River settling in

 

Arthur was the only dog I have every owned, and River is the second, he was a dog and she is a bitch.  Is this why she sleeps like this?  Arthur never did.  Cute though.

 

The biggest problem for River is getting used to the fact the cats want to share her blanket at night.  Mr Pink likes to curl up into her tummy and Ferguson and Pond swiftly follow suit.

Week 6 theme - love 52 images for 2011 flickr group

For this week's theme I wanted to capture the essence of the word love as an emotion, rather than a symbolic reference through hearts or flowers, it has just taken me all week to get round to doing it.



In the end I found myself struggling again with the image for the theme.

I was going to take a hand clasp image, inspired by the photo I took at a wedding last year:

 

but as the group is about taking new photos and not just recycling stock ones, thank you to my beautiful models on Friday for this image

 

unfortunately someone had already posted a hand clasp image and I did not want to replicate the entry, so had to scout around for something new.

I was considering something along these lines:

 

but again this is a photo I took a while ago and not during the week of the theme - although it does reflect the theme of love from all angles, Ferguson and his sister Pond are very loving and utterly lovable too.

But from there my thoughts led me to ideas of first loves, and so I decided on the following:

 

for most children their first experience of love is their pet, and there is nothing quite so rewarding as the unconditional love offered by a loyal dog.

A cat's life for me

With the weather still grey and sleety, the cats are refusing point blank to go outside, although poor Mr Pink here is being gradually pushed off his perch by the two naughty kittens (they all seem rather keen on the new cushion covers I made the other day).

My bathroom looks like this

- as you can see plumbing still underway, the living room wall has had several large holes drilled through it for the heat exchange pipes -

but no end in sight yet.

I think of all the things in the world to dislike, the thing I dislike the most is plaster dust, so fine and white and dusty, it gets everywhere and is a complete horror to have to clean up, hopefully that bit is now over, just more patching up to do on the plaster instead.

So while Brendan nipped off to the docs and the supermarket after fetching Thea from school, I ran off to do something infinitely more interesting instead.

From plain picture frame:

- via glue gun, peacock feathers and tiny mother of pearl buttons -

to this:

Sunday's brief project - fly curtain for the studio.

We went to the sales yesterday.

Considering how rotten I was feeling and how much my psyche was begging for some retail therapy to ease it, I managed to stay strong and resist all the bargain clothes reductions - I didn't even buy a pair of pretend suede ankle boots  in soft beige with big buckles and stocky cowboy stack heels that I found in the sales reduced to 12€.  That's how strong I am!

Phew - wipe the sweat of resistance from my brow, and then shamefully admit:

"My name is Monika and I am a bargain basement material-aholic"

Having taken Thea around all the trendy young thing shops - (so no temptations there at all for me), we also trawled a couple of the larger supermarket for their sale bargains.

I must clarify (and digress) - I love the French way of handling sales.

There are only 2 sales periods in a year, one in February and one in July.  All the rest of the year you get the odd promotion, but not a real sale with knockdown prices and bargain bins of tat.  Nor do you get that very UK things of non-seasonal items reduced all year round, so for instance, you can't buy your next years Christmas decorations in the New Year sales, because there aren't any, and by February when the sales are on, no Christmas things are to be seen.  You have to buy Christmas decorations and cards etc before December 24th, and you may find things on 3 for 2 promotions or buy one get one half price then and only then.

This comes as a very real culture shock having spent the last few years in the UK getting used to being able to buy anything at any time and usually reduced.

You can't buy a swimming costume in France in the winter unless you go to a specialist sports provision shop.  Fashion swimsuits and bikinis arrive in the shops in May, and are all gone by August, if you miss them, you have to wait till next year.  Even the home order catalogues are seasonal.

I was struck by this after flicking through the summer La Redoute catalogue the other day.  I saw a couple of things that looked quite nice and so when I got home I went online to see if I could get a bigger picture of it to try to copy it (see no buying new clothes - just plagarism instead).  But I made the mistake of looking on the English version of the site and found all sorts of things including thick tights, winter boots, and mittens.  On the French site - only beach cover-ups and swimwear - nothing 'wintery' at all.  Very strange how different the stock levels of the UK/non UK catalogues are.  In fact the two catalogues bear no resemblance to each other.

Anyhoooo - back on topic.

We went around the supermarket sales, and in one of the dark and dusty corners I found a cardboard bin of opened and ex-display bed linens.

Now I actually think I was quite restrained.

Material is very expensive to buy, as are bed linens, but I managed to hold back from throwing the contents of the bin into Brendan's arms and running off cackling manically for the tills.  I actually sorted through the sheets and duvet covers and just bought those that fitted and the colours I needed for lining materials - and at 2 € a double bed fitted sheet they were real bargains.

