Been trying to schedule this winery trip with a girlfriend for two weeks and things kept getting in the way, but we finally pulled it off yesterday, even though it was only a little over an hour from the house. Of course, we threw in lunch along the way, so we didn’t get totally shitfaced from the tastings!
On the banks of the Dordogne River
When we arrived, we were overtaken by the grand 19th century cellar hanging on the banks of the Dordogne. Midway between Bergerac and Bordeaux, it was clearly a magical place. There was even a group of school children out front studying the architecture of this grand old structure.
School children on an outing studying the facade
With no vineyards attached to it, the winery is unique in that it has the freedom to buy the best quality grapes from wherever it chooses. By breaking most of the appellation rules, the vintners search out tiny parcels of amazing grapes from all over France, maturing them in fine oak casks in the the stunning cellars, then carefully blending them to create ‘Grand Cru’ flavor in the bottle.
Scene of the crime. Yes, we did sample all of these varieties!
Welcomed by the charming Simon, we were encouraged to sample as many varieties as we wanted in the historic tasting room right next to the impressive cellar, where the fermenting is taking place in vats and barrels. They even had a huge concrete egg vat, in which one of my favs for the day was fermenting. The shape of the vat creates small currents that keep the fermenting wine in constant motion. Some believe that the egg’s spherical shape imbues the wine with “celestial energy”—we’ll see about my celestial energy after a bottle or two…!
The egg vat.
It was a delight to find such a nice variety of fine wines produced by a passionate crew at such reasonable prices. Filling the trunk of my new car, I came home with enough variety to fill the coffers for a while. Not to even mention how great it felt to get out of the house for a pleasurable outing for a change.
Cellar where the fermentation takes place.
For you locals who may be interested: Le Chai au Quai 7-9 Quai Camille Pelletan 33350 Castillon-la-Bataille 05 57 40 13 31
Oh my goodness. With Gaston filling our lives with adventures and tribulations, I’ve hardly had the time to THINK about blogging. I will write separately about Gaston, aka ‘The Beast,’ as he comes with so many hilarious stories, and I have some tales related to the Etsy store that I will write independently as well.
Since we spent the winter in France (albeit an extremely mild one), we were able to enjoy all the spring flowers that grace our property.
Early primrose bloomers sparkling in the early morning light.Just natural.Threw out these bulbs thinking they were a lost cause, then guess who blooms from the compost pile???
It was always my intent to not only enjoy flowers in the garden, but have enough to use as cut flowers inside. These peonies and roses each had such a marvellous scent, I was in heaven. Peonies, although short lived, are an all-time favourite of mine, reminding me of my mother, who was quite the gardener, despite living in the Colorado desert where the winds howl, the hail beats down and the summers are dry and hot. (Photo Note: Wondering what those glowing ‘eyes’ are on the fireplace mantel in the background? Yes, they’re my trainers, safe away from the puppy teeth 🦷!)
Peonies and pale yellow roses from the garden in a vintage yellow coffee pot. I love spring…
Of course, all of this loveliness does come at a price. My fingernails haven’t been clean for months, I complain constantly about my aching back, but I get a good tan and my ‘oneness’ with the earth is priceless. My love for this place runs deep.
Climbing David Austin roses on the garage, unfortunately after heavy rain ravaged it.
Clematis at the other end of that bed finally taking hold.
I tend to work in the garden until my back gives out, then work at the computer for a while, switching back and forth throughout the day. Working in the garden comes with some surprises, too—I’ve received some gnarly spider bites, which made me quite ill, but the biggest surprise of all was to be startled by this little guy on my desk. We have many mantises in our garden, which is a testament to our organic practices. They fascinate me!
This little guy scared the bejesus out of me, helping me with my French—obviously a hitchhiker from the garden!
I’ve also spent a lot of these long pandemic days cooking. I rarely take photos, but a friend took this one of a birthday flan I made for a friend. The white circle was the only candle we could find in a pinch, but had fun making some chocolate filigree (standing behind the candle). Note the dominos on the table, love playing Chickenfoot (or ‘Chickenshit,’ as some of my adversaries call it)—a favourite winter pastime that we’ve introduced to our friends here.
