[ROXANNE]

As ive said i bought a field not more than 3 mins from our home,
It did belong to my nearest nieghbour just down the track from us and when her husband died ( we'd never met him) she asked if we wanted to buy this field ?

It's the location more than anything, just a short walk and very private,
its just farm land for miles & miles and you dont see many if any people from one end of the day to the next,
This field (3/4 acre) has not been worked for many a year, brambles and old tree's
here and there,
But it once was an allotement and did grow veg/fruit etc.
Ive used this field for 3 years now as a place to dump the waste from our main garden and then burn it,

But ive a plan,


Im going to use this land as a main veg/fruit supply for the house kitchen
bit because the location is so nice (deer always around) the birds, sheep in the fields nearby and the running stream just a short walk away,

Its the sort of place in those long summer days it would be an ideal place to have a roulotte (sheperds hut or gypsy caravan) for both a shelter should rain arrive but also to spend the odd nights in,

Ive a plan to have an orchard/fruit cage and raised beds plus poly tunnel and the compost heap and the parking area for the roulotte, and a BBQ area.

All this ground needs tobe cleared and then ploughed over and a blank canvas .

I walk past this field every day and one of my dogs (the oldest one ) really likes to hang around the field and so i think she's the oldest and the one that'll stay with me on the site.
It's all in the thought stage just now "but" it's now time to start work on the clearing part.
Any thoughts?

[tagwex]

Be prepared for a lot of hard work!!!

[ROXANNE]

Hi tagwex and good morning to everyone else,
Its a really nice sunny morning,

This is a plan ive had for a while and everytime im sitting on the tractor just taking in the miles and miles of fields you can see in any direction and the odd vehicle be it horse drawn or cycled in the far distance just adds to its beauty,

As ive said its a plan "everyone should have a plan" and this one is as you say a lot of hard work,
this is we're the planning comes in ie make it so its a place to enjoy and not kill yourself in

Im sure all the gardeners have gone out in the garden expecting to be in it only a few hours and before you know it the days nearly over and its supper time?
"hence the sheperds hut & the bbq area"

Meal times go out the window in the summer in our house,
But as i say it's a plan and one that at the minute i can do,

Health good and the only real problem i did have was sorted 5 years ago the dreaded hip replaced,

(if anyone is suffering and has a chance to have it replaced !!!!!!!!!!! Take it from me "get it done" you'll not regret it one bit.

But watch this space the strimmers coming out and soon

[tagwex]

Any chance of sharing these views with us via a photo or two?

[ROXANNE]

Hi tegwex,
Ref the photo 's Yes give me a bit of time as im no good at putting these things on the forum "But" she who must be obeyed is"
And when the weathers a bit better then i'll show you the shock, ( )
As its just an over grown field tucked between the cow and sheep fields and down a track, but at least you'll be able to see it coming on and it'll give me that push to have it looking a lot less like a jungle by the winter,
So you have a deal.

[tagwex]

Sounds good. We like to see progress on here, warts an all. Photos must be less than 1mb so turn the resolution down or else compress them before publishing. You have teased us about the views so now I'm interested. It will be interesting to see what it is like there in central France.

[ROXANNE]

Hi tagwex,
Well i'll tell you a few of the things ref living here in france and how some things work, some are a good idea and maybe both ireland and the uk could think about the good ideas,
As far as fashion go's its just not here as ive said the age group is the older people rather than teenage as the work here isnt very good for the younger folk and so the dress (fashion) is more for hardwearing than fashion,
I offten see the older ladies in those cross over pinney things and the men are mainly to do with the farming type people and so again overalls etc
The old plastic table clovers are on sale at every market,

You dont see a lot of over weight kids or adults,
Such things as parking fees hardly ever come into practice "except" the big towns and even then as from 12 noon until 2 pm the parking is free even if a meter is in operation,

HOSPITAL waiting list are almost nil,
I went to the doctor on a monday and it was found i needed an x-ray on my thigh, tuesday x-rayed wed doctor made appointment to see surgeon following Monday in hospital opp on tuesday (hip replaced) 12 days later back home and daily visited by local nurse to change dressing and take pins out a few weeks later,

Such things as TV License here the fee is taken out of your rates, now if you dont have a tv then you tell the rates dept and they'll give you a form to say you dont have one and the fee wont be taken,
The good thing here is that the dept know who says they dont have a tv and these people can be checked, the rest of the dept pay as norm.

