Soar-Dream-France

Happy Halloween!

 

 

It is Halloween in France at the moment.

This may be my first pumpkin-less year since I've been here at the Chatette for Halloween.

I could have constructed a still life of some kind and carved a few new friends.

As with everything else these days, I'm only doing what I feel like doing and carving a pumpkin or two or three just didn't make it!

 

 

 

But, ah the memories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resurrecting the memories today is adding to my enjoyment.

Sometimes, they are bittersweet.

 

 

Sometimes, they make me miss my friends and loved ones more.

 

 

 

It is what it is.

 

But ah, the wonder of it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Wednesday AND Happy Halloween!

 

 

Final Fling

 

 

Yesterday was a day of the last roses of the season before cold sets in AND a day to celebrate CATS!

It only seemed perfect and fitting that my final fling roses celebrated Sammie Cat.

I found a place and vase to set beside her framed photo on the new bookcase. 

Everything about this makes me smile.

We need all the smiles we can get these days.

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

Welcome...

 

...to another week. As insane as the world is these days at so many levels, the Lot always lures me back to the center where I can find that essential balance and know what is and isn't important.

I've teased that I need one of those car alarms that says: Step away from the vehicle. You are too close to the vehicle...in this deep, screaming voice while a siren sound goes off continually in the back ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't have a car!

 

I need it for the computer. It can be toxic and a time sink.

 

 

 

So, I focus on: those I love; the darling deux freres; keeping the fire going; and, moving forward here at the Chatette a step at a time as always.

 

 

Here's hoping you begin another week knowing what's important in your life and finding the balance in the universe.

Happy Monday!

 

The First Fire

 

With predictions of very cold temperatures for today, I went to work yesterday learning the poele au bois and having our first fire of the season. I figured that we'd warm up the stone in advance of the cold cold and be ahead of the game.

It appears to have worked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plus, I confess that the new insulation and double glazed windows have made an incredible difference just on their own. 

 

 

I sometimes don't know how to act. It is so different.

We are warm and toasty and feeling more and more settled back at home. 

 

 

I continue to shoot for minimalist and hold to less is more whenever I can.

 

Have a warm and toasty Sunday!

 

Helpers into Reflections

 

Aside from my nasty arm and work-shirt, this photo sweetly caught everything surrounding me...the boys, the inside of the Chatette, and everything that was behind me.

I was a varnishing poor fool.

 

I was in the mood!

 

After finishing double coats on the three front and one side windows on the first floor, I moved on to the window above the evier and the door that are both accessible from the terrace. I was losing steam.

 

 

As I worked on the evier window through the medieval burglar bars, these two chased the brush from the inside with every stroke. They had me howling!

There was no way for them to do that on that first finished round. Apparently, I was better than birds!

After all that hard work, we deserved a treat. What a nice dinner we had together!

Happy Saturday!

 

Men, Moon and Mums

 

 

It's been a bit crazy these days, and they just seem to keep getting crazier.

The moon continues to focus me as it is coming into its fullest here shortly. And, my little men and the gorgeous All Saints and All Souls Days mums that are on sale now keep me smiling too.

 

It is incredible to watch these two stinkers try to both squeeze into my lap these days.

Little men, kitty boys no more, there is barely room for both but they always seem to find a way to puzzle in and snuggle up close. It can be quite a balancing act for all of us.

 

 

 

 

 

The moon was doing its "Moonrivering" again last night, and always makes me smile.

Mom, Kat and I have always been "moon girls." I believe that we gain our strength from the natural glow and light of the moon that has always worked its magic in our lives!

"Look at the Moon!"

 

 

And then there are the mums!

 

 

The color and variety at the Gamm Vert in Cajarc yesterday were stunning, huge and colorful.

 

If I hadn't been on my bike, I'd have found a way to get some home. They have a reputation here as mainly a funeral flower, BUT I love them for any time.

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't till I was leaving yesterday that I noticed a very different and special variety of mum on the left at my feet.

 

 

These had been favorites of Mom's and Nannie's. I remember buying big bouquets of the yellow ones over the years. You know they were both peeking over my shoulder. I had to touch these big beautiful bursting ones before I left!

 

 

Kat took this gorgeous shot above of some at the Pere Lachaise back in 2001. It was All Souls Day and  she, Tom M. and I came to Paris together before (and after) we came to Cadrieu when I signed the promis de vente on the Chatette.

 

 

I guess you could say we are mummers!

It's good to be back!

Happy Friday!

 

International Overalls Weekend 11/16-18, 2018

 

It's hard for me to believe that it's actually been 10 years since we had our first international overalls celebration. Prior to this first celebration in 2009, Niels Windfeld Lund, Susan Bella Dahlmen, and Kelly Sedlinger came into my life as comrades in overalls.

