vendredi 30 mai 2014

The sky's the limit



Earth Station `La Mort Limouzin`
I tell you, the Ark is getting more and more up-to- date! Not to mention our two superannuated Apple computers and Kim's more modern lap-top, we now have my I-Pad as I told you a few Arks ago and recently we have actually invested in a satellite English TV! Not that we invested very MUCH of our finances, as we obtained the second- hand Sky-box and an old-fashioned CRT type TV from Alan and Elaine at the Field Emporium, which I can thoroughly recommend. They helped us fit the new units and now our Ground Station receiver dish, firmly attached to the barn stares fixedly at a point just above next door's palm tree where the satellite floats 35,700 km above us. We can thus get five UK television stations, which is quite sufficient for our tastes. Why, when I was a kid, you could only get one, and that was black-and-white!
   We have resisted getting English TV since we came here twelve years ago, as watching French TV, especially the news, is excellent for learning French and increases fluency and understanding amazingly. However, we felt we were reasonably fluent now and pined a bit for our favourite programmes, so we sold out but will still watch the French set quite often.

  But then, a couple of days ago, disaster struck and our enjoyment was put at risk. We were sitting watching when Mumu the half grown kitten caused chaos, for with a noise like the crash of doom, the set fell from its TV table onto its face on the floor!! I doubted if it could survive the impact, but on being put back and the various leads put back in, it actually powered up. However, something had shifted inside for the colours were disturbed, towards the bottom half of the screen, faces turned a strangely cyanosed blue. Watching was not the same at all....

   Well, it was a question either of getting a TV engineer to call at 50Eur an hour or locating another old English TV, no contest really. Kim went onto Facebook and quickly located two fairly close to us. We collected the first, which had been stored in a barn and had no remote. The price was right, though, free! We did donate a bottle of wine, though. However, when I connected and turned on the unit, it ran for a few moments and quit... Not the donor`s fault, they did say no guarantee that it was working.

  We therefor collected the second TV yesterday. This was a more hopeful unit as it had been used in a spare bedroom and was indoors and with a remote. Much to my surprise, the set worked straightaway, without any need of tuning so all the TV characters have regained their normal colour faces. Hooray, we were back in business at a cost of two bottles of wine. And as a bonus, we were able to visit two charming families, I am tempted to invent another `want` to enable us to meet more!

     Bye for now, going to watch the telly....

mercredi 28 mai 2014

Laïque or not?



   It's strange how France is a country of charming contradictions. The  French pride themselves on their lack of religion in national government since the Revolution, but they have more religious public holidays than even in Britain, nominally Christian! Easter, of course, but also Ascension on 25th of May, Pentecost on June 8th, Assumption on 15 August and All Saints on 1st November. You can ask people to give up their religion, perhaps but steer clear of suppressing their hols!
 
 Bye for now, pensioners are always on holiday, they say!

mardi 20 mai 2014

Water, water everwhere...

Yesterday, we bought two second-hand water tubs to collect more rainwater for later in the year when it might get dry. Luckily, the Berlingo is ideal for transporting these large objects, we would have had to tie them to the roof of the little 106. Again luckily, I was inspired to place them in position yesterday evening, inspite of it being hot and dry.
  In fact, since then it has scarcely stopped raining and the first tub is already full and the second is well started.! Kim's plants will not be parched later on.
 Kim and Sophie have been furiously planting out the seedlings we bought at Lezay market a week ago, so we shouldn't lack for something to water!

  We've had rain, thunder and lightning all day, but it's finally calming down. Long may it continue.

 Bye for now, going to see if that's really sun I can see outside!

 

lundi 19 mai 2014

French tax form What a struggle!



  Maybe it's me, but I really dread this time of year when the annual tax return drops through the door. Even the English one is no piece of cake with three small pensions and a letting to detail, but the French one is an absolute nightmare. The tax years are different for a start, so P60 details have to be apportioned, and the French of course want it quoted in Euros, for which you have to ring up for the approved rate from an office whose phone is perpetually engaged. All in all several days of hair-pulling calculations.

