If anyone really wants to delve back into MY BLOG, MY PAST, then just type KITCHEN into the search box and there appears to be ten pages of references to previous posts .. including this one, that is
http://restlessinfrance.blogspot.fr/2015/09/kitchen-past-present-with-future-not.html
posted in September 2015.....
I'll give it a rest now and try to post on some other things I have done or seen during this year when I did not have time or inclination to post!
Writing and finding photos takes so much time ... but it is done!
THE END of Renovation
Tomorrow the end of August 2016!
Is it time to wind up many ends and start a new beginning?
WE shall see what we shall see!
Time will tell.
See the proverb on my heading.
Doors and windows may be closed .. and then opened.. and closed and opened!
Showing posts with label Kitchen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kitchen. Show all posts
Tuesday 30 August 2016
Sunday 28 August 2016
The Kitchen 3 of 4
WELL... what happened to this sequence of postings I had prepared earlier in 'good Blue Peter style', WAS THAT I decided I didn't want pics I had previously uploaded because they still showed cardboard on the floor. Lazy posting and not showing attention to detail, I thought! Hence, I took this posting OFF published ... well... time has passed...here is one of the offending pics.. but note the turquoise.. See below.
The climate got hot hot hot with highs of 38C in my courtyard and 26C in my darkened house even with opening and closing doors and shutters and letting the warm breeze blow in... and I did not wish to be glued to my computer! There ARE other tasks to do!
So to end the saga of 15 months in the planning and renovating:
I like to sit on the new window seat with or without the windows open! So does BigFeet the cat! It also appears to be a fly, moth, butterfly graveyard -aways has been. I suppose because of the light!
It's an outdoor garden table and chairs... with my heavy cotton 1970's Liberty fabric, Bauhaus design by Sarah Campbell and Susan Collier used as a tablecloth.
I have come to like the floating curve of the extraction unit against straight lines; the silver against the white and black. My friend eventually found the correct height to position it! He did growl at screw holding devices for plasterboard!
I use one of my Sri Lankan fabric prints of frangipane flowers as a cover for the black glass induction hob to remind me not to put anything on it - to protect it!
The oven is superb... the oven door is so welcoming and a joy to use but as aforesaid cakes have been crumbly and roastie casseroles are done to perfection. I tried a tart one time but the pastry wasn't quite cooked. More trials are necessary!
I like the fact that the horizontal shelf works on the level chosen. It was well thought out and measured and glided along from the level of the top of the oven and suits my short height. I like the black, white, grey with pops of colour, as in the vases of replica Sweetpeas and Suffolk poppies. Now, some of my beautiful jugs are along the shelf; influenced by a postcard my daughter sent me but in my attic I have several more jugs!
I have been trying the colour turquoise as a splashback! Scroll up to look at the first photo.
After much deliberation my mind has altered as it does! I thought about the multi-coloured tile I found in the style of Mondrian, this one made as a coaster by a young English woman near Limoges..... BUT... it could be too overwhelming...? The jury is still out! If they were larger squares and I had some control over the colours and positioning of shapes etc then perhaps... My friend I suggested I learn how to do it. I would but "the attic stuff" requests me to sort and rationalise what to keep and what to lose!
so then... prevarication being my middle name .. started to move back to something neutral, discerning, tasteful, yet artistic which must protect the painted plasterboard!
I had the idea of putting the leftover floor tiles as one row... but not necessarily repeating behind the sink and induction hob with perhaps a sheet of transparent tempered glass above the row of tiles. No, not that!
So.. until I find something that I feel confident about then the tiles propped up serve as some protection for the wall. I am looking forward to one day browsing in a FIRED EARTH shop!
The nine tile repeat pattern for the floor ... fun to lay eh? as each
tile was orientated exactly and in relation to the others in the rows
upon the floor! Each tile had small 'taches' / stains in the making which helped the process! Very good meditation now they are laid!
At the moment I have not yet emptied the two IKEA trolleys of cutlery and mugs.. into the drawers. One trolley is to be furbished with breakfast things for when I do B&B! The other was to have fruit and veg but in this weather fruit and veg are kept in 'le buanderie derriere la cuisine' or in the fridge, if not in a bowl or basket in the house!
In the 'awkward corner' are two stone pots: one for wooden spoons and the other for metal/plastic utensils plus the wood container for SHARP knives.
My friend made the wine rack with the 15cm space that IKEA and SCHMIDT planning tools would not allow. Both kept saying that I could not have what I wanted!!!!!! My friend is a true artisan!
The climate got hot hot hot with highs of 38C in my courtyard and 26C in my darkened house even with opening and closing doors and shutters and letting the warm breeze blow in... and I did not wish to be glued to my computer! There ARE other tasks to do!
(here, as I type, I come to wax lyrical, expressing my repetitive daydream ..
all I need for the dream to become true are: white lace curtains wafting in a slight breeze against French windows and white walls, a white baby grand placed before and to one side with me playing something delicately, classically peaceful, whilst summer stills the air with aromas of roses, lemons, rosemary, all against the backdrop of mountains - then I shall be in heaven!)Wake up woman .. it's the KITCHEN of MY LIFETIME we are supposed to be presenting!
So to end the saga of 15 months in the planning and renovating:
I like to sit on the new window seat with or without the windows open! So does BigFeet the cat! It also appears to be a fly, moth, butterfly graveyard -aways has been. I suppose because of the light!
It's an outdoor garden table and chairs... with my heavy cotton 1970's Liberty fabric, Bauhaus design by Sarah Campbell and Susan Collier used as a tablecloth.