But the best part aside from all this overalls stuff, is that Niels and Bodil have become life-long friends and chosen family as a result.

 

 

It's been quite an overalls history. Celebrations began for me that first year in Cadrieu. What fun we had! Even Dali joined in the fun. What a four-legged overalls trouper she was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depending on where I was in the world...

 

...we celebrated in St. Louis at 411, in New Orleans on Columbus Street, and Mike and John hosted us one year at Mahogany Oaks in Covington. 

 

 

Some years when I was working and I was on my own in Stuttgart or Brunssum, I may not have had a party but I did wear my overalls! 

 

 

This year seems like a year that I should celebrate in Cadrieu again.

That New Orleans celebration of overalls during 2013 was the first real party I'd had on Columbus Street since Hurricane Katrina.

Maybe it's time to have our first real party at the Chatette after the fire.The Chatette is coming together nicely. We are coming into the home stretch and I do have my new poele au bois.

 

We should be much warmer than that first year when I was hauling meter long logs up the steps to put in the fireplace.

As I write, I realize that the big weekend is not very far away. Maybe a small apero is doable! We shall see.

There is a magic in the recapturing of the spirit! I will keep you posted.

 

 

Celebrate life in Overalls in November!

Happy Wednesday!

 

Through Your Lens

 

Looking at the moon out over the causse night before last, I knew it wasn't a full moon. With the photos, you'd think it's full-but it's NOT.

Zooming doesn't really help either.

I guess it's something about the way the camera (smart phone) and the light and dark interact. 

 

These moon shots gave me cause to think about all that is going on in the world these days. How do we tell fact from fiction from illusion? 

 

 

In these difficult times, it is so important to know YOUR lens. Follow your heart. Stay the course. Research when you don't know or understand. Look for TRUTH, even when it is in short supply and is often distorted.

I can easily see the truth about the moon. Ah, that people were as simple.

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

She is Sick!

 

 

Ever since I bought the Chatette in 2002, I fell in love with this beautiful barn behind us.

When Dali, Sam and I came in 2006 to be full-time French Girls after Katrina, I was often the only person on the road. I believed and felt that the barn should be part of us!

All that pondering, kissing, conversations, and divining worked. In 2009, the barn was offered to us for a very good price.

From the get go, she had problems with her roof, some of the inside beams, and vines were everywhere. I do what I can.

 

 

The Barn or "La Grange Dentelle" as I came to call it (Lacy Barn) became part of our WE during 2010.

 

 

 

 

Most of you know the many stories.

At the moment, the biggest issue is seeing if I can afford to make the repairs on the barn.

For the first time in a long time...

...it might be possible!

 

 

When Monsieur Freres was here on Friday, I asked him to look at the barn and give me a devis (Estimate) for what the work would cost. Of course, WE are special. The train tracks run between the Chatette and the barn. The barn is on a hill and surrounded by cliffs and other stone structures.

 

He didn't know that the barn was mine. His first words were: Elle est Malade! (She is sick!) All I could say is: Je sais! (I know!) The first thing he told me was that the walnut tree has to go. Then, he looked around to see if he would be able to get materials in. He measured. We talked tiles. The wooden supports on the front and the back for the roof will need to be replaced and 50% of the beams in the back will need to be replaced as well. I will need to be sitting down when I get the devis, I'm sure. 

I was feeling a little grim as we walked back. Monsieur Freres then asked about the train.

I told him some of my train stories from the early days, but his were better!

 

Monsieur Freres grew up in St. Pierre Toirac and still lives there today. As a child, he often rode the train and passed by US regularly.

He told me how as kids, they would catch the train at the St. Pierre Toirac train station and ride to Cajarc for school, shopping and going to the piscine (swimming pool) in the summer. He painted such a sweet and romantic picture of life in the Lot for me, that our place was and is a part of.

 

 

Let's hope there is a way for me to scramble and scrounge the money together to save the barn. There may need to be more workshops in my future. Send us all the positive scrambling and scrounging energy you can muster for us!

Happy Monday!

 

We Match!

 

Look Up!

Friday was the day that my upstairs porte/fenetres (door/windows) became a matched pair.

Monsieur Freres was here most of the day on Friday.

He and his team had done all of the work on the other porte/fenetres, the hard wood floor replacement in my bedroom, and the skylight above the staircase. As well as some of the missed broken glass in the tiny framed window and the transom and window in the entryway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll never forget what a shock it was to look at the photos Christiane had sent when ALL of that floor had been removed.

 

 

 

We've come a long way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We've come a VERY LONG WAY!

Even though this new Porte/Fenetre was not covered by the insurance, I still thought it was important for us to match AND have the additional benefit of the double glazed windows!

 

There is another project that you already know has been near and dear to my heart ever since 2010 .

More on that special project and an impending estimate (devi) from Monsieur Freres!

 

Happy Sunday!