Frederick

Now NOT the bus depot ......but a wharehouse next to it  which was being demolished and contained polystyrene....  now almost out .......looks like it might fall down now.......handy for the demolishers ?

Old dissused bus depot on the proposed Olympic site ....suspected old fuel storage gone up ...industrial site ....no injuries ...............

Wooly ........Thats very kind of you.......but ....B....r  them ....they can wait ....I have paid the bill they can adjust it next year .....

The internet is not only a good place to seek information re ships .regiments etc...A visit to the Imperial war Museum  will also turn up valuable information.....My father went down with his ship in 1942 a destroyer . .my family believed that there were no survivers ....such information was not made available during the war ...the telegram written in blue crayon just arrived to say "Lost in Action " I had by then lost my mother as well and the aunt who raised me accepted  what they were told during the war and that was it .....After  a visit to the war museum I ended up with  a photograph of the ship HMS Martin  and a copy of the report of the sinking at the North Africa Landings even the number of the U boat that sank her...also learned there were 163 survivers  and my fathers name is on the memorial at Chatham .....all information my family never had .... and now available to anyone via the internet ..fantastic .     

On shutting down the house the house for the winter I was aware that the water meter had not been read and that my last bill was an estimate .As the meter is under a manhole cover in the drive and the gates are now locked I knew that SAUR would not get access ...I wrote to them with the meter reading the date it was taken etc.account reference all they needed to sent out the bill.....Letter just arrived   " Our agent has been unable to read the meter ...reason your absence " and the card to sent them the meter reading !   Arggggggg

Oh dear ! Silly me for thinking  that  the thousands of second home owners and  those planning to be. living in the south of England might think the information posted in the NON French section might be of interest to them ...   The store is to be sited  40 minutes from two main ports to France.... Poole and Portsmouth and from what I have read on  this site IKEA is a popular place to shop for people wishing to take stuff over....Should I slap my wrist and promise not to mention Southampton again ?  Some stuff is cheaper in France....a lot .... if its available both side of the channel .... you will see a euro price and a pound price shown as the same on some furniture so  if you are spending a lot .... in France you can save a lot .....Some stuff is cheaper in the UK ....you need to check their sites on line and compare then decide where to buy .....I dont know when they are starting to build it  ...as far as I know the store could be sitting flat packed on the dockside  now... and  be up and selling meat balls in the cafe in a week.. but ..I had better not say when its open ?  

Some Bantam .Mr Wiggy ...I bet you were proud of that .....I am afraid my motor cycle days are long over...Started on  Arial's with girder forks and Matchless 350's .....Lots to chose from in those days and they were all kahaki colour ...and went onto Triumph Thunderbirds and the Speed Twin ..and then ended when on one  I slid on a mud covered bend and came off entering the tunnel to the Central Terminal Area at Heathrow. and that was a long time ago ....  

Wiggy ...You will be telling us you  had mates that  used to ride  BSA Bantams delivering telegrams next !

There is also a screwdriver bit  for your rechargeble that is designed so the screw head goes in the right depth and no further.. ( flush with the surface ) ...stops you pushing the screw right through the plaster board when it grabs into the metal frame .

Just announced the planned new store for the old Pirelli site at Millbrook Southampton has been given the go ahead. As the only choice people on the South Coast have at the moment is London  / Croydon / Bristol this is going to be one very busy IKEA .....

I call it the   " Alcohol  Brake " .....when you get up in the morning after drinking and you find that you have slowed right  down ......like trying to ride a bike when the brakes are partly on...its just harder to get along .....Have a few days without the stuff and when you get up in the morning the  brakes are off ...you find yourself getting round much faster .......Twinkle ....you brakes are no longer binding !!   well done ... 

The bottom line is ......"does this feel right ?  "    I have just had a friend who is a retired police sergeant  come out of  hospital  after  two weeks in due to an accident .....While there  he had time to reflect on his impending  move having sold his house ...He was just going from Surrey to South Wales.........  He said he realised he was doing it for the wrong reason ....money.  for him it didnt feel right.....  doing it just to go from a semi into a detached property with some cash to spare ....

Train to Niort....then taxi  I should think would be cheaper ....