The oven is superb... the oven door is so welcoming and a joy to use but as aforesaid cakes have been crumbly and roastie casseroles are done to perfection. I tried a tart one time but the pastry wasn't quite cooked. More trials are necessary!
I like the fact that the horizontal shelf works on the level chosen. It was well thought out and measured and glided along from the level of the top of the oven and suits my short height. I like the black, white, grey with pops of colour, as in the vases of replica Sweetpeas and Suffolk poppies. Now, some of my beautiful jugs are along the shelf; influenced by a postcard my daughter sent me but in my attic I have several more jugs!
I have been trying the colour turquoise as a splashback! Scroll up to look at the first photo.
After much deliberation my mind has altered as it does! I thought about the multi-coloured tile I found in the style of Mondrian, this one made as a coaster by a young English woman near Limoges..... BUT... it could be too overwhelming...? The jury is still out! If they were larger squares and I had some control over the colours and positioning of shapes etc then perhaps... My friend I suggested I learn how to do it. I would but "the attic stuff" requests me to sort and rationalise what to keep and what to lose!
I had the idea of putting the leftover floor tiles as one row... but not necessarily repeating behind the sink and induction hob with perhaps a sheet of transparent tempered glass above the row of tiles. No, not that!
So.. until I find something that I feel confident about then the tiles propped up serve as some protection for the wall. I am looking forward to one day browsing in a FIRED EARTH shop!
Small digression here:
A bedspread featuring camels is on the door window as it is long enough to drape both sides of the window for privacy for the next living room, used as a bedroom. The second of the two same doorways links the middle living room to the end bedroom or study - 'The small room', as I call it, I am led to understand it was the original kitchen.
I don't know how to put a more permanent curtain on these door windows for privacy as the window has a curved top which is what I would like to see! Maybe small decorative panels painted in each of the six windows but how to place them? Any ideas or seamstresses most welcome!
Perhaps next year, the fridge will be replaced with a French larder fridge above a small freezer and then where does one put the micro-four combi (temporary here). It was a gift and works perfectly well if not BIG! I like it! I have come to enjoy using it for some cooking and also it does defrost. However, I DO LIKE a real oven!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE:
MY FRENCH CUISINE
Thank you to one who has been a special friend!
Monday 22 August 2016
The Kitchen 2 of 4
Ah the kitchen ... the cuisine! A summing up!
What a mammoth task, taking about 15 months and more out of my life.
Taking out the good parts of a fited kitchen and upcycling the cupboards for laundry / larder room setting took 2+ months. Continuing that room and preparing four walls, a beamed ceiling and a floor took 2+ months. Some months to recover from exhaustion. Some months to fathom out the measured plan, as opposed to what the kitchen fitting sales shops want you to have! Some months visiting shops and seraching internet to find 'the look' when a number of looks appeal. Some months angsting about the budget. Some months finding the electricians and plumbers to arrive to give estimates and then to do the work when I NEED them to do it - this is also affected by French Holidays. Some months whilst my helper went to warmer climes for the winter. Maybe that covers it!
I can't believe how much energy I wasted in the last 15 months without a kitchen at all. At first with only the exterior building sink and cold water whilst hot water was carried there in buckets. In desperation after three months or so, the dishwasher saved HOURS! Later the 35 year old oven died the day before my friend left. Down to the dechetterie it did go! Without an oven and a proper hob, I made do with fierce gas burners on a two-ringed camp stove, a cheap slow cooker, an electric steamer ( sold for 5e each at the Spring Brocante!). It was a road to burned meals as I dashed 'twixt the cold atelier subject with outdoor wind, le grand salon and the laundry/ larder room. I survived!
The existence of a proper kitchen has lifted years from my shoulders. Freedom seems to have arrived but the honeymoon is almost over as I gradually get used to it. Every morning I thank the fitter!
The kitchen isn't completely finished.
Ideas to do:
'Coffrage' - a cupboard around the electricity meter would be good. Planned was a shelf above the door and window to mask the pipes but I can't see the point! Just another thing to clean!
The major thing that I cannot decide upon is the backsplash or do I mean splashback - 'un credence' in French.
Bright or neutral?
Tiles or glass or something else? I went off the idea of glass as too ultra modern! It would be easy to keep clean. The snag would be measuring exactly for the plugs PLUS tempered glass is expensive in France!
I explored a few hand made tiles from Provence and Brittany but have not found what I was seeking.. as if I really know? FIRED EARTH have some Parisian themed tiles at amazing expense I cannot afford! Would love to see them in REALITY though!
Next year I hope to buy a French larder fridge freezer if I am still here! Meanwhile my 14 year Bosch larder fridge soldiers on, even though two of the trays have had to be repaired. The French freezer is good but oh so noisy even though A+.
Maybe a mirror on the wall above the radiator .. and / or a shelf for cookbooks.
Maybe one or two selected photos on the bare walls towards the laundry room.
H'm.. will have to plan carefully as when the plasterboard receives the screw holders if, in the wrong place they are a nuisance to make good.
REALLY the positive is that:
I LOVE the white, black and grey.
I love the new floor -exceptionally nice and inexpensive. This is in keeping with the age of the village farmhouse. So glad to have steered clear of wood, lookslikewood and other ideas!
I love the drawer concept.
My friend modified the IKEA drawers to fit. We took back their rubbish plinthes twice.. first white, then black but they were slubby brown! My friend made his own in wood, having to modify the awful IKEA legs of the furniture!
IKEA is not bad, in fact LOVE IT and HATE IT. The fitting of it though does require careful attention but one done means the next are easier! We had to watch a few videos to get ideas on e.g. how to release the drawers once fitted!!!
