Can anyone help with some advice about one of our dogs.One of them keeps getting a swelling on one of his front paws. It has happened 4-5 times in the last year.
I have just planted some Kiwis. I know about male/ female plants and have planted a male between two females. I was building a support when my neighbour (the farmer from whom we bought our land) decided to help, as ever!
Yes it does look very much like this picture although nowhere near as bad yet. Ingrowing hairs would explain a lot. My wife has to trim the hairs around his paws and especially between his pads regularly as it seems to grow out of control.As for another vet, we live in the country near to a one horse town, so there are few options. Vets in surrounding areas do not treat small animals much, except hunting dogs, and their knowledge is not great.Thanks to all who have tried to help.
There is a factory quite close to you where you can get custom made furniture at good prices, including the most comfortable sofa beds we have seen (ie comfortable as a sofa AND a bed which most don't manage).If you want to know more please send a message to me and I will forward our e mail address. For the outside furniture I would go to Emmezeta (Montalto Uffigo turn off on the A3). There will be a sale on in September and you may be able to pick up some nice wrought iron and ceramic tables for about €120.There are all sorts of places quite close to you to grab a bargain so feel free to get in touch
I know that if I gave up wine now I would live longer. Alcohol requires a degree of processing through the body which puts a strain on the liver and heart and which reduces ones life expectancy. There are few medical professionals who would argue with that. However, stress, being unhappy, pondering the state of the universe and all those other issues which health professionals who concentrate on the effects of alcohol overlook, also have an extremely detrimental affect on life. A sociable drink with friends, over a meal, sometimes to excess, makes me a very happy and relaxed individual. Given the choice of living to 90 years old in a state of constant sobriety or holding on until 85 and having a good time leaves me with an easy decision to make and I will carry on with my tipple without fear of instant death.Having paid into the NHS and reached the distinguished age of 50 years I do not worry about whether I am a drain on the health service as I have taken little out of it thus far. Selfish, maybe, but happy, definately.By the way, I am not an expert in anything but enjoying myself. Live life as you want, just leave me to live mine as I want as well.Cheers and see you at the pub, bar, ristorante or anywhere else they serve a social drink.
Where we live there is a UK registered car which has been here for 20 years with no problems at all. The local police know that it is insured and regularly serviced. To be absolutely totally legal you would have to take your UK registered car back every year and have it MOT'd and taxed. As the whole of Europe is awash with vehicles which do not comply with the local laws having a car which is tested to Revisione standards and serviced locally and which is insured seems to be fine with the powers that be, it certainly raises it above the level of many local cars.When we drove the car over we did so with 2 dogs in with us. We were not stopped at all nor did we have our documents (nor the dogs) examined at any border crossing. With that in mind, who can anybody possibly decide how long you have had a car in any country. The main thing for me is whether or not we and any other vehicle, passenger or driver are covered for insurance if we were unfortunate enough to get involved in an accident and I am satisfied that we are.I really don't like having a UK car at all, we both wanted to integrate as far as possible but any Italian insurance is so prohibitively expensive it is little wonder that Italy has so many uninsured cars on its roads. Anyway, we will see how we go and keep the forum updated of any issues.
The insurance requirements is that it is kept in a roadworthy condition (not certificated surprisingly). We will have our car serviced to the standard of the Italian Revisione at a Revisione centre. The only difference is that we don't get entered on the system like an Italian registered car.
