The English Armchair Abroad

Forbidden knitting

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a girl in possession of a pair of needles and beautiful yarn must be in need of a pattern.  Especially if she is off for a couple of days holiday, generously given to her and her husband by friends - about which, more later.

Brantome - the sun didn't shine but occasionally we glimpsed blue sky

And so it was that a couple of weeks ago I bought a lovely shawl from Goddess Knits, dyed some wool black, ignored the fact that it came out grey, and started knitting something that I knew would take me ages. 

A week later, and long before the above mentioned holiday, it was very nearly finished.  This is something I am not familiar with - shawls always take ages don't they?

In desperation I put into my knitting basket a cardigan which needed sewing up, a vest thing that needed the neck re-doing and, of course, the shawl - and by this time there were only four more rows before cast off.  You can imagine that I was not amused when my husband told me that the holiday was to be a knit free zone.  This really was crisis.  I mean, not only had I nearly finished the shawl but I'd also nearly finished Jane Austen's Persuasion and didn't have any other holiday reading loaded onto my kindle - oh my life is so complicated!!  (Spoilt?  Moi?)

He doesn't look like the leader of the anti knit brigade does he?

Well, obviously, I did manage to sneak the basket into the car when he wasn't looking, craftily disguising it as an overcoat.  I think he guessed although he was kind enough (or resigned enough) not to say anything.  And obviously I didn't knit, much, and only when he was snoring and I was wide awake.  Not unreasonable I thought.  Those four rows were finished super fast and I decided, in the interest of using up spare knitting time, to add an edging.

It's only when I blocked it that I saw the clever linking of the designs in this shawl.  It is a lovely pattern.  I used a gorgeous mix of alpaca/cashmere/silk and the shawl is Annabelle by Renee Leverington.

Oh, and I finished the lovely Persuasion.  I highly recommend it but if you are a Jane Austen fan you'll have read it six times already.

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel

Whilst in London my mother told me that I HAD to see the film:  Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel.  The only problem is that this is not on general release anywhere.  My mother, for various reasons, was invited to see the film during British Fashion Week and she loved it.  The fact that she remembered she had seen it and could talk about Lisa Immordino Vreeland (who wrote the book and made the film and who she met) was remarkable in itself.  My mother had to be obeyed!

I did a quick check on the internet and to my complete astonishment (although, given it was Paris Fashion Week perhaps I was just stupid!) Lisa Immordino Vreeland was giving a talk at the American Library in Paris.  A simple matter of arranging to stay with friends in Paris for two days on my way back to Anjou.  Max agreed I should go and so it was that I found myself in Paris - most unusual for this country bumpkin!

The talk was wonderful.  My friends accompanied me and were fascinated even though, for them, Diana Vreeland had not existed until I had arrived at the doorstep!  We were given a four minute teaser of the film and the audience groaned when it was switched off.  We were then taken through DV's life at Harpers Bazaar, Vogue and finally the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It was fascinating.  The people with whom she worked, those she met, how she worked, how she spoke - hmm, demanded perhaps! - and a glimpse of her life.  Questions followed and then it was, all too quickly, over.

The good news is that the film will be shown in France (in a very few cinemas) from the end of September.  I believe it is being released in the USA early September.

If you do not know about Diana Vreeland there is plenty to read on the internet.  Some of it probably fantasy but much of it true.  She was a remarkable and unforgettable woman.

If you would like to buy the book it is available on Amazon.  It's worth every penny several times over! 

The Lifeboat

For some years we lived on a boat sailing in the Mediterranean and then across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and the east coast of America.  We had Guy and Hugh with us, aged 18months and 3 1/2 when we started and three years older when we stopped.

The boat was well equipped for living aboard.  I often turned green with envy when other liveaboards talked about their water makers, fridges or - oh wow - freezers but we did just fine using sea water for washing up, saving rain water for drinking and cooking and doing without any refridgeration.

We did have a six man liferaft which was tied securely to the back rail of the boat, just in case...Thank God, we never came close to having to use it.  

When we sold the boat Max decided that there were some things we simply couldn't do without.  The Avon dinghy is still in the barn together with a collection of three outboard motors - only one worked when we put them in there and we have no way of finding out if it still works or if the dinghy still floats come to that.

He also decided, for goodness knows what reason, that the liferaft had to stay in the barn.  Yes, we have a moat but no, the house is not likely to sink into it and if it did we'd have a fighting chance of driving off first.  Still, better safe than sorry!

But suddenly the other day he decided that we needed a bit of extra entertainment for his nephew's children who had come over for the afternoon.  As all three of our boys were here with a mixture of friends, the liferaft had a great audience.

I hope none of you will ever have to pull the cord in anger but this video gives you an idea of what to expect if you do...

 

Return from London

I spent a week in London visiting my mother who is less able to visit us nowadays.  After the trials and tribulations of so many people over Christmas it seems I was the only person not concerned about taking the EuroStar.  In fact it went like clockwork - although there was a brief delay in Lilles (where I change trains) because of some "security incident" in Brussels.  Of course I took a large suitcase which weighed next to nothing on the way as it was half empty (he-he!).

One of the downsides of living in a 14th century house  is the central cooling system.  Drafts are everywhere and frankly, although we do turn it on, the heating system doesn't stand a chance.  The sitting-room and the kitchen have chimney fires which keep us snug but for the rest of the time we just put on more clothing - especially hand knitted items. 

I have to admit that amongst my many pleasures of a trip to visit my mother in London was the knowledge that I wouldn't be cold.  I could get into bed without a hot water bottle and not shivver for five minutes.  I could sleep without bedsocks.  Walk around the flat in just one wooly jumper.  Don't get me wrong - it wasn't hot in the flat, just not COLD!