Another new hobby (not exactly cooking, I guess) for those long winter lockdown nights is mixology. Got my home cocktail bar set up and love mixing up new potions. On the left are some of my new accoutrements, in the middle a shipment from one vendor to get variety in the bar, and the one on the right is some crazy concoction with French gin, Lillet Blanc, Triple Sec, fresh lemon juice and a drop or two of Absinthe.
Undoubtedly, with all this eating and drinking comes extra spread through Cindy’s midsection, so I’ve purchased a bicycle, albeit an electric one, to get me up the devil’s hill that is required to get home from town. I adore it and Gaston helped open it by eating the box! And he chases me in the garden. Can you say “Prey Drive?”!!!
Of course, I immediately start looking for gear. That’s what one does, right? Well, I ran across this lively flower number on the left and imagined my girth stuffed in there, then this other photo came to mind… Laughed my ass off! Just as this lady gets lost in the seed packets, so might I when peddling my ass beside the fields of flowers (they doesn’t really exist, but it’s a good fantasty, yes?)
Just to redeem myself a little bit, I also walk regularly with my friend’s geriatric horse, Nevada (we go the same speed…)
Pretty mundane, I suppose, but want to keep in touch with everyone out there. We are both Covid-free and grateful for every day. Please drop us a note, we LOVE hearing from you!
After my previous blog about the green Armagnac bottle, I’ve heard from many of you wanting more stories about items in the Etsy store. As I do try (and enjoy) to conduct accurate research and go beyond providing just a simple listing description, I hope you enjoy this little history lesson. I certainly learned something.
This is the story of a couple of miniature paintings that we collected from Theo’s late parents’ house in 2015 when we moved to Europe. Although German through and through, Theo’s mom had a bit of Francophile in her, judging from items she chose to decorate the house with.
The master bedroom in their home was decorated in soft pink and olive green, with very Provincial-inspired furniture, including painted headboard, nightstands, and large armoire in ivory with gold embellishments. In the corner was a dainty seating ensemble, including a tiny loveseat and single boudoir chair upholstered in olive mohair with thick bullion fringe around the bottom. With crystal sconces gracing each side of the bed and a large crystal chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, the room was no less than elegant. On the walls were her collections of miniatures, and I’m featuring two of them here. The perfect fusion of a German portrait with a French aesthetic, both in Anneliese’s good taste.
These are my favourites, reproductions of two portraits from the Nymphenburg Palace in enchanting ivory, mother of pearl, and bone frames.
Pair of miniatures in matching frames. Circa 1900.
The imposing Nymphenburg Palace is certainly a not-to-be-missed stop when touring Munich in Bavaria, southern Germany. The breathtaking Baroque palace constitutes one of the premier royal palaces of Europe. Its frontal width of 632 m (2,073 ft) even surpasses Versailles Palace. The Nymphenburg served as the summer residence for the former rulers of Bavaria, and is now famous not only for its collection of artworks, but for housing the Schönheitengalerie or the Gallery of Beauties.
The Gallery of Beauties is a collection of 36 portraits of the most beautiful women in Munich. The portraits were commissioned by King Ludwig I of Bavaria, a man known for his eccentricity and his love for beauty. German portrait painter Joseph Stieler painted the 36 portraits, featuring women from royalty, nobility, and middle-classes, the latter group shown wearing elaborate dresses and hair accessories despite their humble backgrounds.
Gallery of Bavarian Beauties, Nymphenburg Palace, Munich
First, we have Helene Kreszenz Sedlmayr (1813-1898), who was a German beauty of the 19th century, considered the epitome of Munich’s beauties, dressed in old Munich costume.
Helene Sedlmayr, Gallery of Beauties, Nymphenburg Palace, Munich
A shoemaker’s daughter, she became known to Ludwig I of Bavaria when, at age 15, she supplied toys to his children and he commissioned this portrait of her. Ludwig is said to have wooed her with the words, “Don’t have such a searching and inquiring glance. You cheeky, loveliest beauty, look at me and trust me.” Helene later married the king’s valet, and together they had 10 children.
