Well it happened. Here I am at the beginning of June with a vague toothache that only seems to happen after I’ve eaten something. I put up with it for about 2 weeks and then I start thinking, well I’m going to have to go. Of course as all the dentists here are essentially private, you can visit anyone. I managed to get a recommendation from someone and made an appointment. He’s a busy dentist so I had to wait 2 weeks, by which time my toothache had gone, but I still decided to go to get it checked out. Today was the day and I’d worked out exactly what I needed to say. On arrival the receptionist took my Carte Vitale (I’m now in the French health system!) and put it into a reader and my details came up on her screen – very clever. She typed in this and that and told me to wait in the ‘Salle d’atente’. I sat there with 5 other people and within a few minutes, I was called to the ‘Cabine’. A very nice Mr Buhaj took a look at the problem for me. He couldn’t find anything obvious and so he took a couple of xrays and told me to bite down on something. No everything looked fine but if I was to get a problem, to call and he would make a space for me. I left without having to pay/sign anything which was quite strange, given that the french like their paperwork. So that’s it, I’ve been to the doctor and the dentist now – it’s a piece of cake really.
Archive for ◊ June, 2007 ◊
I dug over the old compost heap to make a quick veggie patch just for this year. As we weren’t in the house until April, it was the best place as it had already over wintered. It’s not ideal, as it goes shady in the afternoon but I really wanted to grow something. This week we’ve been eating fresh lettuce and salad cress and yesterday, I made a lurvly lasagne with my first courgette! It’s been very hot and humid here with lots of rain and the courgette plants seem to love it. I have about 4 triffids now, all with lots of baby courgettes coming. Problem is they are swamping my beans a bit but I can’t move them now, I’ll just have to wait until next year for my new veggie patches. Tomatoes are on their way – can’t wait.
We have a huge mirabelle tree at the back of the garden and it’s laden with fruit this year. Most of them are still green but they are starting to ripen. I picked about 6 1b and that was just from one branch alone! They are succulently sweet and make great tarts apparently. However, I decided to have a go at making some jam. Not really knowing how much pectin they have in them, I thought I would give it a go with about 3 1b of fruit and ordinary sugar and see what happens. Simmered the fruit and removed as many stones as possible. Quite a juicy fruit so no added water required. Put in the same amount of sugar and boiled away. Using a trusty jam thermometer, I boiled until it reached the jam marker. I’ve never really had much luck with the wrinkle test! I’ve been saving jars and pots over the last few months so I used a few to put my batch of jam in. During the evening I kept checking to see if it had set and it looked a bit liquid still. Next morning, Steve opened a jar to try some and hey presto it had set after all! Tastes lovely. Very sweet and a lovely golden orange collour. Well only about another 100 lb of fruit to pic …. problem is I haven’t got enough jars!
Well after so many weeks and trips to Limoges I am now fully Immatriculated, that is to say French registered. The old car has shiny new number plates and we are really settling in to French life.
Well it’s been a hectic week. We had to evacuate the bedroom due to mould growth everywhere! Over the years we have had the house, it has often been shut up for long periods of time and a combination of stale air, damp and cold have given way to mould growth. Since we moved in, it has become worse due to the warm humid conditions and in the last week, it must have been perfect! The walls were black with it, and most of the clothes and shoes in the wardrobe were covered in it. We had to move everything lock stock and barrel out. I spent 3 days washing clothes and Steve sort out the shoes. The paper has been stripped together with the old built in wardrobe which was also riddled with the stuff. The walls were washed down with sugar soap and then bleach. I’ve filled all the holes from where the wardrobe was and the floors has been washed. It is now ready for a lick of paint. It has been very hard work but the end is in site and we will have a nice fresh bedroom. Only another 2 bedrooms, plus hallway, bathroom, living room, kitchen …… to go.
Went off to St Sylvestre early Sunday morning for another Randonee. This area is in the mountains and it was going to be a tougher one. Lots of folk there on arrival and the usual coffee and cakes. All signed on and waiting ready to go. We all fired down through village and onto the first climb. Very rocky and slippy. This it how it turned out most of the way round – lots of up hill! The food stops were great. They even had ham sandwiches and wine for those older bikers! All done and dusted in about 1hr 45 and the sun shone. Another randonee under the belt!
We did our first “Semi Nocturne” on Friday night. It’s basically a VTT randonee that starts in the evening – 20.30 hours for this one. It started at a village not far from us about 20 mins drive and we arrived to find hundreds of people all milling about. As we drove through to find a parking space, I started to panick – “Everyone’s got lights on!” Oh no, I’m getting really worried now. Steve scoffs and says “It’s only 28km – you’ll do that in a couple of hours easy”. Couple of hours – oh no that’s 22.30. All thoughts of “It’ll be dark, I won’t know where I am”. Well I’m here now so here goes. We all set off and it was a lovely evening. Absolutely perfect for a night ride. The first few trails were really muddy and there were so many people it was a bit chaotic. The trails just got muddier but it was great fun. As we came round about half way, we dropped into a trail in the woods and it was lit up with loads of coloured lanterns! As we got near the end, it had started to go dark but I got in with a group of riders some of whom had lights. We dived into a woodland section in complete darkness by now and all came a cropper cos of the mud we couldn’t see. It was great fun and I did manage to finish in the half light. Steve had already got back and cleaned up so I followed suit and we toddled off to the finish and had our “Sausage and Frites” which went down very nicely thank you. Great fun!
Another Sunday, another randonee. This time it’s the Bonnac La Cote Extreme and we arrive to see hundreds of cars all parked up and down through the village in spaces you couldn’t see! Certainly a popular one this. We get signed up with the usual coffee and cakes. Steve signed up for the Chrono – a timed stage along the route of about 6km. Off we went onto the first off road section. Very tricky and a bit mucky. The trails were excellent with some great views and great descents. After about 2 hours it was all over and I got back first (cos I was doing the 28km). Steve was doing the 40km including the chrono. Waited for Steve to arrive and the after rando celebrations were in full swing. 
Some very frenchy music blaring and loads of food and drink on the tables – including bbq sausages and wine! The sun was shining and everyone was having a great time. By the time Steve arrived, they had displayed the results from the chrono and he had come 3rd in Category! Great ride considering he had done the La Limousine (155km cyclosportive) the day before. The usual ceremony of prize presentations etc and more food and more drink. A great mornings riding.
Steve came back from a long bike ride to Confolens one day and announced we’re going out on Friday night. We aren’t ones for posh restaurants so I thought it must be some sort of outdoor event that he had seen advertised. Friday night we set off and drove to Confolens. We pulled up into a car park in town and I was a little confused. As we walked down the main high street, I saw it – Le Chippy. 
Yes we were going to have a fish and chip picnic which is something we used to do back the UK on a nice evening. We got our fish and chips and then drove out of town to a lovely old chateau. We opened a bottle of wine and sat on the grassy bank and had our fish and chips. After that, we had a bit of a tour round the old place. There was spectacular views and in it’s day, would have been an imposing site. What a great evening.
Well after April was such a scorcher, it would have been a hard act to follow in May. However, I don’t think anyone expected it to be quite so bad. The rainfall we have had in May has been akin to that which we get in February/March. As for the temperatures, well they have been nose diving all month. On a few occasions we have had to get the woodburner going again, just to keep out the damp! It’s been the same everywhere in the world I believe. Let’s hope June brings a little more of the usual French sunshine ….
