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Manon

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Everything posted by Manon

  1. I have grown these for the first time this year and they've done really well . Do I treat them like ordinary pumpkins with regard to harvesting - leave them outside until the first frosts and then bring them inside to a cool dark place - or should I pick them now ( the butternut squash are a pale green and starting to turn cream ) ? Some of them are quite large already - much bigger than the ones you see in supermarkets. Thanks for any help and suggestions - any favourite recipes ?
  2. Gosh you are suspicious Eurotrash ! We retired from our main jobs in the UK when we moved here but I DID then set up and run a small business as an auto entrepreneur. I am not asking about closing the business but how to 'sign on ' for healthcare based on five year's residence.
  3. We were given an iPhone 5 which we really only use very occasionally as a mobile phone and even more occasionally to pick up email when travelling abroad and for google maps. We have an Orange Open Mini package which is fine for calls but we exceeded the 50 Mo using the maps app one day. Could anyone tell me what sort of deal we need please as I really have no idea ! Thank you in advance for any advice .
  4. At the end of October this year we will have lived here for five years as early retirees. I am a registered auto entrepreneur and we receive our healthcare through this but I would like to stop this as soon as I can. Does anyone know if the five year rule still applies and if so, how does one go about re-registering for healthcare in this case ? Any help much appreciated !
  5. Yes it is this one - thank you all so much - I knew someone would recognise it and it has been haunting me ever since I realised I 'd lost the LP. It is such a beautiful song. I can now go and get a CD with it on.
  6. Sorry - not this one. The song tells the story of the two lovers going to the hotel and the only line I can really remember is , in the morning, ' on les a trouve ' in each other's arms.
  7. I have been trying to find an Edith Piaf CD with a particular song on it but I cannot remember the title of the song - I had it on an LP which I appear to have lost. The song is about young lovers in a hotel somewhere who, I think, commit suicide and are found, in the morning, dead in each other's arms. It is sad but a very beautiful and melodic love song. Does anyone know the song and the title please ?
  8. We bought our French headlights for our VW in the UK but they were delivered directly to the VW garage here as they didn't arrive in the UK in time for them to be fitted. The UK cost for fitting them was quoted at £130 and here the cost was 30 euros !
  9. I posted this under gardening but didn't get any useful replies so I thought I'd try here. These wretched creatures are destroying my garden which I love and they have started eating the roots of my young fruit trees . Does anyone know how to get rid of them ? Mole traps don't work and rat poison doesn't seem to either - I'm at my wit's end !
  10. Manon

    Mole rats !

    Help - my garden is being destroyed by mole rats. Moles are not a problem as sooner or later the traps get them but I cannot find anything which deals with mole rats and they are so much more of a problem than moles. I am sure that I have lost one well established fruit tree already and am desperate to protect my other trees and shrubs. They shift an astonishing volume of earth and will eat the entire root system of a young tree or shrub. Does anyone know what I can do to get rid of them please ?
  11. Any help here would be much appreciated. A much reviled farmer in the village keeps a large flock of sheep which he allows to pretty much roam at will. He never mends any fences and has no idea where his sheep are at any time. We have chased them out of our meadow about three times a day for the last three days but when we are not here they roam all over my garden and eat everything in sight. It would be almost impossible to fence our huge meadow  and very expensive if it could be done. They do a great deal of damage to the plants and shrubs but don't quite destroy them. Is there anything at all we can do - the Maire loathes the man . Can I go to the gendarmes and what could they do ? Please don't say 'get a dog ' - I'm not a dog person !
  12. Having just had our Taxe Fonciere bill we are now paying just over 300 euros per year for rubbish collection - which we don't have ! The nearest bin is on the main road at the end of our long lane and we take all our rubbish there and to the nearest recycling bins. I think we can contest this charge but does anyone know what the exact rules are please ?
  13. Thanks Cendrillon but mine has the flat metal top which you cook on and it's this bit I'm not sure what to do with. I think there is a special cream and maybe you use a pad of fine wire wool but I'm not sure. Anyone else know what to do ?
  14. Do you clean the metal top of your stove and if so, what do you use and how do you do it please ?
  15. Thank you so much Parsnips.
  16. Just in case anyone is interested I treated myself to a Bosch pruning saw and was amazed to find it cost me £12 less on Amazon France than Amazon UK. It works a treat too - Now I don't need to wait for him indoors to get the chain saw out or spend ages with my hand pruning saw !
  17. Hoping someone can help ! We have sold substantial amounts of shares and made an overall loss which needs to go on the tax form this year. I think we just have to enter the total gain and the total loss but how do we carry forward the excess loss for next year ? Do we have to even declare anything for this year as all profits were wiped out ? Also, I hold some shares in an ISA and the dividends are paid gross. However, they are 'acceptable ' shares so I should get the 40%  allowance against them but the boxes only seem to allow for the net dividends to be entered  - it would be lovely to have some idea of the solution before I see the tax people next week. Any advice gratefully received !
  18. I had to laugh when I read Frederick's post - we did the conkers thing and yes, it seemed to work ( apparently that's why chestnut wood is often used in bedrooms ). However, the mice loved them and we keep finding that the conkers had been moved and then we found them, half eaten, in piles under logs etc. One night we were woken by a terrific din, something going ' bang, bang, bang, bang ' - the mouse had dropped a conker down the wooden stairs !
  19. I have been given a product called Net'bord Gel to clean the slightly dirty liner above the water line in our pool. The instructions seem rather confusing / contradictory but I think you just sponge it on, leave for 5-10 minutes and then wash it off using a soft brush or cloth and rinse with the pool water. Is this correct - has anyone else used it ? Very grateful for any re-assurance !
  20. I seem to remember that we paid something between 8 and 11 euro ech for entry to Versailles and Fontainebleau - you won't get into Windsor or the Tower of London for less than double that , if not more.
  21. Aires on the main roads and motorways - superb ! Free gift wrapping in shops Wild flower verges, roundabouts and municipal parking areas Never asking for money up-front and waiting for payment until your next visit Cheap entry to Chateaux, museums etc and some free days as well Aperitifs A menu du jour with unlimited wine and coffee for 12.50 euro ! I could go on..............................
  22. Manon

    Deer

    We used the hard plastic stem / trunk guards to stop damage to the young trunks and they worked. We find they eat the lowest branches / buds / leaves but don't seem to bother with higher ones which must still be within reach. Free ranging sheep do far more damage to all my plants and shrubs than the deer.
  23. Hoping someone can advise me ! We have been resident in France and paying tax here since November 2010. We still own a flat in the UK and have some bank interest and share dividends so complete a UK tax return as well. My return has just been rejected because I had not completed a ' Residence,remittance basisetc form' which I had not been sent and did not know I had to complete. My share of the rental and other income in the UK is below or around the personal allowance level. We declare all this income, together with any tax paid already, in France. Am I right in thinking I don't have to make a claim for relief under the DTA if I am not bothered about the differencein the rates of tax between France and the UK ? My pension income ( private not state ) is paid gross and I don't put it on the return. Thank you in advance for any help.
  24. We have been taken to the cleaners by a swimming pool company here in the Auvergne and only found out today that they are well known to the lawyer we contacted. If anyone is thinking of having a pool installed please pm me for details of who NOT  to use.
  25. Thank you for your replies - it turns out that our pool company is well known to the local lawyers ! We are in the Auvergne and itf anyone wants to pm me for the name of the people involved I will happily tell you as I would hate anyone to be taken in the way we have been.
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