We live here and bought an Italian car for our own use. The insurance was ridiculous so we went for worldwide insurance through Clements so that we could drive it all over Europe without limits. This was for the same price as Italian 3rd party insurance.For our second car we bought from the UK. There are many LHD cars fro sale there and it seems that many people are leaving Spain and selling the cars they took there. We bought such a car from www.lhdautos.com and then insured it through stuart@collinsinsurance.demon.co.uk.We drove it down and now have a car which cost us less than we could but it for here and it was insured fully comp at 1/4 the price we could insure it here for. The car is regsitered to our sons address but it is insured to be in Italy permanently.We met a person last week who bought a 13 year old LHD Peugeot 107 for £300, drove it down and also insures it now through the above. They will simply fly and catch the train to come over then use it whilst over here. (I'd prefer one with aircon though)
My understanding is that Giambrone have moved all of their client accounts to Italy, without the required permission of their clients and as a direct result of potential discipline by the British Legal Authorities. He is now asking clients to "reinstruct" him in Italy as a means of getting around this. Many people who have failed to do so or have directly "disinstructed" are still waiting for answers to questions about where their deposit money is located according to the InCalabria forum.There is another firm which many others are using in Calabria called Martinez Echeverria who seem to follow MRI around the world and open up operations wherever MRI sell. This firm, it has been said frequently, have not fulfilled the necessary requirements to operate as a law firm in Italy. I personally do not know if this is true but many Italian Law firms have confirmed this on other forums.I personally believe that if you are buying an existing property then choosing the right Notary is as, if not more, important than the lawyer. We used both a lawyer and a Notary for our purchases here and the lawyer was a waste of space. We learned far more from the Notary about saving taxes, potential pitfalls, etc than we ever did through our lawyer. Seeing your Notary well before purchase and going through your contract requirements, searches, what protections you wanted and anything else you can think of served us very well and we were not charged extra for meetings up front, we were merely charged the price we were quoted at the beginningIf anyone is buying on the West Coast of Calabria the Notary we used employs an English speaking lawyer as part of his firm. He saved us a great deal of money on our purchases and I would recommend him to anyone. The Notary is called Snr. Bilangione and he is based at Falerna Marina (next to a wonderful Gelateria). He even sends out for cocktails when you complete which we certainly never got from Chargem and Scarper Lawyers in England.
I agree with adriatica that a good local Notary will probably be the best person to deliver the necessary checks required. After that your single most important task is to employ a good Geometra or Architect. I would suggest that much of the work you are going to want to undertake will be specialised and it will be much better for you, albeit slower I'm afraid, to find individuals suited for each task rather than employ a firm of builders to perform all of the work. There is still a wealth of very skilled and reasonably priced stonemasons, plasterers and craftspeople etc in Italy and finding a Geometra or Architect who will renovate the place the way you want (ie not the way they want) and who have a history of such renovations and therefore contacts for specialists, will be an important task. I have moved here to Italy having renovated many old houses in England and Gala is right, the pleasure of such a task and then the pleasure of living there is something very worthwhile. I would also make sure that you spend time going from room to room and ensuring that you have a clear and consistent vision and specification, which you write down, for each room, hallway and other space. I have found that this brings a great deal of clarity to later problem solving and is also a very good diary of your efforts. If you intend to introduce central heating, new piping, new electrics, etc, etc, then make sure that this is accounted for in each space as well from the outset. I have made the mistake (sometimes costly) of not having done so in the past and have still failed to learn from that experience on later projects.Good luck in your project and I wish you well.
Our understanding is that Berlusconi's new law gives someone with an existing building tacit permission to extend that building by up to 30-35%. This can be done without Commune consent and with a Geometra going before a Judge with the existing dimensions and an outline of the proposed plans.However, this law has now to be ratified by every region. Here in Calabria we are told it will come into effect at the end of July but no one seems to know exactly how (or if?) it will be ratified.Our Geometra believes it is an additional 30% of the footprint, rather than the volume, that covered terraces may be counted within the footprint and/ or extension but open ones will not and that each region may adopt entirely different criteria than those presented nationally.Sorry I can't help with anything definative, we are awaiting news next week and will update you further
We are just in the process of helping some friends who bought a few years ago. For some reason one of the threes owners names was left off the contract. Advice so far from 2 different Notaios is that to put all three names on a new act needs to be drawn up and the costs will be the same as for a sale, but without the taxes. I assume that it will be the same as for a transfer to a family member.If you did it in England you would still have to get the new names registered against the property in Italy, a Notaios job, so you may end up paying twice. There is a Notary on the InCalabria forum who holds surgeries in England (London) who handles sales and signatures there but registers them here in Italy. He is called Posteraro and may be worth a call but the Italian based Lawyer in Rome sounds the best option as advised above. I assume the Lawyer will still have to use a Notaio though so the costs will be higher.We took advice about our will before we left the UK last year and made a detailed will in England in which we gave our wishes for disposal of all assets worldwide. We have now told a lawyer here that in the event of both or either of our deaths the assets muct be dealt with in accordance with our English will. This is quite legal, we were told, so long as you ensure that you do the second part and lodge your request with an Italian Lawyer. This means that the kids don't automatically get half of the estate if I die (as is the norm in Italy) but my wife gets to keep it all so that she can go on to get a toy boy and waste it extravagantly, she tells me.
