Âme

Delightful little thing, she looks so young. ...and it is so nice to read about a happy ending. It brings tears to my eyes too. Good on you, Rowan!

To give you an experience: on-line declaration made mid-November for a business start date of 7th Dec 09... Siret/Siren received within a couple of weeks of the télédeclaration.  To date, no information at all about health cover, but I already have a carte vitale, so I haven't, until now, given it any thought. Having spoken to various insurance companies to get quotes, I understand that without a Siren No. the obligatory assurance professionelle cannot be taken out, and therefore trading cannot commence. Maybe you can look up the dossier on line, to see what stage it is at?

Sorry to have to break this to you but there are no branches of Marks & Spencer in France. They were all closed in 2001. [:(]

Zut ! J'aurai eu l'enregistré pour vous, tous le deux, mais hier j'etais occupé/inquiété par un virus sur mon ordi... une histoire pour un autre fil. De tout façon, je pense que j'ai la possibilité de le télécharger a tout moment, sur mon ordi (qui est de nouveau de bon santé ;) J'esayerai trouver le moyen de le copier, mais un peut plus tard parce qu'il faut fasse le boulot que je n'ai pas achevé hier. Sweet, je te souhaite une guérison aussi rapide que mon ordinateur ! :) Le dimanche et hier ont  été ensoleillé et chaud ici, comme les premiers jours de printemps. Pour moi ça change tout et donne du balme au cœur.  A plus x

[quote user="Tricia"]I read in the local paper last week that a council near here (Condom, NE Gers) have bought a house that had been empty and up for sale for years. They are going to refurbish it, make it into social housing, and let it out to a gypsy family. The point of the newspaper story was to publicise the public outcry against the plan. I don't know if all communes do this though, sounded like a one-off. There's also something about cancelling taxes F and H on houses that have stood empty for a few years. [/quote] From La Depeche: Condom le logement des gens du voyage pose problème

Sweetie, j'ai pensé a toi hier soir... il y avait un film sur le télé: Sur le Chemin de Compostelle (j'espère que la cible va, sinon c'est un film de Didier Grousset). Je n'ai pas regardé que quinze minutes, mais il semble être une histoire sympa d'un couple et ceux qu'ils ont rencontrés sur le chemin. Les paysages, les hébergements, les histoires des bottes (et bien les ampoules) tu peut-être trouverais intéressants. xxx Cou-cou, Swissie, ravie de voir t'es de retour sur le forum. xxx

Take a look on google maps satellite view looks like there are a couple of quarries north of Ymonville

They're here!  About 25 blue tits & great tits on the bird tables at the moment... a lot more than usual. They seem to like the rain.

They have some kind of lottery in my village and the winners get to cut the marked trees in the forest. It is organised by the mairie.  I think it was 18€ per stere last year but cutters get very generous steres, if you see what I mean.  Sorry don't know any more details; haven't got a chain saw!

I bought a car when I arrived in france, can't remember any particular paperwork... except the obvious: some method of payment!  A credit card probably won't cover it, unless you have an exceptionally high upper limit. The garage organised the carte grise (took a few days) and collected me from home to sign the docs & collect the car. I found that cars are much more expensive in France. Second hand vehicles hold their value better, so buying a LHD (from e-bay) is probably a smarter option. Then you can sell it, in France, in a few year's time and get back what you paid for it. Bonne chance, it's an exciting time for you. [:)]

You're very welcome. The other thing I notice with small-scale production free-range eggs is that they are all different: size, shape, colour and thickness of shell, and the size and position of the yolk is quite variable. Bonne chance avec l'enquête, Inspector Clous-oeuf!!  [:D]  

[quote user="Jonzjob"]Âme, the lines are burnt on using a short length of fine steel wire, like a cheese wire with a wooden handle on each end. You just pull the wire against the spinning wood and friction does the rest. Easy init and I think it's very effective. I used it on this to hide the join between the thimble and the main body, but now when you pick it up it's a guess as to which end comes off[8-)] [/quote] Easy when you know how! And very effective, the join is completely invisible.

It doesn't cost anything to list multiple activities at the time of registering l'autoentrepreneur.

Hi Gardengirl, Wiki has this to say... "Le code n’est pas obligatoire quand on achète les œufs directement sur le lieu de production." For eggs sold on markets, no matter how small the the number of chickens kept or eggs produced, this document from 2006 is the most recent information I can find: http://www.finances.gouv.fr/DGCCRF/04_dossiers/consommation/ficonso/c06.htm "Vous etes producteur d'oeufs et vous vendez directement votre production d'oeufs sur les marchés. Cette activité doit etre déclarée a la Direction des Services Vétérinaires de votre département. En effet, il est désormais obligatoire de marquer les oeufs commercialisés sur un marché afin d'en assurer la tracabilité." To summarise: eggs sold on a market (or in a shop) should be stamped. No markings on eggs means that the buyer has no guarantee of where or when they were laid nor how the chickens were kept. You will know a fresh egg by how well the white holds together when it is broken into a pan; fresh eggs stay fried egg shaped.  It is also obvious whether the chickens have access to grass; chlorophyl makes the yolk much more yellow. The difference in colour is obvious in cooked food. I marvelled on Tuesday at the colour of the pancakes... noticably more yellow than ones I remember as a child. [:)] Whether you choose to buy unmarked eggs is a question of whether you trust the seller. Perhaps you could ask in the bio shop whether they have visited the producer, or even make a visit yourself. Hope that helps a bit.  I expect that your marché-purchased eggs are fresh, yellow and deeelish, but it's wise to ask questions about production methods. I'm very cautious about claims of organic production, even when certified there are varying levels of organic-ness... and such claims are almost a licence to print money.