   And the final straw is that all my income arises and is taxed in Britain, we do have a double-taxation agreement between our two countries so really there should be no need to complete the form at all. Usually, though not always there is no tax to pay.

  This was the line I used to take when we first came to live here permanently. I didn't bother them and vice versa. Sadly, when Kim decided to take out French Nationality, the first thing they asked for was her last five years tax returns, and this was our first introduction to the system... Now I have  risen above the radar, and get a return each year. The lady at the Impots office explained that they had to check to see if we paid less tax under the English regime in which case they would want to collect the difference. I do have a sneaking suspicion that there would be a vast reduction in jobs in the Impots office if the sensible thing were done...

   Still, it's no good kicking against the pricks, so we will just have to put up with it. I have finally finished the wretched thing, hooray!! This afternoon it will be posted by hand through the Melle tax office door and I can finally relax.  Unless of course the dragons in the office are not happy with what I have put and ask for an interview...

    Bye for now, going to wind down with coffee and some chocolate!

mardi 13 mai 2014

Visit to Lezay Market, 13th May

It`s a lovely sunny morning, and Kim needs tomato plants, so off we go to Lezay market in the picturesque town of Lezay, some 30 kilometers from us. It`s our favourite market it the area, much bigger than our local market at Chef Boutonne, and always a pleasure to walk around. You can get all sorts here! A new herd of goats, plants galore, great wheels of bread and exotic sorts of sausages....
  We chose several tomato plants and some other seedlings for Kim to plant later, the slugs will be delighted! I visited the cutlery stall, but restrained myself from buying another pocket knife, not seeing one that I did not already have an example. I did buy three wooden spatulas, to replace those that Laika has chewed.

 we also looked into the loca[ Protestant Temple, a very pretty building, though unfortunately the services are not every week, as  the ``pasteur has to cover three other churches.

 We returned home well pleased with our purchases, and now ready for lunch!
Alas, poor Eeyore!

   See you later!

dimanche 11 mai 2014

She's Back!



Every year Lilloo goes walk about, for as much as three months at a time. At first, we had almost given her up for dead before she strolled in, fat and sassy as if she had never been away. So when she had not been seen for over a week we were not really concerned. Still, we are always pleased and relieved when she re-appears, as she did two days ago. Welcome home, Lilloo!

jeudi 8 mai 2014

Don't bank on it!

  Like most ex-pats, each month we arrange for our monthly finance to be sent from England to our French bank, converted into Euros. At first, our bank in the UK did this direct, but we found  that as they charged a fee and then also offered a low exchange rate, a currency transfer firm worked much better. Our bank has a standing order to send the monthly sum in Pounds to the firm , who convert it into Euros and pass it on to our French bank. However, this month an inexplicable delay caused problems. Although the firm sent their usual acknowledgments the money didn't arrive at this end by the seventh  and there was also a problem with the on line site of the French bank, which did not like me logging on so frequently looking for our money.
  Accordingly, we descended on the local office in a bad mood to chase things up. However, the girl in the office was so helpful and charming that our mood soon improved, the more so as when she eventually got through to the bank, our money had been paid in. Apparently the problem was due to the French practice of ' faire le pont'  As there were two public holidays closely together, the staff had gone on hols en masse, causing a delay in the transfers. Although a little upset at this, it seems to be inevitable and is, perhaps, part of the ' charm' of living in France.... However, I have decided to change the date of transfer of funds in future to the twentieth of the month to give a bit more lee-way to the arrival of our money!

  Bye for now, time for lunch!