I wish I'd known how many IKEA videos there are once one starts to enter key words! These would have been helpful in the planning stage but might have taken longer.
I detest the amount of cardboard, paper instructions, leaflets and surplus parts accrued. At one time I started to weigh each material but eventually got bored. Some cardboard and packaging board was usefully recycled. Some packaging materials were saved for the Arts Group. Anyone for IKEA parts (???), which I might recycle back to IKEA as a protest!
IKEA were excellent on delivery and true to their word on exchange and replacement. Never accept 'un avoir' unless you wish to purchase further products. I forgot to use 160e one day such is the experience that the feeling of "phwew let me out of here" at the cash desk lulls one into forgetfulness! I discovered this when I got home! In order to get a refund I had to return, but that was six weeks later (one has a year to use an avoir), buy something using the AVOIR, and take it immediately back to the desk for a refund to my bank account. They did not tell me that. I had to work it out when the nice man and the nice supervisor manager said NO to a refund and NO towards the monthly payments. At least I think there were ten visits of a three hour return journey each time in the deliberating, planning, buying, returning stages. Hwoopee all done!
It has been a saga that I am very glad to see the back of and to be able to sit in my kitchen and view the world of my courtyard! Maybe little birds will return to "Le Petit Oiseau".
The oven seems to do a fine roast or braise in a closed casserole but two cakes were crumbly and dry. So I must TEST a recipe that has been successful in the past to determine how this new FANDANGO Neff oven works. I highly recommend the 'escamotable' door which opens and glides into the oven so one does not have to reach around the door.
The hob is a dream to clean but salt or sugar would scratch the surface, so I am careful! It's like cooking by numbers! I already miss fierce wokking of onions, garlic, veg for a stir fry!
So pics .. of the MAGAZINE look and some as the kitchen is in ACTION... tomorrow!
Such a tease this is!
What a mammoth task, taking about 15 months and more out of my life.
Taking out the good parts of a fited kitchen and upcycling the cupboards for laundry / larder room setting took 2+ months. Continuing that room and preparing four walls, a beamed ceiling and a floor took 2+ months. Some months to recover from exhaustion. Some months to fathom out the measured plan, as opposed to what the kitchen fitting sales shops want you to have! Some months visiting shops and seraching internet to find 'the look' when a number of looks appeal. Some months angsting about the budget. Some months finding the electricians and plumbers to arrive to give estimates and then to do the work when I NEED them to do it - this is also affected by French Holidays. Some months whilst my helper went to warmer climes for the winter. Maybe that covers it!
I can't believe how much energy I wasted in the last 15 months without a kitchen at all. At first with only the exterior building sink and cold water whilst hot water was carried there in buckets. In desperation after three months or so, the dishwasher saved HOURS! Later the 35 year old oven died the day before my friend left. Down to the dechetterie it did go! Without an oven and a proper hob, I made do with fierce gas burners on a two-ringed camp stove, a cheap slow cooker, an electric steamer ( sold for 5e each at the Spring Brocante!). It was a road to burned meals as I dashed 'twixt the cold atelier subject with outdoor wind, le grand salon and the laundry/ larder room. I survived!
The existence of a proper kitchen has lifted years from my shoulders. Freedom seems to have arrived but the honeymoon is almost over as I gradually get used to it. Every morning I thank the fitter!
The kitchen isn't completely finished.
Ideas to do:
'Coffrage' - a cupboard around the electricity meter would be good. Planned was a shelf above the door and window to mask the pipes but I can't see the point! Just another thing to clean!
The major thing that I cannot decide upon is the backsplash or do I mean splashback - 'un credence' in French.
Bright or neutral?
Tiles or glass or something else? I went off the idea of glass as too ultra modern! It would be easy to keep clean. The snag would be measuring exactly for the plugs PLUS tempered glass is expensive in France!
I explored a few hand made tiles from Provence and Brittany but have not found what I was seeking.. as if I really know? FIRED EARTH have some Parisian themed tiles at amazing expense I cannot afford! Would love to see them in REALITY though!
Next year I hope to buy a French larder fridge freezer if I am still here! Meanwhile my 14 year Bosch larder fridge soldiers on, even though two of the trays have had to be repaired. The French freezer is good but oh so noisy even though A+.
Maybe a mirror on the wall above the radiator .. and / or a shelf for cookbooks.
Maybe one or two selected photos on the bare walls towards the laundry room.
H'm.. will have to plan carefully as when the plasterboard receives the screw holders if, in the wrong place they are a nuisance to make good.
REALLY the positive is that:
I LOVE the white, black and grey.
I love the new floor -exceptionally nice and inexpensive. This is in keeping with the age of the village farmhouse. So glad to have steered clear of wood, lookslikewood and other ideas!
I love the drawer concept.
My friend modified the IKEA drawers to fit. We took back their rubbish plinthes twice.. first white, then black but they were slubby brown! My friend made his own in wood, having to modify the awful IKEA legs of the furniture!
IKEA is not bad, in fact LOVE IT and HATE IT. The fitting of it though does require careful attention but one done means the next are easier! We had to watch a few videos to get ideas on e.g. how to release the drawers once fitted!!!
I wish I'd known how many IKEA videos there are once one starts to enter key words! These would have been helpful in the planning stage but might have taken longer.
I detest the amount of cardboard, paper instructions, leaflets and surplus parts accrued. At one time I started to weigh each material but eventually got bored. Some cardboard and packaging board was usefully recycled. Some packaging materials were saved for the Arts Group. Anyone for IKEA parts (???), which I might recycle back to IKEA as a protest!
