NickP

If Scotland had kicked straight into touch that wouldn't have stopped the game because the Referee would have awarded a scrum to Wales back on the centre kick off point. They should have kicked "long". Hey it's always easy after the event. Great game for the spectators though

An old trick is to paint the wood with white gloss paint and while it's still wet wipe it off using a cloth or sponge with white spirit, this will leave you with a Matt "white" finish.  The paint sticks to the soft grain and rubs off the smooth parts, it may help you to experiment first with a spare piece of wood to find out the affect, and how much paint to leave on.

If you're asking me Chancer? my French residential taxes have gone up this year by the astronomical sum of 10 Euro a  year.  Seems to be about the same amount extra every year, I think we can live with that. Going back to UK  housing rates I've  think they are unfair, as the top band rates include 3/4 bed family houses and millionaires mansions in large private estates. In fact they are heavily biased in favour of the financially better off, it seems the people at the lower end of the ladder, council houses and small properties seem to come of worse, pro rata to their position on the financial ladder.

[quote user="woody234"]my tax fonciere and d'habitation for 75m2 is 1200 euros a year for a farm house in deux sevres, why is it so much these days [/quote] If you take any notice of a couple of a couple of other contributers elsewhere on this forum they would probably tell you it's because the councils are building loads of social  housing.[:D]   Still thank your lucky stars mate you don't have to pay the rates that people have to pay in southern England. Our French taxes are pretty much the same as yours and we are in a tiny village with no facility's at all. But then that's our choice, and we think it's worth it.

Celine wrote  "When one compares Carla Sarkosy with Sarah Brown I am of the opinion that women of the UK would do well to take more of interest in the image they give to the world. "    I'm not sure that Sarah Brown is represenative of British women any more than Margaret Thatcher is. As for Carla's public image  Hhmmm! You might want to think about that ?   [:D]

[quote user="NormanH"]It's a choice I wish many British Eurosceptics with houses in France had made ..... [/quote] Just because someone is a Euosceptic it doesn't mean they have to dislike France.      

[quote user="Evianers"]And then of course, there is this : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8512215.stm [/quote] Read this report very carefully,  BA banned all jewellery not just crosses.

Paul. Try SuperU they do  very reasonable deals. Unfortunatly car hire at airports is always expensive.

Will wrote          "Some are totally respectable people. The rest are very pleasant - rather slow mentally perhaps, so cannot get anything other than occasional poorly-paid work, which is most likely the reason why they are in social housing." Will, did you actually think about this comment before you  commited it to paper ?  [+o(]

We brought ours with us from England, a Bosch dishwasher and a Miele washing machine no problem, fitted straight onto the pipes that were already in place. [:D] 

Andy,  I don't use the side door on my stove very much as I haven't got quite as much space at the side of my stove as you have,  and as at the minute it's very cold  here in the Loir et Cher, I tend to use the space as a wood store. I know what you mean about burning wood at a great rate, but once you get used to the stove; you learn not to put too much wood in to it and  keep it going at a  steady burn. I bought a stove pipe thermometer and I find that helped. Try to burn at a good steady flame, not a high flame, you then get a good heat return over a longer period. thereby getting better heat value out of the wood. Also it's amazing how a little adjustment on the draft control makes a lot of  difference on the fire.  I found it a huge learning curve, and now wished I had bought one years ago. Before with a huge open fireplace I might just as well burned pound notes in the hearth, all I was doing was heating up the air above the house. By installing the woodburner I have cut my wood consumption by about 2 to 3 steres a winter, the oil fired central heating come on  lot less, saving oil, and it's great to sit in a really warm room which doesn't fill up with smoke a couple of times a week.  [:D]

[quote user="Butchersdog190"]Just had a Jotul F600 installed and it is quite simply stunning[:D] http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/photo/6v7CTmKp0Y3M_ia8bfYivw?authkey=Gv1sRgCKftj9qI5aivtQE&feat=directlink [/quote] I have the same stove, with the soap stone top, as you say it really is a fabulous piece of kit. But, and there is a but, the door handle drives me mad, it is possibly one of the worst pieces of design I've come across., I am amazed that such a good stove has this awful low tech handle.

