A French Fatum

Hard to believe...

2009-08-27T23:08:00.013+02:00

I spent all day today with Sven...trying my utmost best to unload what is left in the grange....wow, I am not as young as I used to be! Back and forth we went, load after load, always with my trusted steed...err...pup in my lap. **Sidenote: Freya for some reason feels the need to always sit in my lap when I am riding Sven (who in case you couldn't tell from the photo, is our orange Husqvarna tractor mower), and I consider myself quite the talented country girl because I can now steer quite adeptly with one hand while holding on to her with the other. And if I don't stop to let her up, she runs right beside me barking, which in turn makes me nervous I might accidentally run her over, so she always gets her way.** I would fill the trailer up, zip out into the field to the donkey shed and unload, and back to the grange.

I was about half way through this all day exercise when I suddenly stopped in the doorway of the atelier room (that's the window/door you see on the left of the grange above). I turned around and just stared. This is what I saw:

And try as I might, couldn't pull the imagery up that I've been using these long, last months to do all the designs, measurements, planning, discussions etc. for that room. I just stood there and looked at the history--look carefully (click on the pic & it enlarges) and you'll see the troughs, the hay bale holders, the tiny fresh air window for the beasts, the mud & straw insulation in the ceiling--and thought to myself 'it is hard to believe that in six months (that's my optimistic guess--currently scheduled at four months) that is going to be the Guest House's spanky new kitchen (with a dish-freakin-washer baby!!) and living room that we will be moving into until the main house is done!!

The potential for now is all in my head....but in 11 days, the reality will begin, and I for one, am so flipping excited I can hardly stand it. I'm trying to get all caught up here on the blog so come September 7th I can start fresh and zesty with documenting the demolition and renovations. In fact, I think the excitement wiped everything from my brain...uh, no, that's just the wonderful exhaustion from a full day of manual labour in the clean, fresh air with the sun shining and my girls keeping me company.

Nighty night!

One cold step closer...

2009-08-18T10:23:00.016+02:00

The last week or two here at La Maison M-J have been hot, and this girl is particularly elated by the elevated temperatures....we sigh a woosh of relief that we didn't ever get around to planting a large potager (veggie garden) this year, as the rest of the gardeners around here wail in woe at the drought like conditions!! Instead, we've been using up the mint growing on the side of the grange (it has to go by September anyway) to perfect our mojito recipe, taken cool down breaks in the Fatboy (see his photo in last year's posting ;) ) with homemade fruit smoothies and generally reveled in the heat. Our maximum suffering here as been around 33oC (91.4oF), and that was only a day or two out in the straight sun, but oh how wonderfully baking it was!!

Now, some of you may be joining this tale of misery and woe I weave a bit late, so let me give you a quick summation...I am and have always been of a very hot nature (thanks genetically to my also hot Papa--Je t'aime Papasan!). When others wore sweaters with their jeans, L was still romping about in a t-shirt and jeans, sometimes even shorts to her mother's chagrin. The nine years we spent in Paris only saw my wool sweaters come out once or twice, and my poor long, black, wool winter coat only saw freedom when I was working/traveling to Stockholm/Oslo monthly through a winter, and then only when I went in and out of buildings. From Spring until Fall I had a fan in the bathroom to keep me cool as I got ready and the fridge always had an unopened can of some nasty beverage (keeps anyone from drinking it!) that I used to cool my pulse points. My bedroom window stayed open year round and T thanked the feather Norwegian comforter gods that I was raised to have that on my bed even if I didn't always need it. In fact, T's favourite season for our relationship was winter because it was the only time I could cuddle up 24/7 without breaking a sweat!! I think you get the picture, but it's important to understand from whence the surprise suffering comes.

So....as our first Fall fell into winter here at the house and the temperatures began to drop, I wasn't the least bit worried. However, they just kept dropping and dropping and eventually the uninsulated state of this stone-walled house, with her beautiful thick walls and cozy demeanor, became but a shell of a shelter for this warm-hearted family. T was traveling M-F every week and I was shivering and layering, shivering and layering...digging into my piles of sweaters until I found with relief the long forgotten, thick, wool ones that some nights never came off! I began, what was to be a long, intimate relationship with...our hot water bottle! Not one night, or evening wasn't spent in it's warm embrace! Now, I know there are doubters out there thinking 'really, how cold could it have been in the house?'...well, with an antiquated oil fuel heating system (the beast) that only heated the ceiling in the kitchen, the downstairs WC, and consequently the upstairs floor...some portable radiator heaters that you could sit directly in front of....a ginormous fireplace that took a lot of work to keep going and only heated you if you were practically straddling the flames...and some cheap wall heaters that heated, well, nothing....it was pretty damn cold!! When the outside temperatures fell into the negatives, the inside temperatures weren't too horribly far behind--seriously, I kid you not!! I can confirm it is actually possible to see your breath in bed :p And the sole, true moments I was warm were either in the scalding, hot shower (which previously in life I had never experienced)-or that moment just after you wake up before the seal has been broken between you and the duvet...and you will never, ever, ever find me camping outside of the summer months again!

Now that I've caught you up a wee bit on the state of affairs at Winter Hell à la Maison M-J, let me divert from this quagmire to share some of the good we tried to find in our new standings.

Christmas.
(That's Freya's namesake-I spelled it differently after a majority vote-but it's the best chocolate in the world & coincidentally my favourite ;) )

I decided that if I was going to be cold, I might as well be cold in the right place, Norway. There, I am warmed to the depths of my spirit by the love of my family and the precious time I get to spend with them all when I visit, not to mention the delicious treats they spoil me with ;) Warm, fresh waffles...sigh...there are just no words! I also delivered, and picked up Christmas presents, and made the all important shopping list....puhshaw...list? ha! I had three things that I was not getting back on the plane without--my own Norwegian blanket (this is a special, boiled wool, super thick, accessory to every household that usually lasts a lifetime--and something I made fun of my own mother for having early in my unknowing youth), a pair of properly lined, appropriately sturdy rubber boots (which one wears at all times when exiting the house between November and April), a wool hat/mitten combo to wear in the house--yes, you read that correctly, in the house!! This outdoor tomboy hasn't forgotten all the rules of survival-always keep your head covered, it's the first place heat escapes your body.

As I made the rounds, in the snow and cold, visiting relatives and going out and about on my various errands, I was also reminded that one can be comfortable in the outside arctic temps, because you always warm back up inside. It helps that the Norwegians are used to long, dark winters, and so make every effort to warm the outside...cozy lights, candles in all the windows, hot gløgg for sale on the sidewalks....it all works, let me tell you. I've posted some pics as you'll see, but it in no way captures the true ambiance!
So, stocked up on the new necessities of life, and a couple of Christmas decorations for our rustic holiday--all of our usual decorations were packed up with our civilized life in the boxes now in storage along the walls of the house--I returned home to France.

We had the pleasure of a holiday visit from a dear, family friend-Cindy, the brave soul-who perhaps mistakenly thought she could cut a nice holiday in the cold French countryside (she had been warned, I held nothing back!) because she was born and raised in Newfoundland, and when she used to live in Paris, her apartment had a summer Newfoundland photo with an iceberg floating through the bay! The average winter temperatures across Newfoundland are -20oC to -30oC in the coldest months...but they got nothin' on La Sarthe's -17oC to -20oC in what was turning out to be the coldest winter in 20 years! Lucky us. Yea, !$#^%#$ is exactly what I thought too! ;) **By the way-she looks all lovey in that photo with Freya, I continue to believe she was just taking an opportunity to suck some warmth from her!**

But I'm not all piss 'n vinegar all day every day...my motto in our life abroad, in fact it is our survival mechanism, is to find the good in every bad. Sometimes you have to look hard, but I look until I find it, and then move on to the next challenge or float along on the tide of good if I am that lucky.

In this case we learned two things. 1) In planning our renovations we now knew what the worst was to expect, and I have appropriately used this information in purchasing a heater for the grange and discussing down to the tiniest pebble of a detail, the insulation & damp deterrence with the mason and carpenter. 2) Going back to basics is sometimes the most breathtaking of experiences...the kind where you sit and stare in wonder. For this, see the photo of our Christmas tree (our first deliciously, pine-smelling, real one in 10 years!) we set up next to our massive fireplace--decorated with the natural (wooden & handmade) ornaments I picked up in Norway...and all real candles!!

I shall take a small pause here...you may talk amongst yourselves and see if there are any matched tales of suffering ;) (feel free to post in the comments!)

Nothing......Everything

2009-08-08T13:17:00.017+02:00

Taking a momentary pause from our regularly scheduled program "A Walk Down Memory Lane" ....

After three days up at our apartment in Paris, we gratefully rumbled down the driveway to the house around midnight last night. We quickly emptied the car, made the Josie call--Joooooooossssiieeeeeeee--to check that all was right in cat world-read: not stuck up in a tree-and collapsed in an exhausted heap to bed. Around 2:30am I was rousted from my sound sleep by the pitiful squeakings of a wee little mouse in our bedroom. I fumbled around for the flashlight, cracked open an eye, and groggily followed the beam to the source of the sound. There was Josie, lolling around on the floor, on the J-O-B, or not, as the case may be, playing with her latest victim. Before I could gather the 'rescue' equipment and return to the bedroom, she had put the little bugger out of his misery....in one swift gulp. I know it's natural, but those years as a child when I had my little pet gerbil, well, that just translates to me always feeling bad for the little guys. But I digress...

So I collapsed back into bed, and though my eyeballs went right back to sleep, my brain decided to ruminate....and I just laid there hanging out...and that's when it struck me. Nothing. That's all I heard...glorious, wondrous nothing. Our street in Paris is very quiet at night, for being in the middle of a major metropolis, but here in the country you really experience the true meaning of nothing....and in the short time we've now lived here, it is Everything.

During the day, when I sit in the house working at the pc and I stop for a moment to collect a thought or ponder the stupidity of a particular French situation...I am not interrupted by anything...I have to specifically focus to even hear something. The rustling of the trees...the distant hum of farm equipment that only rears it's head during particular periods--planting, tilling, wheat/corn culling, tilling again--the occasional moo of cows in neighbouring fields or the slightly off-crowing of our nearest neighbours' rooster (they are about a 10min walk from us) -he thinks the sun rises at 2 p.m. It's not just the thick stone walls that muffle the sounds, though I will forever love them for that particular benefit :), it's just that we have found the actual, physical meaning of peace. A peace so profound that we still struggle to believe we've found it this early in life....the kind of peace that no matter how shitty your day, and believe me we do have some shitty ones, you can stop, sit out front on the bench, take a walk down the drive, stand immobile and look in any distant direction from the house, circle the pond or just lay in the grass and stare up... and literally feel it drain away. Never, in all my dreamy days in Paris, did that ever happen...and why? Because there is just too much everything there, no moments of nothing.

T and I have lost count of the times we've discussed this very thing and still remark every time we come home, 'God, I love it here--it's so beautiful, and so peaceful'....so zen. And in today's day and age you need that, that moment of Nothing, so you can jump right back into the pool of Everything and love it all over again.

So I leave you with two of my favourite contemplation images (do you know how hard it is to just pick two?) that always make me think 'what is it that they see?'....maybe something.....and yet, maybe they too are happy with their nothing.

The Ice Age cometh....

2009-08-03T19:40:00.011+02:00

So, trying to catch up on the past eight months before we're knee deep in winter & renovation rubble....I shudder, I shudder....

Fall stumbled in, like a gangly teen....we enjoyed some warmer days, but the nights fell earlier and the dark drove us indoors. Then came the cold. Morning strolls down the lane with Freya had me spotting frost in bits and pieces, and my blessed cup 'o joe was cold before I was finished--blech. But let me not dwell on the negative--there's plenty of that to come!

What we did enjoy....at first....was the opportunity to crack out all our pyro paraphernalia...Fire! Fire! (in Beavis & Butthead form) and take advantage of the enormous fireplace in the living room, the little wrought iron pot stove outside as the sun set, and bonfires in the fields-burning our garden trash with no restrictions--this being one of the fun benefits of life in the French countryside :)

Evening entertainment, in a house with no TV (I know--1 year and counting, can you imagine??!), consisted of reliving vestiges of childhoods past by making s'mores on the fire in the living room whilst at the same time sucking every ounce of heat we could from the flame....little did we know at that moment what was to come!! (Can you sense the build up here? Good, because I won't get to the point any time soon.)

It wasn't all gloom and doom. Fall brought visitors galore to La Maison M-J. In fact, in the space of six months we actually had more visitors in our camping/roughing it/where-the-hell-did-civilization-go state of house then in the last year of our apartment in Paris replete with guest room/guest bath + actual organization and decoration. I'm sure a whole study could be done on that! With the steady stream of visitors came the opportunity to get oh so creative in my camping kitchen (see '08 post 'The Thorn Amongst Honey & Roses), and not to pat myself on the back...*pat pat*...but I put together some damn fine dining on two hot plates, a microwave & a perilously poised oven! (see glazed ham from Thanksgiving--which also included one beautifully roasted & miraculously found bird, my Aunt Fran's cauliflower w/cheese sauce, home-made mashed potatoes, sweet potato bake, corn pudding, stuffing & baguette for a touch of French). Three cheers for that! (Nothing but the finest champagne in those classy mustard glasses!)

In the midst of all this eating (uh, no idea where that focus comes from!) there was lots of continuing research being done, by yours truly, for the elusive architect of our renovation project, perusing of renovation magazines to source ideas, tools & vocabulary (a good activity done under blankets)....random unpacking/re-packing of the maelstrom of boxes acting as our interior decoration (it's amazing how much stuff you want to get rid of when you haven't used it in years and don't want to move it again!) --activity means more blood circulation which = warmth...and most importantly, our family was forced to do one of the things we love best....CUDDLE. Each.and.every.one. You know when you watch those lost in the wilderness movies and they talk about body heat helping you to survive? Yea, we're all about that. Freya & Josie have the best photo proof though, and this just warms the heart.

Coming out of hibernation....

2009-06-17T23:39:00.002+02:00

Sadly, the picture pretty much says it all :) ...I am the bear, that cave is our house (hey, even the bear loves it's dark, cold home!) and the sun is finally shining and warming my environs enough that I am able to not be bundled up, head to tips of my toes, and sit in front of my pc, actually using the keyboard for longer then several minutes before my little nubs freeze up!! So, HELLO OUT THERE!!

I'm getting together a couple of posts to sum up the last six months (holy crap, now looking at that in writing I cannot seriously believe it has been that long since I was able to post!!) of life here at the Maison M-J....and yes, we are still alive and kicking. A little plumper with a layer gained for insulation--unlike the bear we put it on during the winter for survival, not before!--but happy to be revving up for life that is about to take a turn into high gear, with temperatures slowly mounting and glorious sun shining.

And, for those of you harassing me about the status of the house/grange/renovations...yes, there is a post aaaaall about that, with pictures (calm yourselves people, I am only one little, plump human!) and my usual rude observations...hey, this is my blog!

I've missed putting all of life's little, fun, French happenings down in the blog and getting the fun feedback of all the weird people actually interested in our little project ;) ....you'll be happy to hear that my shutter finger still managed to function whilst encased in mittens, gloves & anything else I could find to warm my hands, so I'm trying to figure out a way to post all the fab pictures I have of the last six months--suggestions welcome.

Glad to be back.....if anyone is still out there... after tiring of coming here and always seeing that drat cat Josie again and again and again, I have trouble believing someone still remembers 'ol French Fatum....send me a howdoyoudo!!

L the polar bear :o)

Welcome to the family!

2008-11-07T21:37:00.010+01:00

Well, it's official, Josie's 'period d'essaie' (trial period) is over, the girl is in!!

Ok, like she wasn't already a certified member of the family, she had us at meow on that dark country road! But today, she earned her keep and will be added to the family insurance policy--yes, in fact, this is actual fact--she gets her own medical coverage and insurance policy!!

I walked out this afternoon, and there, laid on the terrace, with pitiful eyes open to heaven, was her first kill--a little mouse. Our mouser is on the j-o-b!! Now, before everyone gets all teary eyed, I am an animal lover of the ridiculous degree, but here 'dans la campagne' (in the country) tolerance, at the level of little creatures we cohabitate with, must be established. And so, if Josie does her job as efficiently as she pole dances (see action shots present), the end is achieved swiftly and little mousy heaven came quickly!

I was a little worried at first that she may just become a comfort cat, based on how much she enjoys cuddling with Freya in her bed (my favourite is the paw on Freya whilst sleeping), and with us in ours (in the morning only), her gourmet food/cat milk tendencies, but she has shown her true colours (and wow has she really turned into a beautiful feline!) and now escapes to the grange (barn) for hours on end, expands her zone of exploration daily--wearing a halter of course--coming in to use her new restroom (closed and with her own private door I might add!) and nourish herself for more exploits. However, let me be clear, when the rainstorms pour down, that delicate creature doesn't leave the warm comforts of home...can't imagine who she got that from---FREYA!

