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I always enjoy reading Als posts, so a little story of my own. We are on good terms with our neighbouring farmers apart from one, whom whilst we said hello we had him down as a wily old devil. whom we thought had a prominent position in the village and was not to be crossed. Earlier this year we were awakened by his bird scarer blasting off just behind our house at 5.30am and continuing at 30sec intervals until it had a brief pause for lunch and then continued until dusk. (he is the only person in this area who used one). We were driven demented by the noise and very worried as we had guests arriving the next week. We spoke to him, our italian friends spoke to him but to no avail.Now we had been lead to believe that we must not upset the balance, we live in the country, we are newcomers and foriegners to boot. But in despair we went to the commune to seek advice. were met by the mayor who took it all very seriously said it was totally unacceptable and he would make it stop. to cut a long story much shorter after a few phone calls it did, the relief!. Evidently the old devil is much disliked in the village , has upset eveyone and they were glad that his antics had been stopped. Also we were shown the plans for the prevention of noise nuisance the village had and he was breaking all the rules. So another lesson for us and our assumptions on how we "ought" to behave and what is not accepted by reasonable people.PS he doesnt speak to us now, but his wife always does as do his sons, perhaps he has upset them all as well.!A

Asian shop Corridonia, for all of you lucky people living in Marche, PG tips tea bags at a fair price. (plus all the ingredients for dare I say a really good curry)A

Owners direct seem to be our best source of guests. Interesting that less than 50% are from the UK, Dutch, German, Austrian, Danish, this year, which is actually fun for us. A part of letting our apartment is actually meeting people from other countries, who have all been charming and for us put us to shame with their perfect English. The latest are going home tomorrow, dont want to leave Italy, but are looking forward to cooler nights. As am I.!A

Anne its the one on the left as you come over the bridge, with the car park in front and the lake to your left with the picnic tables. race you to the kayaks in October?A

Sorry for your troubles, sounds like a recurring infection, but I am no vet.Might I suggest that if you are not happy with the one you have you find another one?. Perhaps a member in your area can recommend an alternative?.A

Welcome to the community Geoff, hope to hear more from you.

Also love Vincigrassi, but find that it sometimes needs to be ordered in advance, where did you have yours Anne?A

Have just come across TPAS an independant non profit making organisation which gives free information and guidance regarding pensions. They can be contacted atenquiries@pensionsadvisoryservice.org.ukThought it might be helpful for others with questions regarding pensions.A

Thanks to you both, it seems from the information I have that the pension service bulk buy euros at a good rate, and then pass this on to their customers, but will do more research just in case this is too good to be true.A

Just thought I would add a serious note to the keeping cool thread. I have just got over a nasty dose of heat exhaustion, but was too daft at the time to realise what it was, had been dashing around working and become very dizzy ,hot. and sick ,luckily had the sense to lie down with the fans on. So do be careful, its easy to google symptoms and remedies so wont add them here. Its important to rehydrate as quickly as possible as you loose essential minerals which add to the problem, you can buy rehydrating tablets which contain all the essential elements at the farmacia.A