OLD STUFF

 

The brocante season is under way.  (A brocante being a street market for junk, antiques or bric-a-brac.)  At the one I visited most recently, on an unusually warm and sunny day, I came away with a nice little haul.  Total spend 4.50€.

The little terracotta plant holders were 50 cents each.  (Useful for growing on my collection of spider plant babies, the mother of them being a brocante purchase a few years ago.) They are actually quite new and two of them still had price labels of 3.99€ on the bottom.  

The tall glass jug will come in handy as a vase for tall flowers and foliage and was 1€. 

The enamel bowl was the most expensive item, 2€.  I suppose that word has got round that tatty old enamel items are much sought after by the fans of "shabby chic". 

I bought the bowl because it makes a perfect liner for our bird bath which is otherwise difficult to keep clean.  The bath part is very heavy and not easily lifted for cleaning out.  In the summer it becomes unpleasant with algae, dead insects and bird poo very rapidly.  

I can now lift out the basin, clean it and refill it very quickly and easily.  Daily if necessary.  The little birds already seem to love it.

HIDDEN CHÂTEAUX

We're glad to have had a bit of warm sunshine and to see the leaves appearing on the trees at last.  However, during the winter the bare branches have a distinct advantage when out and about seeing what there is to see.

We live in a part of France where there are literally hundreds of small or medium sized châteaux and most of them are hidden by trees for half of the year.  In winter they are easier to spot.  When on route to familiar places we will see a pointy tower peeping out from behind the trees and we go and have a closer look.  Most of them are someone's home, a grand private house.  Some are dilapidated, ancient ruins, others clearly in the process of being renovated (you can tell by the number of builder's vans outside).

We stumbled across this one very recently.  It's actually not all that well hidden, is drop dead gorgeous and clearly someone's home.  We spotted the tower in the trees just a very short distance from a road we use often and we never knew it was there.  For eighteen years we have driven past the end of its road and had no idea such a place existed.

HOW LONG SHOULD A KITCHEN LAST?

 

Back in the UK I am annoyed and upset to find that several of the cupboard doors in our kitchen have bubbled.  We ordered the kitchen in September 2017 but it was not completed until January 2018, so it's only seven years old.

Predictably, Magnet discontinued this colour some years ago so we're waiting to find out what can be done about it.  The construction is a coloured vinyl overlay fixed to the wooden door material.  I am told that bubbling under the vinyl colour wrap apparently cannot be repaired.  There are a total of 26 cupboard doors, 14 drawer fronts plus end panels and trim etc. to replace if they can't find matching doors amongst old stock somewhere.

In buying a quality kitchen we expected it to last much more than seven years.  It obviously doesn’t affect the functioning of the kitchen, it just now looks cheap and horrible.

We await a response from the Magnet warranty people.

AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR

 

It was a lovely weekend last weekend, warm and sunny and I opened doors and windows to let some welcome warm fresh air into the house.

We were just about to go out for the afternoon when Nick alerted me to a problem.  A large snake was in the dining room looking and sounding very cross.  It's a good job he spotted it just then as locking it into the house with the cat and the dog could have added another level to the excitement.

He Googled "how to get a snake out of the house" and quickly abandoned the motorcycle gloves and old towel that he had grabbed.  A soft broom was the solution.

When it was on the move he followed it round the room and at the first opportunity encouraged it out of the door by which it had entered, unharmed if somewhat perturbed.

We don't know where it came from or where it went.  We were too busy closing doors as it left to notice.  The three large snakes that reside in the roof of the barn were still basking in the warmth of the afternoon under the tiles so this was an extra one.  All's well that ends well.

EVEN THE FRENCH CAN'T AGREE

An English couple walked into the bar and greeted the three people already there, two Frenchmen and an Englishman.  We (the couple) knew one of the Frenchmen and the Englishman.  We had seen the other Frenchman around.

"Bonsoir" we said.

"Bonsoir" said one of the Frenchmen.  "Bonjour" said the other Frenchman.  

Now this presented a conundrum.  

As a general rule, if we say "bonjour" a French person would say "bonsoir".  If we say "bonsoir" a French person would say "bonjour".  It seems that we can't get it right.

We asked all those present (the Englishman and two Frenchmen) what was the definitive answer.  At what time of day does "bonjour" give way to "bonsoir"?  

One of the Frenchmen said "when it's dark outside".  The other said "after 6pm".  A lively debate ensued.  

The Englishman said "I bet you wish you hadn't started this" and we went into the dining room for dinner, leaving them all to it.  It was an excellent pizza.