It amazes me how fast she's grown, seems just yesterday she was a tiny ball of grey mewing fuzz, now she's become a sleek, loving & lithe tigress, albeit one that still looks to her big dog-sister for nap time cuddles and first thing in the morning romps & licks! The two of them and their antics have us in absolute stitches and are great company for me when T is on his work travels. I still miss my Big D immensely, it will never be the same, but the new laughter and love make the wound not so tender.....

So, until further updates....feast your eyes on our beloved, beautiful growing Josephine!
p.s. Do note the crazy curly-Q tail she runs around with, sometimes earning her the nickname Josie-Q....but when she's scared, boy does it go straight up...no one ever said the M-J's had run of the mill pets, that is for sure!!

O (bama) Happy Day!!

2008-11-05T19:46:00.004+01:00

Not to go on and on and on about something....so really great, so I will!!

But when I woke up this morning and heard the confirmation, of what CNN.com was noting at 3am when I was up with a scratchy dog, I have to say that for the first time in a very long time, I was actually proud of the American side of my heritage. And usually I avoid political speeches like the plague because all I hear when I listen is "Citizens of X (fill in your locale here) I am here today ...blah blah blah...BS...blah blah blah". However, exceptionally I searched out Obama's acceptance speech and when I found the full version on YouTube, played it. And at the end my pride overflowed into tears. Wow. I'm not a crier, and I'm certainly not one usually moved to tears by a speech, from a perfect stranger. But wow. Obama's words were perfect, and the story of the 106yr old woman who voted, didn't even sound contrived, but truly genuine. I'm not naive enough to think he wrote that speech on his own, I'm sure he contributed, but I certainly hope he keeps those writers on his Presidential (woo hoo, love that!) staff, because they are good, real good.

Now the real work begins though, and the new government has a huge task list to address in order to fulfill the promises of change that have been made. We'll see what happens, but on this side of the sea we are feeling the breath of fresh air and damn, it feels good, so Congratulations America on getting out there and doing what America was meant to do, and showing the world that democracy and your rights aren't something everyone there takes for granted!!

And hmmm....wonder what kind of puppy they're going to get for the girls...

(Apologies for the poor photo, had to take it with my I-phone and upload it instead of trudging out to the car in the pouring rain to retrieve my camera.)

Things you don't expect to find in...your BRA!

2008-11-03T18:40:00.012+01:00

There have been a backlog of blog entries queuing up in my bloggy brain as one thing or another jumped to the front and got a posting, and so, as relative calm surrounds me (life has taught me to enjoy this calm as chaos quickly follows!) I'm going to try to play catch up.

Let me set the scene so you can fully appreciate the moment:

This was a couple of months ago, so the weather was, uhm, A LOT warmer (says me sitting here bundled up, drinking hot peppermint tea and sitting intimately close to a heavenly hot oil heater). I was heading outside to do something in the yard and decided that my manual labour would be better served if I could get some sun on my body. And no, I'm not that kind of sun whore people, I wear SPF30 & hats, but it just feeeeeels good. As I was saying, I'm upstairs rooting around in the disarray of boxes littering our bedroom, no order, thanks to the @#$%^!& packers of April yore, searching for my jog bra. A jog bra is appropriate attire in the country for yard work--skimpy enough to allow sun to meet my skin, yet supportive and enough coverage should farmer Jean-Pierre show up for yet another random task in his field.

Finally, I spot my old Energizer bag (see Papa M, like the bunny, just keeps going & going & going :o) ) askew under the skylight, with some workout clothes peeking out half an opening. Aha. Shuffle over. Stick hand in and grope about (appropriate as I'm searching for my bra, no? haaaaaa.) in irritation as my body temperature mounts--I'm in the 'grenier' (attic) on a hot day, and those of you who know me, know I don't do well hot. Spot red, Bingo. Reach in, pull out the bra.....and "aiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee"..."ayyyyaayyyyeeeeeeeeyeeyee" (please say this in an operatic, high pitched tone for true effect)....is all that can be heard for acres around.

T downstairs: "Are you OK?". Clump, clump, clump. (T running to the bottom of the stairs as I don't emit operatic screams often, usually only because he has snuck up and scared me.)
Me upstairs: ha ha ha hee hee hee (nervous, hysteric laughter)....clump, clump, clump. (Me carefully descending our precipitously angled stairs.)

I push T outside and lay forth on the white bench exactly what, shall we say surprised me- In. My. Bra.

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, that is a bat. A cute, furry, sweet little bat that died in my bra. T says "now, I know that's where I want to die someday (me giving him the eye), but that poor little guy...".

So, apparently a couple days prior, when we left for Paris for two days, and I shut up all the windows that normally stay open all day/all night during warm weather, the little guy flew in. Then when we left and we shut the house up he couldn't fly out and ended his little bat days in my red jog bra. Collective sigh, I know.

And now, I'll leave you to enjoy the other pictures my morbidly inquisitive self took (if you click on them they enLarge!)--I love bats and am happy that after this sad affair we continue to see a couple fly about in the evenings, ridding us of pesky insects. In fact, I'm already forming the plan to make sure we disturb them as little as possible when....IF....the renovations ever start.I know, all the fun stuff happens to me, you're jealous.

'Allô-Weeyn' Sarthe style...

2008-11-01T14:15:00.013+01:00

Well, no Trick or Treaters came to the door last night....siiiiigh....guess I'll have to eat all the candy myself!!...nah, just kidding....we didn't buy any candy....but we did decorate!!Talk about having the work done for you....I had an early morning appointment with an architect here at the house....and no, not a keeper, for those of you wondering.... and this is the stunning decoration nature had prepared for us to celebrate 'Toussaints' or All Saint's Day (Halloween in candy grubbing lands) here in the Sarthe. I got so many amazing shots that just took my breath away with their exquisite intricacy, it was hard to pick a couple favourites for the blog! (to truly see the real shot, click on the pic and it will enlarge) Every which way you turned a web was woven, using even the tiniest thread of grass as support--sometimes nature still astounds me at her capabilities. And these are done every night, but today's dew levels only now let us mere mortals see it--apparently we are in the busy spider season, lucky us. Of course, I'd like to know where these diligent arachnids were when all those pesky flies were annoying us up until recently....ah well, I shall just have to live with the mysteries of nature's timing.

Keeping with the theme of our scary 'Allô-weeyn' (as the French say it) surroundings...check out this cow we met on one of our recent walks....Boo!For once I actually miss the crass commercialism of the U.S. Yes, you read that correctly. I have always loved Halloween--and not just because I was on the world's biggest quest for SUGAR to quench my insatiable sweet tooth--or more to the point, chocoholic leanings, especially of the Peppermint Patty persuasion :) But since early childhood, loved the opportunity to live it up dramatically and be as creative and crazy as our costume trunk, handy supplies & imagination allowed. My favourite is still the year I dressed up us a viking (imagine a blond haired 10-12 year old here), complete with viking attire created from a burlap bag, aluminum covered cardboard sword stuck in belt, drawn on 'beard' with an eyebrow pencil & halloween makeup kit, and viking cap (Anyone remember those bouncy balls you sat on as a kid & hopped around? Well I cut off the top of our old ones as the handles were perfect replicas of viking caps! Talk about recycling...), but the kicker, and extra candy benefit for me on collections, was that I made a perfect matching outfit for my dog Jr. (a black standard poodle & my soul's companion) complete with matching cap...of course she didn't need the fake beard ;)

Today I have to say it makes me sad to see all the kids in their bought costumes, half the fun was the creative process and seeing what people came up with, and planning my unbeatable costume for the next year. Halloween day at school was hysterical every year. I realize now, as an adult, that a lot of the creative aspect came about because my mom just didn't have the money to buy any kind of costume, but that forced frugality of our life instilled a creativity in me that I still harbor today. Yet, as much as Halloween isn't what it once was when I was young, and perhaps commercially it's out of control, I still miss it. But, hark, a small ray of hope emerges as I see the tendrils of commercial teasing reach across the ocean and Halloween creeps into French society, I may just get my excuse yet to dress up again...boowahahahah....(evil laugh)...I know, I know, what am I thinking?!

Happy Halloween, All Saint's...whatever scares 'ya!

Shrooooms & Shots....

2008-10-27T16:36:00.014+01:00

A couple days in Paris, our bellys full from a phenomenal 'Menu Chef' from our favourite little sushi restaurant in Paris--this is a menu where you just sit down and eat what the chef puts in front of you--all fresh and his creation for that day--風味がよい!! (tasty in Japanese :) ) A couple hours spent running errands near the Hotel de Ville area, and a wonderful dinner party at some new friends' apartment--I might have spent a good portion of my time ogling the phenomenal view of the blue Eiffel Tower from my spot at the dinner table--it's an addiction, what can I say?

Back at the house we are definitely settling into Fall....as for acclimating to...errr....certain country Fall habits, well, that's a completely different story!

So....Sunday morning we wake up, the sun is shining, brisk air dresses us in warm clothes and we are partaking of steaming cups of java to conclude the morning crawl when we hear..."BANG BANG ...bang bang". A flash of gray means Josie has torn into the house, closely followed by a flash of white-Freya. Neither are a fan of gunfire for some odd reason.

Ah yes, the ringing sound of gunfire on a Sunday to relax a person....and why is this you may ask? Weeeeeell--apparently in the lovely, idyllic French countryside that we have chosen to call home there is huntin' season--yep, the dress up in camo, grab the dogs & gun and go shootin' for stuff just 'cause it's fun season--September to March. Now, I personally don't have anything against hunting, along the principal that you eat what you shoot, but what I have a particularity against is....when you freakin' shoot a gun within 100 meters of my front door where I'm enjoying my coffee!!.....and based on the corners that the farmers cut in other areas of life, I'm just not convinced of their skill in hitting a target, nevermind a moving one....and thus fear for my, my beloved's, my pooch's & my kitty's rear ends staying intact. Call me vain. Oh yes, and did I mention they were within the bounds of the law and it is apparently us who must now apply to the regional hunting Poobah for limitation of hunting on our newly acquired property? Ah yes, the continued joy of educating ourselves on la vie rural.

And so it was that T had his first encounter with a local hunter (wearing a flourescent yellow vest at my behest) and we are researching the various methods of making the surrounding property to ours completely undesirable to hunters and the animals they stalk--loud music, fake signs, anything legal, suggestions are welcome!In the meantime, we decided that perhaps exploring further rural paths on this particular Sunday was no longer a good idea, but a certain puppy was in desperate need of serious outdoor time and thus we packed off in the car to explore a huge public park/forest just outside Le Mans. It is fabulous! I won't go into the description, see for yourself @ www.arche-nature.org (they have an English button!), but it was a most educational, exercising and entertaining time for all three members of the family! Most importantly, no fear of shots ringing out at any moment AND a haven for all the cool 'champignons' (mushrooms) I have placed pictures of throughout this entry (didn't have any hunters captured on film...yet). I swear some of them looked fake--but I promise you, real as can be! Now I know where Disney traipses around looking for plant inspiration--incredible! As the forest browns there is all new life erupting around...and then again, there is life ending....shooting & shrooms folks....I'm off to search for any remnants of the 80's fluorescent trends in my clothes boxes!!

Scared Stiff

2008-10-22T20:50:00.006+02:00

This little guy took one look at the task before us and just keeled over, stiff as a board.

Nah nah nah....and a double nah nah for those of you wondering if Josie has begun earning her keep--she's still attacking bugs and leaves, though she is perfecting her stalking & kill of T's hiking boot--vicious creature!
The last couple of weeks have illuminated more of what we want from our little maison, but she as well has shown us a few surprises, the most exciting of which is that the house AND the grange hide facades of beautiful Sarthe stones! We had harboured a small hope that this was the case, but being a quintessential pessimist when it comes to things like this, I already loved the house for the crappy 'crépi' covered maison she was (crépi is the lumpy layer of, cement/paint covering the stones...the French love to cover their houses with this). The winsome vines that portray the seasons passing will have to come down, and my heart aches at this prospect, but I am going to do my best to preserve the root and train it to accent the stone later....I hope.
In the meantime, as the work list grows, we don't grow daunted by the task at hand, in fact, the exact opposite is occurring. A sense of excitement is building between us as we see the dream unfolding before us. Visits recently to several friends who have renovated, or are in the process of doing so (Hi Faith & David! Bonjour Amy & Laurent!) lets us see the future, and folks, that future is bright and beautiful--stone and light--woo hoo.

So, I'm hunkering down to the mission of today- FIND ARCHITECT- ok, small clarification after meeting with an architect last week, Find Architect who gets It. It is our vision, what we see as the end result...not what they want us to see (and this is not pretty, I can assure you--remember the crépi people). So if there is anyone out there who knows this visionary, residing in the Sarthe, Sacré-Bleue--send me their details!!

In the meantime I'm off to pack for a couple days in the city...sushi calls....Freya needs pet pal time....Josie--well, she likes to sleep and play in the fireplace....and I have to re-focus all these visions of grandeur I have for La Maison M-J, none of which include fear.

THE 27s

2008-10-19T19:20:00.010+02:00

I'm a couple days late in getting this up as a 'Star Attraction' on M-J Destiny...but alas, as much as I would like to send rays of destruction unto those at France Telecom who block my fully functioning internet access, I must take comfort in the zen of my surroundings and...well, work with what I've got!

So, without further ado, please let me shamelessly and very proudly plug the release of this fabulous book The 27s (1st day out in the world was Thursday...Félicitations!) by my cousin Eric Segalstad & Josh Hunter. This book creation has been many years in the making, and I know describing the work that has gone into it as extensive, is probably the understatement of the year!

Please hop on over to www.the27s.com and have a look....at the very least I promise you'll be impressed by the funky graphics, and soundtrack, again done by the talented Cuz Eric, that present the book and it's associated content in such a fabulous format. The artwork has amazing detail and tells a story all it's own.

I've always been a great fan of the #27...it is my birthday after all...but history has apparently appointed other significance to that number and the story of this signifcance is The 27s. An extract from the site says, "The 27s is the grandest story of rock & roll, firmly ingrained in popular music and culture yet the saga somehow slipped through the cracks of time—until today. If you’re reading this you probably know that Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain’s lives were cut short at age 27, but the same fate happened to thirty other musicians. Sure, they weren’t all equally famous, but every one of them pushed rock in new directions, leaving lasting legacies that continue to inspire fans and musicians."Limited wearable art t-shirts have been done with 'The King of Rock Bass' and MOST importantly the book is available--for pre-sale only on their website--and yes, the price is $27....coincidence? I think not ;) I'm holding out for the logo on a t-shirt myself, but the book is a done deal.

I don't promote things often, and I certainly don't gratuitously praise family accomplishments just because they're family....but in this case, I find the work exemplary and consider myself lucky to be related to such talent.

Stor klem fra La Cousine!

Fall Surprises

2008-10-16T15:06:00.016+02:00

As the trees begin their seasonal striptease, leaving their coloured coverings laying about....Wisps of grey cloud the sky now, a scarf warming the land for the cold approaching...a nip in the air wakes us up to what is coming and what has left.I am sad to see such an amazing season depart. Summer here at La Maison M-J was perfect for me, and nature never ceased to tickle us with all the things we discovered as the months passed. The time spent outdoors playing, walking and just watching life was priceless--our city souls are soothed and as we move indoors with shorter days and longer nights I begin to see the work ahead. But before I bore you with humdrum life inside, let me share just a couple of the Fall Surprises our new home has given us.

As the jungle of green along the creek began to shrink, the red vines enrobing the house tumbled to the ground & the tall grasses along the fence turn wood brown, new life began alongside. We came out one morning to see a blanket of beautiful, varying shades of pink, cyclamins circling the Tilleul tree in the front yard. (I'm learning the French garden words, forgive me if I don't translate them now...google is your friend people!)

On the front of the house, the window high rosebush had a last, magnificent bloom of all the branches that spent the summer growing.And out and about we focus again on a landscape that takes our breath away. Summer made it a green vista and now the technicolour coat of golds, reds and browns accentuates the rolling hills and land divisions.The rain has let up outside now, so I have to take Freya out for some mole digging in the newly bare cornfields....her Fall horizons are looking up....or is that down?!

Fun activities to do when visiting....

2008-10-09T19:59:00.019+02:00

The Model Guest Behaviour!

Mom & Dad-J have been here for their annual visit and once the shock of rural living L, T & co. wore off I think they like our new environs.

Now that's not to say we didn't make a couple day sojourn at our place in Paris so Dad-J could amble a few hundred blocks in his favourite haunts and Mom-J could ooh/ah window shopping & generously pass a day volunteering with me at a Paris program for newly landed anglos called 'Bloom Where You're Planted'--a very helpful two day orientation program for a crowd of people all very much resembling deer in the headlights as they try to sort the overwhelming amount of helpful information on living in Paris.

However, back at the house....

