Bloctel

Hi Val

There are two legitimate ways sellers can get round Bloctel. The first is that they're allowed to ring if they're partners of a firm you deal with. Well, most of us are clients of EDF and Orange, so these crafty sellers simply sign up to be partners of one of these two. The solution there is to tell them you're no longer a client of EDF or Orange. The second is trickier, since they're allowed to ring you if their purpose is advice-giving, even if the advice you receive then leads to them making a sale. We had one recently on behalf of a clairvoyant, to which we had to say we weren't interested, and added that we thought their principal would have known this already if she is a good clairvoyant...

xC  

Val says  ah that is why so many are EDF

taglines82@gmail.com

Nous sommes le samedi vingt deux avril

A beautiful garden on our doorstep. Les Jardins de Quercy lies between Varen and Verfeil at Cambou and work on the gardens making them as glorious as every other year has been on going. If you have not been then make it a must this year. It inspires me every year. There is a small charge for entry which is then used to fund a girls school in Cambodia.
Opening this year the 15th of May
https://www.lesjardinsdequercy.fr

Creme, nourishing face creme.

So we have 6 young men and one older man from Afghanistan. They are a very proud race Afghans and I like them for this trait. Today as they arrived to settle in the middle aged man told me how many languages he spoke, very impressive. I asked where in Afghanistan he was from and my friend Hujat whispered " you know it was the area where the Taliban killed everyone" so I already know this man has sad tales.
On telling all the young men we had shower gell and toothpaste for them they asked if I had moisturising cream. I remember last time it was a request and speaking to Shaban who is beside me at the moment he also tells me, not washing, changing water all the time your face and hands become very dry and cracked.
So along with toiletries I need to find them moisturising creme. This is more not I but " we", please help me on Sunday with a tub of moisturiser or the money to buy it.
A thank you to Chrissie Hargreaves tonight, she came to meet the new arrivals with clothes from her 23 year old son, these were snapped up instantly.Chrissie is a cake maker so I am sure there would be cakes and at 5.30 pm she was taking one young man to the Drs.
Gosh, how brilliant people can be, Chrissie is one of these brilliant people.
Malc tells me we have an appointment to take the same young man for a Doctors appointment tomorrow... wait for it!! 8.15 am
We just love helping!
taglines82@gmail.com

Nuisance calls

Hi Val,
After a spate of nuisance telesales up to 10 calls a day disrupting not only mealtimes but even at midnight & 5am I phoned telecom to ask if they could be blocked a very helpful chap directed me to the new government site "Bloctel.gouv.fr" easy to inscribe to & will block all telesales.... worth a go if you've been driven as mad as we have. Laura x

Val says  I know it should work but more than a year ago we did the same thing and we still regularly receive calls from well you name it. I have stopped pretending I cannot speak French and have actually started saying rude words before slamming down the phone.
taglines82@gmail.com

Jardin Noble Val

If you are going to St. Antonin I will be at the Gazpacho from 10.30 to 11 am taking in donations for trainers and toothpaste, shower gell, razors etc.
Cheer yourself up and feel good helping someone not as lucky as us.
taglines82@gmail.com

A quiet moment by the Aveyron

An early morning walk along the river and round the village before everyone was moving. The dogs love the river walk but this morning there was no doggy friends to run about with.
Calm, contemplative moments before another hectic day is underway.
taglines82@gmail.com

Nous sommes le vendredi vingt et un avril

Beautiful early mornings up here on our hill, but what a troubled world.
In Paris another terror attack on policeman going about their duties. At times like this we remind everyone a terrorist is something different from a peaceful Muslim. Knowing many Muslims now as I do, they feel exactly as we do and hate these extreme killers who have nothing to do with their true religion.
Will it change the minds of voters to choose the extreme candid Marine Le Pen in the first round of voting on Sunday?I think not, those voters will already be hardened in their unlikeable, uncaring,unpalatable opinions for us moderate humanitarians.
Malc and I continue our work and welcome this afternoon more young men escaping death and torture from these very people we all hate, the Taliban, Daesch, Isis extreme killers.
Our thoughts go to those families of the gendarmes killed and injured.
taglines82@gmail.com

Deux choeurs at Parisot

Seven will be here tomorrow

Seven young men tomorrow will be here, who can come and welcome them at Verfeil at 16h ( 4pm) bearing cakes or in my case mini kitkats?