Anna Hillmayer, Gallery of Beauties, Nymphenburg Palace, Munich
The second portrait is of Anna Hillmayer (1812–1847), who was the daughter of a Munich meat dealer, proving that the famous series of beautiful women were not only ladies of the court, but women from all classes of society. She died unmarried on her 35th birthday. She is shown here wearing the traditional Munich headdress with a prayer book in front of the Munich Frauenkirche as a symbol of piety.
My miniature reproduction paintings.
Portrait miniatures were produced in great numbers all the way through the 1800s as everyone wanted a memento of the beauties of Bavaria. The quality of these copies varies enormously and you can discern the difference of mine with the original. They were generally painted on ivory, but sometimes were simply printed on celluloid, with limited over-painting of the highlights, often in opaque white. They often had a fake signature of a famous artist added.
The frames are a thing of beauty, with bone, ivory, and mother of pearl. The paintings are surrounded by an intricate bronze bezel. Mine have the original paper backing consisting of pages of old German books to give an impression of great age. Still with the original convex glass front, they appear to have never been out of their frames. I am dating these at around 1900. And while giving a very French look to any room, they do portray German beauties, so a wonderful juxtaposition of Theo’s mom’s inclinations.
Since Alfie’s been gone for 14 months and Annie over 2-1/2 years, we searched our souls long and hard with respect to getting another dog. We made it through this past year thinking we wanted to retain our freedom and would wait to adopt—all with the intentions of traveling a bit more.
The pandemic is keeping us from our roaming retirement plans, so we decided to start looking, but only to adopt the ‘right’ dog (whatever that is!)
Most of you know from Facebook postings that we went to see a couple of Griffons in Saintes a while ago, but they were outdoor dogs, with no training and were way too big and wild for us to handle. So we took a pass on them, but left the refuge with a donation for their efforts.
Then our online research got more serious, perusing the sites of the local SPAs, refuges, rescues, etc. for candidates. And that’s when we found him. And his name was Gaston. This is his online pic that we fell in love with.
He was one year old. Perfect. He got along well with female and male dogs. Perfect. Not too big, not too small. Perfect. He was a lover man and very sweet. Perfect. And boy, was he a cutie! Done!
I found him online in the middle of the night (insomnia, ya know). I knew I wanted to start up a dialogue, so I sent a little note, because time is often of the essence when you find a desirable dog. I heard back from them the next day with answers to some basic questions. I then sent a slideshow I had prepared for another rescue association showing photos of the house, the property, the fences and gates, where we would take him for walks, etc. And I think I won them over!
Welcome to Le Coudeau
Living Room in the Evening
Yard with plenty of room to run.
Yard.
Yard.
Fencing around entire property.
Visiting swans on the Dordogne.
This is what happens when I get up to get a cup of coffee!
Visiting the neighboring
horse, Daphne.
A lucky visit to Le Jardins Marqueyssac.
He was ours for the asking. But there was one more hurdle. He was in Buchelay…west of Paris! A six to seven hour drive and the government was rumbling about a new lockdown. We were already under curfew from 6pm to 6am, so we had to be strategic. A previous obligation that was keeping us from traveling until February 4 suddenly was postponed, so we called and told them we could come for Gaston sooner and hopefully dodge any new lockdown measures. In the least, we figured if we could get up there, then we could have an attestation that would state that we were returning to our home (which is allowed). In the end, there were no additional lockdown measures, but we were sweating it.
Gaston still needed to be neutered and was scheduled for January 29, and they were willing to release him on Monday, February 1. So we booked a hotel for Sunday night and drove in torrential rain to arrive at the hotel to find it all locked up with nobody in sight. Ugh. So we called the number, finally got an answer, and they said the front desk person would be there at 6pm. Only about 45 minutes, so we waited. But what a fright.
Up close and personal with my new mom all the way home.