Dad-J came early--he is a man of leisure now in his retirement years and how great that he likes to spend free time...working!! So our abundantly growing bushes were given a proper trim back...the voraciously growing bamboo was taught a lesson--that or Dad-J is secretly thinking of starting a 12ft fishing pole selling business!...

Don't think we're entirely slave drivers...he was allowed down time, but even that was work...his new nickname is 'The Arm' as rapidly growing Josie chose the crook of his arm for naps heavily accented with the loud sound of her purring engine! Dad-J, the owner of five cats himself, declared her a weird cat because she seems to take the lead from her big dog-sister Freya and dig, beg and exhibit other funny behaviours!

So, just a word of warning to those of you contemplating a tranquil visit to our little piece of heaven....we are the proud new owners of a hatchet, axe & fully tuned chainsaw....and a lot of trees piled up that need cutting, splitting and piling!

Come visit...henh henh henh...

***I should note we reward in good wine, big fires & good eats! ***

Introducing...

2008-09-30T18:39:00.009+02:00

Josephine Amora M-J
'Josie'

The contest is over and I'd like to thank all of you who participated....we had quite a few submissions that made the consideration list, though I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the total turnout--I thought for sure that free prizes mailed out would draw in the hordes! Alas, the world is not as greedy as I :)

Josephine is a nod to her birth country and empress-like qualities and general disdain of rules and authority. Amora--well, because she is another lover in the family and has pickle-like qualities (those of you that know our affinity for a certain brand of cornichons here will get this dual purpose use)! Her nickname also should get a smile out of those of you from the 70's/80's cartoon watching era (see the embedded video clip for further entertainment!).

And now to our little Josephine. She has grown tremendously in the last two weeks. Her head now fits her big ears and eyes...and as for her appetite...ooo la la is all I can say...talk about feeding a growth spurt! Big sister Freya has decided it is her personal responsibility in life to clean up Josie's bowl each and every time she completes her meal (did I mention she patiently stands by and waits for Josie to be done?--ok, it might be right over her shoulder staring down, eyes unblinkingly willing her to hurry the hell up and leave food, but...), thereby leaving us to reduce her nightly meal because of all the snacks!

Dad-J is visiting and informs us that Josephine is a people cat (really? all the cuddling that goes on left us clueless ;) )...she likes to be with all of us--especially cuddling in Dad-J's bed when we're out, plays energetically with Freya (the video clips of this are priceless) and seems to be learning from her dog-sister as well, officially being the first cat to be seen digging a hole in search of a mole. Freya has decided she likes to chew on the peacock feathers that we collected for Josie--and now a joint play session is made up of Freya chewing on the thick end while Josie pounces the moving feather end. I'm sure Delfia, up in his birdy heaven, is thinking...'I'll just keep my tail feathers here thank you very much'...but my spiritual side believes he had a little wing in our new arrival :)

Josie quickly learned that the sheepskin on the sofa was THE place to be for naps, much to Freya's disgust, as that has always been her chosen location....but you'll be happy to know the two have learned to share--and though her full volume purring still freaks Freya out a bit, she is now allowed to cuddle up to Freya's rumpus...closer proximity will come with time :)

She entertains us to no end and even a seasoned cat veteran like Dad-J is amused and surprised by some of her antics, and we can't wait to see how quickly Mom-J falls for the J. Amora charm! The three month terror phase is quickly approaching, hints of it are already appearing, and we are happy that the sneak attacks on our ankles will be done in Fall weather when we are most apt to be wearing protective pants and socks...phew! She has already taken her first road trip to the big city, and settled happily into the studio for the week, though was definitely part of the collective joy at returning to the house greenery at week's end.

Freya's dog crate is now a happily accepted kitty bedroom at night and she properly uses her included litter box each and every night--can you train kids to do this? ha ha.

In the meantime she is learning the ropes via intense scrutiny of all that Freya does, eats, sniffs and sleeps. Expresses her gourmet needs when she hears clanking in the kitchen, and pretty much is worming her way into our hearts with every passing moment!

And so again we are a family of 4, L,T, F & J

We're Having A CONTEST!!!

2008-09-17T10:39:00.027+02:00

Who is this delectable, fuzzy, adorable, beyond cute creature?.....well that my friends, is where you come in!

Let me back up a little.

Two nights ago, the M-J trio: me, T & Freya went out for our evening walkabout. Perfect Fall weather meant we chose a longer chemin (the walking routes around us) so Freya could get her woods sniffs in and we could nose about more abandoned properties, fully respecting private property boundaries of course--pfffft. A beautiful setting sun and animated conversation meant we set a speedy pace, but always left time to stop and examine some new discovery or taste someone else's apples off a tree (hey, if it hangs over...or near....public property it is fair game!). As we ended the walk, we put Freya on her leash (hasn't quite picked up the walking on the side of a country road thing yet, but getting there) and headed down the road home.

We had just passed a set of bushes near someone's fishing pond when we heard the loudest, clearest, singular mew. We stopped dead in our tracks, looked at one another and said almost simultaneously 'that sounded like a kitten!'. We went back to the little drive we had just passed, and a little grey ball of fur came tearing towards us, mewing at full volume. (Those of you who know us, know we are of soft heart--and sound mind, thank you very much!--when it comes to anything living...ok, admittedly, I am the weaker of us two...)

Freya, in her usual 'I see a C-A-T' craziness, pulled on the leash and let out her weird yowling sounds (think hyena blended with howling blended with animal dying--yes, lovely to hear). T picked up the fairly unfazed kitty and we proceeded to spend the next 1/2 hour trying to locate siblings, mama or a house from whence it had come.....to no avail. The quick onset of darkness spurred us home--dark here in the country is DARK, as in no lights, nada.

When we got home we called a local lady who had been by a couple of days ago searching for a lost cat--hers was an adult--and then T went out in the car to look with a flashlight for family (either human or not). Meanwhile, back at the homestead (Laura Ingalls eat your heart out!) I cuddled the little irresistable ball of fur, and Freya investigated all ends :) T returned with no news and we promptly called Mom & Dad-J (cat enthusiasts) to determine the age & what to feed our little orphan. Fortunately for kitty, Freya eats a salmon based kibble because of her allergies, so we added some hot water and mashed it up into a nice glop with a hint of crunch. Kitty wolfed it down and Freya licked the dish (hmmmm....not so bad this little guy?).

With big, rounded, full belly and warm beds everywhere (Freya IS a comfort hound) sleep was the next order of business.

Monday brought the first full day for kitty at the Maison M-J and she dutifully explored with Freya as chaperone and play instigator. L trailed as the official paparazzi (pics here don't even touch the tip of the Cute iceberg!). Our hunt for her home pretty much fizzled out as her cuteness and spunk beguiled us. We learned via our internet research that kitty is at least two months old and a girl (this is not that obvious a fact for those of you thinking 'they had to go on the internet to find this out?'!) and so probably didn't need to go back to her Maman. We had been talking about rescuing a kitty from the local SPCA when Mom & Dad-J were here so they could guide us in cat life.....but as it turns out, fate/destiny, who seems to guide the M-Js a lot in life, had other plans......and so it seems our cat found us.
She comes apparently already litterbox trained by her Maman (yay!), vocal to her eating, sleeping, playing needs (fits right in to the rest of the talkative bunch), gives as good as she gets to Freya (we like independant females!), enjoys group couch cuddles (a must for evening reading, pc download times or general heat exchange sessions), has the biggest, greenest eyes peering out of a tiger-grey face (compliments nicely the big Freya browns that melt our hearts daily), savours food & enjoys multiple courses (again, sounding familiar?)....and exhibits hints of cheekiness & character that demonstrates she is a candidate for M-J Family inclusion!!

And so it is we arrive at our contest.

Name That Kitty

The comment board (or email for those of you too shy to share :) ) will be open for one week. At the COB Wednesday the 24th we will take all the suggestions and mull it over (though I have a sneaking suspicion we'll know it when we see it--or not--as the case may be!)....
Language is not an issue (need not be English), but preferably can be said easily in French, English & yelled.
Should be appropriate for a girl (this will be confirmed tomorrow with her first visit to the vet).
Should one of the ones we receive be the winning choice, I will post the entrants name (or not, if that is their desire...) along with kitty's new nomenclature & latest cute photo :o)
The Prize: this is dependant on the location of the winner. The Grand prize is of course the knowledge that you contributed to naming a member of the M-J family (always an adventure and source of conversation). The accompanying First prize (for the greedies out there) will either be something easily mailed to Continental Europe & environs (yes, this includes the Pac Rim) or something easily mailed to North America (sorry, La Poste imposes financial limitations on me b/c of their ridiculous weight pricing scheme!). I am not at liberty to disclose said prize publicly b/c of legal blah blah blah....but I promise you, the M-Js do not give out bad gifts! So, the prize will be wanted.

In order to assist you, let me just give you some brief adjectives to describe kitty so far: (her physical attributes should be clear in the various picture poses supplied!) spunky, loving, cuddly, gourmet, sleep-loving (yes, I know she is growing, but still..), dog-lover (she tries to curl up with Freya--I just can't take it!), watcher, leaf hunter, licker (she loves licking!), explorer (or our new cobweb cleaner), homebody (she always runs back in the house), likes to be with us, but likes to do her own thing, sunwhore, peacock fan (LOVES the peacock feather we have from a local bird-must get more), creator of extremely odiferous poo, big ears, big green eyes, spotted belly (may not be obvious), four white socks, white patch on chest, subtle white tiger stripes in grey fuzz (ok, so I am giving you her physical attributes after all, just in case you missed them in your condition of cuteness overdose). I'm sure there'll be more...but there you have it.

Participate yee Contestants (and pay absolutely no mind to Freya's opinion of this event)!

Finding a life.

2008-09-15T11:21:00.021+02:00

Summer's End at the house.

A new home means finding a new life....not just the necessities, though discovering those are proving a little too healthy for our derriers...ahem....referring to our appetites--though I believe the Fall activities our garden is creating will take care of that! But also the support for why we chose to partially separate ourselves from Paris and a life there that had become a little static for all members of the M-J clan.

So now as summer begins to wane, the vines on the front of our house have a rich bordeaux colour beginning to creep up from the roots and we settle into life. The bustle has returned to the villages around us as all the family holidays segway into school life and we can finally move beyond our 'camping' holiday at the house to our home at the house. As we haven't yet located our renovation guide (Mr/Mme Architect(e) ) we are left to explore what activities we can now invest our interests in.Saturday we explored life with Freya. The previous weekend at one of the local village Comice d'Agricole (local village Fall fair) we discovered a regional dog club putting on an agility exposition and found out that their headquarters is not far from us. They had put a lot of time into their pamphlet, equipment and everyone (doggies included) looked like they were having a great time--and Freya was watching everything with keen interest....and so we were hooked. They invited us to a couple free lessons and to visit the headquarters and see what they were all about and so this is what we did Saturday afternoon.

The property is great: forest, clubhouse, fields and a full setup of different arenas for all kinds of dog activities. Several rings, completely enclosed for puppy & adult education classes (yes, even our angel Freya needs a bit of obedience tweaking & with her impending sight handicap we know we must all three be more disciplined in making sure she always listens to us), rings for Flyball (this is hysterical to watch--the dogs love it!), agility, Scent work--our truffle girl is going to try this one, Vtt-cross (mountain biking with your dog), running cross (trail running with your dog), walking cross (trail walking with your dog) and more. There were all walks of dogs and all walks of owners--again, people watching tickles us to no end--and then we wonder what image we portray with our little girl? (please e-mail responses privately...ha ha).

We entered a ring with all the other debutants and the director of the club came and gave an introductory lesson--working with one lady's rescued pit bull type dog--and we were duly impressed to say the least. He did everything right and followed what is currently the best methodology with dogs (pack mentality--anyone seen the dog whisperer? Cesar Milan? it rocks!) with unbelievable results in just a quarter of an hour....it never ceases to amaze me how successful the relationship can be between humans and animals when we find the right path to treat it....too bad mankind hasn't found it yet....(brief political aside there...). So, it looks like we've found something to do on Wednesdays & Saturdays and I hope Freya can begin to find some good friends too. (She has officially become pals with the dairy farmer up the road's beauceron dog).On the way home we stumbled upon a new shopping center, and when we pulled in we had a brief chuckle and joint exclamation of 'it's American!'...with a few design flaws....but we were happy to find it at any rate and became the new owners of some small kitchen appliances (all I can bare to add to our current life in boxes). As anglo as the concept was, French influence prevails when we couldn't find anything to eat after 2pm (even though the restaurants were advertised as all day...hurrumf) and I post a few photos for comparison sake to those Anglos abroad who understand the humour in finding this in the middle of nothing here....and for the rest of you to prove we aren't really in the middle of nothing!

It was a good day, weather-wise, spirit-wise, life-wise....but then, though it's nice to have the affirmation, we knew in our hearts when we made this decision it was right for all of us....

I conclude with Freya's contentment in her Papa's arms of what the day was....

Foire du Mans

2008-09-13T22:12:00.010+02:00

Friday night lights France style....it was a bit like being in what I imagine mid-west country life in the U.S. to be...minus the good wine (Stacey & Wyatt, you don't count as you brought all your wine from France!)!

We arrived at the 'Centre des Expositions' (=U.S. Fairgrounds/halls), parked in a grass parking lot and followed a stream of people around the fence of the Le Mans 24hr Racetrack (a whoooole different story!) to the main entrance of the exposition grounds. Along the way a couple stopped us, and with a smile handed us a free entry ticket (5.50E), we thanked them profusely (quelle gentillesse! what kindness!) and then commented on how that would never have happened in Paris (in Paris they would ask you for 5E--I mean, You are getting a .50 discount so hey, everyone wins...pffft).

We started our tour visiting the outdoor leisure section (read: campers, rvs & tent-camper-trailer things) and shaking our heads as we made the comparison to the luxury campers one can find in the U.S.--the French would die if they had any idea the sheer craziness Americans can pack in a mobile home--but fun nonetheless for us. After that we made an attempt at viewing all the home stuff--roofing, tools, porches, stoves, you name it, but came to the joint conclusion that there is plenty of choice in all of the above and that we must continue on our current track of #1- finding the architect. This path will lead us to everything else...this is the beginning of all plans....this one person holds the key to all that will be our home....(chime in heavenly music)...wherefore art thou 'o great one? No pressure, nope, not feeling an ounce of pressure....oops, I digress.

So instead, T had a beer, we scoped dinner (usual french fair fare--andouillette sausages--blech!--other various grilled weiners, several 'restaurants' set up--one should always have the option of dining in a civilized fashion with wine served while seated--the melted raclette & ham sandwich (Papa & Dad-J will both recall these!) lured T in and I followed suit to the giant pan next door, some sort of sauteed chicken in a delicious saucy concoction served on a baguette.

Our hunger satiated we continued on to the gourmet hall (not impressed after years attending the Salon des Saveurs--I'm a spoiled foodie, what can I say) where I did get some saucisse photos for you fans, and we garnered the all important information of....some good local restaurants. See the sign in the photo--now that is a local association I am happy to join. We quickly passed to the 'Innovation Hall'--read magic mops, slicer-dicer doodads, magic burning candle, hair houdinis, you get the idea. People watching entertains us to no end, but what gets us every time is, yep, you guessed it...the animals :o)

And so it is that there aren't really that many pictures of all the other stuff, we took it in, picked up brochures, strolled hand in hand and just enjoyed a warm Friday night in Le Mans. But the chicken exhibit kept us a captive audience, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason T pretended to hug me as we headed out was because he was checking my pockets for baby chicks!! (You'll note in my photo I got the one black chick in the group--and they say there's one in every family! ...oh wait that's sheep....) ***and no comments from you cheeky readers about what I ate for dinner, it's just not the same.

All in all, a great night out and Saturday was a day for Freya....going to doggy school/club! Stay tuned.....I promise to get to the Staycation pics/details, but I keep getting distracted by today.Could these little newby-hatched chickies BE any cuter? They were all soooo tired after all that pecking to get out....we went home as tired as them.

Apple cake goes global!

2008-09-12T14:55:00.007+02:00

This is just a quickie until I get home tonight and can properly do a staycation regurgitation of photos and fun....we're heading up to the Big City--ahem--Le Mans for us country folk--to check out the Foire du Mans for our hot Friday night date (I hear jealousy ;) ). This is a big fair with all kinds of everything having to do with services, vendors, activities, you name it, all related to Le Mans (www.foiredumans.com if you're really bored, Mexico is this year's theme?? I will need to talk T down off the salsa ledge, real Mexican salsa, a la North Carolina, will not be making an appearance in Mans no matter how much he dreams!). We're hoping to find our architect so this project can move from dream phase to reality, although, being a realist I'll be happy to leave with just some relevant information to life here.