Car test (mot in the uk control tech here in france) is every 2 years
And "NO" test for motor cycles at all no matter what cc they are

car insurance ,
your wife is on the insurance policy automatic (its the law here)
not the man just the wife,

Crime is very low here in the country, its like going back 50 years, its not odd to not lock your doors, we offten take the dogs for a walk and the house is unlocked, same for the car, ive left my keys in the car for days on end,
I see keys in unlocked vehicles at the village market/shops offten,

If you've not got a full driving licence here you can go to the post office and have certificate to drive a very low engined car (single seater) they are not allowed on motorways and the top speed is 45 km per hour, the idea being the country side is large and people need to get to the doctors/shops etc so as the horse came to an end and you dont need a licence to drive a horse drawn cart or tractor this certificate was introduced and it works well (all fully licenced drivers see these cars and beware and give a wide birth) even if you've lost your licence due to drink you can still apply for this certificate

we dont have or see litter, its just not chucked out of the car window etc,

The normal dinner time is 2 hours as this is the main french meal of the day,

Most folk do grow a lot of their own veg fruit etc its just a french thing you offten see a little bit of a field used for veg growing by any house holder,

Every village has its open market and these are not always the cheapest place to shop but the food has tobe fresh or it wont be bought & the french like nothing better than to squeeze fruit/ veg

(So fancy dress? try being dressed up as a spud)

The bread shops by law must be open 7 days a week, Now if you have two bread shops then when one has a closed day the other shop must be open on that day, it's ' going back to the french revolution times when it was said
"but they have no bread!!! then let them eat cake.

Well teg i think thats enough for you to have an idea of life and the very slow pace here,
Now im off for my night cap (can't stand wine!! its got tobe whisky "Its the irish in me")

Ps I'll have one to toast you

[tagwex]

Very informative.
Parking, I very rarely pay the meters, normally in and out of the shops so quick that I get away with it all the time. Wardens are thin on the ground thankfully.
Hospital waiting lists, up to 2 years.
TV license, I have dozens of TV channels that I can watch but I only need a licence to watch 2 of them and I genuinely hardly ever use them 2.
DOE test annually.
Car insurance, I don't follow what you are saying here.
Crime, everything locked away all the time.
Drink driving, this would work in Healy Rae Kerry.
Litter, everywhere in roadside ditches.
2 hours to eat a dinner???
Bread, supermarkets are always open.
Toast, I've had a few already, my children brought me out for dinner, birthday treat.

[ROXANNE]

Hi tegwex
The car insurance ref wifes,
simple it is the law here that if a wife has a full driving licence she is put on her husbands insurance policy so she drives the car But the husband cannot auto go on hers,
so if your a woman you go on your husbands,

ref you only paying for two tv channels "great if you pay" but its a load of admin to chase those who dont pay and who knows who pays and who dont?
If the ball is in the court of the scroungers they soon come running to get what they're not paying for hence everybody pays until the rates dept are told otherwise

Ref the two hours dinner time "its a french way of life"
, they have two hours noon until twopm for mid day meal, shops are closed for 2 hours doctors/dentist etc etc .
People live an average age of 90's in this part of france thanks to clean air good diet and taking life at a slower pace and less stress,
If the french dont agree with what given to them by the powers tobe they'll soon let them know.
why run when you can walk?

[Blowin]

As something of a Francophile myself, there's much to be said for the French way of life where common courtesy is a given - but that's not rare in continental Europe if you make an effort to integrate and do as they do.

The one caveat I'd offer is that the basically socialist government has, true to form, sought to superimpose the benefits of modern sophistication on this idyllic rural model, with the inevitable colonial backlash of attracting immigration to the extent that they run up huge debts.