Anyway, got up Monday morning and went to the refuge, met Gaston (love at first sight), paid his ‘bail,’ and off we went to try to get home before 6 pm (it was already close to noon, which didn’t leave much time for peepee stops…) Not sure he had ever traveled in a car before, so I sat in the back seat with him, while Theo drove. Well he barked and howled and tried to claw his way out for about the first hour on the road. He was freaked out about all that was moving by so fast outside the car!
Then he finally settled down and he and I bonded the rest of the way home. Even had a nap somewhere along the way (you know, it’s just better for me to NOT know how fast Theo was speeding in the rain, so a nap in the back seat was perfect for me…)
Gaston showing Theo who is boss at a rest stop on the way back from Paris.
While he is a very sweet dog, he has everything to learn. He wasn’t housetrained, had no recall, didn’t know how to sit or stay, etc. And so the regime has begun. Thankfully our lot is completely fenced and secure, so off-leash training is easy. Or so I say. He is definitely a hound and gets easily distracted when his nose picks up something irresistible. And so it goes. Every day is a little better.
First Photo Shoot (aka Mug Shots for Booking from Crimes Committed)
The cone they sent him home with was too small and he could easily reach his stitches (did they not notice how LOOOONNNGGG his body is?) And so I quickly whipped together a onesie for him from an old sweatshirt — four holes for feet and some stick-on velcro and voila! My little dinosaur! Had to laugh.
He sleeps through the night, is a good eater, has come a long way with the potty training, knows his name, and at least has some respect for me. We work on his manners by asking people to come by so we can ‘practice,’ we’re taking him to new situations so he can learn about new sounds, sights, smells, and circumstances. He’s not bad on the leash, but that training will continue.
Mom let me do it. Ripping up boxes for fireplace kindling is my specialty.
He is fairly reactive and barks when something noisy drives by (especially motorbikes and tractors) and is learning to love his doggy buddy next door ‘through the fence.’ As a puppy, he chews, but you can see the glimmer in his eye when he has the devil in him (about twice a day) and he goes and gets things that he knows are off limits, then runs like hell to play keep-away. Working on that… (Oops, update just now. Theo came to announce that his glasses were destroyed.)
The grass is always greener…And who doesn’t love a sleeping puppy???
Yes, we do love it when he sleeps. He’s an active young lad, but is eager to learn and to please, so stay tuned for more Gastonion Chronicles!!!
Oh, by the way, ’cause I know you’re going to ask. We think he’s probably a PBGV, Petite Basset Griffon Vendéen. He fits the profile—happy, friendly, loyal, and stubborn. And we kept his old-fashioned French name because we thought it suited him. But we love him dearly and are so happy to welcome His Furryness into our household.
Just went out to get more wood for my lazy Sunday next to the fireplace and saw something unusual under one of the big pine trees.
Further inspection identified it as a huge paper wasp (Polistes-dominula) nest that got blown out of the tree. I find them around the property all the time in summer and quickly remove them, but I’ve never seen one this enormous. It’s like a super luxury mega condo for wasps!!! Or it was…
Apparently, paper wasps build their nests by gathering fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva. This results in a magical papery material.
Their diet is diverse which gives them a distinct survival advantage. I can attest to that with the numbers of them we have in summer. And I can also promise that their sting is not something you quickly forget!
The colonies are established by females that have left their natal combs to mate and find new settlements. The dominant females are the principal egg layers. If the queen is removed from the nest for whatever reason the second-most dominant female takes the role of the previous queen.
Males are produced later, with the colony finally dispersing in late summer. Individuals frequently cluster in groups to overwinter, but hibernation does not usually take place on former nest sites (lucky for me).
Just thought I’d share this ‘find’ today, as I think the pattern that results is beautiful.
Some of you may be wondering why you haven’t heard much from the blog lately. Or not. With the lockdown, there simply isn’t much going on…except that sales from the Etsy store are raging!!! And since THAT is the activity that consumes (and amuses) me these days, I made the decision to start incorporating what I’m doing in conjunction with the Etsy shop here on the blog. In lockdown, it’s what I do to keep busy. I love it, don’t get me wrong, but there just isn’t much else to write about.