So, the last couple of days Freya and I have been taking breaks and walking the property and sampling the various fruit trees that made it to fruition (ohhhhh....that was a totally unthought of pun, I love Fridays!) and I used the first couple of apples collected to make an apple cake. Nothing fancy, but in gathering my ingredients I remembered the pecans from Mom & Dad J's old house in NC sitting in the freezer (oh the tasty memories...siiiigh) and threw those in for good measure. So, put apples from our orchard, pecans from NC and eggs hatched in the Sarthe and what do you get?
An apple cake gone global!!

I have to tell you it was deeelicious....when I've finished licking the crumbs off my fingers I'll take some pictures of the leftovers to share, or is that just cruel?

Bon Appetit for whatever you're snacking on and catch you after the Foire!

**Remembered to take a pic of the cake before it was all gone--please don't drool on your keyboard!**

Thursday smile :o)

2008-09-11T14:54:00.014+02:00

Now normally I'm not one to pose pictures, I like capturing life in it's natural entirety to be enjoyed on film, digital format, instant, whatever....however, we couldn't resist this one.

Last week, while up in Paris we had our friends Gabbi & Eric over for dinner at the studio, and they happened to be doing an emergency dog sitting for baby Lola--a beautiful, spunky French Bulldog....who almost became the fourth new member of the M-J family (though her owner may have been against that!).

We happily included her in the invitation, and Freya become idolized for the evening--Lola followed her everywhere, asked constantly to play, laid in her bed, took her toys--but then reciprocated when Freya became enamored of her oinking pig (we have to get one of those--err, the plastified version, not the real one!)...their rompings had us laughing full belly laughs, but what reduced four grown adults to giggling fits and hysteria....was.....taking an innocent, passed out from exhaustion puppy (in Freya's bed), and starting off with just the smallest of chuckles and mischievously doing this:

Well, that just got us started and we concluded our juvenile behaviour, appreciated by all present with this winner:The moment escalated to sheer hysteria when Lola momentarily became conscious, lured by the sweet smell of beer and this just put us over the edge....(and just in case you don't see what all the humour is about...please note the non-moving body position, but half opened eyes and pink tongue surreptitiously snaking down into the neck of the bottle!)They say laughter is the best medicine and does a body good....well, we were extra medicated and I can say our bodies 'have been done good'!

Lola was none the wiser, and we returned her to her blissful puppy sleep, proof provided for your approval right.

And if you're not smiling now....well, I have nothing more... ;)

A big MERCI

2008-09-09T13:38:00.004+02:00

I would like to thank all of you wholeheartedly for your thoughts, prayers and words in the last week, it's really meant a lot to the whole M-J family.

Life, especially a happy, adventurous one like ours, forces one to slowly focus again on the here & now....not that Delfia isn't around every corner and I still hear a flutter and tinkle now and again...our psyches are deeply formed no?....but the sun shines and we continue on our journey.

So, Freya & I look on to new horizons here at la Maison M-J and rejoice in the new fact that T will no longer be traveling all week to Denmark--woopee!

I have a couple of entries patiently waiting, and will do my best to get those out in the coming days. Our life is never dull, and our 'staycation' proved to be excellent in many ways of which I'm dying to share....so stay tuned.

It's always hard to say goodbye.

2008-08-31T02:14:00.005+02:00

A little less Sunshine in our lives....

Everyone and every thing has a light it shines on our lives....yesterday, a big light left ours, one that has shone brightly each and every day for 15+ years....my little Delfia has died.

He was but a little blue fluff of a bird when I received him as a birthday present from my roommate back in September of 1993 (thanks again Jen for the most amazing, loving gift...one that just kept on giving!). As a matter of fact, we thought He was a She at first and Delfina was her name--a norwegian derivative of dolphin as he was all blue and I was a Marine Biology student....time went by...she turned into a He (the sex on a baby parakeet isn't obvious until they mature) and Delfina became Delphia which became Delfia....I left Marine Bio and went on to English/French as my majors...and Delfia matured to an amazing amalgamation of blue, green and bright yellow.

Delfia was always aware of what a beautiful, handsome little bird he was...sometimes telling his mirror self aaaall about what a handsome devil he was looking at...sometimes telling us from whatever was his chosen perch, and always, even in his most unwell days, preening and keeping up appearances. I remember one time in Wilmington, when I took him into a pet store, for one of only two wing clippings he received as a babe, a lady offering me money to use him as a stud as his colourings were apparently quite rare and unique...I had to respond that he was stud enough with our remote control and thumbnails--which he apparently thought to be his girlfriends and had numerous amorous...uh...encounters with!! His 'dates' with these ladies and romantic culminations were one of the early things that had us crying with laughter. He eventually grew out of puberty and settled into life as our little shoulder buddy, travelling all over whatever home we lived in with us, always curious about what we were up to, and just wanting to be with us, his flock.He lived his life flying free in our homes, only reposing to his cage for a nap or at night for bed. This is one of the reasons we're sure he lived a good, long life--plenty of exercise and entertainment all the day long....some entertainments were purely for the sake of irritating mom & dad...ie: should we happen to accidentally leave some paper on the table or out and then leave him alone, inevitably later you would find those tell-tale little chews all around the outside edges--I think one or two of our bosses over the years wondered at the excuse of 'but the bird nibbled the report, I swear!' and newspapers were his favourite snack. Ah food....my little gourmet...another reason he prospered to old age...ate whatever we ate, always politely eating only on the edge of your plate and always cleaning up the crumbs of whatever you gave him...my baby was not a messy bird! His favourites--and I do not exaggerate as many of you were witness to over the years--salmon, potato chips, rice, any meat, carrots & lettuce, and broccoli heads that always gave him bad breath--phew--fruit of any kind, especially when he stayed with Aunt Cindy and she catered to him with a plate of delicacies! OJ out of the glass, drinking like a gentleman, but the orange bits were what he was really after. Spaghetti sauce was top of the sauce list...and the many accidental dives into the cereal bowl because he just couldn't wait for you to give him his share--always eliciting a howl from me. One knew to always save the last bit of yoghurt in the cup, as he could put away a spoonful....moving to France made him a true frenchie as baguette became a permanent staple in his cage, the harder the better!

I didn't read a book about parakeets until almost two years after he arrived in my life--and that was at 2a.m. in a Walmart one night when I was bored...and it turned out that his life was completely wrong according to the experts. 1) Birds like quiet, calm atmospheres and regular schedules--2) they should be put to bed when the sun sets--3) they should eat a balanced bird diet. OOPS. Life in college meant he stayed up late for all night paper writing sessions, listened to blaring music while I cleaned the house or did aerobics or just hung out, was the center of attention for parties. He travelled in the car, sun roof open, radio-him & me singing along, with seat belt fastened for Spring Break trips, weekends away and went to fetch the mail on my shoulder in our apartment complex. But what do the experts know? He grew up with me and I certainly didn't come with a book :)

Everywhere life took us, he came along. Multiple moves in the U.S., our first house that we built, and when we moved to France there was no question of him not coming....a small delay while we did time in quarantine crazy UK and then he came over in Business class (nothing but style for my little man!) to France when we settled in. He loved our apartment on Raynouard with his mirrors everywhere, parties, visitors and beautiful view. Dr. Blanche led to a calmer existence, though he was still the center of dinner parties and he loved his kitchen faucet, buffet box (an old xmas stocking shiny box that came out one year, he adopted and it became permanent decor!), napping on our laptops & leaving 'presents' for us to find later, and letting all the neighbours know when I was coming home--you could hear his call for blocks if you listened--better then a watch dog any day :) He travelled to more countries then some
people (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg) and I always received smiles from the Parisians (a rarity let me tell you) when he accompanied me on buses, the metro or trains to various holidays. And I know there is more then one stranger out there who passed us on the road and then slowed back down to have a second look at the bird driving the car (his favourite spot on road trips was on the steering wheel or the headrest of the driver) and pointed excitedly, much to our amusement.

He was a little fighter, surviving various injuries and serious illnesses over the years, most would have killed an ordinary bird, but not my D--vet after vet commented on his extraordinary age: first at 3, then 5, 10 and now at 15. He was always a character, squawking loudly when someone poked their finger in his cage--his domain! He used to ride my dog Jr. (my beloved standard poodle who died at 17 in '99) up and down the stairs in our house, share her dinner and clean the hair in her paws....I know he missed her when she died....and then along came Freya three years ago--a little terrier bred to chase anything on the move. The little old guy took a little longer to accept her into his 'flock', but when he did it was just so sweet, cleaning her long hairs and zooming into the kitchen at even a hint of canned dog food--another gourmet favourite. And she in return came running whenever he screeched in indignation at being held--was something wrong with her big brother D? Not once has Freya ever malevolently looked at Delfia, she always gave him his space on the floor and at her dish--animals know, of this I have no doubt--family is family, no matter what their race. Nap time in the M-J household meant everyone on the bed passed out, Delfia included, laying completely flat on our chests until we moved. Madonna was one of his favourite singers, he sang loudly and clearly when her tunes played....I will forever remember this when Madge plays now.

Most of all, in the plethora of pleasurable things this little creature brought into our lives, was the laughter, companionship and love he provided not just us--his family--but to all the people who bird-sat for us over the years and visited. I cannot tell you the number of times people asked me if I could train a bird for them like Delfia--not possible I replied, he just is the way he is because of a full life. He was 'so cool' in the words of many a child--one Spring Break he made my 'nephew' Andrew in Florida THE cool kid in class because he brought a bird in for show/tell that would sit on the kids' shoulders--and many people had never seen a bird up close or had them sit on their shoulder, or heard the many songs, chirps & sounds he made, until they met the Big D. He has turned non-animal people into animal lovers--Denise & Scott can attest to that :) He was a Top Gun flier--glass windows, ceiling fans--nothing phased him....and he loved nothing more then to strafe those who were scared of birds--we smiled secretly at his prowess. He could drop and glide and on the rare occasion he did go outside the house/apartment, he always returned to us--which amazed everyone--'why doesn't he fly away?' we were often asked, and the reply--'well, if you had a kingdom and people attending to your every whim, would you leave?'.....

And now that he has left us, the immense quiet that surrounds us is deafening. I sit at my computer now and no reassuring peeps, twitters or dingles of bells comfort me in the background, getting up in the morning and going to bed will be hard as he was always the first/last thing I thought of and cared for every day. There are many habits I'm programmed to perform, for him, that will stop me in my tracks I'm sure, and as the tears well I must force myself to stop them. People underestimate the power of love animals bring into our lives, but I for one will be eternally grateful for every moment I was granted with this amazing, smart, happy, character filled little bird. As he lay in my hand yesterday, and I brushed his out of place feathers back--I knew he would be irritated to not be perfectly groomed as we laid him to rest--I felt so painfully the huge hole in my heart opened up by his death, but know that as time passes the memories of the happiness he brought to our lives will partially fill that hole--but a little part of me is gone with him, and this is life. It is a small price to pay for so much joy. We picked a sunny part of the yard, that my future kitchen will look out upon, to bury him--along with his favourite bells, cuddle buddy and toys...and in the spring I will plant one of those blooming yellow trees to remind me of my little sunshine.But for now, I want to deeply thank all of you that helped us care for him over the years, asked about him, loved him or were a part of his life, you helped make him the wacky, goofy, loving part of our family that he was.

I leave you now with a somewhat repeated, but meaningful quote from Alfred Tennyson:
"I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all."

L

Just across the channel-->

2008-08-19T18:28:00.017+02:00

The Eurostar terminal moved from my old, familiar Waterloo to the new St. Pancras station in London. Pulling in was visually pleasant, I loved the light pouring in the glass roof, the bright colours.... and I was almost not upset at leaving what I had always known at Waterloo...until I needed a loo (WC)! As usual, someone was slacking in the design department and the restrooms that had always been in the pre-exit arrivals area...were gone! akkk...so I became reacquainted with my fellow Londoners while waiting in line for 20mins out in the main hall....wonderful.

I next made my way to the tube to head to my hotel....and again, why is it that in an international train terminal they have so many stairs? I realize they're cheaper then escalators, but I'm getting old and as my luggage donkey was lounging in the Sarthe a girl is forced to lug her many rain outfits up/down/up/down...you get the picture...and I don't glisten folks, I sweat! After paying the extortionist tube fare to get to my destination (did our salaries jump 30%?)....I happily offloaded my things and quickly set out into the city to do what I do best in London....people watch and atmosphere soak!! I don't mean to sound so negative, I absolutely adore London, thus why I love to get away there.

It provides me entertainment people watching....that's not to say that people watching in France isn't interesting or fun, but for some reason it's not entertaining. I love to listen and look at the variety in London. Take this for example (see photo on the right), I had such a chuckle at M&S that I had to take a photo...it's juvenile yes, but I can't even imagine some cheeky french jokester hiking the boxers up to geek levels on a mannequin in a store in Paris....chuckle chuckle. Or, sometimes the brit formality just makes me smile....again, I was walking down a neighbourhood street near my hotel and saw this polite way to say...pick up your dog's poop...in France it's just a sign with a line through it of a hunched over dog pooping with a turd coming out the bum ....

So, I happily munched creative food (yes, France is my mecca of gourmet, but a change of pace and creativity is nice), drank my cider, ate a salt & vinegar crisp or two...had scones, jam & cream (even the fast food version is unbelievably delicious)....even enjoyed a glimmer or two of sun--are the weatherpeople right in any country?....as I wandered through Selfridge's food hall I came upon the 'American' isle and thought to myself as I viewed the symetrically pleasing rows..."good God, is this really what they think is American food?"....I ate Fluff and peanut butter sandwiches one summer when I was ten, but don't know a single other person who has it in their pantry...and ok, I'll give you the pancake mix/syrup & popcorn...but otherwise we are apparently a nation of ridiculous sugar consumption....with some beans & weaners thrown in (has anyone ever seen weiners in a jar in the U.S.?) for salt....ah well, we all have our stereotypes!

I rounded out my London sojourn with a meeting of my friends Nika & Brett's little chub of love--baby S--born last Halloween (is she going to have cool parties or what?) and finally got my wish to pinch those adorably rosy cheeks in person :)...and her Grandmother N is great company! Moving on to Haslemere to visit my friend Janet in her oh, so UK surroundings I finally ate my obligatory fish 'n chips at a fantastic pub...meet Mr. Fox from above the fireplace--> (see what I mean about humour?)...we zipped around in her sporty Audi (I won't show you my face as the passenger....just kidding J!) to visit the beautiful West Dean estates & gardens (see scenery photo on left) and grilled out hubby caught trout on the terrace...all in all a very civilized journey.

A tired L arrived home after travelling all day...the train to a tube to train to a metro to a train home was a bit much, but worth the change in scenery, humour and seeing friends....already planning a return trip, this time with T--there are musicals to be seen and showtunes to be sung! Cheerio! (that's me and my tasty fancy drink at a great thai restaurant Janet & I went to in London...woohoo...hot and spicy baby...and delicious!)

Gone to see the Queen....

2008-08-14T01:22:00.002+02:00

Ok, maybe Buckingham doesn't know who I am and isn't letting me in...BUT, I am a Queen (of M-J land) so I will have to let that carry me!...and yes, this is a round-a-bout way of saying I am in London for the week!

Mamma has taken a small vacation to the land of scones & cider (yum!) and is catching up with friends, seeing a baby born since my trip last year--whose cheeks I am dying to pinch!...and immersing myself in a little Anglo culture and bad weather--what does one wear for rain, rain, thunder & rain, and more rain?

T is working from home this week and re-bonding with his little 'girl', reveling in la maison and the tranquility it has to offer from his usual hectic travel schedule. Lest any of you think me cruel, let it be noted I left him well stocked on meal ideas, list of snacks and a fridge full of supplies! (& if he is a good boy, there may be stale Krispy Kreme doughnuts in his future--and he is doing a happy dance at that news, of this I can assure you!)

Meanwhile, I will have to add some pics here upon my return (Gaaasp, what? a post with no photos? I knooooow!), but it's gray, windy & rainy and I don't think anyone really wants to see pictures of my window shopping exploits....but oh what fun. I love to watch people here, eavesdrop on conversations at the table next to me...sip a cool cider, OR our new favourite beverage for summer--Pimms--hard to explain, but let me just say...I'll have another!

It's hard to believe there's such a different world just across the channel, it amazes me every time I return, and so fun to visit. But it also serves as a reminder at why we love living in France, because there you can live life...here it's so...bustling? I'll ponder a better one...but it's late, I'm on the hotel's free pc (loving that!) and I'm dreaming of sleep in my comfy bed with no bugs buzzing me awake sporadically through the night...ahhh....vacation!!

So, I'll be back to posting the French Vie this weekend...until then....Cheerio! (& no, no one but the old folks says that anymore, but I was a kid who watched Benny Hill!--google it, 80's British humour at it's best!)

Time Flies...

2008-08-09T20:39:00.007+02:00

One of the benefits to moving.....and as that rather painful experience is still fresh in our minds, I look for the good...so, as I was saying, one of the benefits, is that you gain a determination, as you are packing box, after box, after damnable box, to quit saving so much, to go through your collection of things and get rid of stuff. My current rule is: If I didn't use it in the last 6yrs (the time in our most recent apartment) then WHY do I still have it? Adios.

