vickybear

Who are you inviting? You're not very specific, you know you could end up with the whole Forum turning up if you're not careful. I'm in Charente.

It was my favourite show and Eddie was my hero. I'm willing to give it a go and take his place if they make a new series, but unfortunately I'm a little girl.....................do you think they'd notice. I also speak with a Manchester accent so I'd go well with Daphne ( although HER Manchester accent is truly dire! ).

Me too......... That's definitely the end of an era then!  Long may the repeats be shown.

Is anyone out there earning a living as a Dog Groomer? If so, how is it and how easily did you get registered? Is there a demand for it here? Any comments gratefully received.

....and I'd applaud too if I wasn't so busy creating......... It's been a good week so far [:D]

Cassis, your squashed heads are brilliant. Do you sell them? ( can't remember if you mentioned this earlier )  

How do I make my photos bigger? I'm using Photobucket.com and they all come out this size! You cannot appreciate how truly great my latest creation is unless it is bigger....honest injun.........( oops )

Well Cassis, I apologise for thinking you were a woman!!  It was the truly exceptional nature of your works that led me to believe they had been created by a higher species. I mentioned earlier in the thread that I would be making my next creation out of an old washing up liquid bottle and some sticky back plastic and here it is................   Personally Cassis, I too would resent any implication that I was cheating!!!

You can both be 100% behind an idea in theory, it's the practice that seems to cause the problems for some. You can't know how it will feel to 'live in France' until you 'live in France'. You can't know what you will miss until you no longer have it. With the best will in the world some ideas which seem great at the time will end up not quite right for some people. If everyone was able to know what the outcome of their new adventures would be there'd be no anticipation and excitement. The key is knowing when you've made a mistake and doing something about it. Not so easy when 'he' loves it and 'she' doesn't as appears to be the case.Anyway, I'm having a great day.....see The Lighter Side thread on Mr Potato Head.

Yes, his legs are corn on the cob holders, his tail and mane are a pair of curtain tassles and his eyes, nose and mouth are pins!! Now you have all my secrets! As for Darth Vader Potato Head, has nobody else noticed he's an egg???  What an imposter!! I'll second the idea of having a contest for home made 'anythings'. The winner should receive EVERYTHING that's been entered. Cassis - you must be a posh bird if you've never shopped at Wilko's! ( hope you are a bird! ) Must go, got to sort out my empty Squeezy bottle and the sticky back plastic for later. Got some friends coming round, we're all going to have a go at something and post the results on here.......come on everyone, go for it! By the way....this is the second day in a row I've not been bored!! [:D]

C'est vrai!  I slept the sleep of the smug better half!

Mais Oui M. Owens, but the issue here perhaps isn't 'where' we've retired to after all, but the age at which we've retired. Was it too soon and would I have appreciated rural France better at 60?

I use an English hairdresser as it's much easier to explain what I want ( there is currently a limit to my French! ). She states categorically that it's the women who generally want to go back to the UK not the men. The women she sees in her salon ( in rural France ) mostly say they haven't enough to interest them, whilst the men are quite happy pottering about and doing very little. Something about their ability/need to multi task perhaps............ Don't shoot the messenger, the Hairdresser said it, although I can say from personal experience it's true of my hubbie and I. Alarmingly, we have English neighbours who spend about 8 months a year here and have done so for quite a few years. The hubbie needed a number of operations last time they were in the UK and the wife quietly told me that although she wished him better, she was secretly glad when the treatment dragged on as it meant she didn't have to come back to France so soon!

Hope this helps!  Off to my bed now, night all x   Our English-speaking help line France Telecom Paris has opened an 0800 number (toll-free call) intended to cater for the needs of the English-speaking community all over France. This department is dedicated to commercial operations. Concerning technical  problems please contact  1013 (free toll call). Among the services offered : - information and advice about available products and services (internet or fixed line) ; - information and advice about billing and payment ; - turn-on and termination of all France Telecom services for residential customers all over France (analogic and ADSL line, cable television , discount plans, services such as call waiting, caller ID,  etc...). This service is open Monday to Saturday from 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM. To reach this service from abroad simply dial : + 33 1 55 78 60 56 english speaking hotline + 33 1 55 78 60 34 french speaking hotline.

Dotty, There's an English speaking helpline number for France Telecom. Do you want me to dig it out for you in case you need it again?

He was too busy laughing to be miffed! He's planning a big comeback when his second row of spuds come up tomorrow. I'll post it if we get some other pictures!