mercredi 7 mai 2014

I-Pad a new convert

Now, I'm not really a computer buff, I have never wished for the latest machine before the old one has worn out. Indeed  there's much to be said for buying the discarded and now unloved machines discarded from those who are. Up to recently, my computer was an antique Apple Leopard bought from our friend Ade, who buys up and re-homes Apple computers rendered obsolete by progress. True, sometimes systems on these machines don't do all that the latest model can, but think of the money you save!
  However, Kim has bucked this system, as she and Al very kindly bought me for my birthday in February this new I-Pad on which I am typing this Ark. Although touched and surprised by their generosity I must admit that secretly I wondered whether I would use it much as it was very different to the desktop computers on which I was accustomed to work. However, I soon came to realise that the new machine did nearly all that the Leopard did and was so much more convenient!
  Firstly, it means I can write this seated in our kitchen diner without the necessity to isolate myself in the salon where the big machine is situated, how much more cosy! And the touch keypad is much quicker and easy to use and it corrects my spelling mistakes as I go. It will run video clips where the Leopard struggled... I am still finding new things it will do.
  Sorry if I am boring you with the enthusiasm of a new convert, and I hope that Apple won't use me as a testimonial!

  Bye for now, coffee calls!

Hare today...

My favorite local dog- walk is up what we call the Phillipe track, an unsurfaced track running from the other side of our local road into the countryside and eventually to the Couture to Loubille road if you care to follow it for a couple of kilometers. It is opposite Phillipe' house, hence our name for it. Gravel surface, large hedges on each side, ideal for a quiet walk where the dogs can run free. Except for Laika, whom I retain on her wander- lead as she has a tendency to rush off and not return for a couple of hours, giving us much worry.
One of  the track's major benefits is the wild animals and birds you can see. At present, it is a riot of wild flowers, or weeds as they are sometimes known... Deer can sometimes be seen but this morning it was a large, ginger hare that came running towards me and the three dogs, apparently intent on ending it all!  I have read that hares, with their eyes widely separated cannot see immediately in front of them, and my experience seems to confirm this, as this is the second time this has happened in a couple of weeks. The hare obviously suspected something was wrong, as it turned broadside on to bring it's left eye and ears to bear. After an aghast pause it turned tail and raced off much faster, disappearing round the bend of the track in short order. Laika set up a ferocious howling, but couldn't chase because of the wander-lead. Jilly rushed after it, but perhaps rushed is the wrong word for such a lumbering pace and she was quickly left far behind and soon gave up. Laika continued to bark for a couple of hundred yards but could do no other. If loose, she would have tracked it for a mile or more until losing hope.
It certainly enlivened our morning walk!

Bye for now, nearly time for lunch!

dimanche 4 mai 2014

Busy, busy, busy...


   This has been an eventful weekend for the Ark. On Saturday morning, we were off early to take coffee with Clive and Christine at Matha before choir practice at ten thirty. Then it was back to La Mort Limouzin for a quick lunch before heading off to Mairé Levescaut near Sauzé Vaussais to collect two dogs from the kennels there. We have started to help out a local dog rescue organization be transporting rescued dogs from their temporary stay in the kennels to a Famille d'Acceuil at Gencay. we collected the two dogs without problems, one a handsome Golden Setter/Labrador cross the other a cross collie/Beuceron. They were bizarrely called Haustin and Happache. I suppose this is an 'H' year for dog names. Haustin, the Golden, was said to be shy and the other, Happache to be boisterous. The slight problem was that they had never lived together so it was not clear if they would get on . After taking them from the pound, we took them for a little walk and decided to separate them in the Berlingo, Happache to go in the back and Haustin in front with Kim. Both got into the car with no hesitation. Haustin showed no sign of the reputed shyness and spent the hour's journey wagging his tail and kissing Kim on the nose, he had obviously thought to ingratiate himself to the maximum to gain a permanent position with us! He would have done, too if we didn't already have three dogs... We were able to walk them again at Gencay, before handing them over to the couple who will be lodging them until a forever home is found for them. both lovely dogs, difficult to imagine how they couldn't have been loved and wanted..
  We wanted to have dinner out in our local restaurant after our drive, but the Canton was fully booked. However if we could persuade Ian and Sarah Macdonald, our neighbors, to let us join their table, we could be accommodated. Luckily they welcomed us, and we spent a happy evening with them and their other two friends, Val and Paul.
  Finally, today, after morning service, it was the day for the Annual Repas des Aînés where all the church members of a 'certain age' are invited to share a copious lunch in the church hall. After a well-lubricated lunch and a chat followed by a film show, we are looking forward to a quiet evening.
  Bye for now, going to digest...

