Browsing through old posts (one way to pass the time!) I came across two lovely pieces of music, played/ composed (in a way) by Nora the Piano Cat, and then by Birds on a Wire. I hope you enjoy them!
This second one was composed by Jarbos Agnelli from Brazil saw a photo of birds on telephone wires in a newspaper and it struck him how they looked like musical notes. He writes: “I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes. I knew it wasn’t the most original idea in the universe. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating.”
He arranged his score using a xylophone, bassoon, oboe and clarinet. However, he was reluctant to take credit for the beautiful piece. “The pleasing melody is not my invention. It was the birds’ idea,” he said. “The notes are the exact position of the birds (in between the lines). The rhythm is a interpretation of their position, since there are no bar lines.”
I think they are both fun, but there’s something about the simplicity of the second piece of music that really appeals to me.
Thank you to everyone who commented on the crosses that I showed you last post. L certainly seemed pleased with the one he received, so that’s okay. I continue to practice my Celtic knot work, and am making a card for my mum’s 94th birthday. It’s really hard to know what to buy her as a gift – she has everything she needs, doesn’t really use “smellies”, so I plumped for a delivery of different cheeses, cheese biscuits, and chutney, plus a couple of bottles of wine.
Our menus for this week are not quite so cheese based!
This is the Gary Larson cartoon, from which I got today’s title. On my shopping list now, I always write “Cat Fud”, thanks to this!
TODAY: a melange of different boxes from the freezer ! There’s a vegetable pasta sauce, a pepper sauce, and some mince. This will become a pasta bake. I also pulled out an unlabelled pot of something, which had been in the freezer for quite some time. It could be soup, or something else. We will see
*$$$ (Jim’s contribution)
WEDNESDAY: Vegetable & rice stir fry. There’s a lot of getting-past-their-best veggies in the fridge.
THURSDAY: Porc à la Greque – pork, roast tomatoes, feta, lemon juice…
FRIDAY: Pizza – this is our Friday night treat, for when I’m out all day. I may also pop into the Patisserie that is on the way home. They make fantastic cakes!
SATURDAY: Gnocchi with ham and asparagus. I found some thick ham/gammon slices (not very common) in the “Reduced” chiller cabinet recently at 5€ for four, so I snaffled them for the freezer. We’ve had two as gammon steaks, but I’ll use the others chopped up in this recipe
SUNDAY: Steak with mushroom sauce (using up the sauce from yesterday)
MONDAY: Salmon with leeks, coconut milk & sweet chilli sauce. And noodles.
TUESDAY:Stuffed sweet potatoes – a veggie mix of beans & tomatoes, served with a yoghurty/hummussy sauce.
Do any of these dishes especially appeal to you? Or completely turn you off?
A few weeks back I showed you a Celtic cross I had created, with some zentangle patterns & some Celtic knot work. This was destined for L, at church, but he agreed I could give it to R, who was leaving Clermont for Paris.
I was pleased with this. It had worked reasonably well, combining the two styles, as I was careful to choose “Celtic-y” zentangle patterns.
Since then, I’ve been working on more Celtic knot work, as I bought myself a book “Draw Your Own Celtic Designs”. I’ve been really enjoying it, and have been doing quite a lot of work on the patterns. Here’s one example – it’s of the most recent knot I’ve been learning
So, with my new interest, L’s cross has a few more Celtic knot work influences than the first cross. I think there are elements of one I prefer to the other, but I am pleased with both! I hope L likes it.
Unfortunately there was something a bit sticky on the paper (I don’t know if me or Jim is to blame!) so the central motif looks a bit grubby in places, but there’s not much I can do about that. I’ve tried erasing it, but it just stays on, while I erase some of the ink!
What do you think? Which cross do you prefer, & why?
I came across an article recently, entitled How to Write a Good Blog Post: Step by Step, All the Way From Research to Writing, Editing, and Publication
I thought it might be useful: after all, I want to keep my readers happy, and writing a good blog post would be a sensible way of going about it. Practically the first words I read were: Crafting a quality blog post can take a lot – a lot(!) – of time. Swiftly followed by from blank screen, all the way to hitting the “publish” button, it took us 16.5 hours of work.
Now, dear readers, I value you all. But not 16.5 hours of work for every post kind of value!
I read on to find out what I should be doing. I found out SO many things I’m doing wrong!!
Step 1: Start with the goal in mind
Every blog post that you publish should have a specific purpose behind it – a goal that you want to further with the use of that post.
Quite honestly, I sometimes start a post thinking “What shall I write about?!” So I’ve hardly got a goal, apart from writing! Might my goal be “to be vaguely entertaining” ? Do you think that’s acceptable, or does it have to be more detailed?
Step 2: Pick the right keyword
Each post that you publish should tackle a specific main keyword or key-phrase
Goodness me! A key word? What is that? Apparently, Ideally, that keyword is something that people search for a lot on Google, yet there’s not many other posts or sites that compete to provide answers.
I can’t imagine that my blog answers any questions people search for on Google – except maybe “Is there a slightly mad English woman living in Central France?” Answer: Yes!!
Step 3: Come up with 5 (or more) alternative headlines
At this point, you have the main idea for your blog post mostly crafted. This means that you probably have the headline roughly figured out as well.