It may or may not interest you, but I found the whole series of events from yesterday morning fairly amusing. I hope you do too.
So, with the lockdown, we cannot travel outside the house except for essentials, but all non-essential businesses are closed. Waahhh! No brocantes, no antique stores, no flea markets…but there ARE still online auctions. Being a long-time auction lover, I peruse the French auctions regularly.
With Christmas sales from the Etsy shop through the roof this year, I’m starving for inventory and have found myself having quite some ‘sessions’ with auctions, sometimes watching three or four at a time! You should see all my notes with lot numbers I’m interested in lined up in the order that they display on my browser. And it’s not unheard of for me to have the iMac, the MacBook Pro, and the iPad carefully orchestrated across my desk to keep an eye on all that’s happening. Some might consider this madness, I call it ‘heaven!’
Mostly I’ve concentrated on affordable vintage oil paintings, but I did happen upon a mixed auction and ended up with FIVE banana boxes full of stuff. As the days roll by, I am researching the items that I ended up with, and this is the story of ONE of the 26 items I bought at this single auction…
This is the chronicle of a mysterious green bottle. Here it is in all its glory. Tough to photograph, but interesting in its shape. It stands nearly 14” tall and the liquid goes into the donut shape of the bottle. The glass is fused in the middle of the ‘donut’, with a centre medallion design of a crown over a shield motif. The most remarkable part of the item though, was the distinctive musketeer hat shape of the glass stopper.
The Stopper
And so I started out by taking a photo and doing an image search on Google. Came up with a couple of similar ones, but they were much smaller and the vendors were all calling them perfume bottles. So I figured MAYBE mine was a factice, an oversized dummy store display to market big-name perfumes. But at this point, if it was a perfume bottle at 6” tall, it seemed a HUGE quantity of perfume to me, but what do I know? So I started down that rat hole.
I went on antique perfume bottle sites, searched on Pinterest, Etsy, Ebay and various other antique sites, both in English and French, and only came up with the small bottles for sale, with no mention of brand, origin, or age, so of course I was becoming more and more skeptical. I even went as far as posting photos with an inquiry on an online antique bottle and glass forum. No takers there, so got up yesterday morning determined to get to the bottom of it.
At this point, I had probably perused hundreds of pages of images and sites looking for clues. You know how tenacious I can be! Well this morning I figured maybe ‘simpler’ is ‘better’ and entered in my search engine, “green glass Musketeer hat stopper” and, lo and behold, there it was…an Armagnac bottle! 6” tall with the musketeer hat stopper.
Soooo, off I went to figure out WHAT Armagnac it was. After a few dozen more sites, I discovered it was Marquis De Montesquiou Armagnac. Now that I had a brand name, I could really get down to business.
Well, I discovered that the Montesquious are one of the oldest families in France, dating back to the 5th century, and had been making Armagnac since 1431. The present incarnation of Marquis de Montesquiou Armagnac was started 70 years ago by Pierre de Montesquiou, who was a direct descendant of the most famous de Montesquiou of all—the Comte d’Artagnan, on whom the hero of The Three Musketeers was based!
With the Armagnac area just to the south of us and the Cognac region just north of here, I started getting really excited about the whole Armagnac vs Cognac conundrum. This is over Sunday breakfast, mind you.
Yeah, I know it’s a martini glass. I guess our snifters didn’t make it across the pond with us.
So, being very satisfied with my detective skills, I asked my lovely Theo exactly what the difference was between an Armagnac and Cognac (besides the regions obviously). And he headed to the booze cupboard and suggested we taste the difference. And I simultaneously started the online research to learn more about the production than I ever imagined I wanted to know.
Now, it is only 11 in the morning and here we are, tasting brandies. Too much fun! We didn’t come to many conclusions, other than that we must visit these regions and do further taste tests…and liquor in the morning is a whole lotta fun!
It’s interesting to note that the modern bottle shape of Marquis De Montesquieu is inspired by the flasks used by the Musketeers. So cool!
And so, I’ve come to the conclusion that my purchase is an example of a rare bottle format the company reserved for special end-of-year celebration bottles or gift decanters, perhaps with the possibility of personalising the label. I have not seen another in this size that still has its stopper intact, so that makes me smile!
