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....

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!

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!

 

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!

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!

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!

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!