IKEA were excellent on delivery and true to their word on exchange and replacement. Never accept 'un avoir' unless you wish to purchase further products. I forgot to use 160e one day such is the experience that the feeling of "phwew let me out of here" at the cash desk lulls one into forgetfulness! I discovered this when I got home! In order to get a refund I had to return, but that was six weeks later (one has a year to use an avoir), buy something using the AVOIR, and take it immediately back to the desk for a refund to my bank account. They did not tell me that. I had to work it out when the nice man and the nice supervisor manager said NO to a refund and NO towards the monthly payments. At least I think there were ten visits of a three hour return journey each time in the deliberating, planning, buying, returning stages. Hwoopee all done!
It has been a saga that I am very glad to see the back of and to be able to sit in my kitchen and view the world of my courtyard! Maybe little birds will return to "Le Petit Oiseau".
The oven seems to do a fine roast or braise in a closed casserole but two cakes were crumbly and dry. So I must TEST a recipe that has been successful in the past to determine how this new FANDANGO Neff oven works. I highly recommend the 'escamotable' door which opens and glides into the oven so one does not have to reach around the door.
The hob is a dream to clean but salt or sugar would scratch the surface, so I am careful! It's like cooking by numbers! I already miss fierce wokking of onions, garlic, veg for a stir fry!
So pics .. of the MAGAZINE look and some as the kitchen is in ACTION... tomorrow!
Such a tease this is!
Sunday 21 August 2016
The Kitchen 1 of 4
Ah...the kitchen.. la cuisine. I keep you in waiting!
Before I comment, I would like to publicly thank my erstwhile and yet existing friend for all his skills, talents, labour, patience, fortitude, irritation, frustration, anger, guilt, commitment, display of concern or love or friendship or whatever one wants to call the inter relationship between two people who try to understand each other...
and ALL THE REST,
and honour him with Knighthood!
For rescuing me so many times!
For hanging about for six years
even though he had decided that we were not to be a couple anymore (MY DISBELIEF EVEN THOUGH I KNEW!).
In those six years, appearing from time to time, and for months on end to work with me, and for me, to get the renovation finished, he persevered on the house that I had bought in 2010.
a) as a project we could do together to save our relationship
b) knowing yet not even daring to think or acknowledge that by having my son involved at the beginning it would not work
c) not acknowledging my repeated fears and intuition between 2003 and 2006.
d) as a bolt hole to have somewhere to stay that was mine and yet still be a couple!
How I was blinkered and naive!
LOVE is blind!
I would also like to apologise for all my mental and emotional breakdowns which have caused me to write poetry and prose on this blog and to pour my heart out in anguish!
Also to friends and family who have supported me, protected me, done their best to advise me, endured me and my complications of heart and mind!
Fans, friends and family have waited to see the kitchen photos. Some had private pics some time ago! When those who do not live in France will ever come is not of consequence any more!
Tomorrow!
Before I comment, I would like to publicly thank my erstwhile and yet existing friend for all his skills, talents, labour, patience, fortitude, irritation, frustration, anger, guilt, commitment, display of concern or love or friendship or whatever one wants to call the inter relationship between two people who try to understand each other...
and ALL THE REST,
and honour him with Knighthood!
For rescuing me so many times!
For hanging about for six years
even though he had decided that we were not to be a couple anymore (MY DISBELIEF EVEN THOUGH I KNEW!).
In those six years, appearing from time to time, and for months on end to work with me, and for me, to get the renovation finished, he persevered on the house that I had bought in 2010.
a) as a project we could do together to save our relationship
b) knowing yet not even daring to think or acknowledge that by having my son involved at the beginning it would not work
c) not acknowledging my repeated fears and intuition between 2003 and 2006.
d) as a bolt hole to have somewhere to stay that was mine and yet still be a couple!
How I was blinkered and naive!
LOVE is blind!
I would also like to apologise for all my mental and emotional breakdowns which have caused me to write poetry and prose on this blog and to pour my heart out in anguish!
Also to friends and family who have supported me, protected me, done their best to advise me, endured me and my complications of heart and mind!
Fans, friends and family have waited to see the kitchen photos. Some had private pics some time ago! When those who do not live in France will ever come is not of consequence any more!
Tomorrow!
Friday 12 August 2016
Un grand vin pour un grand pas.
About ten years ago or maybe more... we were given a MAGNUM (150cl) in gratitude for us teaching English to two children and because it was a Christmas gift! The bottle was laid horizontal in a variety of temperatures at the other French house where I lived.. it was either a hot or cold environment! ... and here where the temperature has been more stable!
Having no other wine in the house I thought it was time to TEST it, to TEST the new oven and to celebrate the new kitchen. Also to thank my former partner for 3 months work laying the floor tiles, installing the kitchen furniture, reconnecting the drainage system, several other minor but important tasks, not to mention four months last year prepping walls and ceilings and installing laundry / larder room furniture.
We were both exhausted by the turn of July into August.
He has been frustrated with my slow decision making.
My own slowness has definitely frustrated me!
However, working as a team we got to where we are now - the end of six rooms being renovated in six years!
.. as well as a marvellous kitchen where I have to re-hone my cooking skills!
I invited a friend and so we were three.
We opened a bottle of Vouvray, saving half which I drank two days later and it still had fizz!
I needed bubbly!
Lamb rôti (40% price reduction bought mid June waiting in the freezer for a special occasion) was slow roasted. I slashed the top with a knife. Then rubbed into the top and underside of meat 'a chopped, crushed, blended together mixture of rosemary leaves, garlic cloves, capers, anchovies, lots of lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil'. Then I placed the meat onto sliced onions and sliced potatoes from my garden. I put it into a large oval pyrex dish which has its own lid as deep as the container. I used to have a wonderful enamelled metal one with dimples on the top but that died a few years ago!
