Pommier

Was she last full of life in the cooler weather before summer? She's quite old so it could be a mix of being too hot and still carrying some of the infection. Maybe she'll liven up when the weather cools down. There's a vet who posts regularly on the 'other' forum; maybe she could advise.

Don't just let an immobilier arrange for the diagnostics; phone around as the difference in costs can be several hundred euros.

This was an interesting programme on Radio 4 this afternoon, available as a Podcast. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07hwv25

Well I think this forum would be better without Quillan's input either as a moderator or as a poster. Maybe Britain First has a forum..........

If it's Irish then it's whiskey, but Scottish is whisky - not sure about Japanese etc!

[quote user="Rabbie"] In my part of Scotland it was always "a half and a half" with no wee. Brings back memories of my youth.[:)]. [/quote] Don't tell me they serve it with wee in some parts of Scotland..................!

As far as I can remember, the cadastral plan should have symbols next to each boundary which shows who is responsible for it.

In your position I'd go back to the UK until I'd got work and health care organised, but if you are determined to give it a go here, try your best to get a job. I know someone in their mid 50's with minimal French who has got a job in a fish processing factory on minimum wage - that's the type of job you might be able to get and then you would have both an income and health cover. Places such as abbatoirs are often looking for employees so although not a nice job, it's a way of staying in France.

I'd keep away from these sort of agents; I think it'd be just money down the drain. If you're getting viewers but no offers, then there's something in your house that viewers don't like - ask the agents and see if there's any way to improve it. If you aren't getting viewers, then your asking price is too high. I'd stick with 2 agents plus a local notaire plus adverts on Leboncoin and all the other free sites but asking only the 'net vendeur' price.

The fruit and veg in our Lidl is excellent; it's not been over chilled (as in our SuperU) and is fresh, ready to eat and very reasonably priced. Their bio range is also cheaper than other supermarkets. My only gripe with Lidl is the staffing. There always seem to be plenty moving stock around, but usually only one on the till with a queue to almost the back of the shop. We have 5 markets a week, but there's not a lot I'd buy from them as they are SO expensive! Who buys burgers when they're so quick and easy to make? - and then you can be sure of what they contain.

Norman, thanks for your tip about passe compose - that will stick in my mind! Betty, I'll do as you suggest and concentrate on conjugating the main verbs first. I don't do too bad in conversation, but the trouble is that although we've been living here for 13 years, there's never been time (or maybe inclination as there's always time if you make it) to go to classes, so I've learnt some sort of bodged together version of French rather than the proper thing!

Yes, it's getting the grammatical terms straight in my head that's part of the trouble. I understand present, but passe compose vs imparfait? Part of this weeks homework was this: 'Maintenant, conjuguez les verbes suivants au présent,passé composé,futur,imparfait,conditionnel avec JE , NOUS , ILS TO GO/TO GO AWAY/TO REMIND/TO REMEMBER/TO OCCUPY/TO LOOK AFTER/TOWAIT FOR/TO EXPECT / TO ASK/TO WONDER Aaaaaaaaaaargg!

I'm struggling with grammar as I've just started a new class and been told to study conjugation of verbs in present, passe compose, futur, imparfait and conditionnel - mmm. I know what a verb is, and I'm know what present and futur means (but not too hot at conjugating them!), but the other two I just have to keep looking them up! I scraped French O level at grade 6 a long, long time ago and have muddled along since arriving in France, murdering the language although being generally understood.

Yes, I well remember excitedly going to collect prints and finding they were all rubbish! Worse than that, the photographic shop where we took film for processing used to go through all the prints saying what was wrong with them.

I've found how to go to manual focus and I have managed to take photos with parts in or out of focus. The instructions for this camera are on-line and I think I'll be studying them for a long time! I used to have an SLR camera years ago and I'm sure that was easier - or maybe it's just that I'm older!

That,s what the instructions say, but it seems hard to get anything out of focus! I have managed to get some progress by zooming a bit as then I am getting some in focus and some parts out of focus -don't know why!

As far as I can work out the focus is automatic. I get a green box on the object when it's in focus with the shutter half depressed. I'd have thought I could then move the camera and still keep that thing only in focus, but it seems that everything is in focus whatever I do!

I've set the camera on the 'A' (aperture control) setting, then turned the aperture to F3 , but it doesn't seem to make any difference to the result however the aperture is set. Am I missing something else I ought to be doing?

Thanks for your reply ALBF. I'm only experimenting at the moment, but even though I set the aperture to F3 and didn't zoom, everything seemed equally focused (and I made sure that there were objects close, middle and far. At present I'm finding that there are too many settings and I don't know which to apply!

I've just bought a new camera. It's a Nikon Coolpix P530 which is a bridge camera. So far, it works great on 'auto' setting, but I'd like to work out how to get a photo that's only focussed on the subject. The camera has got aperture control, but although I set it to the lowest f number which is 3 (it goes to 5.9) I must be doing something wrong because everything seems to be equally in focus. Can anyone suggest what settings I should use please?

I saw a camera offer in a Conforama promo leaflet, so after lots of research I decided to buy it. It was shown as in stock at our nearest branch and it said if I paid on line I could collect it free of charge immediately at the shop. That seemed a good idea just in case stocks were low, so off we went this afternoon with the printed off confirmation and proof of ID. That’s where it all went wrong! The shop sent us to the pick up point who said we had to return next day. But it says ‘Disponible immediatement’ I said, ‘oh no,’ came the reply ‘tomorrow, that’s when it’ll be disponible’. Back into the shop where the manager confirmed that we couldn’t have the camera, despite them being there on the shelf. Her suggestion; cancel the original order, wait 48 – 72 hours for an email confirmation, then another 6 or 7 days for a refund, and buy (and pay again) for a camera off the shelf! I explained to her than I wasn’t prepared to pay twice for the camera and for her to cancel the whole order which she swore she did. Oh, she also said she didn’t know the name or phone number of her boss! On return home I emailed Conforama’s SAV plus their marketing director and then received a call from the after sales saying we could go back to the shop and get the camera. I refused saying that the order had been cancelled, to which she said it hadn’t. I told her to cancel it immediately – and I want my money back as quickly as they took it, and I’ll buy the camera from elsewhere. Never again will I buy anything from this bunch of .................. (insert swear word!)

Our experience is the same as yours ALBF. Everyone here is moving into new, energy efficient houses. As for people holding onto building plots, they've got a choice; sell it or build on it (or pay the higher taxes). It used to be a great retirement savings option, but with the higher TF the empty plots dotted around lotissements will soon be a thing of the past.

As I remember it only cost us €15 per hour and held a lot of gravel - it was the biggest that could be driven on a normal licence. You could do a lot of trips before getting anywhere near €600!

When we last bought gravel, the company selling it advised us to hire a smallish tipper lorry from Mr Bricolage as that would be lots cheaper than them delivering - and it was as they hire by the hour.

We had an email today to say that the battery was ready for collection, so off we went, collected new battery, fitted it and took the old one into the shop in exchange for the €15 bon d'achat. No worries about how good/bad their mechanics are as they weren't involved.