When in France  which is quite a lot now we  are both retired we visit places of interest.work in the garden visit relatives etc.....In the UK  I give 3 days a week to taking people to Southampton General Hospital  for treatment  mostly from Dorset / Wiltshire villages for which I get a millage allowance . ...An observation ........Over the years I have met many guys who have nice cars in their drives who in their later years have sight .and other problems that mean they can no longer drive .or guys who are temporarly off the road through injury.. they sit looking at their cars .....wife sitting at home with them ...she cannot drive     When I ask  wives why they never learned  I hear  " My husband  never wanted me to touch his car ! " ..........Big... Big mistake ..you should always teach your wife to drive !

Strange  ....You can call up flights summer 2008 to Nice from Southampton and book now on their web site ..but not La Rochelle  ?  I hope you are right  Peter .....they dont make it easy for you do they ?

Peter..........It was not shown in my Sunday paper travel section on the Fly-be advert as a destination from Southampton  so I looked at their web site and its not a French destination that pops up when you click on Southampton .....I suspect they have dropped La Rochelle .

I notice that Southampton to La Rochelle has been dropped by Fly-be  who have had some bad press from their pilots over cabin fumes recently ...and ....I think Ryan air have dropped Nantes from Bournemouth  for next year...so the Vendee has lost two carriers ......

  My wife and I were sitting at a table at the Highway Inn and I kept staring at the drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table ...............My wife asked me  "Do you know her ? "  Yes  " I sighed ...."She's my old girlfriend...I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago. and . I hear she hasnt been sober since  "    My God ...says my wife    "Who would have thought a person could go on celebrating that long ? "   

Andy...I buy the salt by the sack ....I dont have a water softener so not sure of the size  but the dishwasher grit size  salt particles  work fine .....

I read that Sakozy is off to Chad to express his concern over the 16 Europeans  being held there over the 100 children  being brought out to Paris  issue .....He seems to be a "get up and go " guy ...got to raise your hat to him ....I cant help thinking that if there were UK citizens  involved the best you would get out of our leader would be to call in an ambassador from Chad for a lecture ... and that would be it .... 

If it is any help re moisture when a house is left over winter.....What we do is buy a big ......very big ....bag of dishwasher salt......use  buckets ...bowls ...old 10 ltr paint tubs ...anything that will hold water......... Use some old tights...or fine mesh net curtains etc   and streatch it over the container  and string tie it round to give you a "drum skin " tightness ......Pile onto the mesh lots of salt .. a good heap...  double handfuls ...... You then place the containers near where you want to ensure dryness... wardrobs....beds .  kitchen  units   etc .... Over  winter the salt will suck the moisture  out of the air through it ....so much so you may after the winter find you have water in the bottom of your buckets ......It keeps working right through the winter......10 times bigger than the window ledge things from the Super U or Brico's  which  I think its the same principal .....the salt will get very damp indeed .....it works !

Andyh4..........Thank you for the information ......I now.... to add to everthing else  I have to worry about ...the knowledge that my Vendee house is at risk of being turned into a pile of dust ....and the perpretraters of this act have their sights on by Dorset one as well .... 

Helen ...What does your insurance company  require you to do when your property is not used over winter ? .....mine requires me when I shut  up the place and drain down  the water after closing it off at the main stop tap at the meter  . I know a lot of people leave power and water on and run de humidifiers  to prevent damp . ....I tend to comply with what I am required to do by my insurers in case they refuse to pay out if  I ever had to make a claim  If  anything happened while I was in the UK having left the power and water on I suspect they would rub their hands in glee ! 

Woolly.....  Not everybody is into buying French houses to make a fast buck as you put it .....Like other posters I take nothing out of France as a second home owner....I pay all the costs required of me to own the house .cover myself by medical insurance  etc .....spending  like this year 3 months  there myself and my family  4 weeks while I was back in the UK  Our money has  flowed one way into the shops.. and for local services and work done on the place ......I  have a family who love France  having been taken there for years on holidays ...now my grandchildren are experiencing the same ......When I pop my clogs the place is theirs to continue to use not to sell ...thats the way I look at it .

No... Forget the chain mails no good while wshing up....gets wet ...rusts...cant move !