Cooperlola, at least it's not to the laydeeez. [+o(] (always reminds me of a PE mistress)

Well done, you.  I know she'll appreciate it; Mr A does the same for me... Top tip: a pot of welcome home soup will fill the house with a delicious smell. [;-)]

That is a beautiful étui... attractive, neat and practical. Stunning in both the cleverness and simplicity of the design.  Are the dark decorative lines painted?

Decoration ideas for a chocolate & walnut cheesecake... dust top with icing sugar (to give a lighter background) then quickly pipe chocolate (using the greaseproof paper icing bag trick) in zig-zag lines across the whole top surface. This pic sort of shows what I mean. [img]http://www.deliaonline.com/Images/originals/red-nose-roulade-2-24648.jpg[/img] Or, dust with cocoa powder & stripe with a white icing (use icing sugar & egg white to get a really white icing) Pipe a sprial then drag a cocktail stick through from the outer edge to a centre point to make this sort of pattern. [img]http://tcho.com/images/uploads/Marble_Pumpkin_Cheesecake_thumb.jpg[/img] Dragging a cocktail stick through straight lines, in alternate directions a la bakewell tart. [img]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/11/9/1257771392555/Bakewell-tart-003.jpg[/img] glace cherries would look good on this cheesecake, if you have or can find them. ...or a couple of walnuts as a centre to the decoration. [img]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:Qrv8HoOHJYsZqM:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2243/2046316280_3ab104c7b2.jpg[/img] Hope that gives you a bit of inspiration. Otherwise, how about a snowman for the top ? [:D]

[quote user="Will"]Sexist, xenophobic claptrap is probably the last thing that the original questioner had in mind. But that's what we have here.[/quote] I'm sorry that Will's response upset Celine. I found it direct, perhaps a little blunt, but not 'nasty negative' nor 'rantings' ...and I couldn't agree more with the part I've quoted, above.   I would guess that Celine speaks English (very well) as a second language, so we might cut him/her some slack. Oh, and while I'm here, ViVienne, I loved your first comment! I, too, am a full-time woman. [:D]

Yes.  Dogs must be kept separate from cats for 24 hours after application and all bedding used in that 24 hour period removed/cleaned. If you read the instructions (as I did AFTER getting it home) it says that it is not to be used it "chez les chats." As new arrivals in France, the vet recommended Advantix without asking whether there were any cats...  Pooch and OH spent a very long day down in the woods & uncomfortable night sleeping in the barn. [:-))]  I saw the perfect manifestation of  'dog tired' in both man and beast. Now we use Frontline Plus.

[quote user="Chancer"] the sink filled up with snow [/quote] Great to use that which the season brings. Love it! In moments of floppy cream desperation, I've folded thin cream into stiff-whipped eggwhites... this trick works well and is a low-fat alternative for chocolate cream, lemon cream etc. It probably won't get you out of the piping dilemma but, you know, just tell 'em that piping is terribly passé. [;-)]  Good luck with the baking. It will all turn out beautifully.

After reading your earlier post RH I put out some sunflower hearts (from the kitchen supply) on the birdtable... watched for a few mins, no birds. Checked half an hour later, no seeds!  Did the same again this afternoon, same result. So, I haven't, yet, spotted which birds are eating them but they certainly disappeared fast! 

[quote user="Christine Animal"]Ame, they say to take the netting off the fat balls as they can get their feet caught in it. [/quote] Thank you, I didn't know that. The spiral is coming out of storage TDS.

Top birds in your friend's feeder, Christine ! and I like that there's a sunroof to keep the rain off the seeds.  I haven't tried the spiral thing for fatballs... of course it would work for them.  I usually hang the nets on hooks over the hanging table so that the dropped seeds caught and then eaten.  I tried an apple in the spiral once but that was ignored! I've noticed birds collecting dog hair, in the (unswept [:$]) courtyard, at nesting time so I think they might be attracted by bit of lambswool... just another lure to get them to land where I can watch them. The thatched bird table on the last website... now that's for classy birds. [:)]

Cream cheese/Philadelphia  = St Moret To replace whipping and double cream, I use Créme Fleurette de Normandie (the one in the chiller cabinet) and since I bought a Bosch handheld mixer I have no problems whipping it to whatever consistency is required.  Tip: Use a chilled metal bowl with space to 'draw' the cream up the sides. See HERE for pictures of those two products. No idea about gelatine. I don't use it.  Is it a baked cheesecake? If so, this recipe is luxe, light and doesn't use boiled bones. ;)  DeliaOnLine  I use St Moret instead of curd cheese. You could add piped cream to decorate the top. I know you go to the UK from time to time, so you could bring back double and whipping cream (they undoubtedly whip better). It will keep for a few months in the freezer.