There was a fair bit of knitting time in London.  (And on the way for that matter - socks seem to be so straightforward for train knitting and I got one done on the way and the second almost done on the way back.)  I had ordered the Rowan 40 magazine and it was waiting for me in the flat together with the wool for Celtic  (ravelry link).  I finished the back and one front in London and the second front back here in France.  Half way up the first arm now and all I can say is that a girl really could get sick of cabling after a while!  However, thanks to a kind person on Ravelry I have learnt to cable with a cabling needle and what a difference that makes.  No more needle gymnastics for one thing and an enormous improvement in speed for another.  I will post instructions when I have photos of Celtic to show off.

I also managed to visit Peter Jones where I seemed to come away with enough wool for a man's sweater - Max has been quietly (sic) mentioning that all this knitting seems to be for one person.  Well, all right, maybe, in fact definitely.  Now I just need to work out a pattern for him.

My suitcase by this time was bulging and there was barely room for the haggis (4 x 500gms so two kilos) that friends had ordered for Burn's Night.  I worked it out - my suitcase on the trip back wasn't only full, but approximately five kilos heavier (I bought another Rowan magazine and they are not lightweight) than the trip out.  Somehow fellow travellers seemed to understand and magically appeared to help me get my bag on and off the train.

Mass Travel

Everyone knows that if a little thing goes wrong with a train, hundreds of people will be inconvenienced.  That's the point of mass travel - to inconvenience the maximum number of people at once.  Eurostar certainly succeeded:  When four trains got stuck in the Euro Tunnel thousands of people were inconvenienced, for several days.

 

Our two eldest sons made it to London from Yorkshire and Exeter respectively just before Christmas when there was so much snow nothing was guaranteed.  They were meant to be accompanying their grandmother (remember Blind Granny?) on the Sunday morning Eurostar to Paris and then helping her to cross Paris to catch a TGV down to Le Mans where we would pick them all up.  Easy as pie until the trains were all cancelled.

No problem, the boys booked the three of them onto a Portsmouth/Caen ferry and persuaded their aunt to drive them to Clapham station to catch the Portsmouth train. They arrived at the station, bought their tickets, took Granny up the stairs (remember that in addition to being blind she's 82 and they all had plenty of luggage) to the platform and listened to the announcement that all trains to Portsmouth were cancelled.  Then a second announcement to say that the train to Portsmouth that should have already gone was just pulling into the station on another platform.  More stairs, both down and up and not much time.  My sister-in-law ran ahead and more or less pulled the whistle out of the station master's mouth.  "You're not blowing that thing until my 83 year old mother is on the train.  Don't even think about it."  He got the message!  He was also very understanding when he heard they were "EuroStar victims". 

They all got on the train but the adventure continued.  First of all there was no heating so Granny, who was a little stressed and quite cold, was wrapped up in Hugh's ski kit which he had with him.  Then at Eastleigh they were told they had to get off the train with all their luggage for no reason known to man or train conductor but fortunately the conductor realised that help was needed and called ahead for assistance.  They were met at Eastleigh and helped with luggage and Granny and taken to the next train which did, finally take them to Portsmouth.

We live 2 1/2 hours from Caen and their ferry was due in at 9.30pm.  Max drove up there leaving extra driving time as snow was forecast.  All was well except that they didn't seem to get off the ferry.  Just as he was about to make enquiries he saw a bus (not a mini-bus) carrying two sons, one granny and a stack of luggage (including a snowboard).  The boys had asked Brittany Ferries for assistance and they were sent off on their own private bus!

So, they were packed into the car, snowboard and most of the luggage in the roof-box, Granny was given some hot soup and a whisky and off they went.  An hour south they ran into some really COLD weather.  Max drove with one hand out of the window spraying the windscreen with de-icer and the heating was on full.  Suddenly Guy said, "Oh, there's ice on my window too;  the inside though!"  Sure enough all the windows had ice on the inside.  Then they started hearing strange noises as ice formed on the outside and occasionally dropped off the car.  They finally arrived home at 1am.  Tired, cold, but home for Christmas. 

All they have to do now is get the money back from EuroStar...

A Tourist in London

I went to London for a few days at the end of August to see my mother who is less able to travel than me.  What a lovely time.  I was determined to be a tourist with her and I was successful!  Briefly, we went to Buckingham Palace where we saw the State Apartments and the amazing Commonwealth Exhibition;  we took a river boat from Westminster Pier down to Greenwich where we had lunch and then the return trip back;  and finally a walk in St James's Park and, for me, a quick whiz up to Covent Garden with my son where we watched the street entertainers for a bit. 

 

Buckingham Palace is only open in the summer months - if you haven't done the tour and you find yourself in London next summer do try to see it.  There is an excellent audio commentary included in the price and although it is always very busy the visits are timed to avoid major congestion.  Do buy a guide first - I nearly didn't and would have missed out a lot as, unlike in museums, information on the pictures and furniture and much else is only available in the brochure. 

Dresses on display in the Commonwealth Exhibition

Stunning decoration and chandeliers - and of course upholstery!

The Grand Staircase with a wonderful collection of paintings

The river trip was also fascinating.  Firstly because everything looks so different from the water and also because there is so much you can only see from the water.  Again, there are on board commentaries although these vary according to which boat you are on.  We had a history minded guide on the way down and a humourist (sic) on the way back.  All the same, we learnt masses.  Again I recommend it hugely.