I also bought a lovely voile tab top curtain for 2€, which I naively offered to Thea for a wall hanging, then when I got it home I squirreled it away into my studio instead to use as a door curtain to keep the flies out.

All that was required was a quick hem to shorten it, then a couple of hooks and a bamboo cane stolen from the garden to suspend it.

Job done.

And just because Thea insists that I am biased towards Ferguson (well he is the most beautiful kitten in the world)  here is a quick photo of Pond in the clover.

Ferguson

Just a quick photo - because he is beautiful.

Well this is a bit embarrassing....

.... I changed my status on Facebook today to say that I was celebrating 10 years of marriage......unfortunately our wedding anniversary is actually tomorrow. Not the first time I have got it wrong, but what is really embarrassing is that I went and checked the date on the certificate, and still got it wrong!


As a special treat my lovely husband took me to the scrapyard. Ostensibly to collect a table he had spotted there the other day that he wanted for his workshop, but in reality, once there he was trying to palm me off with all sorts of other rubbish, because once I spotted the table I knew I had to have it.

It has come out of a local school, Thea says they have similar ones in her science lab, it is waist high and has a laminated top, so I have commandeered it as my pattern cutting table for my studio. What did he expect with a trip to the scrappy as an anniversary gift. Still for 10 years it is supposed to be tin or coal.

While I was there I did find some other treasures, a metal bucket for my wood store in my studio, some saucepans to use in the cages for our ever expanding rabbit population, a waffle iron and a night potty bucket. All of which the scrap man gave me for free - as my anniversary present!

I am not quite sure what that says about my life here in rural France, that my local scrapman gives me an anniversary present? Nor am I sure what it says about our marriage, that my husband thinks a trip to the scrappy is appropriate? What does it say about me? Am I taking reduce, reuse, recycle a step too far?

On the other hand a bucket of bits and bobs or a bag of coal - good practical presents both of them, better than some overpriced flowers, although I wouldn't necessarily say no to chocolate.

While in the scrapyard we visited our lorry. We moved to France in winter 2006, with all of our wordly goods crammed in this 7.5 tonne lorry, bought for one trip only, then sold to the scrap man once we had cut the body off it in order to transport our 2 pig arcs, and run several trips to collect hay and straw in it while it was a flat-bed. Then eventually it died and it was time for it to move on. All that is left now is the flat bed base and the roof - still with the hole cut out from the caravan window that had been set into the roof while it was a horse box. I cut the window out to make a cold frame for the garden - waste not want not!

The big plus side of a visit to the scrap man and scrap yard are the photographic opportunities. Scrap metal and cars are one of my favourite things to capture - well they don't move around for a start.

Tomorrow's project is to collate and process the photos I took today, having installed my table under the window in the studio today, taken a couple of quick shots of the kittens - as you can see from the photo above, Fergie is happily installed on my shoulder as I type this, and a quick dinner of pork chops and dauphinoise potatoes.


Recipe - dauphinoise potatoes
Peel some potatoes - any old softening ones in the bottom of the veg basket or what's left of last year's harvest are perfect for this.
Slice about half a centimetre thick and layer in an oven proof dish - I like to add some thinly sliced onion in as well.
Sprinkle on some garlic powder and season as you build the layers.
Pour over a litre of stock and leave to cook in the oven at 180C for about 45 minutes.
By this time the stock should be pretty much gone, but the potatoes nice and soft, then pour over a carton of thick double cream (about 150 ml), sprinkle with some paprika and some parsley and leave to cook for another 20 minutes.
By cooking in two stages like this the cream won't split and you need less cream so it is slightly healthier.

Back out in the garden again between showers

Considering today is the first day of summer meteorologically speaking it is not very warm and really quite wet.

After another morning spent on the computer I had had quite enough, so promised myself some gardening time this afternoon. 

Kittens are settling in nicely, Thea's kitten is very good and mine is very naughty.  They are both eating and drinking well, but are missing the litter tray every now and again, you need to grab them quickly and deposit them on it, still for 6 weeks old they are pretty clean.  The dog loves them, and Mr Pink quite frankly doesn't give a damn as long as he can steal their milk and eat their kitten food.

Typically though it started to rain just as I got home, nonetheless I planted out the last of my courgette seedlings, weeded my salad polytunnel, my kohl rabi plot and then planted out some plum tomatoes in the greenhouse - where I found another couple of stray seedlings from last year's tomato plants. I stuck a couple of stakes in to remind me they are there and I think they will prove to be cherry tomatoes.  Free plants.

