Soar-Dream-France

Only in the Photos

 

I didn't really expect to see much from the inside of the barn  yesterday. I believed that the loft floor above me would prevent most of the roof shots. I was right about that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could have hoisted my wooden ladder to its usual spot at this opening above the door and scale my way up, but I wasn't in the mood.

 

 

Instead, I wandered a bit on that level, but didn't really feel like there was anything earth shattering from the inside. I captured my usual stone, manger, and the windows. Look at that light!

I took a few shots and then went outside to wander a bit more. There were a few outside discoveries.

 

 

But it wasn't till I looked at the photos this morning that I saw the MORE.

 

It may be JUST the movement. It may be just the light. But the photos brought out images that I was unable to see with my naked eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the point that I had to zoom in.

 

Et, voila...magic! It looked to me like someone was having a happy party!

 

Happy Monday!

 

A Sunday Morning of Fun

 

Sometimes everything comes together to make me smile.

The work on the barn produced this beautiful train track art above. Then of course, there is the barn itself. Seeing the fall colors sneaking in behind the Chatette and the barn have me on notice for more fall!

 

 

An afternoon gave me blues on the Lot that I don't usually get to see...

 

 

...and a baguette and head of lettuce in my bike basket (along with those 3 reclining bottles of milk instead of wine) are screaming France once more.

 

 

 

Happy Sunday!

 

A Cajarc Morning Meant to Be

 

Getting ready to blog yesterday morning, I was dressed and ready for my bike ride into Cajarc. An email from Evelyn with an article about the Governor's race in LA stopped me in my tracks. As I read, I saw that there is a primary and then the regular election in November. My ballots had come, but I hadn't been in any rush.

 

 

This got me rushing.

 

 

 

I'm so grateful that I'm able to vote absentee when I'm here. I wandered down to have Evelyn witness them for me, but as the day wandered on as well, I decided to wait and go into Cajarc this morning.

That meant I didn't have to continue to rush around.

 

 

Instead, I "listened" to the whistle blower complaint that Rachel Maddow had promoted on her show. It is amazing what you pick up visually and what you pick up listening. (I had already read the whistIe blower complaint and the letter from the ICIG!)

 

 

I took more barn photos from new back angles, since Didier broke early.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, I was home when my huge "cadeau" of tomatoes was delivered by my friend.

 

 

 

 

 

It also meant that:

 

 

 

I was able to sneak some special stamps in Dad's envelope that Joan had sent for him. 

And, that I caught Monsieur Escrozailles before they went for "conges" for a bit returning October 8!

No favorite potatoes for me till after the 8th!

 

 

 

 

Today was the Cajarc trip that was meant to be!

 

 

Happy Saturday!

 

This Side Now

 

Yesterday morning, we were here! With more rain yesterday, I kept my eyes peeled from inside and scooped many photos from there. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, progress was amazing.

 

 

When I got off my phone call with Dad yesterday afternoon, he said: "I know we won't talk tomorrow, but I bet your barn might be almost finished by the time we talk on Friday!" He might be right. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't decide if Didier is Superman, Spiderman, Speedy Gonzalez, Aquaman, or maybe a combination of all four! 

 

 

 

 

It's threatening rain here again today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That doesn't stop Didier, though!

He's moving around to the sides of the barn that I can't see from the house, so I'm going to have to start going out early in the mornings or after he leaves in the evenings to be sure to get those shots.

 

 

I try very hard to stay out of his way!

I shall keep you posted!

And, here we are this morning! Happy Thursday!

 

Row One

 

Yesterday was a big barn day around here.

In spite of the rain, monster equipment lumbered down the train tracks and we began with row one of the tiles.

So much happened that I had to make a couple of collages to make sure that I captured everything in one place.

 

 

I am in awe of this lone artisan who just keeps soldiering on. 

 

 

By the end of the day and heavier rains, the progress was incredible.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sure you'll agree!

Happy Wednesday!

 

 

Living on or Near Water

 

Every place I have ever lived in my life has been near or on water.

For me, it has been the Mississippi River that runs through both St. Louis and New Orleans, and now smack dab on the Lot River here in Cadrieu. To be honest, it's a real treat for me to live right on the Lot as I do. 

That said, I'm not a big boat or fisher-person. I became more interested in boats and fish when I began seriously dating a guy at university in St. Louis.

 

 

Not only did he introduce me to boats and fish, but F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway were part of the deal too. F. Scott was easy for me. Hemingway took a little more work. I remember buying Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls for him as a thank you for helping me with a repair on my '66 Pontiac Ventura! It's nice that after all these years, he and I are still friends.

 

When Evelyn gave me Paul Hendrickson's Hemingway's Boat to read and keep, my friend tip-toed through my memories.

It took no more than reading the synopsis and the introduction to know I had to check in to see if he had read it.

I dropped a FB note to him.

He hadn't read it, but said he was going to order it.

It seemed serendipitous, that my boat appeared on the Lot River amidst the dancing diamonds just as I had finished Hemingway's Boat. It felt like a sign.