In the food category (this includes basically anything to do with cooking, baking, snacking, tasting, saucing...you get the picture) I have many things. I am making a concerted effort to use something in every meal from my vast, slowly aging collection, thus reducing the need to move it yet again in the next couple of moves we have slated over the next 1-2 years (house-grange-house, possible storage unit thrown in).I bring you now to the beverage portion of our built up, moved stash. Unlike many people here in France we don't have a massive collection of wine, but for us it is a sizable collection. Years of dinner parties, parties and wine gifts, and not enough nights of us drinking (shocking I know--you should see our liquor bar!), plus the years of Foire du Vin (autumn wine clearance sales), & the Salon des Vins des Vignerons Indépendants (Independant Vintners Salon) that we go to almost every year to get our favourites...well, all this leads to many bottles of wine. In an effort to reduce our stash we're trying not to buy anything new as we celebrate wonderful summer days and tasty meals with a glass of this or that. (Exception being the Rosé we buy and drink chilled, this is not a wine ever worth saving--we learned that lesson early in our French life!) All this celebrating is kind of like reaching in a hat and pulling out a surprise--let me explain. There is no order to the boxes of wine stacked in our atelier--cool, dark room in the Grange (the barn). This is a result of T & a muslim packing guy (he wasn't allowed to touch the bottles) working in our old cave the last day of our 4-day packing marathon--remember from an earlier entry, we did not sleep through most of those days--so zombie T just grabbed & packed, the guy closed the boxes and into the truck they went, no labels, nothing. So we reach in and pull out ....something! Occasionally we recognize a treasure and it goes back in, and then we get something we have no idea about, can't find anything on the internet about it, and so, into the fridge it goes (in this case, as it was a white)....and later we taste.

So, with this lovely bottle you see pictured, our first taste created a rather quizzical look on our faces, weird....not bad, just weird. And then my eyes wandered up to the year label (see right) AAAAKKK! eeeegads....a '92? quick math in my head...what? we are drinking a 16yr old wine? You mean....uh...omg...seriously? A wine that's as old as kids driving today?....but, but...'92 wasn't that long ago....and there across the table with a smug look on his face, my T (here I'd like to point out he IS 11 months and 1 week older then me) with the totally unacceptable remark of...well, yes, you are that old...and so is this wine from '92. Oh my, how time doth fly.....the wine grew on T...but based on the flavour I think it was probably one of those good ones that was past it's premium drinking moment...but that's the fun of trying, why let them just sit there and pile up? --we won't, and neither will any of our visitors, of that I'm sure--Papa, when did you say you wanted to come? ;o)

So, I must learn to accept the passage of time (it's not that hard, I know, just every once and a while something pops up that makes me see it like a neon sign), but we couldn't have picked a better country to do it in, and a better house to see 2008 + go by.....and as the saying goes, "sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses".....and I do, boy oh boy, do I!

The front right corner of our house has the most beautiful pink roses--I don't know their names, and they're not the most odiferous of our roses--but they're just gorgeous. I took some pictures this afternoon of the second crop coming out, and share them with you to the left and down below. We do have others that aren't nearly as pretty, but have the most heavenly scent of lemon-rose...so, we really have the best of both worlds.

And now, in camping land, dinner is served--homemade spaghetti sauce with peppers from the garden, that's been simmering in the slow cooker all day, and garlic bread....accompanied with tonight's surprise pick--a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon...we'll see how it goes!!

Anyone have a Big Bad Wolf?

2008-08-06T23:58:00.007+02:00

So, today I made my first, official, I'm a Country Girl now, purchase.

I originally went into the local hardware/farm equipment/misc store to buy a shovel--yes, you might be thinking to yourself that this qualifies as a country purchase, but no, I know people who live in the city, suburbs, on boats for that matter, who have shovels, so it doesn't count. As Freya & I were wandering the isles, gazing appreciatively in the fishing isle at the live bait (yes, I fished and loved it as a child!), looking questioningly at the animal killing isle (mouse, rat & mole trap/poisons) and I, drooling down the jam making isle (yes, an entire isle)--and hoping that sometime in my near future I make a friend who is a jammin' expert because I know all of nothing about it...other then that I don't like fruit chunks in my jam...., and Freya sniffing her way down the dog food isle hoping against hope that a morsel of food escaped the confines of a bag, to be found by her....I rounded a corner heading for the garden section only to see.....
a 'panier aux fruits rouges'...red fruit basket...such a cute, little, useful basket! If I put on my red-hooded windbreaker and skip around the champ I might just BE a fairy tale...ha ha ha. And no, the fruit did not come with it....that is the result of Freya & I's evening walk around the property to collect today's ripe goods...and put into use my day's purchase! (and in case any of you were wondering, I did buy the shovel, but it is no where as cute as my fruit collecting basket!) The little plums you see on the left are Mirabelles--also known as a Cherry Plum and they are sweet & delicious....I just discovered we had them yesterday as I waited for Freya to dig yet another taupe hill over by the cow pasture...and shazam, my wandering eye spotted a fruit-like object hanging in the tree above me...I promptly picked it & plopped it into my mouth...delicious!

So, now our daily rounds will include the gazillion blackberries ripening all around us and mirabelles! I had a tarte au mirabelles once....any other suggestions out there for using them? Thank god for Google is all I can say. And my handy new panier....skip skip...This is my fruit guard dog...pfft...more like she's pretending to sleep and when I turn my back she'll pick out the best, she loves black berries??....yes, only my gourmet pup :)

Now, it's been a hot day here, and I must go enjoy my refreshing lemon-lime beverage with sprig of fresh mint you see in the basket (another abundant greenery at la maison M-J...siiiighhh.....)

Love is in the air!

2008-08-05T12:05:00.005+02:00

I took this picture and couldn't resist the title for the post...I mean, they.make.a.heart! Let me also comment on the length of dragonfly love...I saw them out by the creek, watched in amazement as they 'hooked up'--can I just comment here that they FLEW like that!...Note to self: not coming back in next life as female dragonfly--she had to fly upside down while he was holding her head!....I then had time to run inside, grab the camera, come back, find the setting for macro and lay down in the grass to take the picture....what's that phrase? 'you love me looooong time'??...hahahaha.

Ah the bliss of nature....back to your regularly scheduled National Geographic program ;)

Fruit of the Earth's Loins

2008-08-04T14:24:00.012+02:00

If that doesn't draw you into a blog entry, I don't know what will!

Today's entry is dedicated to one of my best friends over at Scargosun who inspired me to do this entry with her new dedication to 'locavore' living. Originally it started out as a comment on her blog, but then I thought, wow, that's a bit rude to take up the whole comment section, and so this entry was born...So, the photo you see above is our 'potager', or what you might know as a vegetable garden. If you look closely at the picture you'll see what is currently our garden, the small fenced in area with plants and weed-free dirt. Then, in the background, past the tree all the way to the fence posts in the far left is what the previous owner used as his potager. As we acquired La Maison a bit late in the planting season, and I can't spend the entire day a slave to greenery, we started small this season with 6 zucchini plants (yes, we LOVE the Z) and a mini orange paprika plant we picked up in the Netherlands.

Now I'm no green thumb, anyone who has ever housesat for us knows I tell them, don't worry about the plants, they're hardy, they can go months without water and always come back!! Read: no plant in my home stays unless it can thrive on occasional, remembered waterings. So, over the years I have pottered on our Parisian balconies mostly with tomatoes (we were always south facing) to fairly reasonable & tasty results. So this new foray into ultimate green was a trite overwhelming, thus the small beginnings.

However....I am pleased to report & prove via photographic displays evidenced here (see left and right)....that our land is fertile baby! and the fruit is coming forth....that and my very concerted effort to water on a regular basis from the conveniently located stream (just off the right of the potager photo above).

A little lesson I learned a few years back about zucchini sex (uh, this is a pg-13 rated blog, details are available on google) has Z's sprouting at an alarming rate. The one you see above, just for an edible point of reference is about the length of my forearm from wrist to elbow, and not even ready for picking (& grilling!)! The yellow flowers Z blooms are gorgeous, aesthetically pleasing me as well as tasty--and a tidbit of info, the flower on right is female....Last night we had a fabulous Thai dish and as the mini-paprikas (seen in the macro photo above) were piling up, I sliced and diced 5 of them in there...and can only say a chorus of 'Yums' was the happy result.

There have even been a few, free surprises in the potager. A couple hardy strawberries from last year popped up again (for you garden virgins, strawberry plants are perennial but sensitive to cold--why most people replant them every year), and I discovered their tell-tale leaves in an earlier weeding effort in May, so cleared a small halo of open space for them, watered them and now and then, as I survey the garden, am treated with a oh-so-sweet succulent berry for my efforts. Next year I'll see if we can't get a proper jam--oh, who am I kidding, they'll never make it to a jam jar--a proper strawberry treat row.

The two small trees (you may only see one, as the second is just behind) in the photo of the potager are theoretically peach trees, though my suspicion is that they are apricots based on their current size, and I check them every week to see if they're ready. They have remained stone hard, but fun to fondle...did I say pg-13?...ha ha....and I can't wait to see how they taste. In the back of our property we have a small orchard with pear & apple trees, but I'll save those fruity tales for another entry :)

Last but not least in our little potager, we have what I like to call my Martha Stewart plants. The ones that, in a normal housing situation, would be great to have around for dinner parties, but in my experience, quickly dried and died in their store bought pots....thus leaving me to just stick to the spice cabinet. And here I am talking about our spice friends. 'Ciboulette'-chives, 'Romarin'-rosemary & 'Thym'-thyme. My tastebuds have been titillated beyond belief by the joy of adding these fresh spices to dishes coming out of my...camping kitchen. For example, my Parisian restaurant dining days were for a moment forgotten when, with my first official visitor (Hi Janet!), I took a fresh fish, gutted it, cleaned it, slapped some fresh rosemary branches & sliced lemon inside and sizzled it on the grill for about 20 minutes....and voila...a tastalicious meal with unbelievable flavour. This just wouldn't have been the same with dried spices. My ciboulette plant has led to oh so prrretty presentations of stuff because I had the ability to just scissor some chives before the plate went out....or to just add it to some sour cream for the potatoes....ahhhh, such culinary bliss.

And so, it is with further discovery joy that T & I continue our education of vegetables that are in season, eat them by the barrel and wait to see what the next seasonal lesson is. Don't be afraid to try your own potager, or even a little window box with spices--stick them in the dirt, water & voila... The quality of the country vegetables, especially our own, is ruining us, and I hope that more of you out there experiment with farmer's markets, bio veggies or whatever it is you can find, because, truly the results are worth it.

So, Bon Appetit & Bonne Continuation....Maybe next year this will be me?.....maybe not!!....

La Sarthe Settings

2008-07-28T23:09:00.010+02:00

Not much to say on this one, again I can only let the pictures speak for themselves....

pffft....like I could not throw in a comment or two!!...I may on occasion in life have called myself...errr...ahem...anal-retentive...but, let it be known that I consider this a positive!! It calls order into my life, in certain areas, whilst others are left to their chaos.

As my earlier post this month may have subtly indicated (did I also mention subtlety is not one of my strong points?) there isn't much order going on here at La Maison M-J, and so I am left to search out that organization in other aspects of life. Our evening walks provide just this.
The landscape everywhere here in the Sarthe (our region of residence--many of you may relate this geographically to another french region...Normandy...that most people have heard of...lesson of the day complete!) satisfies my appreciation of symmetry. Even an act as simple as getting on your knees can change an entire perspective, as the 2000+ pictures on my camera can attest to! The lines where colours meet change at every corner, and as the summer passes, at every agricultural development. The rolling hills here are gentle, with flat spaces intermingled to just further our sense of 'ahhhh'....we just love it, one of the many reasons we fell for this little known area--known in France as the most forested section of the country.
And so, we take advantage of the long summer evenings to explore the many footpaths the commune has installed through the farms, forests and land. Freya now asks for these walks, literally fussing at the door if the hour gets too late, reminding us...helloooo....there are miles of mole hills to be dug before she sleeps...miles of mole hills before she sleeps....(did Robert Frost have a dog?).

20 minute jaunts turn into 2-hr walks and we are oblivious to all but the fantastic panoramas and discoveries these walks bring us. On yesterday's walk we saw an owl & a deer (both within inches), the treasure in T's hand, and several abandoned farm houses...this morning as the sun rose and we drove to the train station...a fox in the middle of a cornfield...I just cease to be amazed at the sheer nearness of so many amazing features of life here...and wish more people could experience what nature intended....come visit!!

So, now I shall weave my way through the many bugs that apparently think nature created the Imac light screen to call them inside the house, (screens people, sustenance of bug-free life!...I know not this luxury....akkkkk) and head to bed, blissful...QUIET bed.....appreciated always after our Paris pause this past weekend.

I want a Fatboy....and so does Freya!

2008-07-24T18:57:00.011+02:00

I have a lot of boys.

Cabana-boy, Grill-boy, Lover-boy, Poptart-boy, Make-me-feel-better-boy, Massage-boy, Sailing-boy, Dork-boy....the list in fact would fill an entire blog in and of itself :o) What I do not have is a Fatboy.

I stumbled upon this in the longstrasse (walking street) in the Netherlands while we were visiting our friends/family the M-G's in June. The Fatboy. I fell instantly in love and rushed in to see how much he would put me back...cost in the end was not the issue, transport was...I know it was wrong of me, he was so big....
Now you're all wondering, who is this Fatboy leading me into temptation from all my other boys?......

Meet.....Fatboy.

Ok, so the gig is up....but the lust is not. I enquire desperately among any of you out there (as my test run was but for a few fleeting minutes)...how is the Fatboy? Anyone out there love their Fatboy (not the pudgy family member either--we know you love them!) The description says, fits three adults comfortably....of course, we are only looking for 2 adults and one small lazy dog....err....or visitors, if they can successfully kick us out--Ha! This is exactly what our life, our yard, many parts of it...under the willow tree, by the pond, by the creek, in the field...ahhhhh....needs for our family naps. Naps that are obligatory after all the work we are doing...tsk, tsk....I mean, it is scientific proof that a 30-minute nap is the equivalent of several hours of evening sleep, rejuvenating the body and mind....so T & I are merely following the scientists advice-after all, who Doesn't need a rejuvenated mind these days?!! And quite honestly, this is the first real hammock solution for me....ropey, hammock butt/leg/arm tattoos are just not me....I shall leave tattoos to Tattoo-boy :)

Feel the need to know more about Fatboy?...check out their website (& I don't normally push websites, but I grew up in a beanbag, as did my Jr.(Freya's Heavenly Dogmother and my childhood dog), and there are many happy memories there!) so it's all good--bring a little Fatboy into your life! http://www.fatboy.nl/ ...in English...(doesn't help me here in France, but see our minimal choices here: http://www.youenjoydesign.fr/) as I continue to do research that will keep me from lugging a Fatboy home on my back from NL....

In fact, Freya was so jealous of her Mamma's lusted infidelity, she too fell for a Fatboy. Here is the object of her lazy lust, and here I refer to the doggy Fatboy, not the white pooch...sooooo not her type, she likes her boys big and sheperd-like! T & I are merely discussing the better colour for her...hot pink or camo? We went for the practical grey when discussing our Fatboy...

So, as priorities dictate our lives these days, I must continue to daydream how Fatboy and I will get together some day in the future...in the meantime the M-J family takes some time out at our place in Paris to attend to life there. We are going to be making our first official purchase for the house--outdoor dining furniture!! As the last several dining occasions have shown us, a cobbled together weebly-wobbly table and VERY uncomfortable balcony chairs of old do not make for an agreeable dining experience in our fabulous yard. And as the weather promotes almost exclusive dining alfresco at La Maison M-J this is a true priority! When you visit, I believe you'll thank us for having our priorities in order....then again, as you lie on the hard ground, watching the clouds swim by in the blue sky, with ants and other buggerati crawling on you, perhaps you will curse us for not ditching the dining and getting Fatboy to join the M-J family tout-de-suite!!

The Thorn amongst Honey & Roses

2008-07-22T13:58:00.011+02:00

Lest I mistakenly leave you all sitting in your respective abodes thinking we are living a life of honey and roses....let me correct you.

To cushion the blow, of the merry vision I am destroying, let me begin by saying that as we sit on the white bench outside (pictured left), when the wind wafts from the right we catch the rich scent of roses....and as it wafts from the left we catch the sweet scent of honeysuckle...ahhhh....but then the thorn.