You can see in the photo, my very green and overgrown, spilling over the edges herb garden, behind it my strawberry patch, then the blue tubes of my salad poly tunnel.  To the right are my bean canes, broccoli, cabbage, onions, carrots, parsnips, beetroots with my two new rows of courgettes on the left, just in front of my wibbly wobbly pea canes.  You can also see just next to the poly tunnel that there is a square bed, this is full of  French black raddishes, then a square kohl rabi bed, then to the far right is the start of my patch of red weed (red Chinese salad leaf, interspersed with some self seeded raddishes).  At the end of the pea canes is the first of my apple trees.

The veggie garden then continues beyond the apple tree, about the same size again, perhaps a bit more, because it is wider at the bottom than it is at the top.  At the bottom there are pumpkins, potatoes, cassis, redcurrants, raspberries, onions, more beets, and more cabbage.

Saturday's child has far to go .........

...........I don't think that is right but it certainly fitted today.

Today's project was a bit different from studio or gardening time.  Today I went hunting eggs with a friend.

Orpington eggs to be exact. 

My friend likes Orpington chickens, has done for several years, and is now ready to become a chicken mama.  So having found an Orpington breeder on line with eggs and chicks for sale, we drove 180 kms across France today in hot sunny weather to collect some eggs ready to go in the incubator.  I had my first introduction to this breed first hand, and, wow, they are big birds.  Looking forward to the hatching to see what we get.

It has been a glorious day today, 27 celcius this afternoon, and this evening is still very mild, at fast approaching midnight, I have only just closed the front door against the dropping temperatures. 

With Mr Pink happily curled on my lap after an impressive afternoon when he caught 3 mice, following the two he had this morning before we went out, we are both agreed that it is now bed time.

Early start tomorrow for the car boot sale, our favourite of the year - perhaps I'll even get to replace my broken crockery from the other day.

Tuesday morning - what to do with an old red jumper

This is the material I picked up on Sunday - no idea why I said it had peacocks in it - must have been one of those visual delusions. They are just stylised flowers.

Anyway - before work this morning, with it raining again, I had an hour to spare so obviously I spent it in my studio this time with an old red jumper.

First things first - on Sunday I bought a kitten bed for the new kittens in a lovely garish blue and yellow check - which Thea hated, now that I have removed the body of the sweater and recovered the kitten bed she loves it and has claimed it for her room, on the basis that it matches her black red and white decorating theme. I just hope her kitten appreciates it.

We are off to visit them again on Thursday - can't wait till we get to bring them home. Mr Pink has been additionally loving over the last few days as if to remind us that he is the current king of the hill. And Purple has vanished - I think she has gone to find her final resting place. She has been unwell for so long now, we thought she was dead the last time she vanished and the neighbour found her and bought her home, but since then her lump has grown significantly and she has stopped eating as well. I fear that this may be it, however she is the cat of 15 lives, one for each year of her lifespan so far, so maybe not, she may yet venture home.

Back to today's project.

Having removed the body of the jumper I was left with some arms, and a roll neck.

Just to set the record straight - I am not obsessed with fingerless gloves, honest I am not. I just find them so practical - when gardening or knitting or typing on the computer in my cold office, when driving, and when wearing yet more boring black and with the weather continuing in its current inclement way they are more practical than you might think for May.

I wear a lot of black, in fact should you watch one of those moving abroad type programmes you are bound to see those old ladies sitting outside their traditional stone houses in tiny villages dressed all in black shelling peas on roasting hot days - think of me when you do. In an attempt to spice up my dull dull dull winter wardrobe that consists of black jumpers and black tops and black black black, I have taken to wearing fingerless gloves that stretch up to my elbow in various colours (depending on which jumper I butchered recently), this has given my wardrobe an infusion of colour that has not cost me anything.

Therefore with some scarlet sleeves left over my poor tiny little brain could not see past the making of more gloves.

 I really admire the style of NCIS's Pauley Perrette, (although I have taken to staring at the screen trying to spot her wrinkles) she manages to carry off a modern goth look without resembling a cast off Marilyn Manson marionette.  I don't think that I could successfully manage the full look, but perhaps this way I can add a bit of gothic revival to my wardrobe.  I did used to be a happy goth (a misnomer I know) and I do miss a lot of the clothing. 

I have therefore decided to finish these gloves with contrast black stitching, black detailing around the thumb holes and some felted black flowers.  Now I just need some more time - this project will therefore have to roll over for another day.

But before heading out the door, I just had enough time to take the roll neck and finish it off into another headband ready to received the same black detailing treatment.  Back to my sketchbook I think.

The headband is really easy to make, just cut off the roll neck, fold it back in on itself to hide the large seam and sew together.

Because you are working with a stretch fabric I have found the easiest way to do this is to stitch by hand.  Pin into place around the perimeter, then stretch the fabric between your thumb and hand and sew just picking up a couple of threads either side of the join.


Right - off to watch another episode of NCIS for more style tips.