 

 

The beauty and transcendence of this lone boat with a lone two-poled fisherman floating through the dancing diamonds right before my eyes, was surreal. My still heavy heart and the tears that flowed during and as I finished this book, pushed me to follow him along the river. I wanted to soak up his presence. I found I felt the diamonds and the love of a man and his boat beyond my tears.

 

 

I was aware of the skeletal basics of Hemingway's life, but the layers laid bare by Hendrickson in such personal and direct ways showed me how little I knew and understood about Hemingway the man.  It brought home the tapestries of love, loss, histories of nature/nurture and the so many circumstances beyond our control, once more. 

 

 

Hemingway's boat, Pilar...she holds it all!

 

 

 

 

Happy Sunday!

 

Perspective

 

It's one thing to see this photo above. It's quite another to see this photo on the right!

 

 

 

 

 

Being here while Didier works gives me joy and food for thought at many turns.

When I cut grass, I tend to keep my phone/camera in the front pocket of my overalls. I never know what I'm going to find as I make my way around what I've jokingly/lovingly come to call the "compound!" Yesterday was no different.

Even so, I almost missed a gorgeous photo opportunity on the river.

 

 

 

Had I not stopped and decided to walk along the road from one end of the property to the other to see what else needed to be cut, I'd have missed our fisherman in the morning sunshine with dancing diamonds everywhere!

 

 

I discovered that as I walked up toward Cajarc to get more photos, those gorgeous dancing diamonds that I love so much followed me.

 

 

 

One of the struggles that I have with shots like these is zooming and cropping means that the photos are blurry. I'd like them to be a little more defined sometimes.

 

 

 

I've surrendered definition for the beauty and almost artistic quality that these photos take on. (I confess, sometimes with various filters!)

 

 

We don't always have to be "crisp!"

 

 

Happy Saturday!

 

Working and Pausing

 

 

With Didier moving to this side of the barn to stablize these old beams and ready the back end for the tile installation, I decided to head into Cajarc to take care of a few errands.

Just the usual...post office, bank, Intermarche, and Lagarde's. 

Once at my last stop in Lagarde's, I made an executive decision!

 

 

 

I grabbed their formule for 6.90 euros (sandwich, drink and dessert) and headed to the river to have a picnic before heading home. It felt good to treat myself and enjoy a coolish, pretty fall day on the river.

I found my usual spot near the bridge and laid out my goodies. My dressed chicken sandwich was made even tastier for me when I realized I had actually purchased some of my favorite mayo at the grocery store.

 

 

Of course, lunch included photos!

 

 

Then, I took a slow mosey toward home down the river path and then a backtrack down another path past a favorite mariner's grotto. 

That back track meant that I ended up all the way back in Cajarc, but it was worth it.

As with Montbrun, I have Cajarc favorites too.

 

 

 

As I wandered along the river, I could see the red starting to sneak out so there will be a return visit coming soon.

 

 

Life along the Lot! There is so much to love and enjoy when I just take the time!

 

Happy Friday!

 

Multi-tasking Returns

 

 

There's something about having this work done for the barn roof that has eased my life back into what has always felt like the natural and cherished flow of here for me.

Snippets would surface for me from time to time, but I have generally felt stuck and sad and only really able to get one thing a day completed.

This year particularly, I felt like I was just kind of wandering around the place. I can see now, it was time I needed to feel and lick my wounds from the fire and so many other losses at so many levels of my life over the last couple of years.

 

 

Seeing the barn progress makes me happy. Having a day of multi-tasking again makes me almost just as happy. I realized the other day that my multi-tasking ability seems to have returned. I was beginning to wonder if it had been lost forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I knew I'd had a great day when I managed to do a couple loads of laundry, make bread pudding, make fig jam, and begin some re-organization on the first floor. 

 

 

Deciding to keep some clothes in the big armoire downstairs was a milestone.

I didn't realize it until I put a stack of overalls and tights in the armoire.

I'd been avoiding using it.

 

You see, the last big armoire that held all of my most worn (almost all of my overalls) and most precious family things went up in flames. I seem to be moving on.

 

 

Progress continues on the barn. I seem to be making my own kind of progress too!

 

Happy Thursday!

 

Old Beauty With New Support

 

One of the most difficult things for me about putting a new roof on the barn has been my loving it just the way it is. If I could have frozen it in time so it could remain as is and be protected, I would have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's the romantic and the realist in me...my heart and my head. No matter how much my heart screamed, my head knew what had to be done. Fortunately, circumstances allowed me to get my pocketbook ready too. 

 

 

I'm sharing the opening top photo with you so you can see one of the sources of my yesterday happiness. Those old vertical beams are so gorgeous and so special. This photo taken by my friend Mike Kelly, displays them beautifully and speaks to an almost cathedral and spiritual portrayal...a sacred space.

 

 

 

As Didier works each day, I watch the progress and try to remember all of our conversations since we first walked around the barn together back in 2018. From the beginning, I had most hoped that those vertical beams would be able to stay. I wasn't sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imagine my joy when I saw the new beams going up beside the old ones. We have the old beside the new, who are giving the old support and warding off those waves of roof that had taken over. I had to ask to be sure...yes, they are staying. Once again...they are so beautiful! And I teased...no more ocean waves!

 

 

Happy Wednesday!