The English Armchair Abroad

PRIE DIEU FINISHED AND ON EBAY FRANCE

I finished the Prie Dieu last night and felt very satisfied!

It's always nice to finish a piece, photograph it and then cover it up until it's ready to go.   This is a Prie Dieu that I bought at a local Brocante to work on in between clients' work and now that it's done it is for sale on Ebay France.  If the link doesn't work the number is: 320213673207.

A couple more pictures - sorry about the lighting!

                                  

I also have a delightful remote control PINK MINI  for sale on Ebay France - can you resist?

(ref no. 320213670650)

I am happy to post the car worldwide but please contact me before buying to check the mail price. The prices quoted are for FRANCE ONLY!!

Life's little irritations

I finally got around to buying a new toothbrush yesterday.  But this morning, when I went to use it for the first time, I was driven mad trying to open it.  I got to the point of looking for my husband's spare razor blades (for the packaging) but couldn't find them.  In desperation I had a look at the packaging and found an instruction:  "To open this packaging press the handle end of the toothbrush towards you."

On the face of it, it is very sensible to include instructions;  but what gets me is the need for them - by which I mean the need for such ridiculous packaging.  I know it's because supermarkets have a large percentage of loss through theft and the ever-clever thief knows s/he is less likely to be caught if the packaging is removed.  But how sad is it that life has come to this? 

Whilst on the subject of things that are annoying me (I feel grouchy this morning I'm afraid!) there is a forum that I follow here in France.  It's purpose is to help Anglophones living (in this case) in France - although it casts a wider web and has other local forums in other countries.  I know that forums are not grammar centres but it amazes me the amount of people who start their posts with:

"I am looking to buy..."

What they are LOOKING to buy is immaterial and could be a house, a horse, a chicken or a piece of drainpipe but surely they would LIKE TO BUY or are THINKING ABOUT BUYING...?

I would love to introduce a post on the forum about this but needless to say the forum management are a little bit sensitive about what they call "negative posts" and I suspect it would get edited - and on this forum,to edit often has a new dictionary meaning: to delete!

I won't mention the forum by name as I don't want to upset anyone but I know some of the members read this post and perhaps they will spread the word!

Granny says thank you!

I want to thank all of you who have left comments on Granny's Blog or who have taken the trouble to email me with their kind comments.  She is thrilled to be finding a wider audience and hopes it will continue to grow.  Blogging is giving her a lot of pleasure and I think came as a surprise to her!  Do continue to leave messages for her if you find her blog interesting.  I should have mentionned before that she can "read" them despite her eyesight (or lack of it!) as her computer has a device that reads aloud to her.

My Amazing Mother in Law

My mother-in-law is a remarkable woman.  She's now 80 and very active.  Old age is catching up with her but she's beating it back as much as possible.  She lives on her own in London and has her 18 year old cat for company.  She walks to the local shops (about 1/2 a mile away) most days and gets the bus back.  She plays bridge as much as she can with her friends and has a social life that would leave me exhausted.

ALL THIS DESPITE the fact that she is almost totally blind.  And I do mean TOTALLY (despite the almost!)  She used to be a successful pastel artist and her work was exhibited all over southern England.  Sadly her eyes started to fail many years ago and she found she was suffering from Retinosa Pigmentosa - sort of tunnel vision but guaranteed to get worse. 

Anyway, she came to stay at Christmas and decided that she too would blog.  My son helped her set up and get started and she's now as keen as the rest of us!  Please go over and say hallo; I know she will welcome any comments and suggestions you might leave and if you have any blind or visually impaired friends please tell them about her blog...

Granny's Blog - A blog for the blind

The Prie Dieu

I have a short break before the fabric arrives from a client so I am getting on with a Prie Dieu that I bought on ebay for €35 (incl. postage).  I love these old Prayer Chairs.  They are easy to find in their old state still and very satisfying to reupholster and then, hopefully, to resell.  The last one I did went back onto ebay and I was very satisfied!  There is often a piece of history attached to them - they are after all a good 100 years old usually.  On one I find the original notes written on the calico in lead pencil.  It was very hard to decipher but it told me the name of the client, where he lived and the price quoted.  I kept it although it is very fragile.
Anyway, here's  a picture of it in its original state.   You can't really see here but the top part is snapped in two and required some skillful work from my local ebeniste, M Dugris.  I'll post another photo when it's finished.

Phew - finished them!

Well, it seems this upholstery blog is fast turning into a running blog.  This was not at all my intention but the fact is, working from home as I do running seems to be as much a part of my life as work.  By which I mean, my working day starts after I get back from running.  While I'm running I can think about what's going on (or not) in the workroom, how to resolve a problem, new ideas for cushions, etc.  And of course this half-marathon is getting closer by the day so I am a little focussed on it at present!

But finally, this week I decided that these two dining chairs had been hanging around long enough and they needed finishing even though the client is in no hurry to have them back.    So this week I've been busy getting the second one up to the same stage as the first one and finally today I had the ultimate satisfaction of putting on the top fabric.

Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think. 

Calico on and tacked down.  Under the calico is some thick cotton wadding that protects the calico from rubbing on the second stuffing.  LIkewise, on top of the calico I put a polywadding to stop the top fabric rubbing on the calico and, more importantly, the tacks.