Here I welcome you to my pain. My kitchen has always been my kingdom. When nothing else is organized in life, the kitchen is. Our visitors know the sauce cabinet (yes, I had an entire cabinet just for all my sauces, and I am proud of this fact! A Saucetarian must have her tools of worship :o) ), the spice cabinet, the bakers rack packed beyond capacity with the yummies picked up, to try later, on our travels. All my various bric-a-brac for cooking in it's proper place. But me, in the center of it all, only having to turn this way and that while in the storm of culinary creation, knowing where and what I needed was a mere step away. All reduced via our recent move to this:
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

I can accept this 'vie rustique' (rustic life) because the light at the end of the tunnel is that once the dust settles after our many projects in 18mo-2yrs, I will have my kitchen kingdom again--only better, dreamier, tastier. As I peruse the magazines for renovation, visit the home shows, kitchen displays, see the array of top of the line pots (I'm a grown up now, time to upgrade from the pots I've been using since...college!) fondle the german, japanese & danish....knives (dirty minded readers!)....I must catch the drool before it drops, reducing my public dignity to nothing. So, I pretend we are on a really cool camping trip, and I just happen to have a couple of my favourite kitchen utensils (did I mention my small collection of knives are stuck to a magnet on the wall? akkkk!) and it is perfectly natural for flies to come and go through the windows as I handle food (no, the frenchies have never heard of SCREENS!!)...but on the plus side, Freya can tear in with muddy paws and tongue panting and no cry of indignation escapes my lips, because quite honestly, I don't have to care--we're camping!!

On that rustic theme let me introduce you to the luxury/not of our downstairs bathroom. Luxury because we have one upstairs AND downstairs (not usual in a 300yr old French holiday/country home), Not because the door only opens as far as you can see in the photo, the toilet sits at an angle in the room and the seat can't attach properly, so every time I sit down I swear I am going to fall in--which I'm sure I did at some point in my toddlerhood, otherwise why would I have the vague notion of what that feels like?? The decor is...well, I won't go there because in camping land it just doesn't matter....but it is a great place to rinse out the vacuum cleaner, wash our wellies (boots), water the plants and store our beverages (stay really cool!). In the future, when walls are knocked down and the room extended, we will have a retro-cool beton (glossy cement) bathroom/laundry room up to the task of keeping the M-J family clean and orderly.

Hodge-podge living demands creativity sometimes, and we refuse to be beaten down by the lack of facilities. See here our solution to not being able to set up the built in oven furniture--we may be camping, but I WILL have an oven folks, raw quiche is just not that tasty! So, the oven is turned to face the kitchen, solidly, yet unattractively installed atop the dryer, and the dryer camps out under the stairs--again let me thank the appliance gods for the invention of the condensation dryer...otherwise the one appliance I had to choose to live with (aurevoir my lovely dishwasher...waaahhhh), the washing machine--only plumbing for one solitary thing--would have left us with crispy jeans & towels, and clothes strewn through the trees in the garden to dry!! Dishwashing is done by hand, in loads, and we strengthen our marital bond with discussions over towel drying dishes :)

The rest of our life is packed in stacks of boxes (I'm still selectively unpacking the nightmare of four days we spent packing) that we built sub-walls with around various rooms. Thank goodness they are white...brightens the house without the need for repainting (snicker, snicker)...and will remain so to reduce any packing trauma we will have to endure in the coming year of our life as we finish the Grange project, move to it, and start on the house project and move back again when that is complete. The goal is to live with the basics, still have a semblance of a 'home' (used very loosely) as it will be a long winter and when we're stuck inside (we hope Santa brings us a BIG tv for Christmas) we don't really want to be camping anymore--"Aunty Em, Aunty Em....where am I?"--but, for the time being, when even a glimmer of despair rears it's ugly head in this paradise land of ours--I merely walk to the front door, take a deep breath of our clean country air, drink in the panorama of beauty (see pic) and all is right in the world, even the thorns.

A Moment out of Now....

2008-07-21T16:44:00.027+02:00

Ok, so in the midst of trying to catch everyone up with the last 8 wks here at La Maison, I have to take a commercial break and share some of Now. Because now is amazing...more amazing then May or June you ask, which I may have hinted were great in a few conversations, and I shall have to reply--Oui. Just a couple quick snapshots, nothing special--ok, I lied, it's special, and I think T may be tired of every phrase coming out of my mouth ending with an exclamation point--but what's a girl to do, I (heart) our home!! (Brief sidebar: T may not be exclaiming, but there are an awwwful lot of deep, contented sighs escaping his mouth at every turn...)

First, let's discuss the weather. Sunny, but not too hot. Breezy, but not too much wind. Big puffy clouds floating by, but not black rain. For a hottie like myself (and here I refer strictly to my always higher then normal body temp--Merci Papa!--not any narcissistic tendencies) I believe I have found nirvana. I'll get back to you on that perfection after winter, but for now....Check out that sky behind us on a recent exploration with visiting friends to a local, private chateau (and what you see in the photo on the right is their..pffft....guest house!)

Freya would like to pass on her two paws' worth as well: Every morning she wakes us up licking and loving, gone is the post-lick cuddle and snooze, replaced with pacing at the bedroom door and an ever so pitiful, dramatic sigh with a slight whine at the end begging us to begin the day tout-de-suite. Once she reaches the front door, the most god-awful sound erupts from her mouth--to the Freya-unknowns it might sound like we were torturing her, ripping out toenails one by one. When in fact it is her sheer excitement to get that door open and explode out into her Blissworld. One day maybe I'll get enough sleep and remember to record her so everyone can relate to our new audio wake-up...akkkk! It's all worth it when she comes bounding up to your lap smelling like warm grass and a bit of fresh dirt, tail wagging top speed, gives you a round of Freyping (you have to live it to love it!) and then leaps off to other adventures...a quick thank you we can never repay.

Which brings us to our simple daily pleasures which to others are a rote of daily living. This weekend some friends came by for lunch (tomato & mozzarella on homemade flaky crust mini-pizzettes, with a pesto sauce & herbes de provence sprinkled on top, grilled pork chops straight from the farm,

white wine & a tarte-tatin with thick creme fraiche also from the region--and yes, it tasted as good as it sounds!) and just before they arrived I zipped to the back of the house and put this little flower arrangement together for the table...in Paris this little 'rien' would have cost 15E! (I think that might just qualify as a Martha Stewart moment!) One night, neither T nor I had the desire for dinner, so instead a quick Brie-en-croute (brie baked in a crust)

with a zip of jalapeno paste inside and a chilled Chablis sufficed to satisfy the appetite as we said goodbye to the day...(I in fact took a photo of the meal for my cousin Eric, a little long distance reminiscing for him ;) )

Life here just brings such a sense of calm and well-being into our lives. We haven't even looked at a TV in months, as a matter of fact, don't have one here (yet), and by the time the sun sets at 10:30PM and we drag ourselves inside, we are all ready for bed. So, I hope your nows are as zen as ours...I shall return to the regularly schedule catch-up (as our internet bouncing allows)....I leave you with a couple of other photos from our chateau visit.

Discovery

2008-07-20T11:03:00.009+02:00

Since our arrival here at La Maison M-J life has been about discovery.

One might think it was just the mundane discoveries of life in a new milieu--where to shop, eat, buy gas etc....but Madame Nature has intervened to give us a smart smack in the arse as to what life is truly all about! :)

Here you see what we discovered just outside the kitchen window in a hydrangea bush (pictures of that in bloom for a later flower power blog entry!) as the source of a chorus of peeping we had been wondering about.

So beautiful to watch life beginning and getting ready for the heady summer to come.

My heart has been touched by Freya's gentleness here--those of you who know our little 'terrorier' know what a crazed maniac she can be, but here as she began her redecorating work...also known as 'chasse de taupe' (mole chasing) she would uncover a baby mole blindly making his escape from the savage beast (aka F), but did she kill or maim the little guy as her instinct might command? No, she would take him ever so gently in her mouth and come to us or wag her tail madly...so we, or more aptly, me, would have the pleasure of soothing him, and getting a baby pet-by before releasing him into his hole. I guess having a little bird for a big brother taught her the lesson of overriding nature!

Life here has given us a taste of youth again and I for one am reveling in it. Now for the presumptuous of my readers who assume, knowing my gourmet tendencies, that I refer to a food taste--you would be...WRONG. Instead, I refer to the sheer joy of discovery that kids have when seeing something for the first time. What we as adults see as a wondrous enlightenment, or growth of knowledge in a little person who truly sees something for what it is.

Here, it's the joy of discovering what fruit is growing on the two little trees in our 'potager' (garden for vegetables, fruits, herbs etc.)...in the case of the photo, our suspicions are that we will be making apricot jam this fall as opposed to the hoped for peach crop the previous owners claimed--my question is--who after ten years of eating it mistakes an apricot for a peach? Either way, it will happily cover our toast!

There's just a giddy elation that overcomes me as I see yet something else that is 'new' to me on either a walk with Freya (quickly becoming a morning, noon & evening habit) down our lane, or touring the property, or just sitting and watching the sun set. Don't even get me started on the amazing show the sun puts on for us in the morning as she rises (yes Mom & Dad-J shocking as it is, T & I have been up early enough to see the sun rise on several occasions!!), or the evenings as she sets....here an example of around 10:30pm, as I stand at the head of our 'champ' (the field the farmer has rights to, but which I ignore and Freya has deemed--the dig zone--!) It's a feeling difficult to explain but which I can only relate to what I vaguely remember feeling when I was young....so vive la jeunesse (long live youth) and I can't wait for all the other discoveries to come!

Independence Day!!

2008-07-17T13:43:00.005+02:00

17 May 2008

Hip Hip Hurra!!

For us, being a tri-cultural family (Norwegian, American & French), we get the added bonus of celebrating three independence holidays every year--though, to be honest as our collection of American friends has waned in Paris, and the bbq parties have stopped, the 4th of July easily goes by unnoticed, but never forgotten--living abroad we have learned to truly appreciate and not take for granted the freedoms that come with that blue passport. For those of you that don't have every country's day memorized, here is your global education for the day. France's is the 14th of July (we had a great Bastille Day this year), America's is the 4th of July (I have to assume there are international citizens reading this now based on my map!) & Norway's is the 17th of May, so this year it was especially memorable as it was the day....that yes....we became official French home owners!! woo hoo! Independence from our landlord from hell in Paris (another story to follow one day when I have caught up on the plethora of belated posts rolling around in my head!), independence from noise and independence for the M-J family to create their own home.

It hasn't been a journey without bumps, some the big kind that you have to slow waaaay down for, of this I can assure you. After we arrived home from St. Lucia we basically hit the ground running and didn't stop until, well, now. In between we had a visit from my Aunt G & Uncle M from Norway, who also insisted a visit to the house-to-be (all this strong arming!) and I just know another visit is in the future just so my Onkel M can play with one of his dirt movers!! Jeg vet deg Onkel M!! ;-) Along the way, administrative snafus ensued--in fact, days before we signed the l'Acte de Vente (Act of Selling-official purchase document where you become the legal owner--40+pages) we still didn't know if it was going to end well! Nothing like high stress to bring us to the culmination of home ownership!

The morning of, we arose in Paris at some ungodly hour--thank god for American coffee travel mugs!--drove the two hours and arrived, as the morning dew was departing, at la maison. We had a 9:30 a.m. appointment with the notaire for all the reading, check writing and signing, so had to do the house walk-thru, meet Jean-Pierre the farmer (not his real name--see earlier entry for land mooch description) who was only an evil entity in my mind, but now had a face to go with...ha ha...and go through any last minute instructions etc on the various ancient minutiae located on the property.

At the appointed hour we bundled into our respective cars--with the owners getting a bit feclempt as 20 years of memories were ending, but don't feel too sorry for them, they're off to their new house built on a Greek island to live out retirement. At least we know our money is in a sunny destination--opa!--and drove off to the notaire. The next several hours were spent going through the entire document--and yes, again my name had to be corrected & added!!...seriously, is this so hard? Oui, for the French. And the paternal dominance in legal documents here is something that I have learned at times to ignore, but in this case stood firm much to the chagrin of our notaire. The tediousness of the moment was broken when A) we finally got to see how much the owners paid for the property 20 years ago...and didn't cry! (b/c we still got a good deal) and B) found it terribly cool to see the documented owners through it's 300 year history (a plus to living in an old land!) and know that we too were now becoming a small part of future history!!

The meeting ended with a round of hand shaking and Mercis. The now previous owners literally ran off with certified bank check in hand to the bank. We stood in the parking lot, the sun shining, keys in a plastic grocery bag contemplating the actual conclusion to months of dreaming, visits, agonizing administrative protocol and sheer speculation. The house....was....OURS!! Unfortunately, a strict rule in France, and especially here in la France profonde, is that when lunch is over, it is o-v-e-r. You may as well go and gnaw on some tree bark and drink from the canal as you are getting nothing to eat. So at this late hour in the afternoon, our stomachs rumbling non-stop, we celebrated our entry into true French residence....yep....dining at the only open facility for kilometers....the one and only chic dining establishment known fondly on this side of the pond as.....Chez McDo!! (McDonalds for those of you stateside) There is a certain amusing irony in that...which was not lost on us as we sat out in the sun slurping down shakes.

Following our gourmet meal we tore back to the house and proceeded to tour La Maison M-J as it shall now be known. For the rest of the world our little corner of paradise is locally known as La Maison Neuve (The New (300yr old) House). Before you all rush off to Google that, let me remark, that is a name given to a hundred other properties here, kind of like Smith in the U.S. Giving directions is going to be fun, so I am currently coming up with a creative garden decor on the main road for our sign to make it stand out!

So, the photo you see on top is the happy M-J family on the day, all four of us (one of whom was trembling with sheer doggy glee the entire time), as we managed to capture with the camera on a timer, precariously angled on a rock, our rock, on our grass, on our lane as we stood before our house feeling our happiness escalate every minute that passed.

M.I.A. ...and then some!

2008-07-16T18:16:00.005+02:00

We have been in a P.O.M. (Prisoner of Moving) camp for the last four months, and oh how I wish we had indeed still been in St. Lucia, drinking our blue drinks, as so many of you humourously commented in mails to me--might I point out here that You were the only ones laughing... :-|

T & I have crawled through the trenches of preparing for a move, discovered that six years of living in that apartment, and my world-renowned skill for packing inordinate amounts of things into one suitcase apparently spilled over into our 117 sq.meter apartment...shelves people, they can triple your space!!...all translated into lots and lots of stuff. I even sold furniture and appliances prior to the move!!

We painfully discovered all these extra things we didn't know we had so much of when we packed them ourselves for four days, with an unmovable deadline hanging over our heads, with a grand total of (and I DO NOT exaggerate here) four'ish hours of sleep, mostly taken by T who was turning green with fatigue. I am supernaturally able to turn into some kind of robot-like human--too bad this only happens in times of sheer stressful terror. One night he thought I had gone AWOL from Camp Packalot because I never made it to bed for the 'nap' and he couldn't find me in the battlefied...until he happened into the master bath, called my name and I popped up from my 15 minute snooze in the bathtub in a state of freakish awareness....cold porcelain can be very calming I must say.

In the end, one day of movers turned into two--a team of four men turned into six--and one medium sized truck and 3 containers turned into a grand camion (big truck) and 5 containers...and I believe I may truly, have, for the first time in their moving careers, actually surprised a professional crew of movers at how much stuff two little people, a small dog & bird can actually pack into an apartment!

I could tell you many horrid stories those four days unfolded, but it ended with me & Freya walking through the only home she has ever known, realizing all of 'home' was gone, as home is where we all are together, us handing over the key to the legal officer who did our checkout, dragging one god-awful final load to the car, driving down to the studio, treading zombie like up to the apartment.....and collapsing onto the bed for a 14-hour nap until the next day. Never has sleep been so blissfully warranted, desired or appreciated.

War teaches you something--any war--and that is that the soldiers around you better be someone you can count on no matter what. T & I seem to fall into these hideous situations and always come out a team. That statue you see in the picture was from an anniversary--already I can't remember exactly which one--it's from Norway, pewter with Norwegian stone carving the two out of one. I know it struck a cord for me b/c we'll always be those college sweethearts--me with my ponytail, T holding my hand...in the middle of all the moving mess, a constant.

Sunsets

2008-03-18T15:59:00.012+01:00

Sunsets here in St. Lucia cross an amazing spectrum of reds, oranges, yellows, blues...never the same one twice. Every evening when they arrive there is a small twinge of sadness that another spectacular day of stress-free life and fancy-free fun has ended. But that is merely fleeting as you sit back and hope for the green flash as the sun sinks just beyond the horizon.

I am always impressed by nature's ability to select from her palette another array of colours equally spectacular as the day before. After seeing so many amazing art exhibitions in Paris over the time we've lived there, I remember thinking once, how truly limitless is the creative possibilities of artists? When will all the ideas of subjects, combinations of colours and images be used up? Well, if the well of creativity for man is as deep as that of nature, which we are ultimately a part of--though for how long, only global warming will tell!--then I for one will continue to revel in the talents of those artists and nature for as long as I can take them in.