Comments posted
Yes it does look very much like this picture although nowhere near as bad yet. Ingrowing hairs would explain a lot. My wife has to trim the hairs around his paws and especially between his pads regularly as it seems to grow out of control.As for another vet, we live in the country near to a one horse town, so there are few options. Vets in surrounding areas do not treat small animals much, except hunting dogs, and their knowledge is not great.Thanks to all who have tried to help.
There is a factory quite close to you where you can get custom made furniture at good prices, including the most comfortable sofa beds we have seen (ie comfortable as a sofa AND a bed which most don't manage).If you want to know more please send a message to me and I will forward our e mail address. For the outside furniture I would go to Emmezeta (Montalto Uffigo turn off on the A3). There will be a sale on in September and you may be able to pick up some nice wrought iron and ceramic tables for about €120.There are all sorts of places quite close to you to grab a bargain so feel free to get in touch
I know that if I gave up wine now I would live longer. Alcohol requires a degree of processing through the body which puts a strain on the liver and heart and which reduces ones life expectancy. There are few medical professionals who would argue with that. However, stress, being unhappy, pondering the state of the universe and all those other issues which health professionals who concentrate on the effects of alcohol overlook, also have an extremely detrimental affect on life. A sociable drink with friends, over a meal, sometimes to excess, makes me a very happy and relaxed individual. Given the choice of living to 90 years old in a state of constant sobriety or holding on until 85 and having a good time leaves me with an easy decision to make and I will carry on with my tipple without fear of instant death.Having paid into the NHS and reached the distinguished age of 50 years I do not worry about whether I am a drain on the health service as I have taken little out of it thus far. Selfish, maybe, but happy, definately.By the way, I am not an expert in anything but enjoying myself. Live life as you want, just leave me to live mine as I want as well.Cheers and see you at the pub, bar, ristorante or anywhere else they serve a social drink.
Where we live there is a UK registered car which has been here for 20 years with no problems at all. The local police know that it is insured and regularly serviced. To be absolutely totally legal you would have to take your UK registered car back every year and have it MOT'd and taxed. As the whole of Europe is awash with vehicles which do not comply with the local laws having a car which is tested to Revisione standards and serviced locally and which is insured seems to be fine with the powers that be, it certainly raises it above the level of many local cars.When we drove the car over we did so with 2 dogs in with us. We were not stopped at all nor did we have our documents (nor the dogs) examined at any border crossing. With that in mind, who can anybody possibly decide how long you have had a car in any country. The main thing for me is whether or not we and any other vehicle, passenger or driver are covered for insurance if we were unfortunate enough to get involved in an accident and I am satisfied that we are.I really don't like having a UK car at all, we both wanted to integrate as far as possible but any Italian insurance is so prohibitively expensive it is little wonder that Italy has so many uninsured cars on its roads. Anyway, we will see how we go and keep the forum updated of any issues.
The insurance requirements is that it is kept in a roadworthy condition (not certificated surprisingly). We will have our car serviced to the standard of the Italian Revisione at a Revisione centre. The only difference is that we don't get entered on the system like an Italian registered car.