The lamb which was more braised than roasted was served with four vegetables.
It wasn't the most amazing meal I have ever cooked but the lamb shredded off the bone after I let it rest out of the oven. I like that!
It was followed by local goats' cheese, batavia and walnut oil.
For dessert I made a blueberry / myrtille tart.. page 182...adapted to contain pears from THE FRENCH KITCHEN by Joanna Harris and Fran Warde. DELICIOUS!
ohgoodoh! My cookbooks can be found!
This wine really deserved a better meal but at least it wasn't served with a fried egg. That is another story from the long time past! Not sure how much this would have cost if I bought it in 2016! I had to not care! Delicious it was...
To be fair to this story.. we opened it the evening before this meal and drank one glass each! The cheeky monkey said it was nowhere near as good as half a bottle of St Emilion I once took home from a priest's house (with his permission!) to share with my friend!!!!! Talk about gratitude!!!!!! Maybe he does it to wind me up! Anyway I almost wish I hadn't opened it, especially when the first glassful disappeared from his glass whilst mine was still full!
GRUMBLE is my middle name!
https://www.vivino.com/wineries/bouteilley/wines/cotes-de-bordeaux-merlot-cabernet-sauvignon-2002
Having no other wine in the house I thought it was time to TEST it, to TEST the new oven and to celebrate the new kitchen. Also to thank my former partner for 3 months work laying the floor tiles, installing the kitchen furniture, reconnecting the drainage system, several other minor but important tasks, not to mention four months last year prepping walls and ceilings and installing laundry / larder room furniture.
We were both exhausted by the turn of July into August.
He has been frustrated with my slow decision making.
My own slowness has definitely frustrated me!
However, working as a team we got to where we are now - the end of six rooms being renovated in six years!
.. as well as a marvellous kitchen where I have to re-hone my cooking skills!
I invited a friend and so we were three.
We opened a bottle of Vouvray, saving half which I drank two days later and it still had fizz!
I needed bubbly!
Lamb rôti (40% price reduction bought mid June waiting in the freezer for a special occasion) was slow roasted. I slashed the top with a knife. Then rubbed into the top and underside of meat 'a chopped, crushed, blended together mixture of rosemary leaves, garlic cloves, capers, anchovies, lots of lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil'. Then I placed the meat onto sliced onions and sliced potatoes from my garden. I put it into a large oval pyrex dish which has its own lid as deep as the container. I used to have a wonderful enamelled metal one with dimples on the top but that died a few years ago!
The lamb which was more braised than roasted was served with four vegetables.
It wasn't the most amazing meal I have ever cooked but the lamb shredded off the bone after I let it rest out of the oven. I like that!
It was followed by local goats' cheese, batavia and walnut oil.
For dessert I made a blueberry / myrtille tart.. page 182...adapted to contain pears from THE FRENCH KITCHEN by Joanna Harris and Fran Warde. DELICIOUS!
ohgoodoh! My cookbooks can be found!
This wine really deserved a better meal but at least it wasn't served with a fried egg. That is another story from the long time past! Not sure how much this would have cost if I bought it in 2016! I had to not care! Delicious it was...
To be fair to this story.. we opened it the evening before this meal and drank one glass each! The cheeky monkey said it was nowhere near as good as half a bottle of St Emilion I once took home from a priest's house (with his permission!) to share with my friend!!!!! Talk about gratitude!!!!!! Maybe he does it to wind me up! Anyway I almost wish I hadn't opened it, especially when the first glassful disappeared from his glass whilst mine was still full!
GRUMBLE is my middle name!
https://www.vivino.com/wineries/bouteilley/wines/cotes-de-bordeaux-merlot-cabernet-sauvignon-2002
YUM!
Thursday 11 August 2016
Before fireworks on the same day
"Oh how magazine" says a friend for morning coffee re the kitchen!
We sat for longer than I thought she had time yet I was pleased to chat.
Even though I'd forgotten about my intended trip to Le Blanc, where 350 stalls were showing ancient and modern ware in intense heat, I went with three hours to spare. It was worth the pistachio ice cream but I did not find what I was looking for. On the way I took a route that I was not familiar with (was thinking about something else, so travelled much further cross-country than I relished).
On the edge of one of the many woodlands a sleek, golden brown buck bolted across the road looking into my eyes as I approached at speed!
Then I thought of at least two friends who like sports vehicles!
The second one is for me!
Whizz home to leftover lamb (all leftover veg had been eaten in three days), quick shower, dress business-like for two hours voluntary work which made my head spin!
Whizz home to calm quiche making from THE FRENCH KITCHEN ... page 55 and my first pastry making session in three years, I am sure! Bit short but it yummy. Not enough tomatoes in the fridge so adapt with red peppers. No cream so add the festering feta cheese and left over cube of pokey Cantal diced small with Herbes du Provence. YUM. Any bacteria is blasted by the heat!
Gently stroll at twilight along places where people gather to watch fireworks as mist hovers above the river pressed down by colder air before the fun of the fair.
(Does that need commas? Perhaps or not?)
Not often are stages set with people cooking, eating, walking, searching, sitting, waiting for the best viewing place, whilst that grand chateau under repair and fortification has waited for 11 centuries for this day to look down upon us.
It is under new management by a company from Dordogneshire - a company that manages several National Monuments. Unfortunately, the Forteresse and the Roc aux Sorciers will, as far as I know be closed at the end of August, so come this month if you would like tickets for the two sites.
