inkflo

Thanks for that tip, last year we lost all our toms, cherries, & potatoes were blight ridden so we'll give that product a go.

I have read these postings about the frogs with great interest & I can see the points of view of all sides here. Yes, the frog noise can come as a bit of a shock, (laughing Hyenas come to mind!) But, once you realise that they are part & parcel of living in the French countryside, then I think you  have to have a sense of humour about it. We lived in Spain & the Cicadas (night time chain saws) came as a surprise to us at first, just as the frogs did when we moved here. I have to agree though that country life is wonderful & those Cicadas & frogs were here long before the human, car & motor bike (sorry Bugbear!) moved in. The frogs do wake us up sometimes, but we love the windows open all year round & the owls, snuffling badgers, hedgehogs, nightingales and ... yes the frogs are all part of this wonderful environment. They are all natural sounds of the planet, I expect our snoring & other bodily noises wouldn't sound too great to a frog anyway It's all a bit like road noise, you won't think about it after a time... really.. you won't!

Hi We want to change our UK & Spanish plug tops to French ones. As we have about 70 to change, does anyone know where we can buy them in bulk a bit cheper than the brico's? Thay are around 1.70 each which will make it quite pricey to do them all.

Gorgeous aren't they! We have a breeding pair that arrive here in March, they have been with us for about two weeks now. When we lived in Devon, we found one on the grass verge one Springtime. I know it's not yours, but that's a brilliant picture. Mine are like little dots as they are so timid I can never get a close up shot.

[quote user="Rose"]Dear ladies... please help me!  I have my share of 'women's problems' but if that weren't bad enough, recently I have noticed that I get PMT... more and more and worse and worse... any advice please... I feel so dreadful... I just want to scream or cry or both... just writing this makes me feel like crying...is there anything out there that can help me [8-)] do pm if you don't feel like posting such delicate things on the open forum thank you...[blink] [/quote] Try Oil of Evening Primrose capsules, they may save your relationship too!

I agree with Ron, I phoned our insurance company & because we are on a special over 50's policy, although we are fully comp, no-one else is covered.

Try borrowing & tethering someone's goat for a few days.

You could always try the English Nursery In France An English Nursery in France Shrub & fruit tree nursery Just type that into Google & it will appear.  

We've had years of landscaping for a living & have always found that investing in a good quality brushcutter pays dividends. We bought the cheaper ones & ended up dumping them after 6 months. Get something like a Husqvarner or an Allen pro & it will give you great service for years. Also, we've now changed from the old style heads where you had to wrap the strimming line around the central core to the new type where you cut short lengths of line & just pop them into the head & tighten them. Result; no more ragging up in long weeds & much quicker to change the line. You get what you pay for!

This is really the BEST news I've had this week! We hope you will all be really happy together.

[quote user="sweet 17"]inkflo, you'd do us all enthusiastic cooks a great favour if you would put some of your favourite recipes on the site; simple but tasty, not over complicated, etc.  Wow!  You'd have our eternal gratitude.[/quote] I'm moving house soon, but I'll have a look see what I can come up with after that.

[quote user="Ian"] How many of you make a living just from your websites?  Do any of you write paid content for another website? [/quote] I have sold articles on Constant Content. I don't make a living from this, but there are people that do. Lots of people want web content there  & if you can sell them some articles, they will sometimes contract you to do them regularly.

Hi I did own a restaurant many moons ago & I would love to again. Too old now I fear! Good food should be like a good marriage though, keep it simple but tasty, don't overcomplicate it, never have too much on your plate, and always remember how good it was.

How old was he then? He looks as though you've taken away his bone in that photo! I had Boxers for years, lovely dogs but all as daft as each other. Happy Birthday Maxwell

I have to say that I set up my E Bay account on the E Bay UK site, purely to ease the language situation. I set up a Papypal account two years ago, in English for the same reason. If I advertise on E Bay UK, or pay via Paypal, I always get the e mails back in French, never in English. I have managed to list my items now, but I still get all the e mails in French.

Tarte de Fromage to start, followed by cold langoustines, mayo & a crisp salad, washed down with a good, chilled Chablis ... mmmm!

I do hope someone can give Joy a good home soon. It's such a desperately sad thing that has happened to this poor dog, & I know there must be someone out there who can home and love him soon.

Would this suit perhaps? Roquefort Papillon Rouergue, raw sheep's milk, soft, crumbly, complex

Thank you for your remarks on this. I have now managed to list some items & am eagerly waiting to see if I get any response. The tip about the private courier was useful though as I have had a bad experience with parcels via the post in France. Many thanks

[quote user="Pads"]Ha I have seen you !!!!! I was the one who pinched your bum and ran away ........ Remember ?[/quote] Can't say I recollect.... was I there that day?

Mmmm..... Thank you Choccie.

No idea why that is, sorry. Are there any ex bank employees out there?

Have you thought about getting someone to stand at the gate & charging for the parking? Might put a lot of people off if they have to pay, & might help towards putting you lawn right!

[quote user="Benjamin"]It's a long time since I've used a UK bank to transfer money but they used to be notoriously bad for giving you a specific rate when you want to transfer funds. I had one telephone conversation with a regional "hub" centre (before lots of them were moved abroad) which went roughly as follows. Me: Can you tell me what today's rate is for French francs? Them: How much do you want to move? Me: Let's say £ 5,000. Them: So you want us to transfer £ 5,000 today? Me: No. I want you to tell me what the exchange rate would be if I was to transfer £ 5,000 today. Them: Well that will mean us contacting our Foreign Department and they don't like us doing tht unless you're definitely going to do it. End of conversation. To my mind either their staff aren't very well trained or else they don't want to commit to a rate which of course is changing minutely minute by minute. I certainly wouldn't accept a bland "inter bank rate" statement from them as you have no idea what that might be. If it was me I'd put the Reuters web page giving foreign currency rates on my screen and then 'phone the bank and insist they tell you what their mythical inter bank rate is so that you can check it in as good as real time as most of us mere mortals can get. [/quote] Hi there Your Bank is not being difficult. Having worked as an importer where I used to have to buy foreign currency regularly, I know the reasons for it. The reason the Bank asked you this question and needed to have a definite answer, is that their Foreign Currency dept have to phone the currency dealers and get a rate from them based on the amount being exchanged. This is the business rate, not the tourist rate. As this rate is constantly changing, and will vary depending upon the amount, they have to buy "on the spot" or "buy forward" from the dealers which means agreeing to the rate there & then and this is why they asked you in the way they did. Hope you got sorted eventually.

Thanks Clair I'll have a go at that one.