I’m still trying to date it though, but in any case, it is a lovely collector item that I’m hoping someone will purchase and treasure!
Feels so good to NOT have my nose pressed to the TV cheering on Joe and Kamala! Finally feel that I can breathe with relief and get back to normal, so thought I’d share the little project I’m working on today. Almost everything is closed here in France on Mondays, so it’s really my catch up/clean up day. And if I’m lucky, I can fit in a little marketing.
My Victorian lady with her umbrella and doggie. The dots on her face are the bonnet veil from the hat. Everybody asks!
I bought this painting a couple of months ago for the Etsy shop. When we picked it up from the auction house, Theo’s face said it all!!!… What the hell were you thinking???
Well, I thought it was a nice turn of the century piece and such an interesting format. Long and skinny—over a meter tall. Cool.
And when we unloaded it from the car, I discovered a serendipitous surprise. There was a second painting stretched onto the back! Better yet! Two paintings for the price of one!!! And after closer inspection, it’s a close-up of the doggie from the front side with the lady.
Yes, it has some issues with the paint oxidizing over time. And without knowing exactly what paint and varnish were used, it’s tough to do a decent restoration (not that that’s my focus in life), but thought I’d fart around with some different ideas. After some research, I decided the easiest thing would be to “oil it out” by applying a thin coat of linseed oil to the surface, wiping off all excess.
So I painstakingly removed the ancient tacks from around the painting that were holding on the dog canvas (as it was ‘on top.’) Took a deep breath and started brushing on the Huile de Lin.
Here it is half ‘oiled.’ You can really see how it’s bringing up the color.
It seems to be soaking it up nicely, so we’ll leave it overnight and see what tomorrow brings when it dries. Cross your fingers for me!
Here we go again. We had planned to depart for the house in Spain next weekend, after taking care of a lot of fall chores around the house, a few medical appointments, and some social engagements. We were planning to stay there until the end of April.
Then earlier this week, certain autonomous communities in Spain (that we usually drive through en route) started closing their borders. That’s okay, we’ll just take a different route. Then talk of France making an announcement to reinstate the lockdown moved fast and here we are, instantly in our first full day of quarantine.
Closure of Spanish perimeters and limited travel within the regions.
With the Covid numbers from last weekend, I had a feeling this was going to happen and mentally started preparing myself that the Spain trip was going to have to wait. And I’m fine with that. Given the choice of whether to be in lockdown in Spain or in France, I choose France. Our French house is fully equipped and I have lots of work to keep me busy in the garden, I can keep the Etsy shop open, and I have all my art supplies, sewing machine, and potting shed crap to keep me busy (not to even MENTION getting back to my French lessons!!!)
Theo and Cindy, Official October Birthday Party Animals
And the house in Spain, well, it still needs finishing touches and ‘infrastructure.’ And being in lockdown does not facilitate either of those tasks. So rather than sit there with the sunshine and the beautiful view of the Med, and twiddle my thumbs, I will gladly stay in France for a while.
Both Theo and I celebrated birthdays in October, mine was my sixtieth (somehow when I spell it out, it doesn’t seem so big!) We had some super gatherings with friends including too much food, lots of good wine, and some belly-splitting laughter. Life is good.
It’s been a year since we lost our little Alfie man. And I must admit, that although we agree that we want to travel and have some freedom, with the continuing lockdown situation, it drives us both to want to move ahead and add some new furr life again to the Loevenich household. On that note, I have a little story…
Theo and his beloved Alfie in California
I found something so cute when we did some repairs for a ‘little’ house catastrophe. But first, the story of the project. When we renovated the house five years ago, in the master bedroom wing, I put down beautiful thick solid oak hardwood floors in the dressing room, the hallway, and the bedroom. Over time, the middle of the floor in the dressing room (which is a large room about 10 x 21 feet) started to bow. Was it damp underneath? Did they lay it without any room to expand and contract? What the heck? Well, after talking with several different contractors, a good friend finally worked out that there was a problem in the way the shower drain in the adjoining master bath had been installed. Once all that gorgeous solid wood flooring came up, there was a clear path where there had been a slow leak all these years.