In the meantime, here in St. Lucia, sunsets signify the coming of a wonderful night's sleep (as much as I miss my Freya, currently enjoying her fab ski holiday with Gabbi, Eric & buds Uston/Utopia--see photo on left, so kindly sent to us by G!)--I am taking full advantage of sleeping through the night for once! Talk about opposite holidays....does this have something to do with why people say they want to come back in their next life as our pet? ha ha ha.

And so, as always, I shall leave you on a note of cheer and happiness....as in Cheers!! to another successful day in paradise...tonight we toast you with a chocolate shake (their island produced chocolate shakes put Haagen Daaz to shame, out of this world!) & some coconut based tropical beverage (I'm making my way through the beverage menu with Maryam, we shall do our rating....ok, well never, but fun trying!)...in any case, always refreshing to bid adieu to the beacon of light with a fun drink!

Bon soir and good night!

The colour BLUE.....

2008-03-15T00:09:00.006+01:00

I'm not sure why the colour blue seems to have such negative conotations....when the sky is blue it's always a good start to the day....blue has always been one of my favourite colours, yellow is the other tied for first, with hot pink waxing and waning through the decades....here in the tropics, though the water isn't that startling blue as in other locations, there are other areas it's presence makes a jolly appearance.

Take for instance my 'island blue' beverage I had during a refreshment pause...right off the bat, it arrives at the table and reaction is 'oooo prrreeetty drink' (beginning of the uplifting)....then I sip the beverage and 'mmmmm' is all that escapes my lips. Perfect blend of tart, sweet, fruity...hey, a lot like me! Haaaaaaaaaaaa....hey, this is my blog I am allowed a certain level of self-entertainment ;o)

The beach chaises here all continue the theme in their royal tone, so even as the occasional grey clouds roll by, providing at times welcome relief from the sun that may be attempting it's sneaky infiltration of my 45spf sun creme, the blue chairs remind us of what is peeking just behind the clouds. I leave you today with our chairs of contemplation....it was rough laying there, composing my next posting, ah well, all in a day's work......So take this moment to savour my blue and I hope it perks up your day! Gros bisous, St. Lucia style......a demain!

Welcome to paradise.

2008-03-13T15:07:00.001+01:00

As is the usual M-J custom, we hit the ground running....and I do mean that literally....as is the usual french departure fashion, we arrived late in Martinique, with minutes to spare before we had to go through immigration, pick up our bag, exit the arrival area, re-check in our back and get tickets for the 15 minute flight to St. Lucia, go through security and immigration again, yes, nothing is ever logical or efficient...siiigh.....the 28oC temperatures eased the rushing (that's 82oF for you non-metric folks)....as we walked across the tarmac to our plane.

Up in the air we soared, and had all of 5-7 minutes to view our arrival island before we began

the descent:

A quick de-plane, 15 minute taxi ride later and we were in our little corner of paradise for the next week.

To ease your acclimation to warmth and wonder, a cooling beverage is always the way....as the room keys were readied for us and the shuttle called, T & I choked down (ha ha) the proferred beverages.

We arrived at the villa, and after hugs were exchanged settled in...a lovely welcome message was laid out on our bed (though apparently spelling is not their strong suit!) we then gathered to view what are absolutely magnificent sunsets here. At last, a deep breath, and final exhalation of any remaining stress from the journey and life at home.

Time to kick back and do NOTHING!! Ok, that's not completely true, strategy was planned for the morning to grab the best seats on the beach...the benefits of jet-lag in this direction are that we beat the masses to the beach, waking up at the ungodly (at least in this family!) hour of 6:30am, means after coffee and breakfast and ample slathering of 45spf lotion, we are still on the beach by 8:30!....truth be told, this wears off half way through the week when our bodies regain their more civil sleep schedule...tsk tsk.

Vacaaaaaation!

2008-03-12T02:28:00.000+01:00

So, we're St. Lucia bound...after more paper chasing, late night gathering and sending of information for the house, we're riding out the waiting game on a holiday planned long before la maison was a twinkle in our eye. It actually is good timing, a chance to catch our breath and plan out the next month or two....a chance to find a bit of humour and blow off any stress that may have crept in....see here as T begins to 'shut off' from work and find his humour at the airport-->

The last couple of days have been manic, getting Delfia & Freya ready for their respective 'holidays', packing for the move, packing for the trip, working, and lastly finalizing the rental of our pied-a-terre here in Paris. More on that exciting detail later, but we were able to follow the signs with a lighter heart and more open mind, pondering the possibilites....normally I would plan to plan during the nine hour flight, but in this case, after several late nights, I knew the flight would pass quickly as I snoozed away! T however was giddy with the glee at the upcoming R&R...as is clearly witnessed in the photo to your right....

Just before we boarded I glanced out the porthole window to this picture of gray gloom....and so my spirits began to lift at the upcoming sun and company of family.

We settled into our seats, and the long journey ahead popped up on our screens...uggh the pain of seeing time pass before your eyes in one red blip after another....well, time to get comfortable and sleep the journey away!

So, for the next week or so, French Fatum will be coming to you from the sunny isle 'o St. Lucia as the M-clan catch up. For those of you only tuning in for house information, check back in a week, as other then some outstanding updates I am going to take the time to catch up on, I'll be posting the ugly photos of our sejour in the sun.....I mean if you can't torture your family and friends in person ....ha ha....so, see you on the ground!

A 'fix' for my addiction

2008-03-07T23:08:00.026+01:00

One day this week whilst out running yet another appreciable series of errands somehow related to this great house ad-venture (that was a dramatic pause there...) of ours, the sun briefly broke through the grey rain of the day. I had just exited the metro at the top of the Champs Élysées and joined the throngs waiting at the crosswalk...as I waited for the merry green man telling me to 'aller' I glanced over my shoulder and had another one of those 'aaahhh' Paris moments. Fortunately for those of you following along with us here, I also am making it a habit to carry along my new best friend, 'lil Can (also known as my new Canon). Here's what I saw: aaahhh... The little green man bid me to hurry the hell across the road before being run over by the impatient french waiting to hurry to the next red light....

So off I went to my errand....visiting the new location of my dealer....the supplier of my 'fix' for what has become a true addiction. What is this that has brought down our good girl?...oh it is not just me, T too has succumbed...and worse then that we have brought our parents down the dirty path...my Dad's dependence is satisfied daily when visiting, and Mom-J went so far as to find a local east coast dealer AND has even brought the heavenly Dad-J into the sordid picture....he bought her the equipment to get a hit.. as a ...ha ha...Christmas present!! Just say no to drugs kids!!....alas, I could hear the angels start to sing as I approached 119 Champs Élysées... the door parted and I stepped into heaven...

The canaan of café, mecca of mocha, life everlasting for latté, empyrean of espresso....

Nespresso's Star Boutique, 1500 m2, two floors, circular, capsule-like staircase, private tasting room, café, barista bar, every make and model of machines...and now Club Members can even design their own coloured machine....shishi galore my friends. As a card carrying addict..err...member, I entered the member line, rattled off my colours to refill and as any other luxury consumer, took my black designer shopping bag (only available at the CE store!) and slowly sashayed up the stairs, stopping to admire the gold behind glass...

The trinkets and baubles on shelves as high as the eye could see. The sheer audacity of architecture all in an ode to the capsule. Or as my Dad says--it's the Gillette razor--in other words, sheer marketing genius, it's not the machine, or in his speak--the razor blade holder--but the refills that make the company the millions...refills I happily slurp down several times a day (and no, to answer your burning question, I am not writing this entry in a caffeinated frenzy).

I know many of you Starbuckophiles out there feel I have strayed, but this is for when we are in the privacy of our own home...that hit you need when you come staggering out from the bedroom with bed-head....or trudge through the day and need that little tasty pick-me-up....plus, just look at the cost savings.... 33cents for a coffee of café quality....more money for suuuuushi addiction or La Matta!!

I leave you with an image of the exclusive Café Nespresso set up in the cult of coffee headquarters....all coffee beverages created there for your tastebud titillation are re-creatable on your very own Nespresso machine, though I doubt any of you visiting will ever receive presentation such as this:

Sorry, but I am just a mere coffee drinking mortal! Well, after several technical blog issues it is time for me to go pack, what is to be the theme of our existence in the coming weeks...though it is not only for the move but a forced (I mean that in a good way!) holiday visiting my Papa & family in the zen setting of St. Lucia. Unfortunately our travel Nespresso maker will not be making the journey in it's handy travel case as the voltage in St. Lucia does not support...so T and I will have to care for one another as we go through withdrawal, I hear it is an ugly process ;) .....do pina coladas ease the pain??.... :o)

'Our Home' theme song

2008-03-03T09:45:00.002+01:00

Ok, so for those of you that are perhaps not so into reading my verbose entries and keep asking about pictures...uhm... those are listed throughout the blog, but then you'd have to scroll through my plethora of words and I realize that may be tiring for oh so many of the masses...ahem, a bit of sarcasm is always present in my world!

I have thus taken a small task upon myself to create a slideshow of all the pictures related to the house that I have so far posted on the blog, there may be a few new ones slipped in there, that's just to keep the interest piqued of you daily viewers...ha ha, what is this, Good Morning America? Did Joan Lunden ever retire?...ahhhh, early Monday morning, I'm digressing....

So without further ado, please turn your eyes to the slideshow that should be playing on the right in my sidebar...cool effects huh? I think I may even have just a little bit impressed my IT Director, Mr. T with this little bit of independent work!! The song is our new home-to-be's theme song, I couldn't have written words more appropriate myself, T even liked it so much he downloaded the whole album to our ipod!.....if you do tire of the song playing, HINT: just click on the little speaker and it will mute the song.....so I shall leave you as I happily hum along off to do my oh so tedious paper chores for the day....I think I could almost build a new house with the amount of paper we have to collect for this venture!! Happy Monday all......

Things to do in the country....TX style!

2008-02-27T09:54:00.010+01:00

Willie Nelson has a new album out....'wooahhh there little cowgirl'....some of you may be thinking, you're still legally resident in the big city and already thinking like a country girl! Yeeehaaa....

nah, I've always been a closet country fan, meaning my Nelson, Parton & Morgan tendencies only come out from time to time, but even in my music cassette collection from youth you'll find good 'ol cuhntree music!!....so back to my point....'ol Willie has a new album out and there's a song on it called 'You Don't Think I'm Funny Anymore'...they apparently made a video for it (celebrity spotting possible!) and I watched it this morning, chuckling to myself thinking...now there's a fun activity we could bring to the French countryside...bet they don't have THAT kind of racing in Le Mans (for those of you not familiar, we will be residing 20km from the famous Le Mans racetrack with the 24hr Le Mans car race)....so, to my TX friends/readers, doesn't this just make you proud? hee hee....by the way, I happen to look good in pink, what do you think??.....to see for yourself, head to Luck, TX and Willie's video---> (hint: pause the clip for a minute or two then hit play, lets it charge up a bit so it plays smoothly!)--original long version available on YouTube, it's actually pretty funny.

http://www.umgnashville.com/willienelson/promo/peoplemagazine

and for me in the pink, here's me and my girl at Montmartre on Sunday

Peace...

2008-02-25T17:20:00.007+01:00

As I'm now living on two sides of a coin, let's choose the 2€ one as it has the largest surface area :)

T mentioned after reading my last posting that I sounded sad...and I admit I am, a bit, we are after all leaving almost a decade of experiences behind here in Paris; good ones, bad ones, amazing ones, down right scary ones according to some (any of you recall that motto of mine--Freaks of the world unite and find L--?? I'm hoping they get lost in the country!). But that is not to say I'm not ready for new ones, it's why we are so excited about this house, the land, the surrounding 'departement' of the Sarthe, all the discoveries waiting for us there. I have been, and always will be a sentimentalist--a song, a smell, a picture--all bring an onslaught of memories flooding back to me. But if you don't take risks and forge new paths you take the chance that your memories become clouded and dull, and it is that freshness of brand new experiences that bring freshness to all aspects of your life.

So, in the spirit of a happier tone (you are never to be rid of the Eiffel Towers, sorry folks!) let me share the 'peace' we were able to capture this past weekend. We had our first unofficial, official visitors to the house on Saturday! As I mentioned in my last post, my Aunt L & cousin M were here for the school holiday from Norway, and they begged and pleaded to see the place--I swear we had no influence over them ;) ....and quite honestly, we are happy for any excuse to place our feet on what is hopefully to be ours. The owner and his family were there squeezing the last of their own memories out of it, but are most welcoming to our intrusion....

We popped briefly in the house and then spent the majority of the time walking the grounds and laughing as Freya began her redecorating early...see video-->
As usual the sun was out and it was far warmer than our previous visit. Here is a view from the far side of the pony field, as I call it (this is the fenced off land with a small pony barn on it to the side of the house/yard) where one can take a walking path through the trees and around our pond. If you look through the trees you can just see the house. The pond is fed with fresh water and has its own supply of trout & carp. T has already made fun of me because I said 'Ooo goody I can get my childhood fishing tackle out!'...of course he's not thinking of the delicious grilled trout with a lemon, butter sauce we could have on a warm summer evening....one day he will learn!

Freya of course followed us along, and took her first taste of what will be her biggest water bowl ever--all that digging makes a little girl thirsty! Her review was 'Tastalicious' as the drink was a long, deep one! See evidence of lip licking going on...

For our friends reading along in Japan (Hi Elaine! Coucou Noriko!) you'll notice the bamboo behind T in the photo, we'll be thinking of you as we keep that under control--the current owner informed us it can go bamboo crazy with no supervision.

Tiny bits of Spring are beginning to sprout up as the temperatures creep up...daffodils are out in full force here in Paris...but were only beginning their tentative entry in the country....I include the next photo for another blog reader & ooooold friend--Jen, a little daffodil thought of you when I took this!

I shall conclude today's posting with what I originally set out to share with you....peace. Just as I was struck by the Parisian freedoms I shall be leaving while out the other day, on this day I was ever so gently tapped on the shoulder by nature and pointed out the beautiful peace and quiet I shall soon be surrounded by. Words cannot justly describe it, and so, just for you, I include a small video and audio of life, standing at the bank of our creek, burbling water and blue sky.....turn up the volume, it's worth it! :o) (This joy of peace was even more appreciated as the sounds of an electrical saw shattered Sunday morning sleep yesterday....) Happy Monday Everyone!!

Freedom....

2008-02-22T18:32:00.007+01:00

Freedom means many things to many people...but just in the realm of living, let me share some thoughts currently making their way through my frantic mind...(the picture above was taken during the recent sunny streak a week or so ago, a miniature of the Statue of Liberty--that symbolic French gift of freedom to America--that stands on an island in the middle of the Seine...we used to take many sunset walks there when we lived in our old apartment).

I am in the middle of a lovely visit from my Aunt L and cousin M, and we spent a day crawling up rue de Passy as M zipped from one heavenly delight--make-up heaven Sephora--to another--the many clothes shops titillating her with their latest fashion offers....as LnL followed along in amused fashion doling out the various opinions when requested. We lunched on sushi, their first running sushi experience, and then ended the day, as I have so many times, at Trocadero. Here there is only one goal and that is to gaze at: Here we whipped out our respective cameras to capture from our different points of view la belle tour. My favourite was the family self-portrait I garnered from arm's length with blind guessing at the viewfinder....ha ha...if that isn't a bunch of character, I don't know what is!

I gathered the arm loads of shopping bags from everyone and left them off to explore the newly installed aquarium at Trocadero and took the 32 bus (my green limo) home through Passy, parc de Ranelagh, deposing me at my usual stop...home to prep a dinner of Raclette...

Along the way it suddenly struck me that this is one of the last 'tours' I'll be giving of my beloved Paris to one of the many, many wonderful visitors we've had over the years. What has become second nature to me, to rattle off random stories, directions, history, point out this and that in the neighbourhood that has changed over the years....zip into this store and that to pick up whatever, lunch at our favourite pizza, sushi...fill in blank....place.....and to pick the raised, single, window seat on the bus that allows me to gaze, ever appreciatively, at the Haussman apartment buildings, hideous 70's additions and various stores along the way that always please the senses....the flower stores with their ridiculously priced but beautifully arranged blooms, the traiteurs catering to the haute bourgeoisie, the ever artistic window displays at the couture baby shops, used luxury goods stores....you name it....finally the ride through Parc de Ranelagh, where the seasons passed and were always identified by the status of the chestnut trees, flowers circling the various statues and children running amok at the various playgrounds and creches or waiting to ride the donkies up and down the sidewalk...I always feel sorry for those poor asses ;)

And so I see the freedom to live my every day life, inbetween glimpses of grandeur that have seen the centuries pass by, dwindling....I know that we move on to new experiences, new freedoms--freedom from restrictions, freedom to roam & breathe, freedom to fling open my windows and blast arias, Aqua or absolutely nothing....but still there is the sadness at saying goodbye to my freedom to daydream in a setting so surreal I still wonder that I have been able to live such richness....siiiigh.....but as the French say so fittingly, it is not goodbye, but Aurevoir...