We live here and bought an Italian car for our own use. The insurance was ridiculous so we went for worldwide insurance through Clements so that we could drive it all over Europe without limits. This was for the same price as Italian 3rd party insurance.For our second car we bought from the UK. There are many LHD cars fro sale there and it seems that many people are leaving Spain and selling the cars they took there. We bought such a car from www.lhdautos.com and then insured it through stuart@collinsinsurance.demon.co.uk.We drove it down and now have a car which cost us less than we could but it for here and it was insured fully comp at 1/4 the price we could insure it here for. The car is regsitered to our sons address but it is insured to be in Italy permanently.We met a person last week who bought a 13 year old LHD Peugeot 107 for £300, drove it down and also insures it now through the above. They will simply fly and catch the train to come over then use it whilst over here. (I'd prefer one with aircon though)
My understanding is that Giambrone have moved all of their client accounts to Italy, without the required permission of their clients and as a direct result of potential discipline by the British Legal Authorities. He is now asking clients to "reinstruct" him in Italy as a means of getting around this. Many people who have failed to do so or have directly "disinstructed" are still waiting for answers to questions about where their deposit money is located according to the InCalabria forum.There is another firm which many others are using in Calabria called Martinez Echeverria who seem to follow MRI around the world and open up operations wherever MRI sell. This firm, it has been said frequently, have not fulfilled the necessary requirements to operate as a law firm in Italy. I personally do not know if this is true but many Italian Law firms have confirmed this on other forums.I personally believe that if you are buying an existing property then choosing the right Notary is as, if not more, important than the lawyer. We used both a lawyer and a Notary for our purchases here and the lawyer was a waste of space. We learned far more from the Notary about saving taxes, potential pitfalls, etc than we ever did through our lawyer. Seeing your Notary well before purchase and going through your contract requirements, searches, what protections you wanted and anything else you can think of served us very well and we were not charged extra for meetings up front, we were merely charged the price we were quoted at the beginningIf anyone is buying on the West Coast of Calabria the Notary we used employs an English speaking lawyer as part of his firm. He saved us a great deal of money on our purchases and I would recommend him to anyone. The Notary is called Snr. Bilangione and he is based at Falerna Marina (next to a wonderful Gelateria). He even sends out for cocktails when you complete which we certainly never got from Chargem and Scarper Lawyers in England.
I agree with adriatica that a good local Notary will probably be the best person to deliver the necessary checks required. After that your single most important task is to employ a good Geometra or Architect. I would suggest that much of the work you are going to want to undertake will be specialised and it will be much better for you, albeit slower I'm afraid, to find individuals suited for each task rather than employ a firm of builders to perform all of the work. There is still a wealth of very skilled and reasonably priced stonemasons, plasterers and craftspeople etc in Italy and finding a Geometra or Architect who will renovate the place the way you want (ie not the way they want) and who have a history of such renovations and therefore contacts for specialists, will be an important task. I have moved here to Italy having renovated many old houses in England and Gala is right, the pleasure of such a task and then the pleasure of living there is something very worthwhile. I would also make sure that you spend time going from room to room and ensuring that you have a clear and consistent vision and specification, which you write down, for each room, hallway and other space. I have found that this brings a great deal of clarity to later problem solving and is also a very good diary of your efforts. If you intend to introduce central heating, new piping, new electrics, etc, etc, then make sure that this is accounted for in each space as well from the outset. I have made the mistake (sometimes costly) of not having done so in the past and have still failed to learn from that experience on later projects.Good luck in your project and I wish you well.
Our understanding is that Berlusconi's new law gives someone with an existing building tacit permission to extend that building by up to 30-35%. This can be done without Commune consent and with a Geometra going before a Judge with the existing dimensions and an outline of the proposed plans.However, this law has now to be ratified by every region. Here in Calabria we are told it will come into effect at the end of July but no one seems to know exactly how (or if?) it will be ratified.Our Geometra believes it is an additional 30% of the footprint, rather than the volume, that covered terraces may be counted within the footprint and/ or extension but open ones will not and that each region may adopt entirely different criteria than those presented nationally.Sorry I can't help with anything definative, we are awaiting news next week and will update you further
We are just in the process of helping some friends who bought a few years ago. For some reason one of the threes owners names was left off the contract. Advice so far from 2 different Notaios is that to put all three names on a new act needs to be drawn up and the costs will be the same as for a sale, but without the taxes. I assume that it will be the same as for a transfer to a family member.If you did it in England you would still have to get the new names registered against the property in Italy, a Notaios job, so you may end up paying twice. There is a Notary on the InCalabria forum who holds surgeries in England (London) who handles sales and signatures there but registers them here in Italy. He is called Posteraro and may be worth a call but the Italian based Lawyer in Rome sounds the best option as advised above. I assume the Lawyer will still have to use a Notaio though so the costs will be higher.We took advice about our will before we left the UK last year and made a detailed will in England in which we gave our wishes for disposal of all assets worldwide. We have now told a lawyer here that in the event of both or either of our deaths the assets muct be dealt with in accordance with our English will. This is quite legal, we were told, so long as you ensure that you do the second part and lodge your request with an Italian Lawyer. This means that the kids don't automatically get half of the estate if I die (as is the norm in Italy) but my wife gets to keep it all so that she can go on to get a toy boy and waste it extravagantly, she tells me.