Since we were putting down new flooring during the renovation anyway, channels were cut into the foundation to run all the new plumbing (I relocated the washer and dryer into this room). Eventually the cutouts were filled with concrete. Looking closely, I saw little paw prints in the concrete and knew instantly that they were Alfie’s. And I could just picture his little doggie brain at work…thinking “Mom told me not to step on that wet concrete, but if I run REALLY fast, it won’t count, right???” It brought both tears to my eyes and a smile to my face. It’s so cute to know that his little print will forever be part of this house. Hidden, but part of this house.
Starting to remove the hardwood.
Alfie’s little paw prints in the concrete.
done. No grout, but the stone is down.
And I’ll leave you with this photo of me, which was inspiration for my 60th birthday party invitations. This was my mom’s all-time favourite photo of me. I was 2 years 4 months old. The dress was a midnight blue cut-velvet fabric with petticoat of eyelet made by my mom. I’m sure I was telling her some crazy story when she took the photo. Gotta love those chunky little legs and dirty sadlle shoes!
Even though I love summertime, I always look forward to the misty mornings of Fall. This is looking from near the front gate over what we call the “upper garden” towards the walled secret garden by the guest house.
Okay, I’ve been getting some comments about WTH happened with the blog. Can hardly believe my last post was in April! My apologies. It’s not that I don’t have ideas running through my head all the time, I just don’t seem to seize the moment and put in the work that comprises a post. Anyhoo, I’ll try to get caught up…
We returned to France in late June, when it seemed safe to do so, in relation to the Covid situation. When we got to the Spanish/French border, we saw tons of blue lights flickering in the distance and I started digging for our documentation to prove that we were domiciled in France and were qualified to enter. As we got closer, we realised that most all the enforcement was on the SPANISH side! There were just a couple of French gents at the turnstile having a casual smoke and conversation. We flew right through. No questions asked.
New patio tiles outside upstairs suite.
We left the Spanish house with just a few outstandings—a bed frame to be delivered in August, the delivery of the olive wood kitchen island countertop, shipment of some lighting pendants, and a few more paintings. We also left the workers to repair the upstairs patio tiling after there was a mystery lake in the living room below after a big storm. We kept an eye for any dampness the rest of last winter and never had a drop, but thought it better to just replace it and do it right. Of course, the size of tiles has changed in the last sixteen years since the house was built, so we had to redo the whole damned thing!
But the work on the house is basically finished and the only thing left is small decorating details. You can be assured that the next trip in the car will be full to the gills again, as I have so much stuff here in France that I can put to use in Spain. Good thing we bought another house! Heehee!
The whole gang after dinner in front of the Mausac train bridge.
Summer here went by quickly, but we enjoyed lots of time in the pool and a couple rounds of visitors. From Germany, we enjoyed a visit from Theo’s cousin and her daughter’s family for a couple of weeks. We thoroughly enjoyed them, and the girls spent every spare second in the pool between sightseeing and other activities. We enjoyed having their dog, Ludwig, in the household as well. Pure doggie satisfaction, now that we are dogless.
Here’s Ludwig wondering if he’s a fish-hunting dog now! Pure love, this one!!!
The ‘kids,’ Alex and Birgit. Love them like crazy!
We had a second visit from Birgit and Alex, with lots of laughs, good food, and brocanting. We easily got into the daily habit of afternoon cocktails, swimming, more cocktails, dinner, more cocktails. Oof, my middle is wider than ever, but what fun!
I’m blaming it on the ‘kids.’ They led me astray (kicking and screaming, as you can imagine…) and I found this new addition to our living room while out ‘hunting’—a great find on a 19th century mirror that is in amazing condition. It’s what I was looking for all along, but forgot to keep hunting for. I’m so pleased. Cheap thrills!!!
Didn’t even attempt a vegetable garden this year, as we returned to France so late in the season. Have big plans for next year though. Isn’t that what fantasy gardeners ALWAYS say???
