garden mowing servicei am looking for someone to mow approx five hundred square metres of sloped land and other small help; anyone have names or contacts in the beaulieu sur dordogne general area
I saw the word Dordogne and assumed it would be close as I would have just come and done it for you unfortunately you are 2.5 - 3 hours away so sorry…
thanks mat, plus thanks to vero for the contact sent
since the accident my memory is a bit wobbly also, so apologies for resending the subject
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If anyone has any contacts in the Morbihan (near Rochefort en Terre) I would be grateful - drawing a blank so far.
Norman, ADMR could possibly help if you can’t find someone in pagesjaunes. https://www.admr.org/petits-travaux-de-jardinage-et-de-bricolage
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Thanks VĂ©ro, will look and see if I can expand any of those to actual contact details but I need someone who is willing to treat by email (actually just replying by email would be a start) and take payment by IBAN - tried all the ones listed on www.mairie.com but not a single response.
French artisans and email have a way to go yet, phone calls are still the best way of getting a response. Although the positive of the virus is everyone now likes payment by virement.
For Norman, are you aware of the service à la personne system where you can get 50% back of the amount charged if you use the official routes, either getting someone via an organisation or hiring an individual who is in the CESU system? Here’s a link to a bit of explanation.
https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F13244
We don’t have ADMR in our area, but ARAPA. So if you look for whichever group does service à la personne in your patch you will probably find that they will do things for individuals.
I’ll say!
Probably true but a pain when you struggle with spoken French, especially on the phone, and tend to be pretty tied up when at work (also - my mobile does not get any coverage in most of the buildings I work in but the work phones bar international calls).
thanks for this jane - i have passed it over to my french wife who will better understand it all
She should also look at this site, which explains the financial aspect of it
No luck so far, have asked the neighbour if he would be willing to help me with making a few enquiries.
In the mean-time he sent some photos - actually my feeling at the moment is that it could be worse but I’m hoping to be able to tackle it myself at the end of July - the ferry is booked and the government even seems to be hinting that it will lift the quarantine for travel to the UK from France (so also lifting the voluntary obligation the other way).
So, the plan is definitely to get the grass back under control myself, then see if I can engage a gardener for ongoing maintenance in case we get a resurgence of cases and more lockdown.
That doesn’t look bad at all! Call it a wild flower meadow and everyone is happy…
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Actually we arrived one year after being unable to mow at Easter and then having a longer than normal break before being able to return and it was nearly as bad - though it was prettier as the wild flowers were actually in bloom.
Took us about 3 days to get it straight so I reckon a week single handed - but i don’t have to rush as I have two weeks booked.
Sadly this has gone past the “pretty” stage into the “running to seed” stage so it will be a bit tougher but a decent strimmer should take the sting out of the work.
When we left it a, long while and the grass was knee deep there were quite a few snakes around. When mown the snakes stay away.
Nature always reclaims its own…
I find it kinda pretty in a spooky way.
I’m hoping to be able to halt things before that stage 
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Worth remembering, will tread carefully.
I don’t think there is any great risk from them other than the shock & scream!
Do they scream a lot then? 
