I assume from your site etc. that you speak fluent French now though Leanne - do you manage to pick up 100% of what is said? I can now get about 60% of radio, and maybe a bit more than that for TV - I can converse semi-fluently with neighbours on most topics, but every now and again, I miss almost all of what is said, and I wonder if I actually know French at all 

Well...  Lets do this quickly   Met and married a frenchman (whilst living in the caribbean, ohhhhhh complicated already ).  Moved to southwest France 12 yrs ago...  Unemployed and "clandestine" at first, not speaking the language well, I used all this free time to teach myself and take some classes on making soap and natural cosmetic products....  The rest is quite simple, hobby that spins out of control and here I am now living in a strawbale house on a hill and running (with DH) our little 'savonnerie' called aromaNature, selling our handmaded soaps and teaching soapmaking in french...  earning just enough money to live a wonderfully simple life (by choice, we avoid wholesale !  There it is in a nutshell....