Harold MacMillan once said 'There's a wind of change blowing over Africa.' and, with world population increasing at the rate of 50-70,000 per day, Mme le Pen may have changes in mind for Europe?

[Good guy]

Hi there and greetings, Roxanne. You are reminding me of a very pleasant month I spent in a village near Marcigny in southern Burgundy, back in the 80s. More bucolic you couldn't get. Only thing was, a dearth of young families - like here they had migrated to the bigger towns.
But I agree that the rural French way of life is hard to beat - though I'd say Crete would be as laid back.

[ROXANNE]

Yes you can say some of the french ways are good and the nice long summer do make a big difference to the way you feel,

But ive seen a lot of ex-pats "english" return to the uk and all sorts of reasons given as to why they've fell out with the life they once wanted,
Ive heard one person saying they Miss Marks and spencers
another, you cant get digestive biscuits (but actualy you can)

You have to be braindead because its so quiet

And best and most common "the french dont speak english

Like a lot of people who end up moving here "we fell in love with france due to holidays and so we spent years researching france and what to expect should we buy a house here,
Our first house was a holiday home.

But a lot and i do mean a lot of people dont plan, they fall in love with those long summer holidays with little or no rain,

The Gites (holiday homes) with the shutter's on the windows & those geraniums hanging over every window trough,

No carpets just floor tiled floors, the long evenings sitting outside like the french do on the patio drinking wine,

(most english go mad on the cheap wine anything from 1euro to an average of 5 euro per ltr bottle

But unlike the french drinkers wine,

The brits have bought cooking wine,

Most french wouldnt look at a bottle of wine under 10 euro,

And then the big carrot as to coming here is the price of the french country homes and what you get for your money

just to be 100% up to date as i write this little lot out,

A one bed roomed house/, living room/ kitchen and bathroom garage/workshop and a huge garden ready to move into in a very peaceful hamlet came on the market on friday for 25,000
thats approx £19;000.detached and on its own land all hooked up elec/water etc
I know this property very well as its just down a track from our french friends house.

I dont think ( I know) near chester in cheshire uk you could'nt buy a lock up garage for this amount "no-way" And these house prices have enticed lots of people to live a neighbors free house in the country here in the crues france.

But once here these people want to bring all the problems they wanted to get away from in the uk and one being the rat race,

The french do not do pubs, the village here is dead after 9pm most nights,
the french are a very family orienated people you'll see them on a sunday during the nice weather having a sunday after dinner walk with the kids or they'll be in the garden enjoying a glass or three or four of good (non cooking wine)
Even the children are brought up to enjoy a restaurant meal (without going mad) the kids are raised to enjoy the grown up side of life without loosing their childhood.

Now when the ex-pats do buy these old houses with the huge gardens etc they will find they may need doing up (ours did) but you have to understand labour is'nt cheap here due to the fact that the tradesmen are taxed to hell

and this is because the retirement age here in france is 60 and all the pensions have to be collected to pay these 60 year olds some how

"Hence higher than the uk tax is recieved from those that work and when the expats arrive and need homes doing up and particulary if these new to france ex-pats can't even change a light bulb never mind fit windows do plumbing, heating, line a chimney, wire a socket etc etc etc
Its about now the truth of how far your money will go "Hits home"

Its now time to look out "a con merchant may be british calling himself at 23 years of age A TRADESMAN fully qualified in every trade you can think of and cheaper than the french

Infact these gunslingers pay no tax can't give any form of insurance ref their work and become invisable when things go wrong.

The people who make things work out here are the 9 times out of 10 are the wiser older person, the good thing about age is that experience of life comes with age.

Please dont let me put anyone off coming to france i live here and have done for 14 years now and the only other place i'd live is Ireland North or south,

But because ive always worked ie 8 days per week and no less then 14 hours per day for many years and i employed 15 people, it really did nearly kill me health wise and if it was'nt for my wife i would still be working , but not working to live but living to work, little social life and the years slipping past,
So just to put the lid on this subject,
Do your thinking and research and plan,