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Thank you for the advice, Allan. I will keep on waiting and try a few things to see whether it works or not. Esme, do you remember where you buried the hatchet? Just live it where it is. Molteplici sono i predatori

You will not be alone, quite a few people have settled in the area and it is becoming increasingly fashionable. In our case, when we were "house hunting" about 5 years ago, we had a look around and inspected a few houses, including one near Dolceacqua, and the region is lovely. Unfortunately, we did not find anything suitable at the time, so we went a bit further south and discovered what we wanted in Bagni di Lucca. But I know that you will find expats in the region. My personal advice would be, don't think that because they speak your own language these people will be suitable friends or acquaintances. Befriend the locals, they will be an important part of your life if you permanently live in the area. Good luck and best wishes!

I was thinking about "Topo Gigio"

I could remember seeing something on this topic a long time ago... Yes, it was in the old Forum. This is what I found: It seems to be a tax for the upkeep of common land. Perhaps you should check with your local council.

Thank you everyone. I can get into the group; however, it does not appear on the "New Groups" list. I will try to find out, although I have not as yet received any correspondence from Admin concerning the old group status... The confirmation of the group and my role as its administrator appear to be automatically generated..... I will keep you posted.

As I am not going to wait for ever and I can see that there is an interest in having a group, I have now opened "Bella Toscana" for anyone interested in Tuscany. I thought that it was better to have a single group for the whole region as many times in the past we have talked about places in the Southern end of the area. The group is open to anyone and I warmly invite those interested to join us and participate. For further information, check this:

Technically here, Flip: Welcome!

Perhaps, learning to live with the rat is not such a bad idea. Make it an official pet.... or get some professional help.

I wrote an answer which seems to have disappeared.... I agree with Flip's first thread about the dangers of using poison, but here is something that I found regarding products used in Italy to get rid of rats: As for the "Marinated Rat Kebabs".... yuk!!!!! I don't think that it would be a wise option. You can always get inspired by St Francis of Assisi and befriend the rat...... I'm currently looking at having the "Northern Tuscany" group reinstated.

I am trying to get it reinstated as it was and it was open to anyone wanting to join in, whether you live, holiday or are interested in Northern Tuscany. So watch this space and I will post any answers that I may get from Admin. I still do not know why it was cancelled, as it appears to be active if you have a look at the list of groups available on the right hand side of the screen. You may also be interested in other groups. I am "in charge" of "Gardening" and "Il Buon Gustaio Circle" (Food, Cooking and related matters). Groups have not been very active lately and we really need participation in order to get them going. If you are interested in old posts appearing in the Northern Tuscany groups (both the one in the Old Forum and the "current" one), enter the words "Northern Tuscany" in the "search" section and you will be able to access plenty of useful information. Sorry, I can't welcome you on board at this stage and we will have to wait for Admin.