We sat for longer than I thought she had time yet I was pleased to chat.
Even though I'd forgotten about my intended trip to Le Blanc, where 350 stalls were showing ancient and modern ware in intense heat, I went with three hours to spare. It was worth the pistachio ice cream but I did not find what I was looking for. On the way I took a route that I was not familiar with (was thinking about something else, so travelled much further cross-country than I relished).
On the edge of one of the many woodlands a sleek, golden brown buck bolted across the road looking into my eyes as I approached at speed!
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| I rather like the fusion of wood and metal and thought of my son who could make something such as this or these. |
Whizz home to calm quiche making from THE FRENCH KITCHEN ... page 55 and my first pastry making session in three years, I am sure! Bit short but it yummy. Not enough tomatoes in the fridge so adapt with red peppers. No cream so add the festering feta cheese and left over cube of pokey Cantal diced small with Herbes du Provence. YUM. Any bacteria is blasted by the heat!
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| in the oven |
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| out of the oven, on the new grill, on top of the new induction hob and the lovely silk print of frangipani flowers selected by me from Sri Lanka 20 years ago! |
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| a slice of! |
(Does that need commas? Perhaps or not?)
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| Three clicks of the camera and the theatrical stage view changes slightly! |
It is under new management by a company from Dordogneshire - a company that manages several National Monuments. Unfortunately, the Forteresse and the Roc aux Sorciers will, as far as I know be closed at the end of August, so come this month if you would like tickets for the two sites.
Monday 4 July 2016
Almost a month since I thought Summer was here
I was duped!
The weather has been wet, grey, humid, miserable with occasional glimpses of the golden orb!
We have also been working at the kitchen.
Me? I am the client, the support, the skivvy, the observer, the organiser, the finder of lost tools, the person to be consulted about "would you like it like this or this?", the second pair of hands, the person who tries to keep up morale when IKEA kitchen problems arise....
He? He has been the one to use intelligence, skills and expertise on how to put it all together.
We are nearly at the end of the process but not without a few dramas and visits back to IKEA... and still another one is necessary because the second tap also drips very slowly, but it drips and I shall return it and go to a different shop to spen a little more money on a quality tap .. maybe Grohe.
In addition, for the last 4 to 6 weeks the courtyard has been dug up because the mains drains needed attention. We have installed one Clark drain cover for the existing rodding section which we left below pavement slabs, sand and gravel. There is another one to instal but we are awaiting delivery of a smaller Clark drain cover.
Today the specialist should arrive on the third date given to make a third rodding drain cover on the public road. In addition the pipes have to be resited a little so that they have the correct direction of descent!!!!!!!!!!
I really do not need a fourth 'dig up' of the waste system to ensure there is no further backup! There was enough of that at my previous French residence and it's all very well with strong arms but I don't have those nor the inclination to rod the drains!
Almost a month since I posted on my blog, but I have been disinclined. It takes time to focus, load photos, type text, and I just have not been focussed on this form of diary!
Perhaps when I have more of my own time again, or before, I will be able to report on my kitchen progress.
The weather has been wet, grey, humid, miserable with occasional glimpses of the golden orb!
We have also been working at the kitchen.
Me? I am the client, the support, the skivvy, the observer, the organiser, the finder of lost tools, the person to be consulted about "would you like it like this or this?", the second pair of hands, the person who tries to keep up morale when IKEA kitchen problems arise....
He? He has been the one to use intelligence, skills and expertise on how to put it all together.
We are nearly at the end of the process but not without a few dramas and visits back to IKEA... and still another one is necessary because the second tap also drips very slowly, but it drips and I shall return it and go to a different shop to spen a little more money on a quality tap .. maybe Grohe.
In addition, for the last 4 to 6 weeks the courtyard has been dug up because the mains drains needed attention. We have installed one Clark drain cover for the existing rodding section which we left below pavement slabs, sand and gravel. There is another one to instal but we are awaiting delivery of a smaller Clark drain cover.
Today the specialist should arrive on the third date given to make a third rodding drain cover on the public road. In addition the pipes have to be resited a little so that they have the correct direction of descent!!!!!!!!!!
I really do not need a fourth 'dig up' of the waste system to ensure there is no further backup! There was enough of that at my previous French residence and it's all very well with strong arms but I don't have those nor the inclination to rod the drains!
Almost a month since I posted on my blog, but I have been disinclined. It takes time to focus, load photos, type text, and I just have not been focussed on this form of diary!
Perhaps when I have more of my own time again, or before, I will be able to report on my kitchen progress.
Sunday 3 July 2016
Vide-Grenier Happiness
I looked at a local Emmaus last week for pans for my induction hob. After I had deliberated about a skillet and a saucepan I returned to the shelf to discover they had been purchased! OH! Too late! However, they were in nowhere as good a condition as those I found today at a local Brocante / vide grenier. I am happy. I need my mood to be lifted!
I like these because they have integral handles. The largest is black inside. The middle one's inside is a little worn but very ok. The little brown cocotte needed a small clean to get rid of the calcaire on the outside.
The sizes are 23, 20 and 18. These relate to the quantity of liquid they contain!
I am happy because they cost 5e, 3e and 2e respectively. They will help strengthen my wrists when I cook! It will demand learning to use new cooking techniques but that's going to happen anyway with a new induction hob requiring technological understanding. I have a new Neff techno-wizardry oven with an 'escamotable' door! It disappears into the body of the oven as it is opened ! Lucky me!
