Attestations and pompiers

Last week our attestations showed up, just a week after we visited the CPAM (national healthcare) office, rather than the three weeks promised. We took them off to our new general physician to get properly enrolled. He already had our records from our Dutch huisarts; he'd scanned those and let Google translate them for him as best it could. So, we're in the system now and have our official number, but it may take up to a year, he said, before we actually get the card. Meanwhile, we carry around a copy of the paper with the number and we can go ahead and file for the expenses we've already paid. Now we have to find "top-up" insurance that pays the extra bits that the national healthcare insurance doesn't. 

Today it's raining, but yesterday was sunny and warm, so we walked our empty bottles up to the recycle bin. On our return through the village we met les pompiers, out collecting their new year's tips, er, selling calendars. We'd been looking forward to this in December and thought we'd missed them for the year. We tipped them on the spot and collected our calendar with all the saint days, emergency numbers, and photos of the local fire department people. There were neighbors from the village also talking with them, so now we know who belongs in the house with the black dog. And we were pleased to notice that these neighbors also couldn't describe easily exactly where our house is, so it's not just Kaye's flimsy French that's the problem here. The neighbors asked why they were so late, and they said they'd come around in early December, but they apparently missed more than just us.

The camera got re-batteried this morning so we have  some photos. We're quite pleased with the blue floor in the dressing:

And Ed's busily painting the mezzanine walls now. We decided to use the same color we used in our Amstelveen living room.  The feeling of the room changes quite a bit. It looks quite cozy in today's gray weather, but we wonder how it will look when the sun shines, as it surely will soon.

And what's Kaye doing this morning? Well, there's a jar of yogurt a-brewing now. And chickpeas simmering. And chicken stock/broth brewing. And bread already baked in the bread machine. Which turned out not to be needed. Just before noon, Ed happened to be outside and heard a honk, and we discovered a new boulanger making his rounds with bread and other baked goodies. Our closest boulangerie (in Monembouef) changed hands in January and the new properietors didn't have the resources to continue deliveries. This was a shame since we'd just discovered the schedule. But a boulanger from Chasseneuil has added us to his route. If we hear the honk, we can get fresh bread and treats four days a week. This is a boon for many of the people in the village, who don't have a car to get out and buy food. We think there's another truck, a travelling grocery store, that comes around also, but we haven't learned its schedule yet. We need to put a microphone on the road so we can hear the honks that aren't usually audible in the house.