Limousin Lass

Ah but hand washing does nothing for my dermatitis brough on by washing liquids and rubber gloves, over the years I have tried most things on the market and doctors prescription and now in my senior years I prefer to use what I know will not bring it on, namely a dishwasher.

Saw first butterfly yesterday really lifted the spirits to think spring may be on the way, although it saddens me to think that any really cold spells will kill these early emergents.  Crocus and dwarf iris out in the garden but the 50 crocus bulbs I put in pots by front door have all been had by the bloomin mice just as they were emerging into flower - pesky critters. Hope to see the grues again, such a spectacle and noise in the autumn but I understand they don't make so much noise on their way back north so will have to keep my eyes on the sky.

Thank you all for your replies I have obviously been looking in the wrong places. good to know I can still get one and will have to do more research. Ab, I still need a dishwasher, whether it be human or electrical and seeing as my human one doesn't work it will have to be electrical ! ! Sylvia

A few years ago we had as part of a built in kitchen in a house we bought a dishwasher that you could fold down all of those spikey things so that you had a completely flat surface.  I would love to get another one for our new kitchen but can't for the life of me remember the make, does anyone know what I am looking for and can point me in the right direction. Thanks   Sylvia

This site is quite good for all types of range cookers.  I don't have any experience of buying from them, I am in the planning stages at the moment and looking for a mixed fuel range type cooker with a separate grill compartment and these seemed to have the  most comprehensive choice. http://www.webachatfrance.fr/index-rub2_1020_2_0_0.html

I have used the wet paper/ash system for cleaning the fire glass for a few years and find that if I pre-wet the glass and leave for a couple of minutes before trying to clean it makes the job much easier.  I used to use newspaper but since moving to France I don't have them so now use scrunched up kitchen roll, much cleaner on the hands.

Oh Frenchie I do feel for you having been in a similar position myself.  I was very happy in the job I was doing having helped build the company up from 4 to 30 employees, I couldn't understand what and why things where happening, people who had previously been my friends ignoring me, unjustified complaints being made to the boss, derogatory remarks about my appearance being made just in my ear shot.  As a consequence I had a total nervous breakdown and because of the personal remarks made I suffered near agoraphobia for about 3 months, and even today, many years later, I am not the confidant person I was before. You have a lovely TRUE friend and I think it would probably be better if both of you speak to the principal about the situation together, I think it will give you more confidence to have someone with you that you know is suffering as well. Good Luck, I will be thinking about you on Monday.    

Using the word sexy to describe cars, furniture, houses, etc. Using loan/lend instead of borrow. Pronouncing specific as pacific and especially as specially - quite often heard on television reports.

Thank you all for your replies and links. I haven't yet been able to do anything due to OH's accident we have had to put back our plans for a while.  It is something I will definately follow up when the chicken house is finished and the fencing is up. Celestine, I would be very interested to hear how you get on and I am sure there may be other kindly folks on this forum who would have some of these poor chickens, it just takes someone to get the ball rolling. Good luck. Sylvia

Have you tried e-mailing Reikiman he might still be interested. Best of luck, I do hope you find a new forever home for him.

We are in the same position, re-doing our kitchen and have been told to get make model numbers of the items we require and take them into our local Gitem shop the chap in there told us he can beat most internet prices as there is minimal delivery.  Even if it was the same price or a few € more I think I will be from a local shop for peace of mind if anything does go wrong.

We hired from Loxam in Limoges, found them to be much cheaper on the things we wanted than BLS.  Also bought 2 scaffold towers from Castorama, for smaller jobs much cheaper than hiring scaffold and MUCH safer than trying to balance on ladders.  When hiring most places have delivery and collection charges for larger items and this can be quite expensive.

Sorry about your chickens it must be horrible to go out and find that in the morning.  Out of interest how do you know it was a marten?

Oh dear, as we are surrounded by forests I think we will always have this problem so it looks like we will have to re-instate the electric fence the previous owners had put up because they were duck breeders, we still have all the fencing in place just a matter of reconnecting the electric and clearing around the bottom of the fence.  

Thank you all for your replies.  If it was a marten of some form is it dangerous to the ducks, geese and chickens that we have, I know they will steal the eggs but will they harm the fowl?

Ah, lovely, I do like these stories with a happy ending. Well done, I'm sure Kiki will soon get to love having a new companion.

So glad to hear he is back safe and sound, did he come back on his own or did someone find him.

Last spring I found some smallish potatoes that had were sprouting and had gone quite soft, instead of throwing them away I planted them in a very large flower tub (the type you get quite marture tree/shrubs in).  I put about 6" of soil/compost mix in the bottom and covered with about the same amount, as they grew I covered with more mixture until pot was full to the brim.  Had some lovely new potatoes and would have had more if the dreaded blight had not attacked them. Saw the programme with Bob Flowerdew and there was quite a bit of discussion on allotment forums about whether this was safe due to chemicals leaching from the tyres. Sylvia

I wish I had agreed to the out of court setllement she wanted.

We were sat in the glorous sunshine we had yesterday watching our dogs investigating around the banks of the lake when we noticed something swimming across the lake, it climbed one of the poles of the duck enclosure and disappeared.  From what we could see at a distance with the naked eye it was too small to be a rangodin and too big to be a rat or water vole so think it must have been a marten or something like that but not sure if they can swim. Thanks Sylvia

Mogs,  I know how upset you must be feeling at the moment.  Ours disappeared for about 3 hours yesterday, some kind soul had cut the top of our wire fencing and the dogs found it and were away following up all the interesting smells in the surrounding woods.  When I found out what had happened I am afraid I went into panic mode as the woods are regularly used by the local chasse at weekends.  Just as I was about to start calling friends to help us search for them they turned up with tails wagging obviously having enjoyed their adventure. I do hope your dog turns up safe and sound, I will be thinking of you. Sylvia  

Hi, the only ones I know of along the Southampton Road,  are Dreams and The Sleep Depot (inside Land of Leather. Hope this helps Sylvia PS We have a king-size wooden sleigh bed and I found it very uncomfortable to sleep in being nearly 6ft tall so  keep it now  for our shorter guests.  

A young couple we know who have 3 young children decided to follow their dream 4 years ago.  They sold their house in the UK for a substantial profit, after they had bought here outright they still had quite a bit of capital.  4 years on, neither the husband or the wife have been able to find meaningful employment, although they both speak fairly fluent french, their capital has gone, the rows have been tremendous. Now they are trying to sell.  For them their dream has turned into a nightmare, they thought they were doing it for a better life for their children but admit that the stress has taken its toll on the whole family and they are now having behavioural problems with the children. They admit they didn't research the employment possibilities before they decided to make their move, they had not had any problems finding jobs in the Uk and assumed it would be the same in France. After listening to their story I would advise any young couple to research employment possibilities or, if you have a skill to start you own business, is it required in your chosen area.  My personal view is that a house is a house it is the people in it that make it a home. Sorry don't wnt to put a dampener on anyones dream but sometimes that dream is not worth it.  

Hi Louis, Not sure if I am missing something but I get something called 'Nathans Blog' when I click your link,  also that is a .co.uk site do they deal with battery hens in France? Regards Sylvia

In the UK I was never very impressed with the fruit pie fillings for gateauxs so used to make my own using bottled/tinned fruit mixed with the approriate jam, made a lovely fruity filling and you could reserve some of the fruit for decoration. Sylvia