The fund has started for our 18 young men due to arrive. The Mayor of Varen, his adjoint and the secretary have started the donations and just now a very kind neighbour has donated 150 euros left in our Post box.
I have just this minute had a message that 7 young men will arrive tomorrow so I am off to the supermarket to buy toiletries for them.
The fund for toiletries and trainers has started.
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Defaced or missing in the area

The fund is started

Monsieur Le Maire of Varen his adjoint and his secretary have this morning all given a contribution to start off the fund to buy toothpaste and shower gell for the refugees.
I thank them all for their generosity.
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Slide shows of old St Antonin and Najac

Paul Jack who has a chambre d'hote in St. Antonin says ( great idea if you have a chambre d' hote in the area and at so little cost, you add something special)

Thanks Val ! we now have some fab pics of old St Antonin to put in our guest rooms. A great resource. Now our challenge is to find at least ONE picture, hiopefully pre 1945, of OUR house!!

John Dawson writes

Free slide show of over 600 old photos of St Antonin and surrounds

Free slide show of over 200 old photos of Najac

As readers know Val and Malc are doing a fantastic job helping the refugees from Calais, and now from Dunkirk, who arrive in our part of France.

This takes considerable effort but also money which is where I want to help.
I have a collection of old photos of St Antonin and Najac dating back more than 150 years and including most of the local photos taken by the famous St Antonin photographer Amélie Galup in the 1890’s
These are available as Powerpoint presentations

Some examples of the photos

Here is the deal:

If you give (or pledge) €20 to Val for this cause, I will send you the St Antonin slide show.

If you give (or pledge) €15 to Val for this cause, I will send you the Najac slide show.

If you give (or pledge) €30 to Val for this cause, I will send you both slide shows.

Val will send me your e-mail address and details of your donation.

You will get an e-mail with a download link to download the slideshow files.

I will send you a confirmation e-mail.

John Dawson

Val says: Email us at taglines82@gmail.com with your pledge/donation and we will pass this on to John. We have seen these collections of photographs and they are fascinating.

Soirée respounchous at the Renaissance at Caylus

Bonjour Val
 pour info, soirée respounchous à la Renaissance CAYLUS samedi soir 22 avril (menu à 17 € : entrée respounchous, saucisse-frites, dessert, 1/4 de gaillac) à bientôt, Amitiés.
Val says here is an opportunity to try this local spring delicacy ( is that the word for these tips that look like  asparagus)
taglines82@gmail.com

Nous sommes le jeudi vingt avril

HOW DO YOU GET THE TOILETRIES TO ME
Malc and I are going Sunday morning to the Gazpacho and will be there from 10.30 to 11 am collecting in the toothpaste, toothbrushes, shower gell and any donations anyone wants to give to buy these or to go towards shoes.
Cheer yourself up on the day of the French election and help to combat the rise of the fascist element, by helping others in need.
comments to taglines82@gmail.com