Here the top fabric is pinned on and I usually leave it during lunchtime to stretch.  Then  I pull it tight again.  You always have to be careful with stripes and squares to stretch them straight! 

This just  shows the detail of the braid put on using a hot glue gun. 

The final job is the bottom fabric underneath to hide al the webbing and spring ties.  And of course, the photo for the album!

How many legs....?

Susan over at Life is Risky has set out the following riddle:

There are 7 girls on a bus.
Each girl has 7 backpacks.

Each backpack has 7 cats.

Each cat has 7 kittens.
How many legs are on the bus?

Note: There is no bus driver.

Now I don't think the answer is meant to include chair or seat legs and I'm struggling to find legs that sneak in like a steering wheel does when asked about the number of wheels in a car for example.  Anyway look away now if you want to work it out on your own.  My answer is below the picture!

Titch - My running companion!

My answer:  10,990 legs

And here's one of my own - no prizes I'm afraid just a message on your blog:

A man was looking a picture of a man and said the following:

"Brothers and sisters have I none, but this man's father is my father's son."

At whom was he looking? - leave me a comment with your answer and a link to your blog and I'll let you know if you're right or not!

Wet and Stormy - But I did it!

I had forgotten how much determination and sheer bloody-mindedness you need to run long-distances. 

On Friday I went out for my planned 13ks run well rested and full of self-confidence.  Yes, it was windy - but I'd planned a route that was fairly well sheltered by hedges - yes, it was raining on and off - but I've run in the rain before.  My route involved a fairly long but not difficult hill about 3ks after the start and after that was gently undulating.  Really, not difficult at all.  I got to the top of the hill and felt fantastic.  In fact I got to 8ks and still felt fantastic.  But then at 10ks, just when I was beginning to feel the first signs of tiredness, I realised that either I went one way and ran into the wind for 2ks (not appealing) or I went the other way and risked not having run a full 13ks.  Well, I went the "other way".  I felt worse and worse and all my self-confidence was dripping away all because I knew I would be 1k short.  So what I hear you ask and it is hard to explain.

Long-distance training, for me at least, is all about goals and achieving those goals.  I couldn't possibly not run the full distance.  If I didn't run 13ks on Friday how could I possibly run 21.1ks seven weeks later - I never said anything about logic!  Anyway, I got back to within sight of the car and with totally exhausted legs and soaking wet running kit turned away and did a short loop.  But this loop involved another hill, fairly short but by now I was running on empty.  This is where the determination and bloody mindedness kicked in.  I got to the start of the hill and started on my times tables.  I had to shout out loud to avoid thinking about legs and aching muscles.  I had to really concentrate to get the right answers.  But I did it!  I got to the top of the hill and all the way down and back to the car I felt FANTASTIC.  I had done it and not only had I beaten that hill but I'd run a grand total of 13.6ks.  YES!

Driving Over Lemons

I've just finished reading this.  Really good fun. If you enjoyed Peter Mayle's books about moving to France you'll almost certainly enjoy this one. Chris Stewarrt describes the everyday ups and downs of buying, living and running a farm in Andalucia.   He has written a sequel which I haven't read but which is on my birthday list!  Anyway, both books are in my bookstore together with some of my other favourites.

Back to work????

Oh dear, it's already Wednesday and all I have to show for it is five hours in the workroom!  Still, the chair is now ready to be stitched - tomorrow will get that under way.  Yesterday I got distracted by the bee frames. 

We became beekeepers last year - a really bad year to start with all that rain! - and I would really like to expand from two to five hives this year.  I manage to find some secondhand hives which I've cleaned up but I decided to replace all the frames in the body (where the bees live and put honey - for them) and the supers (where they put any extra honey - for us).  Getting frames ready involves threading wire through them and then melting a sheet of wax onto the wires.  On the picture below you can see the bees beginning to work up the wax foundation into something they can store honey in.  Now my wonderful husband is going to try and make a contraption that will heat up the wires to let the wax melt.  Last year we used the car battery and a Heath Robinson set up involving a couple of planks of wood on the wheelbarrow and a cold barn.  Oh, and a lot of swearing!  I'm hoping this time it will be a little more straightforward!

I don't need the frames until March but I suspect if we don't get it done now it will be left until I need them in a panic and it will be back to the Renault 5 set up!

We "discovered" the idea of beekeeping at a local agricultural fair.  It's a fair that shows how it "used to be done" - so horses pulling the plough, men instead of combine harvesters and so on.  They had an exhibition area and there we found the bee man.  Our son then was only 11and he was fascinated by the see-through hive and of course the bee-man, who is about 70, was thrilled to see young blood taking an interest and really took the time to talk to him and explain things.  And that's how we got started.  When the bees finally arrived late last May we were filled with trepidation.  But they had obviously been warned about nervous beekeepers and were remarkably calm around these buzzing human beings.

Since then we've discovered the wonder of how a bee colony works and is organised.   We've learnt to stay calm and move slowly when we open the hives up to inspect that all is well.  We've started to notice their moods - and react accordingly!  But we know there is still plenty to learn.

In the summer we love watching the bees in the garden and grow flowers and vegetables according to their needs as well as ours.  In fact we are about to plant some hedges and have asked the supplier specifically for bee-friendly hedging!

If anyone is interested in finding out more about the the subject I have a couple of books listed in my bookstore.