To be honest, I’ve been super busy with Theo French Vintage, our online Etsy store. I obviously shut it down last winter when we were in Spain, so had to get it all going again in June and I’ve had a very successful summer of sales. With many of the vide greniers being cancelled due to corona, my inventory is dwindling. I’ve been doing some online auction shopping, but that pushes my costs (and subsequent prices) up, so I try to keep that to a minimum. But I’ve found some really great art pieces for sale, with a few more on the way. I’ll keep the store open until early November to cover the holiday shopping season, then we’ll be off to Spain again.
We’ve had such a great time with friends here in the Dordogne this summer. Lots of small gatherings, new memories made, and daring dishes attempted! We so cherish our friendships here. (Sorry no photos…gotta get better about that!)
Now with fall weather here, it’s time to figure out once again how the chauffage (heater) for the house works, do some postponed garden maintenance, and generally start buttoning things up for our departure to Spain.
We have to pinch ourselves with the realisation that we have two such great properties to enjoy. People ask, which do you like better, and we honestly can’t answer—they are so different from each other, we just enjoy every minute wherever we are.
Great day today. On the Tuesday after Easter, Spain lifted restrictions on the construction trade to stimulate the economy, but with restrictions. Suppliers are open limited hours and workers wear protective gear. It’s all good. We were thrilled to learn that our mason was installing our countertops today (along with obligatory sinks).
Tah dah! Here she is. Our much-anticipated sink, replete with new faucet, connection to dishwasher, and rag to check for drips!!!
Now we have a working kitchen with a KITCHEN SINK!!! The counters are solid ceramic, a new material for me, as I’ve mentioned before. But I’m loving the look and they promise to be extremely tough in the kitchen battle that is Cindy’s Universe! Did I ever mention I’m kind of a messy cook? Photos below show Carlos installing the kitchen countertops and a close-up of the material. (And yes, Roark, only after I took this picture did someone finally move that pipe for the exhaust sitting on the cupboard. Hahaha!)
Our second propane bottle arrives tomorrow—seems that my super duper orangelicious range needs the strength of TWO bottles to run all six burners at the same time. Go figure…
The dishwasher is all hooked up and now I can finally open those boxes of BRAND NEW dishes that have been silently waiting in the corner. A needy family was the happy recipient of our HUGE set of Villeroy and Boch dishes left by the sellers. Glad to pass those on.
The kitchen maker is expecting the doors for our cabinets to be delivered any day. When he gets them, he will be right over to finish the installation of the kitchen and master bath cabinets. In the meantime, we ordered the backsplash tiles today, so that we can get them installed before the kitchen guy gets here, because he will be installing the ventilation hood. My contractor about shit a brick today when I showed him that I wanted the backsplash tiles installed in a chevron pattern and he politely asked ‘for a picture.’ Fingers crossed this comes out okay!
Master bedroom so far. Help me with bedding choices, please!
Anyhoo, we have made progress in the sleeping department and have “moved upstairs,” LIVING LARGE in our proper master suite! Mural is up, bed is constructed, mattresses have been humped up the stairs (until the stores open and we can buy a new one), and the master bath is now complete with it’s black granite countertops. Still need to adjust the light fixture placement slightly, now that everything is permanent. Had some mirrors custom framed to fit the space and will be hanging them tomorrow. The cabinet doors will be installed when the kitchen contractor comes. Now it’s just down to receiving a painting I bought for the bathroom, ordering a small toilet-side cupboard (for all of Theo’s car magazines…), getting a carpet runner and deciding what color of towels we want in there! Decisions, decisions. Need suggestions on what type of bedding will look good with the mural (do I need to make it a contest???)
Here is our main contractor, Daniel, installing the bathroom faucets. Blue tape in the middle photo is Cindy’s addition on where to move those damned lamps now that everything is set. The master closet (right) is still pretty sad, but I have components on order to make sense of this madness of still living out of suitcases!
Whew. I’m out of breath. It’s been an exhilarating day. And I’m so thankful for having a kitchen sink (and SO much more)!