There is no doubt that I shall continue to use my camping gaz cooker in the atelier and the gas / electric oven and hob I bought from friends in March. That is also sited in the atelier. The atelier is a well-ventilated workshop area (almost as cold as outside in the winter and thank goodness the last winter was deemed mild because I had to cook out there!). It could easily be converted into a living room / kitchen with east and south facing conservatory, if ONLY IF!
I've read on the internet that I must not use acidic juices (wine / vinegar) in cast ironware but that may mean 'not enamelled'. My friend has left me two small frying pans .. one is unenamelled black which needs its surface to be regraded. One is orange whose outer blackened enamel needs to be cleaned up with caustic soda and then the black oiled again!
One should not use metals which could scratch the containers and occasional dishwasher usage is ok for the enamelled Le Creuset but not the bare cast iron! Soaking the pots in soft soapy water is recommended but again ABSOLUTELY NOT the bare cast iron which needs to be wiped with oil after each usage. sometimes a quick hot water blanche is ok.
I like these because they have integral handles. The largest is black inside. The middle one's inside is a little worn but very ok. The little brown cocotte needed a small clean to get rid of the calcaire on the outside.
The sizes are 23, 20 and 18. These relate to the quantity of liquid they contain!
I am happy because they cost 5e, 3e and 2e respectively. They will help strengthen my wrists when I cook! It will demand learning to use new cooking techniques but that's going to happen anyway with a new induction hob requiring technological understanding. I have a new Neff techno-wizardry oven with an 'escamotable' door! It disappears into the body of the oven as it is opened ! Lucky me!
There is no doubt that I shall continue to use my camping gaz cooker in the atelier and the gas / electric oven and hob I bought from friends in March. That is also sited in the atelier. The atelier is a well-ventilated workshop area (almost as cold as outside in the winter and thank goodness the last winter was deemed mild because I had to cook out there!). It could easily be converted into a living room / kitchen with east and south facing conservatory, if ONLY IF!
I've read on the internet that I must not use acidic juices (wine / vinegar) in cast ironware but that may mean 'not enamelled'. My friend has left me two small frying pans .. one is unenamelled black which needs its surface to be regraded. One is orange whose outer blackened enamel needs to be cleaned up with caustic soda and then the black oiled again!
One should not use metals which could scratch the containers and occasional dishwasher usage is ok for the enamelled Le Creuset but not the bare cast iron! Soaking the pots in soft soapy water is recommended but again ABSOLUTELY NOT the bare cast iron which needs to be wiped with oil after each usage. sometimes a quick hot water blanche is ok.
Thursday 9 June 2016
Here it comes... lalalalah!
.. . flames from the sun in June..
WE have had three days of high temperatures and a BLUE SKY!
Out with winter - in with summer!
Out with wet - in with dry.
Out with woodburners and in with alfresco eating!
Out with indoor tasks and in with gardening..
Sunday was a weather transition day and a rest from work day.
What is the meaning of the word "rest"?
A new route was discovered on an old railway track. Take the car across the departement border, park up, walk the lanes to arrive at a straightish track. It can be walked or cycled ... involves some roads. More later!
After a two and a half hour walk I mowed one lawn for two hours... The next day the other lawn but the mower forced me to stop after an hour and a half. The next day another hour and it was mostly finished but the wall and fence wildness needs taking control! Grass cuttings were left as it was quicker. The grass was getting too long! I prefer to collect the mowings! Then my legs became wobbly with that old known feeling that hasn't happened for a long while, so I stopped knowing a town drive and shop had to be achieved because the stock cupboard is low.
I like to ensure that I have replacements for food and household stuffs. Hate running out of stock cupboard items. No one to borrow cup of sugar from here, although the village shop is a blessing. When one goes to the town which is a 40 minute drive one has to do other tasks to also justify the journey! It can take hours.
Yesterday, eventually was KIND. It was so nice to be treated, to sit al fresco with a glass of red St Nicholas. But the centre of that tow is so busy and noisy!
I never managed to get to the shop for induction ironware nor to the DIY store for electrical hanging lamp necessities!
Home and crash into bed at 8h30... having lost four hours sleep that morning.
The kitchen is being a pain for the man installing it.
One gets monkeys for peanuts and whilst design is a forte of IKEA, especially packaging.. (they are BIG on cardboard, paper, plastic. I intend to weigh it all, including the metal and plastic parts included in the packaging that we do not need) they are hopeless in quality on other criteria!
Designed not to last!!!!!
Capitalism! Global waste!
The doors have fine hair line gaps so have to have 'the attention to detail' that my friend can give and the 'not yet in use tap' has a drip! PLUS to my annoyance, the sink hole is in the wrong position so when the tap movable spout pours water on the sink, water splashes and lies on the sink bed!!!!!!! GGGRRRR!!!!!!!
Ah... but it is beginning to look clean and tidy...
How it will work for someone who likes cooking will be the test of time...
I have no time for reporting photos or other stories on the progress of this almost final stage of the six year french house renovation on a budget.
When I can STOP working then maybe I shall get back to posting!
What really matters though is that to have had company here since early March has been good for my brain and emotions. Again I have missed the cake club and other things ... because my friend here cannot stay and will not stay and maybe that is sad but reality! I have also missed things because I have to get the kitchen installed. Even if I do not do the bulk of manual labour, I am on hand with the second pair of hands, to do as bid with holding this and that and to be consulted on this and that as well as making refreshments.
I could not have achieved the renovation work in this house without him and when he goes on his travels I wonder if he will ever return..,for he will have done the last downstairs room and saved me thousands of l'argent!
I THANK HIM even though it has been six plus years of being separated.
