Soar-Dream-France

Trust Me-I'm Your Eyes

Anyone who has come to visit, will know exactly where this picture was taken and why I was there. I wasn't posing. I wasn't even prepared. I was playing parking attendant. All of a sudden, there's Vassili taking a photo from the car. He did an amazing job of documenting their visit with us. Mon Dieu, was it only three days? There are lots of reasons I love this photo. Tomorrow, I'll share a few more photos with you that Vassili took. They are very different, but I love them for the same reason. A demain!

New Orleans House for Lease

2617 COLUMBUS ST.

A spacious, newly renovated camel-back, 2-3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, huge fully furnished kitchen, hard wood/tile floors, ceiling fans, AC/heating combo units, laundry room with a washer and dryer, large fenced in back yard and ample off-street parking. One half block off of Broad Street on the Fairgrounds side. Quiet and Private. Near the Broad Street and Esplanade Bus Lines. One mile from the French Quarter and in walking distance of City Park, Bayou St. John and the Jazz and Heritage Festival. $1200/month, one month's security deposit and one year lease. Available to view August 1, 2011.

Contact:

 John VonHedemann

 (504)390-1438 or [email protected]

The Disappearing Door

Wandering around the other day, I headed up to the land just below the Château and behind the lavoir that we rediscovered last year. I snuck into the basin again, peeked through the holes in the back to see my property, but then I  realized...this wooden door was missing.

 

It wasn't in the best of shape, but had been there for quite a long time and had lots of personality. I searched the area, but no luck. I wondered what could have happened to it. 

 

 

 

I ran through all kinds of possibilities in my mind.

Therein lies the mystery of the disappearing door!

"Write Laury, Write...But-Write HERE!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With rainy days a plenty, I've been unable to get out to the barn as much as I'd like. Yesterday was no different. But, I was ready to heed one of my messages from the barn. I ran between the raindrops, on and off sunshine, and constantly breaking grey to black to blue sky; to take a cornered piece of wood out and set up a spot for what became my desk. I already had the lamp and chair out there as I worked on the wagon. The lamp light reflecting on the newly varnished wood of the wagon and the glowing light from within our special place, made me want to write more and write from there. It isn't that I don't have a wonderful writing place already, but there's the phone...the internet...cleaning...cooking...and other distractions that I won't have in the barn. There's also a wonderful, even more, timeless, boundaryless feeling in this place that seems to always carry me to where I need to be. I expect to have much more success writing in the barn, than I had sleeping in the barn! I'll certainly let you know.

Channeling Mom and Evelyn

  Once again, this is the first season that these hollyhocks have flowered on the lower terrace. Everything seems to be prettier against the back drop of ancient stone. I call these "Mom's Hollyhocks" because Mom gave me the seeds. They also remind me of one of Evelyn's first pieces she showed here for the Vernissage back in 2009. Everyone loves the deep, rich color, so when they go to seed, I share them with my friends in the village. It's like I'm sharing Mom's garden, and that a little piece of her has made it to Cadrieu.

 

Better Bird Watching

I've become such a bird watcher from the kitchen, that I finally had to do something about the curtain on my window. I love this piece of lace with strawberries. It usually covers the whole window and was longer that what I needed. Lucky girl! I was able to adjust the window treatment for better bird watching, by taking a little extra piece of lace off the top that I had to fold over anyway. Now I can see my guys eating away. It isn't unusual to have 5 or 6. They've also taken to coming to the windows in the living room and the back door and just sitting on the cross bars or window frames and looking in on us. The first time it happened I thought maybe we'd run out of bird ball, but no...they were just saying Merci. I think they're really happy here, but it may be time for a "regime" (diet)! 

Yet To Be Revealed

When I'm working hard in the barn, I frequently stop to go back to the Chatette to get a forgotten tool, or perhaps have a drink of water and use the facilities. Every time I return to approach the entrance and look in, I'm struck by movement and a message of some kind. I'm trying to pay attention. Does my barn say anything to you? I'll keep you posted as the process continues and I come to know the answers.

I've done about as much as I can do with the wagon for now-I can't quite get to the right wheel the way it's situated. It's also very dark and still hard to see with the lamp, so I'm going to wait till it's moved to finish up. There are some other farm equipment pieces I'm thinking about cleaning up and will probably start digging again this week. The saga continues!

Quatorze Juillet Pizza Party

Quatorze Juillet is one of the French Holidays we always seem to celebrate at the Chatette. Over the years, I've come to lean more to small and intimate gatherings, than mob action. I'd invited Jean, and Jane and Yves down to have pizza together. Throughout the day, I reflected on previous Bastille Days and remembered that my first celebration here was six years ago. I had just met Jean  and Roy. I'd stood on the steps with Yves looking at my excavation handiwork on the lower garden...now terrace and he said: "Perhaps you don't go back."  A lot has happened in those six years. 2005 was a landmark year for me. I like remembering. They all laughed at me last night when I shared these memories, and then I teased: "Don't forget, I journal and have most of it on film too!" So, we luxuriated in the comfort of our long-standing friendships, solved the problems of the world (or at least tried), and caught up on local events, upcoming visitors, travels and kids coming home. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Quatorze Juillet, than to celebrate this wonderful life we share. And the food wasn't half-bad either!

I'd made my infamous deviled eggs, my "Poor People's Paté", Saujac Tomato Mozzarella and Herb Salad, Jean made our favorite Lemon Meringue Pie, Yves brought a bottle of rosé and Jane brought, yes...4 glass yogurt pots full of cocktail tomatoes from their garden.  I'm now up to 16 pots that I still need to finish.

A Very Happy Quatorze Juillet to All!

 

Yogurt Pots of Fun

One of the many surprises of last year's vernissage, was a box of beautiful yogurt pots that had been artistically decorated by the daughter of some of my friends in the village. We then sprinkled them around the site with votive candles to light the way. Although I could probably get them again this year, I looked at all the pastry paper and other decorative tissue paper I have and thought-ah, papier maché yogurt pots! I found a recipe on the internet-for every measure of water-half flour...and went to work. Up to my elbows in pastry paper-I suddenly decided to try leaves and rose petals. I also remembered a lamp shade that mildewed in the piano room this past winter and thought rose petals might solve the problem. The pastry paper and tissue paper works great. Dipping it in the mixture and pulling it out feels like saturating a long lasagna noodle. The second batch turned out better than the first. The leaves and rose petals are too difficult on the tiny glass, but the rose petals were beautiful on the lamp shade...just LOTS of work and then it DID NOT cover up the mildew. You can see how truly beautiful it is in the non-mildewed spots. I have 12 more yogurt pots to finish, but first I have to eat the yogurt or put it in a bigger container. Interestingly, glass pots are not easy to find-everything is plastic. At the Cajarc Ecomarche the other day, Jean looked at my 3 packs of 8 glass pots filled with vanilla yogurt and asked: "Are you really going to eat all that?"

Good thing I love vanilla!

My Lotoise Morning Glory Shared