Gardengirl

We've never stuck ours on the windscreen; it's kept in the door pocket and held up as and when required. If I stuck it on, I'm sure I'd forget to take it off, and wouldn't want to risk it being mistaken for a GPS and have a break-in. GG

Oh dear, that's something else I hadn't noticed - I think I'll have to write lines - 'I must look at all wording on the page, not just what I feel at home with'! I've just looked at it, and will also use that. But the strangely dated posts remain a mystery! Thanks, Jo PS Despite reading instructuions I still don't seem to manage smilies etc.

The TV changer is 'that thing', the doofer for autoroutes is 'the doofer', and our GPS is 'Dora'; she's ever so patient and polite, and I love the way she sounds so proud as we approach our destination! Jo

Forgot, I tried looking in tools, but didn't recognise the options you mentioned - all in French, but seemed technical words I didn't understand. Jo

Yes, it's me again! I do always log off at the internet cafe, but thanks for the reminder, Cat. And such friendly helpful replies are greatly appreciated. Now, problem page again! I'm back here, logged in - shows 'edit your details', which I will look for at each visit now, and I'm finding old messages dated 'today', which I'm sure are older: One by Philouis, marked 'today 12.16', which I thought was a few days old. One by Chancer marked 'today 11.09', again I think is older. A post of mine from yesterday in Cooking, headed 'SOS', which when clicked on says 'today'. Conversely, under 'Vehicle Safety', posts look totally up to date. And one of my posts from earlier today is there; 'International mobile calls in France', in Sat. TV etc. Any thoughts? Jo

We are also with Leclerc, and are very happy with it, just as you mention. No charge to set it up, and some free time was included. They phoned to do the transfer in the store, as we wanted to keep our old number, and find phone calls the biggest challenge, especially the accent locally; not too bad face to face/with gestures (clean ones!). Jo

Thank you both for your helpful replies. As you will gather, I have no technical knowledge at all! I looked up at the top of ther page, found it didn't say 'edit your details', but did say 'log in'; put in my details, et voila! Buttons are there, and I'm assuming the messages will be also - I thought I'd post to you both first. Sorry to be such a nuisance to you; I come to the same machine in this internet cafe each time we're in France, and normally I'm logged in, and can send lots of messages; don't know what has changed. We signed up with Neuf this week, have received our box already, and will be online in about 10 days; I'm hoping for calm waters then. My husband is looking forward to paying less then! I seem to get through 4 hours worth (10 euros) very quickly! Thanks again, Jo

Buttons to reply by email and PM come and go regularly; they're back this afternoon, so all is well. However, posts which I know were there a couple of days ago had disappeared this afternoon. They returned earlier, then disappeared again. Weird! I also see that some posts I read a day or two ago read as 'today' in the legend. There's a wicked gremlin at work! Jo

I seem to have a strange set-up today! My original post is the only one showing, but there were two, so somebody's stolen them! It's the same with other topics; posts read as 'today', when I know they were from a couple of days ago. To both who posted - sorry I can't remember who you are (see above!) I made use of both; lovely and easy and delicious, and just what I needed! I didn't have a large number at the Macmillan coffee morning today (the French were suspicious, as they tell me that a President of a cancer charity ran off with all the money! - true?). However, I made around 60 euros, between Macmillan and CSF Sud de France. I only heard of this fairly recently, but it helps English-speaking people who have cancer, in many ways. They are trained by Macmillan staff, who travel to France. They are trying to open a brach in Langudoc, so our little bit will help towards that. Thanks again, Jo EDIT PS I don't believe it - both messages are back!

Glad you enjoyed the visit, Suzy. We revisited it on Tuesday, with our son and his partner.My husband stayed on the train and spent the afternoon in Anduze; he's not very in to such things, although he enjoyed his one visit. We met up again on the 5pm train back. I enjoyed it more than in July, as it was much too hot then. The temp was around 24° on Tues, so a lot more comfortable for strolling round. I also love the Dragon Garden; my son's partner loved the maze, too. On our July visit we went with the guided tour, but relied on the English commentaries this time as the two younger ones don't have much French. While we were there, one of the bamboo experts recommended me not to buy a bamboo for our terrace; he said it would die on a south-facing site without great amounts of water in summer. So as they can be rather expensive, I've given that idea up. At the moment, I'm veering between an olive tree and a laurier rose. I love the idea of my own olives, but know that laurier roses are as tough as old boots! I'm now saving the bamboo idea for our UK garden, along with a eucalyptus. Thanks for the suggestion of a good place to look, Russethouse. Jo

Thanks Clair. The buttons just aren't there sometmes; their normal place under people's messages is just blank. However, they are visiting today, so I'll try sending a message. Jo

We don't stick ours on the windscreen, just hold it up at the barrier. It was very busy driving on the motorway from Montpellier to Nimes yesterday for the end of the Feria. So nice to just sail through! Then used a Vinci car park, so didn't need change - it just appears on the monthly bill! Jo

I was just trying to PM you, but no button there! I'll try in a day or two. However, as they haven't gone through the usual TA channels to complain, you might do best to ignore them. I do find it disconcerting when my buttons disappear! Jo

I didn't expect to bake anything while in France, as I rarely bake in UK. However, I rashly decided at 3 this morning to have a coffee morning for Macmillan's giant coffee morning next Friday. It won't be a huge affair (there wouldn't be room in our apartment for lots of people!) So, with their coffee I'll need some goodies for them to eat - just thought about that over lunch today! Not a shining example of my planning abilities. If you have any very simple recipes for good things to eat, which won't take long, I'd love to have them - and not with lots of cream, please - if we continue to have storms we'll have to squeeze inside. A further problem with this affair is shortage of time - we have visitors till late Thursday afternoon; so I'll need to have a good clean round before the coffee morning at 10.30 as well as some baking. My husband thinks I've gone mad! He's probably right. Thanks, Jo

As Braco said, unless there is something specific in US law you should be able to open an account. However, we needed to supply documentation proving our address in France, power bill etc. We are with the local branch of CA; we can't pay in cheques etc in another area; each region is separate. With Britline, I understand you can open an accountl by post, although I think the same problem exists with them as regards paying in etc in another area; you probably have to put it in the post.