Jo, I understand EXACTLY how you feel. My husband and I spend hours every day going round and round in the same circle about should we shouldn't we go back. Good luck with your house sale and your move. Enjoy all the things you've missed and natter, joke and debate to your hearts content. And remember.........things don't bloom if they're planted in the wrong soil ( deep eh??[;-)] )  

OK, those of you with children probably see this every day but for those without who may occasionally suffer from a touch of, dare I say it, boredom, this is the result of my husband digging up his new potatoes today.....and finding a somewhat challenged example which he decided would benefit from a few matches and cloves. Rising to the challenge the second photo is my attempt.......anyone out there do any better...............................   Pathetic eh??!! My Little Potato [:D]

That's to the gym equipment, not the baby!!! Although the baby's a no too!

Tempting........................but no!!!   [+o(]

Well all I can say is I've certainly not been bored reading this. I logged on to see if there had been any further responses only to find 4 pages!!! So, firstly, many thanks for taking the time. I'd like to comment on a few points raised........... Firstly, no - I wasn't being provocative starting this subject, however I see I will HAVE to be provocative if I am to service a married man and a Toy boy at the same time [;-)] Catalpa and Will ( and lots more of you ), thank you particularly for your comments. Catalpa, you have it right with the 'mental retirement' point. I spend a lot of time feeling a lack of direction and purpose which I really don't think joining clubs will address. I had many years in Sales related roles, most recently as a Sales Manager for a National company and each day was pushed and pulled in a million directions. The sense of achievement on getting it all done made it worthwhile ( also the pay packet!! ) From your responses I know that many of you are experiencing that achievement here in France in varied ways and I am happy for you. I realise how lucky I am compared to many people to have this opportunity, and reading some of your stories made me a little ashamed of my potentially 'Poor me' post! I am glad however that the people who started to 'have a go' were quickly put in their place as I really believe this is an important subject and one which possibly needs a lot more consideration when planning your move and choosing your location. I have been following the forum for a while now and seen how quickly new people can be scared off but thanks to the support I've had on this I plan to stay! I may even change the name to white-van-woman as someone else did earlier[:)] The 'Troll' comment was at the end of a regular posters response as a signature, when I looked again they had removed the Troll comment, now they've changed the signature altogether. So maybe it wasn't aimed at me personally? No worries. Finally, on a lighter note, I've not been bored today. My hubbie has been digging up his new potatoes and made a very poor potato model with the aid of some matches and a couple of cloves. Rising to the challenge, and stretching my brain I made a different model with an equally unusual potato. I am now going to work out how to put these on here as photos and maybe those of you who are feeling a little of the 'B' word and have a suitably disfigured vegetable  would like to join in? I'll be in the 'Lighter side (?) section. Bye for now.............

[quote user="Philmco"]I always told my kids when they whinged that only boring people get bored.[/quote] Hope it worked on them, however I believe the exact opposite. I believe boring people do not have the mental capacity to get bored. We knew the area well before we moved. We had stressful careers working long hours and could think of nothing better than having nothing to do.......the other end of the scale we were living. I now believe your brain goes through a recovery period when having little to do is just what it needs but, having recovered, it starts to search for stimulation again. We live in a hamlet, 7 houses, all wonderful French people. We speak some French, more now than a year ago thanks to the neighbours. We are a long way from the nearest village. I think maybe we're just too far out living here. I read lots, internet lots, garden lots, eat and drink lots.....but what I need now is to interact lots and, I'm sorry to say, sometimes with people who speak my language. How tiring it is to concentrate as hard as we have to when talking to our French neighbours. I'm re-reading my posts and realise that yes, I am falling into the 'boring' category so I'm signing off now. I've already been referred to as a Troll on another thread and, not wanting to upset people, am going back to my book and Immobilier / UK estate agent web pages. Thank you to those of you who have commented.

I'm also in my early 40's, female, no children and white-can-man is the other half. I took redundancy to come, have I moved too early? The place seems split between younger people with children or retirees. My age group is very thin on the ground i.e. not found any, including our lovely French neighbours.

No, I did what I did so I could come here to do what I'm doing without having to do what I did [:D] I just didn't realise how much stimulation a brain needs. Relaxation, good food and wine and nothing to do most of the time is fine until your soul recovers from the beating it was taking in the UK, but I've started to look back at the UK with rose tinted spectacles. Is this just a phase? I've been here a year.

No, it really is a coincidence. Funny that, but interesting. I'd have offered to swop houses with them if they'd posted earlier.[;-)]