T's HOT n fiery thoughts....

2008-02-19T11:21:00.013+01:00

Another visit this past weekend continues to reinforce the karmic zen we feel when we are there.

Freya gave me a full belly laugh when she had a prolonged, what we call 'terrorier', goofy spell terrier style, running figure eights around the yard and diving into the ivy below the big tree out front--looking at us with sheer glee in her eyes.

I continued to do layout plans in my head as we diligently made measurements of the downstairs layout to see what shall be our future living configurations--BIG kitchen is what I mainly see, although, let's be clear and point out that that is in comparison to our current kitchen status. Nonetheless it perveys a feeling of joy in me. Here is the current rustic setup of the kitchen--though it does have a dishwasher, the same cannot be said of many an apartment in Paris. This is what will become part of our downstairs laundry/bathroom, with the kitchen moved to the other side of the wall into what is currently the living room. But those details have only begun their festering in my mind, until we meet with the architect to see what is actually feasible, physically and financially, I just keep the fountain of ideas flowing.

And now we arrive at T and his joys. Exhibit 1: --->

Visions of weiner and marshmallow roasts dance in his head! Or perhaps those juvenile pyromaniac tendencies (I'm joking here folks, he was not a pyro as a child) imagine him building a roaring skyscraper fire in the monstrous original fireplace--as compared to the small spark there now ;)

Let us move along to Exhibit 2:
What is this leafy covered brick roofed object?? La Matta look out!!...T has his very own pizza/bread oven! Happy happy joy joy is what the M-J family says to this added home bonus. He is even talking big about using veggies from the 'potager' he will grow....I'm not going to hold my breath on that one, but then again, the country air has already done crazy, crazy things to us!!

It was a balmy 1 degree Celsius when we visited, but sunny with nary a cloud in the sky--needless to say, our Norwegian sweaters that come out from the back of the very top shelf, maybe once a year, here in Paris...well, they will be earning a place of honour in the hall closet! It's cold, but so niiiiiice to walk into a warm, crackling fire, with the occasional blast of cold air from letting Freya in and out as she flip flops between where the action is...outside in her personal flowing creek chasing whozits & whatzits that float by--->

or inside with boring old us blah blah blahing away and not playing. I'll let you guess which one won out :)

So we are one step closer as now T has signed the compromis, all that remains is for the proprietaire's (owner) wife to sign this week. Then we are all sort of committed until all the rest of the administrative processes go through.....putting the date of closing somewhere in mid-April to mid-May. There are still problems that could arise, but I am forcing myself to take the optimistic approach vs. my usual pessimistic view (France has taught me this, I like to think it isn't my general nature!), and to think of what May will bring.....flowers, flowers and MORE flowers....wooopeeee. And just to tease the masses, a small peek at what Spring holds chez future M-J!

Happy Saint-Valentin!

2008-02-14T12:10:00.013+01:00

Amour...Amore...Amor...愛...Liebe...Liefde...in whatever language you celebrate Love, Happy Valentine's Day!

And to my love-T...5535+1 days of that crazy spirit and counting!....Here's the man I was fated to love--->

and here's the woman whose fate he followed-->

but no matter where our journey has taken us, it has always been together, and for this we thank the fates!

And so I ask, will you be my Valentine mon amour?

Gros bisous XOXOXO,

How do you celebrate?

2008-02-13T22:49:00.011+01:00

SIGNING THE COMPROMIS DE VENTE!!!**!!
....and let me show you how I celebrated (Stacey & Wyatt, you would be proud :) ....and to my cuz Eric, you know, sometimes The Man just supplies the right stuff) after leaving the Notaire's meeting I walked out into the brisk evening, down a couple of blocks, rounded the corner....and well....as Kool & The Gang said "Celebrate good times! Come on!"....
Up I strode to the counter and in my not yet jubilant voice (this is still just starting to sink in folks) ordered not just a steaming Caramel Macchiato (in honour of my beloved, who was unable to attend this momentous meeting of pen to paper due to work commitments that had him flying from Stockholm to Copenhagen at that very moment)...

but also.....yes, I live on the wild side folks....

a Caramel Macchiato AND a piece of raspberry swirl cheescake. Quelle horreur the francophiles out there say....to that I respond only with "mrrmph donrr careff"...that's me saying I don't care with a mouthful of delicious--hit the post-signing my sanity away spot!!

There will be plenty of time for those delectable French treats to celebrate a future filled with country accomplishments...in the meantime I was happy to watch the buzz of people coming and going in the Starbucks. But let us return to our regularly scheduled program:

Yes. It. Is. So.

Ok, so not completely done, T still has to sign his blank on the last page this weekend, and the owner's wife will sign next week when she is back in town, but for all intents and purposes, c'est fait! (it's done)! We are committed (after 7 day reflection period--uh, yes, I shall be reflecting upon the gazillion plans I have to make now in our renovation designs) to now follow through on the purchase, and most important, the current owners cannot entertain any other offers or back out for any reason, we however have several suspensive clauses, the only one that would be cause for any discussion is the one where farmer Jean-Pierre decides to invoke his preemptive right to purchase the aforementioned parcel of land sometime in the next two months. Let's not even begin to discuss the ramifications that decision would bring the poor man. "Hell hath no fury like a L-woman scorned from her land"...or something along those lines!

The next couple months will see dossiers filled out, proof of various things, corrections-- is it really so hard to put to CC's together in a name and not add an A? Apparently so, as my last name continues to vex those poor frenchies when it comes to official documentation. And, yes, for the 100th time I had to endure the attempt at an explanation of why I must be referred to as Mme J in the Compromis contract (17pgs) instead of my legal name of Mme M...blah blah blah...but it is 'understood' that I remain Mme M. And that even though many French women today are keeping their maiden name, general documentation follows old (read dead) protocol, but not to worry, in a court of law (illogical french law) it would be clear....and this from a younger guy!....I just kept repeating in my head "don't roll your eyes L, don't mock the man in front of another, he is your friend"...ah, digression strikes again.

Step one is done. And on we go. We make another visit this weekend to the Notaire for T's signature and to drop off copies of documents then on to the house for another tour of the property and closer examination of the house and grange...take some measurements, a ton more pictures....and a hell of a lot more dreaming!!

I leave you now, not with another boooooring picture of la belle Tour (blasphemy!) but what I took in during my evening walk from the Notaire's to my celebratory beverage. The ending of another beautiful, sunny day in Paris....and for those of you out there who know our history, the 13th once again brings good into our lives!!

Ok....and because I just wouldn't be me if I didn't include what my bus ride zoomed by and I viewed with a huge sigh.... on the way home....

Oaahhhwwwwmmmmmm.......

2008-02-12T11:20:00.000+01:00

That's me making my zen, meditation, calming noise.....and to accompany that let me share with you some of the zen images I focus upon while the roller-coaster ride continues...

But first, let's just get a baseline going of exactly what L&T are dealing with...and this will satisfy some of the requests I've had for more, more, more photos please!...so, since the last couple days here in Paris have been sublimely sunny, and spring is peeping it's head wearily around the corner in an early fashion this year, I can do some comparisons.

First off, what we have Today in our lives. Yes, by Parisian standards a lovely, large, pretty garden view from our 4th floor balcony:

and here is where our views have changed...when we first arrived we saw the vast green, the blooming trees, the tended flower beds....in the last couple years, the evil, greedy, nasty, unwarranted leanings of our landlord have skewed our vision to focus on: the intrusion of buildings everywhere that contribute the never ending noise that surrounds us with their construction, loud conversations at ungodly hours of the night (this is by normal human standards, ie: 3am, 4am during the week, 7am on a Saturday), tv's blasting to the elderly, and musical instrument practices that raise the hairs on my neck prompting homicidal thoughts....the list in fact continues but I think you get the drift.

And to what is it that the zen in me aspires for our Tomorrows?....see below some pictures of what we are endeavouring to experience in Spring (photos provided by Mr. C the owner--his instruments of temptation :) ) --->

nary a hideous building in sight...the noise of nature: babbling brooks, arguing birds, the occasional farm machinery in the distance, mooing cows for Freya to silence, and the only construction noises I'll be privy to will be the trees and plants making flowers for my flower-whore tendencies!!

Yes, this city girl, who will always keep a small portion of her heart reserved for Parisian escapades (that pied-a-terre dream is not dying merely taking a dormant position), has aged, yes, I am readily admitting it--make note all ye who make fun of L--and thus yearns for that country peace...to be infused with regular Paris trips. Did I mention it's only 1-hr by train to the city center??...oaahhwwwmmmmm.....

Rub-a-dub-dub

2008-02-10T00:30:00.000+01:00

So, a conversation with Monsieur C today to confirm in spoken words that we WANT that house and will sign the 'compromis de vente' as soon as the Notaire (someone who couldn't make it through law school so dropped out to be an important official government paper pusher--ok, maybe I'm being a little harsh, he's actually a nice guy and I should note the official who shall welcome T & I into the French murky waters of home/land ownership...tra la la...) places that beautiful piece of parchment before us....digressing again...we had a brief scare last night when I hopped on the sellers website and saw he had put the house back up again--did he doubt our sincerity??...I mean come on, it would not have been appropriate for us to do the happy dancey jig thing we did, in front of him, but the four e-mails, two conversations AND the fact we called the official paper pusher guy first thing Monday morning might have been a clue we were on the road to buying the house!....

so, re-focusing....after our conversation this morning--did I mention we had to set an alarm.....on a SATURDAY.. to call Mr. C? We all know that anything before 10am on a Saturday is just not civil in the M-J household, so to get up and have to have intelligible foreign conversation...oh did I mention no cup 'o joe yet?....was well, quite an effort on our parts...Freya in fact promptly placed her derrière on the sofa and went back to sleep as the first ray of noon sun had not yet hit her 'I'm awake' spot on the couch.....ok, back to the conversation....we all left it with warm fuzzies agreeing to meet up some time this week when the Notaire informs us the almighty blessed parchment commiting us to nothing for ten days--reflection time obligatory by law--is ready, but allowing us a breath of relief knowing no one else can have our house :)

Of course, my warm fuzzies turned to a swarm of crazy I have a million things to do bees and I promptly got my camera, over the shoulder bag, walking shoes and headed out to: --->

The Salon de Salle de Bain...or the Bathroom Show conveniently taking place this weekend, where I entertained myself with the creative artsy things they would like us to shower with...including one shower where you had a ceiling of water and walls of water coming at you from all sides...I'm thinking that would be more like drowning? Nonetheless, left with these handy mags pictured, and a few million other brochures. Plus some great ideas....Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

If anyone out there is planning to open any type of commercial venture and need a little boy's room, how about this...err....new take on a urinal?

Our little house is exactly that, little, but it shall be a cozy home with lots of BIG space outside! As my mind wandered a bit in the din of bathroom fodder I began to have visions of grandeur dancing in my head...how's this for a little guest bath? I mean, I know I'm the Queen of T's World, but would he go for Cleopatra? ha ha.... but I have a large task ahead of me....after all, as much as I love peach--and that would only be to eat--I have to take this--->

and turn it into something out of the pages of my newly acquired C&B magazines, right?...alors...the true work begins.

Now, lest any of you out there are currently thinking, poor T being dragged around a Bathroom show....worry not, he and Freya hopped in the car with the bike in the trunk and spent today's gloriously sunny day bonding in the woods, making up for all the Mama time she's had to endure whilst T was in Sweden all week.

It's late and I have to go dream about recycling water from my showers....the delectable tiles I so gently caressed in the tile booth until the guy trying really hard not to work on a Saturday had to come over and hand me a brochure just so I would stop fondling his 'carrelage' (tile)....siiiigh....so Bon Soir...and I leave you with this image I took last week as I took the long walk home, savouring those parts of Paris that I shall miss so very much...

A step in the MERDE...@$#&$&^()% !!!

2008-02-07T23:02:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I knew that eventually the smooth sailing would stop and I would be uttering the naughty words, or as poor T is accustomed, hearing the rantings and ravings on the other end of a mobile phone as I express, in my oh so lively manner, the injustices of a particular frenchy situation...but day 4 into our adventure wasn't expected...

and yes that is a picture of exactly what you think it is...sometimes a picture IS worth more then any words!...Freya and I were out walking today and the moment I saw this and the feverish thoughts raced through my mind, well, my camera practically took the picture itself....

----------

later, as Freya began to internalize my frustrations, she decided to 'express' her personal opinion about the situation....

and make her own contribution to today's posting!!....Merci my little one for your ever appreciated ability to always lighten your Mama's mood :-)

And so we reach the point in this poo-centric tirade where you are asking, what could ever have prompted such an outburst from our normally calm L?

Welll.......today boys and girls, L & T learned the lesson of Agricultural Law in socialistic, antiquated (insert here medieval origins and Napoleonic updates...and NO updates since before freakin' electricity!!) France. This story could take up pages, so the long and short of it is this: the house comes with 2.5 hectares of land. 1.5 hectares is with the house, our lovely owner purchased an additional 1.0 hectares 5 years after his original land/house purchase and today is selling us the 2.5 hectares. However, in his kind and generous manner 12yrs ago, he let Farmer Jean-Pierre (I'll use my nice name for him here as there may be children educating themselves ;) ) use that 1 hectare to graze his cows and grow corn from time to time since our owner, Mr. C only used the house on weekends/holidays. No written agreement, no lease, no rent...just kindness.....AND STUPIDITY!! As it turns out, in the land of agriculture Farmer J-P gains rights, control, power & money (can you say E.U. subsidies boys and girls?) just because he has been using the land. So, T & I are paying to buy land that a) we can't use, b) we can't take back, c) we must pay the aforementioned Farmer @$$ an indemnity if we do try to reclaim it, d) the laws of the country protect him, him & him e)...I could go on, but I feel that my utter disbelief might reach through the internet and poke you in the eyes that I know are also wide open in utter disbelief!!

wooooosh (large intake of breath)....as usual, T & I managed to research the issue to death in order to be fully informed angry people (ever tried reading articles, sections, laws of 1802 in 76 pages of a foreign language, with outright contraindications and idiocy?--fun fun fun), and decided that the property in question (yes I have a photo--it's the land on the other side of the fence that you see beyond the big tree) ----------------->

is going to just give us a challenge in life--to teach those country folk the M-J way (I'll let you know when I figure out what that is!). But in all actuality the real thing that washes away the anger and injustice (our wondertwin powers did not activate...b/c I for sure would have taken the shape of a can 'o woop @$$...hee hee) is that the beauty of the rest of the place outweighs all the negatives and all it takes is to sit and view the round of photos of everything else that we would...maybe, oh please maybe...own and that would be our little piece of heaven on this earth.

I'm working on getting the rest of those pictures into a slideshow to put up asap...but in the meantime, so as not to leave your visual sensitivities so offended by parisian merde....I shall bid you adieu with an image I took this evening as F and I headed home over the Pont d'Alma bridge. It's a sight I never tire to see and still fills me with joy, though not so much as what we hope to see in the near future....

Love La France Profonde

2008-02-06T23:04:00.000+01:00

....to a new destiny! La France profonde...or the country as some might say beckons us now. We are seduced by thoughts of quiet, romps in green, nights by a warm fire and toast spread with homemade jam from our own fruit trees...Freya dreams of millions of mole hills all belonging to her...and Delfia ponders his later years in a warm windowsill with nothing but green views and waving flowers.....and so it is, our latest journey is an attempt at this....

so follow along and entertain yourself...if you'd like, as we wade through the trials and tribulations of home ownership...or more to the point, the attempt....here in France, and our search for our latest destiny. I'll post some more pictures of the house and it's environs to satiate those of you lusting for that french country seduction (oh wait, that's me that's doing the lusting....no comment on you dirty minded people out there-->you know who you are!)...in any case it will save my e-mail limits from mailing them to everyone! we'll document this fun affair over the next couple of months and hopefully onward...But be warned, there may be the nasties from time to time as we face challenges, this is an L-blog, free association of thoughts baby! But then isn't that why we love life here....NEVER A DULL MOMENT!...touché....et à beintôt.

the path to change....

2008-02-06T22:57:00.000+01:00

The path to change always begins with love....T & I have always been lucky to be on the same page when these changes happen, some might say 'blessed' if you're a spiritual thinker...I like to think that fate has a hand as she does in so many of the choices I/we have made....and so our path moves us...

Paris Amour....

2008-02-04T08:25:00.000+01:00

It's been almost ten years we've lived our Paris Amour....so many words and too many photos to begin to even describe that experience. For that matter, blogs were not even a twinkle in the eye of those inventors, but today....as we begin...or shall I say attempt to begin a new 'chemin' (you've all been clamouring to learn french, et voila! get those dictionaries in hand and create those new brain cells!--thank you L I hear ;o) .....but I digress as I often do...

Our family has grown...from just the big D -->

to our precious little devil love F -->

and so the requirements of life change too....but as the Sheryl Crow song says "a change will do you good"...so we take that to heart and....