Two years and counting

It is hard to believe, but it's been two years now since we made the big move from Amstelveen to Condadeuil. And very pleased we are to be here. Moving to another country is always a challenge, but we've done that once before, so we were a bit prepared, knowing we would have to deal with many differences. Not that we knew what to expect, but we knew that there would be changes. The biggest change for us has probably not been the move to a new country, but the move to the countryside. We're city kids, or at least suburban, and used to the pace and conveniences of the big city. Here we are really in the country, where life moves a bit slower, the grocery store doesn't stock a wide variety of imported foods, and there's not an emergency room a short drive away. We miss all the art museums in the Netherlands, but we're finding lots of music. We don't see the Concertgebouworkest or many big-name musicians, but there's a lot of interesting "smaller" music. (Strangely, when we have seen big-name musicians, they are more expensive here than at the Concertegebouw!) But we're happy and very glad we made the move to this beautiful place.

Last Sunday Mazerolles (our commune) gave a thank-you lunch for the folks, nearly eighty of us, who had worked on various events during the last year. The food was provided by our local butcher. Starters were a selection of charcuterie, sausages, pâtés, and salads. The main course was choucroûte (sauerkraut) with a pork roast that was filled with all kinds of pork, ending with a hotdog in the middle. And of course there was cheese and salad, and an assortment of desserts. And lots of wine. It was a fun event, with folks of all ages present. As the eating finished, the music started and many people joined in the dancing. Kids (and mothers) knew the steps and hand motions to go with all the songs. Most of it was French pop music, that we didn't really know, but we laughed when they played Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini — in French! One of our neighbors took lots of photos and stopped us on an evening walk this week to give us this one:

After the meal, we took Pogo on a walk, then took ourselves to see Mamma Mia, which gives you an idea of how limited the movie selection has been of late. We hope this will improve with the rentrée (return from vacations and back to school and work).

Monday night we attended another quiz dinner with friends. At the end of the quiz, we were tied with another team, but won on the third "sudden death" question, when Sally happened to know some obscure English sports trivia and the other team didn't. We won four bottles of wine between us.

This week we opened a letter from the tax office, to discover a €8 refund check for the last two months of 2008. We're a bit puzzled about this, since we didn't pay any taxes here in 2008. Our 2009 tax bill was reasonable (we had to pay, of course), and we weren't charged any interest for being a week late in filing. Meanwhile, our request to not have taxes deducted from Ed's annuity in the Netherlands was approved and we'll be getting a refund for the amount deducted in 2009. This will pay about half of the new roof over our bedroom.

Otherwise it's been a fairly quiet time. The lovely fall weather continues to hold up. No action on Ed's Carte Vitale.