Absolutely; it's the only way we use to pay money into our French bank account to pay bills, direct debits etc. It got a bit tricky when sterling dropped rapidly, trying to stay one step ahead when withdrawing money from the ATM; we kept having to request smaller amounts than we were used to! Jo

I think that's correct. Our local branches at Reading, Woodley and Wokingham all changed to Freegle. Messages were received about the change, but didn't explain why. I love Freecycle - somebody took our bath, basin, WC last week; not only saved it from the tip, but saved us a trip to the trip! I was telling somebody here in France about it yesterday, and she was amazed that people were so altruistic; I've been encouraging her to use the French one. Jo

Hi Doris, My garden is in UK, and I don't grow a lot these days; cabbages, broccoli etc was a while ago. I began to cut back on other crops as my knees and back deteriorated, and now the veg patch is quite small.We spend half the year in France, several weeks at a time, so I tend to limit crops to tomatoes and courgettes which look after themselves while we are away; our son lives locally and collects the courgettes every couple of days while we are gone. When we get back he's ready for a rest from them! I also do lots of salads and herbs, also strawberries - no work there, but the slugs and birds get more than us! I did stick some butternut squash in this year, but they didn't grow; I never water anything once it's been well-watered in, so I suspect that's what they needed, although it's been my best year for tomatoes and courgettes for ages!  I used to grow lots of varieties of beans, peas, potatoes, carrots (dreadful in our clay soil, but it got better), brassicas etc. A lot of work, but like you I loved it. I was also an organic gardener, still am, but I grow very little now, as you see. In France I just have a balcony, but grow salads and herbs in pots; I buy them on the market, and they love it out there; we're fairly self-sufficient in salads over several weeks, and I'll be potting some more up later this week; we return tomorrow, and should have several more good growing weeks ahead. I pass my pots of salads and herbs on to a neighbour when we leave, and she eats whatever's left; she's intrigued by this English woman who gardens 2 floors up! Lots of luck for your winter crops, Jo

I'd forgotten about flea beetles; yes, all over rocket too! We eat a lot of cabbage and broccoli in UK, but not in France. I buy organic ones in UK, and am concerned about the chemicals in those I see in France; as you say, a lot is from Spain and I've heard they use huge amounts of chemicals. I don't think I go OTT on this, but I'm pleased, for instance, that our egg man in the market rears his hens organically.  It sounds as though you have plenty to keep you busy in your plot! Jo  

Sorry, can't offer you any real help on prevention. I've known them as being on wild brassica family plants, and moving along to cultivated brassicas. They can also move on to potatoes, I believe! The adults over-winter on soil, often under stones; also in cracks and crevices on trunks etc. They emerge in spring, and can lay 2 lots of eggs, one generation emerging  in May - July, with another at the end of August - October. Malathion was  used commercially, also refined rape oil. What do you do about caterpillars of cabbage white butterflies on your brassicas? Maybe try the same. I gave up on brassicas, as the only way that worked was to pick the caterpillars off the undersides of leaves and either squash them (ugh!), or put them in a pot of salt water to kill them. But there were so many, I couldn't keep bending down so much due to a bad back. I commiserate with you on your nasties, Jo  

Ours is a small touristy town, very busy in the holiday seasons. The mayor also does a lot in the town, as with 5-element, with lovely new pavements in the old town and many old buildings being renovated. I can't say the roads are in a marvellous state, and street cleaning is almost non-existent outside the old town and boulevards - we're a 5-minute walk away from the old town, and I've been known to take a broom out into the street and pick up rubbish when I can't stand it any longer! The mayor is also trying to keep dog mess down - a great idea! A big update on the bull ring is under way, and there are several sports centres. I'm pleased out taxe F is low - obviously- but can't understand why it is so low after reading comments here. We'll be back there in a couple of days, so I'll be off to chat to the neighbours about it, try to make sense of it. If it's really meant to be so low, I'll go on my way rejoicing! But I'd like to be sure. Jo

'Le petit prince is saving his planete' - love it! It's potentially a high cost for all who use anything other than electricity, and will affect everyone through rising costs in the shops. I support some measures, but think the first step should be the EU setting a good example by cutting back on their parading between venues at huge expense and use of fuel!   Jo 

I've just looked up a survey of costs  for 2008; the average  was €731 for taxe d'H and €771 for taxe F. The highest outside Paris was Sete, at 2166€ for both! I believe taxe fonciere is based on notional rent; our small place wouldn't bring in much rent, whereas somewhere bigger with lots of rooms, bathrooms etc would bring in more. I remember a neighbour trying to get us to leave things off our form, such as a washbasin in the small WC room - telling us we'd be mad to be asking for extra tax! Jo

You poor thing - that does sound high! Is it a tourist hot-spot? We've just received our first bill for166 euros, which seems a bargain by comparison! Small touristy town, 1 bedroomed apartment with garage and shared pool. Jo

A small extra my husband has found useful is www.bitesizedlanguages.com. I think they do other languages, too. You read a sentence and can  listen to it spoken, over and over if necessary. There isn't a line of progression, as far as I remember, but it arrives by email daily in small-sized bites, complete with translation, and you then have that resource available to you to reuse. It could be a useful add-on. I think I heard about it on this forum originally. Jo