The tears and heartache diminish over time as stress decreases!
WE have had three days of high temperatures and a BLUE SKY!
Out with winter - in with summer!
Out with wet - in with dry.
Out with woodburners and in with alfresco eating!
Out with indoor tasks and in with gardening..
Sunday was a weather transition day and a rest from work day.
What is the meaning of the word "rest"?
A new route was discovered on an old railway track. Take the car across the departement border, park up, walk the lanes to arrive at a straightish track. It can be walked or cycled ... involves some roads. More later!
After a two and a half hour walk I mowed one lawn for two hours... The next day the other lawn but the mower forced me to stop after an hour and a half. The next day another hour and it was mostly finished but the wall and fence wildness needs taking control! Grass cuttings were left as it was quicker. The grass was getting too long! I prefer to collect the mowings! Then my legs became wobbly with that old known feeling that hasn't happened for a long while, so I stopped knowing a town drive and shop had to be achieved because the stock cupboard is low.
I like to ensure that I have replacements for food and household stuffs. Hate running out of stock cupboard items. No one to borrow cup of sugar from here, although the village shop is a blessing. When one goes to the town which is a 40 minute drive one has to do other tasks to also justify the journey! It can take hours.
Yesterday, eventually was KIND. It was so nice to be treated, to sit al fresco with a glass of red St Nicholas. But the centre of that tow is so busy and noisy!
I never managed to get to the shop for induction ironware nor to the DIY store for electrical hanging lamp necessities!
Home and crash into bed at 8h30... having lost four hours sleep that morning.
The kitchen is being a pain for the man installing it.
One gets monkeys for peanuts and whilst design is a forte of IKEA, especially packaging.. (they are BIG on cardboard, paper, plastic. I intend to weigh it all, including the metal and plastic parts included in the packaging that we do not need) they are hopeless in quality on other criteria!
Designed not to last!!!!!
Capitalism! Global waste!
The doors have fine hair line gaps so have to have 'the attention to detail' that my friend can give and the 'not yet in use tap' has a drip! PLUS to my annoyance, the sink hole is in the wrong position so when the tap movable spout pours water on the sink, water splashes and lies on the sink bed!!!!!!! GGGRRRR!!!!!!!
Ah... but it is beginning to look clean and tidy...
How it will work for someone who likes cooking will be the test of time...
I have no time for reporting photos or other stories on the progress of this almost final stage of the six year french house renovation on a budget.
When I can STOP working then maybe I shall get back to posting!
What really matters though is that to have had company here since early March has been good for my brain and emotions. Again I have missed the cake club and other things ... because my friend here cannot stay and will not stay and maybe that is sad but reality! I have also missed things because I have to get the kitchen installed. Even if I do not do the bulk of manual labour, I am on hand with the second pair of hands, to do as bid with holding this and that and to be consulted on this and that as well as making refreshments.
I could not have achieved the renovation work in this house without him and when he goes on his travels I wonder if he will ever return..,for he will have done the last downstairs room and saved me thousands of l'argent!
I THANK HIM even though it has been six plus years of being separated.
The tears and heartache diminish over time as stress decreases!
Thursday 12 May 2016
The Kitchen: Where was I? Where am I? 5 of 5
The magic day arrived when we started to lay tiles not eggs!
END OF UPDATE - It has taken me seven hours on Sunday 8th May in between gardening and domestics to writ, edit and complete these last five postings for scheduled publishing.
It is evidently not as warm here as in England but yesterday was gloriously sunny. Warmth in any country, wherever we live makes all the difference to well-being!
Thank you.
YIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
What a beautiful floor it is!!!!!!
With thanks on my bended knees in homage I thank my friend for sticking with me for the past six years.
I truly never thought I would ever see the kitchen make this moment!!!
I thought I would have given up but NO, I have stayed the course despite the trauma.
Tears pour out suddenly as I write this last sentence!
Looking back, seeing the distance, seeing the then and the now as daily I walk across that floor, I am in seventh heaven. But I do come down to earth every minute of every day whilst considering thoughts and feelings about "what am I doing here?" "what is my purpose?" etc.
The tears have stopped. That's how fast they arrive and disappear. Six years ago I was crying all day!
A big sigh!
Well done him! I am grateful that we are still friends and that we have a better understanding of each other. I THINK.
Life is so short.
I am tired of trauma, stress and being alone. I am tired of renovation but still have plans and thoughts for my house. If only this.....and only that!!!
I
What a beautiful floor it is!!!!!!
With thanks on my bended knees in homage I thank my friend for sticking with me for the past six years.
I truly never thought I would ever see the kitchen make this moment!!!
I thought I would have given up but NO, I have stayed the course despite the trauma.
Tears pour out suddenly as I write this last sentence!
Looking back, seeing the distance, seeing the then and the now as daily I walk across that floor, I am in seventh heaven. But I do come down to earth every minute of every day whilst considering thoughts and feelings about "what am I doing here?" "what is my purpose?" etc.
The tears have stopped. That's how fast they arrive and disappear. Six years ago I was crying all day!
A big sigh!
Well done him! I am grateful that we are still friends and that we have a better understanding of each other. I THINK.
Life is so short.
I am tired of trauma, stress and being alone. I am tired of renovation but still have plans and thoughts for my house. If only this.....and only that!!!
I
END OF UPDATE - It has taken me seven hours on Sunday 8th May in between gardening and domestics to writ, edit and complete these last five postings for scheduled publishing.
It is evidently not as warm here as in England but yesterday was gloriously sunny. Warmth in any country, wherever we live makes all the difference to well-being!
Thank you.
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