[quote user="nemltd"] Thanks Ceejay Did you change the plugs or use adaptors, and was the fridge/freezer ok when you set it up? I know they don't like travelling. I don't suppose you found any cheap granite worktop installers in France, we are in the Gers (32) Cordialements Tony [/quote] Change the plugs, do not rely on adaptors. We bought  our fridges and freezers from the UK no problems, I believe that they do not like being transported laying on their backs so as long as they are standing up right you should be OK. After all they get delivered to the shops in trucks.

Dog wrote "Quite why being naked is thought of as outraging anyone is daft " Well Dog  in your world it probably is, but then in your world so are lots of other normal modes of behaviour. [:P]

Will wrote  "As a freight ferry it has limited passenger capacity (sources suggest 250 people maximum, though it seems the Latvians may have increased this slightly)." Knowing the Latvians they probably put a conservatory on the side  [:D]

Woolybanana wrote "Democracy rarely changes much but protest might. " I believe that democracy is the right of the majority, and they can change the law if they were commited enough. But one looney walking around in the nude is no benifit to society, and obviously not enough people apart from "Wooly" are commited to this cause. [:D]  As for simply sending him back to England, why? he has broken the law in Scotland let them deal with him. After all there are enough idiots in England that the authorities can't deal with .

[quote user="woolybanana"]If he ever gets out of Scotland it will be a miracle at this rate. The treatment he is receiving is beginning to look like Scots priggish puritanism versus human rights. Those charges are just trumped up. The judge should be ashamed of himself. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/8504762.stm [/quote] How can the charges be trumped up? this guy knows exactly what he's doing, in fact he was offered the chance to go free and he declined it. You can't change the rules by ignoring them, to change them you have to join the club and persuade others that your view is correct, it's called democracy. Human rights has got nothing to do with this situation. The majority of the population don't want to see hairy arsed ex marines walking around in the buff, it frightens the dogs .      [:D]

Tegwini wrote,  " What a change- violence not at all unknown in secondary schools these days. " Maybe this is something to do with our parents attitude to discipline, anybody touches todays little darlings and their parents can't get to their solicitors quick enough. If I complained to my Dad that I had been chastised by a teacher, my Dad said  "you probably deserved it" and he was right.

I'm a bit confused as well, but if your present car is LHD and French registered, sell it in France and buy the new one in the UK. Second hand cars have a much higher value in France than the UK. New cars are a lot  cheaper in the UK.

http://www.audiofrench.com/verbs/verbes_index.htm

[quote user="Bugbear"]Incorrect answers: - Lying through his teeth. Jack Straw [:@] [/quote] Don't worry, he'll claim Parliamentary privilege   [:D]

I don't think it is the greatest idea in the world to dismantle a woodburner, some of them have fire cement included in their construction, and if you don't get that right on re-assembly you could be giving yourself problems you don't want. When we had ours delivered it was on a pallet and the delivery guys had a sack trolley that incorporated a mechanical hoist,  we had to lift the fire about two feet into the fireplace, the hoist worked a treat. Also most vans delivering such products have tail lifts, so if your steps are at the outside of your house maybe they could back right up to the steps, and lower the tail lift level with the top step. Also if they  use a pallet truck with hard wheels, not bad idea to have some strips of ply to protect your floors  Good luck.  [I]

We had the same unfortunate experience when our car was written off in France. Difference was; that the insurance company Direct Line  and their breakdown service  hired us a French hire car, which we had to hand back at the Calais depot, travel on the ferry as foot passengers, then pick up another car in Dover. There were a few uninsured losses, taxi fares  another large case to carry all the loose bits and pieces that were in the car, for  which we did not get any compensation . The whole episode took at least a year to settle and I did get back my no claims bonus, when it was proved that the accident was no fault of mine. If you are really unhappy with the information from your insurance company, go to the the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau.

So 4 British MP's have been charged over the expenses scandal, the captain of the English  football team has been sacked because of his private life and replaced by someone who was banned for dodging a drugs test. What was the quote? Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, I think that needs rewriting. Any bets on the MP's getting off scott free?

I'm not a forum moderator nor do I have any ambitions to be one. But as a member of this forum I'm entitled to an opinion. So if I find your attempts at sarcasm a bit boring then I'm entitled to say so. Incidentally I'm no more a forum expert than you are. [:D] [:D] [:D]