We all love paella in our house

A rewarding experience

No time to worry about elections French or English,
we have another 18 young men coming to us in Verfeil straight from Dunkirk.
Possibly arriving next Monday- possibly Afghan and Sudanese.
With the camp at Grand Scythe Dunkirk burning down the French have worked hard to find places to take the refugees left homeless. I respect them for this, although the treatment by the gendarmes in Paris and the camps has been a totally unacceptable thing.
Anyway Malc and I are pleased that these new 18 will be on our doorstep making it easier to help.
The house they are going to is set up as a large gite so has beds and plates, cutlery etc.
So what do we need?
When the young men arrive we love them to find on their beds, shower gell, tooth brush and toothpaste. I am sure 18 of us buying those three things once will do the job.
They will need bikes to get around and I have 3 here we can take.
Jeans please think slim, no good giving anything large, t shirts small, I bought some from Caussade for Christmas that were 4 euros so that seems like a good option if you wanted to buy one. Shoes are always hard to find and we are talking trainers usually small sizes. We may need a fighting fund for those.
Anyone round about who fancies coming with cake to greet them, contact me and I will give you details.
Helping these young men is very rewarding.
All those fluffy towels you have been sitting on Sarah will be needed I think.
Oh and anyone who would be keen to give French lessons or even have little outings talking French or showing them how to shop, go to the PO etc.
taglines82@gmail.com

Frog watching

Madame , Monsieur, bonjour,

Chaque année de mars à mai, Fréquence Grenouille donne l’occasion de sensibiliser la population à la nécessité de préserver les zones humides, milieux de vie indispensables à l’équilibre de notre planète. Les zones humides se font de plus en plus rares et avec elles disparaissent de nombreuses plantes et animaux sauvages dont les emblématiques amphibiens.

Cette année en Tarn-et-Garonne, le CPIE 82 , Observatoire des Amphibiens du Massif Central, vous propose le samedi 22 avril à 20 heures une balade nocturne à la découverte des amphibiens des mares du causse de St-Antonin-Noble-Val, pour petits et grands, curieux de nature !

Cette balade vous est proposée gratuitement, dans le cadre de l’animation de l’Observatoire des Amphibiens de Midi-Pyrénées , grâce au soutien financier de l’Europe, la Région Occitanie, l’Agence de l’Eau Adour-Garonne et le CPIE Midi-Quercy.

Pour réserver, les places étant limitées à 20 participants, vous pouvez vous inscrire auprès du CPIE Quercy-Garonne par téléphone au 05 63 24 06 26 aux horaires de bureau ou courriel : mdp82@wanadoo.fr

Les rencontres sont réalisées grâce au soutien financier de nombreux partenaires

Les administrateurs et l’équipe du CPIE Quercy-Garonne

CPIE Quercy-Garonne Association Al Païs de Boneta
Labarthe 82 160 CAYLUS
Tél. : 05 63 24 06 26
Courriel : mdp82@wanadoo.fr
www.maisondupatrimoine-midiquercy.org

Places on the frog watching evening are limited to 20. If you wish to take part on Saturday 22nd April, 20h (8pm) contact the number above.
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Urbanism

Hello Val

After your alert re urbanism today, I went to our Mairie, to ask about plans for here.
Your info was incomplete so am writing with additional info. Some interested parties may like to attend the meetings.
There are meetings still to come:
Laguepie, 21 April ,2-5 pm
Cazals, 22 April, 9-12
Parisot, 24 April ,2-5 pm
Caylus, 25 April, 9-12
St Antonin, 27 April, 2-5 pm ( upstairs in the Mairie)

Hope this is helpful.
Caroline
Val says  thanks Caroline, very useful info.
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The countryside is safe

A lotissement at Mas del Sol?
Yesterday morning we were phoned by a local councillor to tell us there was a second consultation meeting and on the cards along with other areas in the canton Mas del Sol was being touted as a constructable area. Maybe we needed to go and express our opinions. We had early appointments but came dashing back before lunch to get to the open morning consultation.
Many areas had been chosen in the St. Antonin, Verfeil area but at Mas del Sol and St. Martial seven barns had been picked for possible change of use. Phew!
As far as we know only one barn is for sale and the others are needed as barns or in our neighbours case a garage.
Things can change so quickly, it is called progress, but the thought of a lotissement in our beautiful lane seemed unthinkable... and thank goodness it is not in the planning.
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Nous sommes le mercredi dix neuf avril

Tactical voting could do it.