but every inch of the way with every problem we have had and needed advice with, But we made every effort when we arrived in this area to knock on every door and introduce  us to them, and remember we are the foreigners and our way of home making can be different to the french counrtyside people. the wages in this area are not high and most kids end up away from home living in the cities ect, But many wouldnt want to come back as young people to the counrtyside to live now and the buildings we brits/irish buy wouldnt stand the test of time if left,   A very good way to think about this situation is this, We are all only land lords at the end of the day, we came into this world with nothing and pickfords , dont deliver to that place up high do they? Many people for get to keep on trying, they forget why they wanted to live here in the first place anyway, Well I hope this will help you if you feel you,d like to drop in and meet both french and english who do get on? please let me know. I must go now as we,ve been invited for a drink with our new (just moved in) french friends at 8pm.

Hi Folks, Just a word for anyone thinking  of an Awning and trying to put one up, We purchased one one Saturday at 11am and by 2pm "including getting home and a tea/break," It was all up and running by 6pm, it,s only 3 wall mounted brackets, and then lifting the complete system into 3 cut out shelf  supports and 3 nut/bolts into these supports to keep the Awning in a safe secure place., Our,s is 4.5meters long and 3meter spread, It took two of us to lift into place. looks great and makes a hell of a differance to the patio area, So if you,ve been thinking of trying this yourself, Take it from me it,s simple and well worth the effort.  

Hi Chris, dept 23, just outside of a place called Aigurande, CREUSE.

Hi chris,thanks for your reply. As I said to cassis Im sorry I acted the way I did, but ref having any form of snake in the garden, due to the way rocks etc have been piled up outside the kitchen doorway almost , It.s made an ideal home for the snake and its up to me to make sure no such place so near the house can happen again, As Ive said Im doing this place up to gite out and I dont want to encourage any such things in the future, Im hoping that families with young children will enjoy  the garden /pool/ect I do understand your welcoming of wild life and admire your thinking the way you do, We offten sit in the kitchen looking out onto the court yard and many times we get a troop of   birds with chicks running behide just walking past without a care in the world, and they are welcome, many thanks for your remarks.

Hi Cassis, many thanks for your info ref this snake/worm Im a bit sorry I reacted the way I did, after it lay dead I thought christ I wish I,d not done that but again Im glad I wasnt bitten "if it had been a poison snake, Ive learned a lesson and if I do come across any more I,ll back off and just clear the space hoping it wont come back. but again thanks,

As most of you know Im doing an old farm building up to gite out in about a years time, The most problems Ive come across are from the bad workmanship done by the previous english owner, and our latest project (to make a covered patio area) proved to be yet one more look out danger about thing, The prev, owner left all rubble dumped within a 10 yard space from the side kitchen door, (this is the ideal place for the covered patio) for the past few days we,ve removed tons of   rocks/ bottles/etc ect, but this morning while working away loading my trailer with rubble, I noticed while the spade was passing my face on its way to the trailer "this 8in brown snake" trying its best to get off the spade, I nearly jumped out of my skin and my dog decided now was the time to bark and fight this snake, I did manage to get it into the trailer and with luck "not skill" hit it with the side of the spade killing it quickly (one strike) Ive still a few ton of this rubble and rocks and what ever is to be found as I go along, lets hope it,s no more snakes. [6]

Hello Clair, Lets just say thank god this isnt a much more serious thread ref what could have resulted, But I myself expect to have our gite ready in one years time and we have read and asked question after question about the hand over and I myself will show the customer the pool and after all the saftey chat is over they will be asked if they understand the full safe way to use the pool and once I recieve a YES, I will ask for a signed form supplied by me saying all has been explained and fully understood, a copy for them and one for our files. Also when confirming they want to go ahead and book it will be xeplained that they will be asked to sign the said form, The unfortunate thing about above ground pools is the lack of safety required by law compaired to the ground mounted pools, ie no fencing, no pool cover, no alarm system required. When we asked about the difference in the laws for the two pools, I said to my wife it,s an accident waiting to happen befor the laws changed. your gite customers are lucky they have a live child to take home, ref the un.listed guest,  have a word with your insurance company befor it happens again and you offer extra anything,   WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THEY HAD AN ACCIDENT AND CLAIMED FROM YOU,? all they,d have to say is you new I was there , you offered us extra bedding, If you didnt want us here why didnt you say so, Your making a rope for your self by not making it clear who should and who shouldnt be there. regards clair I hope you understand this is meant to help you not to get into trouble, or be taken for a ride.

Last winter I wasted a lot of heat and burnt more wood than needed due to the fact I was heating the sky, By this statement I mean inspite of putting in a really good wood/burner and making sure it was fully lined all the way to the top of the chimney, I didnt put a cowl on the chimney pot, and so I was at the mercy of the wind, Now for those who dont know it when you ignite your fire depending on the wind and tempature outside will depend how much draw you get pulling the heat up the chimney , If its blowing a gale out side and the wind is howling over your chimney pot, the chances are the smoke cant escape out the top of your pot because of the wind, this is why some times you get a back gust down the chimney and out of the fire into the room, or if tis a closed door burner the glass inside the door fills with smoke, If you fit a good cowl, (Ive one that has a spinning device fitted and so sucks the air out of the chimney and stops any air blowing down the pot) this type of device not only reduces the amount of wasted heat ie heating the sky, but once the chimney has got to its operating temp, the logs burn slower but still give out a good heat and because the cowl device wont let air in through the chimney pot it also wont let any rain in, So you wont have that burnt wood smell when it,s damp first thing in the morning, Now,s the time of year to think about doing the prep for winter ie logs and chimney cleaning, and a cowl if you,ve not got one, the weather is good for doing this sort of work, but come the wind and rain? its a different ball game. I find its the best feeling in the world to be sitting in front of a nice log burning fire when its howling outside and not that feeling of it,s warmer inside the fridge than in our house feeling as one or two of my friends have found, Its nights like these that its nice to read up and plan the next garden project. good gardening.[I]

Hi Horn, Now your asking, Ive just cut 5 stere and the average 12 in, hard wood, but Ive also cut 18in, round logs, the length is up to you on this machine as it   has a loading metal shelf approx 18 inch long that has a chain to ensure the shelf is secure and safe, once the log is loaded you push a handle forward  towards the  rounded h/duty blade) that cuts the wood to the length you decide you want, "If you overload the machine with a to large or you put to much force into the blade cutting the wood? the machine has a cut out device and to restart you wait a second or two and just press the start button and try again with a little less haste and let the blade cut in a sensible time, It also has a safe/cover that falls down over the blade so you cant put your hands near the cutting area. and you can continue to play piano when not cutting logs. You can have as long  wood as you like at the end that your wood is if you use a tressle or some other means of securing this length and just cut away the lengths you want until you,ve no wood left, Its a bit like a sauage machine idea "you feed in the  long wood at one end and logs cut to size come out the other very simple and very quick, a good day spent using this machine and you,ll have enough logs to see you through the winter. Ive cut lengths 12feet long and just fed them in @ 16in (ideal for our log burner) cuts, and as I say just some support at the end and away you go. I found the most time spent was stacking the logs up in the old hen house, but these logs are for future use, (next year or the year after) as Ive a pile left over from last year inspite of burning all through the winter, and her indoors likes the fire on all day and late into the night and even puts a log on when we,re going to bed to keep our dog warm, So as you can see I needed a device that works and this one is worth having, good gardening.