vendredi 2 mai 2014

A home of your own

One of the advantages of being over seventy is a perspective on the past. Where the twenty-something's are running around crying 'the sky is falling' we oldsters are saying 'Ah, this is like what happened before and we're still here...' What goes around, comes around. And I feel that one of these cycles could well be arriving soon.
   We were in on the first major emigration of the British into France. The reason was that house prices in Britain had shot up while French prices were still very low. At the time you could sell an average house in Britain for one hundred thousand Pounds and buy one in France for ten thousand. In London it was even more advantageous silly prices were being realised and London house owners were thinking of moving out here and living the good life on the proceeds of the sale of their modest semi in Tooting. It was perhaps the only time in our lives that we took the right action at the right time.
   Of course it couldn't last. The canny French soon cottoned on and Papy's old barn, which was moldering away and could be bought for a few hundreds was soon advertised as a property ripe for conversion at over 100,000 pounds, once they realised, or hoped that the Brittaniques would perhaps pay such silly prices.  Around the year 2000 we can recall country houses with the roofs collapsing not being worth the cost of a repair. The British can at least congratulate themselves on saving and restoring thousands of doomed properties.
  I feel that perhaps these days are returning. House prices in Britain are, it appears, booming and we have seen prices in France dropping as the British aren't buying for the moment and people are having to reduce their prices on a forced sale. For example, our neighbor Stephane is selling an almost completed small house tacked on to a large but decrepit barn for 16000 Eur a real bargain for someone seeking a holiday home or even a retirement cottage. We have noticed that prices in general are becoming more sensible, with bargains to be had if you have the money. Anyone for a breath of French air?

 Bye for now, see you soon, perhaps when you have completed your French language course!

jeudi 1 mai 2014

The dangers of the internet

 I have always had an on-off relationship with computers and the Net. In the last years of my career with CIS insurance I developed an aversion for computers, blaming them, perhaps unjustly for the catastrophic deterioration of my working conditions. With hindsight I can see the this was more due to a combination of continual staff reduction and a lack of proper training  on computers, allied to the general belief of computer experts that anyone can quickly understand them, a belief still completely mistaken in my case. Later, my interest in photography led to a renewal of interest in a computer as a means at first of displaying and improving images and then in a developing interest in what the machines could offer. The starting of this blog helped in the process and I have now changed to being an enthusiast, albeit a rather ignorant one. The ability to talk to anywhere in the world, to inform oneself on any subject or to put one's comments before a global audience is truly fascinating.
  However, in the last few weeks I have become aware of a couple of snags in the system. It can easily lead to offending people and even to losing friends, upset by comments which, if made verbally , would have passed almost unnoticed. A comment made on Facebook will likely be brought to the attention of the person mentioned, even if the remark was made to someone else in a different context. And a remark in back print, which can be read over and over and which is paraded before all the world has an impact far greater than a throw-away remark made in a face-to face conversation.
  It is truly said that everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I have seen this proverb extended to read 'as long as he keeps it to himself' and although humouristic there is some truth in this adage if the opinion can upset a friend. I recently made a comment on Facebook which contradicted a friend who is passionately committed to Scottish Independence: I had thought my comments were just  a commentary on the political process and was amazed at the heat of his response. I apologised humbly for upsetting him and perhaps for commenting on affairs which I knew little about and our friendship was mended after a brief rocky period. I had not counted on how my comments could upset someone so wholly committed. Kim lately has had the same problem in commenting on local politics and a valued friendship has been put at risk by a difference of opinion , the more so as she was also upset by a remark made against church goers which she took personally.
   What to do about this problem? Should we refrain from all comments which could upset friends? Seems a shame and could well reduce the content of the Net very considerably. Or should we 'publish and be damned'  I haven't yet found a satisfactory answer. The only thoughts I have been able to crystalise are that we should think twice before putting a comment on line, to be sure that what we are saying is true, that we know about the subject, and we bear in mind that what we say can upset people and that sometimes the proverb 'least said soonest mended' might take precedence. So much so, that I may well not publish this blog...

Bye for now