You’re lucky if my blog post has a main idea, rather than just being aimless woffle. As for finding 5 alternative headlines (I assume that means “title” ) well, I often struggle to think of one. As some of my past titles may tell you; these include such gems as “Food again!”, “Uff, ooh, umph, ah!”, “Thursday” and “I don’t know what to write!” I couldn’t come up with another 5!
Step 4: Prepare the outline
Outlines are crazy useful … and probably your no.1 lifehack when mastering how to write a good blog post.
Prepare an outline?! Hah! I hardly have time to bash out a post. Never mind an outline! I’m sure some of you good folk whose blogs I read do indeed spend time carefully crafting your posts. Me, I just bash them out and hope for the best!
Step 5: Do your research
Putting in the groundwork and doing sufficient research before (and throughout) writing a blog post is probably the most overlooked part of the process.
Research?! I suppose I might research something as I’m typing, especially if my post is about a place, or a historical event, but I don’t do a lot of research (Here there are probably readers shaking their heads and saying “Well, that’s obvious!”)
The article says:
Well, the harsh truth is that there are very few bloggers out there who are read because people actually care about their opinions. Most people care about rather what the content that the blogger provides can do for them.
Or to put it more bluntly: people don’t care about what you think, they care about what’s in it for them.
Now, I don’t know if that’s true. I don’t read any other blogs for what is in it for me (except for being entertained or having my interest piqued). And I DO care about bloggers’ opinions – that’s why I’ve stopped reading some because they have slightly mad opinions about things. I do want to know what you think, even if it’s not what I think (except when, as the aforementioned blogger did, you start spouting stuff I think is actually dangerous)
Step 6: “Write → Edit → Proofread”
Although this will lengthen the process of creating a blog post considerably, it will also make the final effect soooo much better. Here’s the thing:
How to write a good blog post? Make it a three-step process:
Write on day one.
Edit on day two.
Proofread on day three
Hah! My process is Write. Publish. Read. Notice a spelling mistake. Unpublish. Change spelling. Republish. Continue to read. Spot a grammar error. Unpublish. Correct mistake. Republish. Continue to read. Spot another error….etc.
Or alternatively think “Sod it. They’ll know what I mean!” and leave the error.
What do you think about this then? What’s your blogging tip?
WEDNESDAY: (I go shopping on Wednesday, so my food week always starts then) Jamie Oliver’s Pasta with green olives. However, I added onion and chorizo and used a jar of tomato/ricotta pasta sauce instead of pesto.
THURSDAY: We went out for lunch, with Céline, a work colleague of Mr FD. Just top a little restaurant not far from their work. I had a tuna & prawn pasta salad, pan fried chicken in herb butter, and then a raspberry and pistachio cream tartlet. Only 16€ per person – not bad value! So it was bread & cheese for supper.
FRIDAY: HM bacon, artichoke heart and ricotta pizza, with salad.
SUNDAY: Beef casserole from the freezer, mashed potatoes, asparagus and green beans.
MONDAY: Huevos Rancheros – using up the chorizo. I have a habit of using half the sausage and forgetting about the other half until it’s gone an unpleasant mottled white in the fridge. This time I’m making a conscious effort to use it in another recipe.
TUESDAY: Chicken breasts, cooked in one of the myriad sachet sauces in the cupboard. I see them in Noz, and then buy lots of them, and then forget I have them. At present, I think there is Butter Chicken, Jerk chicken and a Wagamama inspired one, plus chilli-and-hoisin-sauce. I’m not sure which one we’ll have yet.
For me, breakfast is usually 1 (or 2) slices of toast with marmalade, plus an orange juice and a bucket of coffee. Then for lunch, it’s bread and cold meat or cheese, a biscuit (or two!) and a piece of fruit. If I’ve made soup, we’ll have that too. And after dinner, I’ll have another piece of fruit and some form of chocolate. At the moment, it’s a couple of Cadbury’s Eclair toffees as I found them for sale in Carrefour. And then I try to resist having anything else. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not!
I like owls. I don’t know why. Maybe I felt an affinity with A.A.Milne’s wise owl, who couldn’t spell his name but who knew something about something And if anyone knows anything about anything,” said Bear to himself, “it’s Owl who knows something about something,”
We have owls in the neighbourhood. We hear the tawny owls exchanging their calls, and the little Scops owl, who is particularly vocal on warm summer evenings after rain. My parents had a barn owl (imaginatively named Barney) who used the tithe barn that was their home. I like owls.
I saw this lovely video on FB recently. It’s of Luna, the female owl, whose clutch of eggs failed to hatch this year, and who had the same thing happen last year. The photographer, Robert E Fuller, who has been following and photographing Luna and her mate Bomber, put two orphaned owlets into the nest box when Luna was out hunting. Her joy when she returns to the box and finds two babies is just wonderful to watch…
“I have babies!” “We have a mum!”
In this video (50 minutes long) Robert Fuller tells the story of the owls. It’s a delight.
If you need a little cheer in your life, I recommend watching Luna discover that she does have some owlets after all!
The Good Friday meditative service went well, I think, despite a disagreement over the music. I won’t say more, because I’m trying to “let it go”. I’ll just say I didn’t necessarily go into the service in a worshipful, forgiving mood!
The people from Christ Church were thin on the ground, due to illness, holidays etc. But there were a goodly number from the Eglise Protestante Unie. I think they found the service a bit “different” but comments afterwards were generally positive.
Here’s a photo of the “Meditation Station” – that is, the montage (not sure that’s the right word) of objects upon which to meditate, think etc.
As I mentioned, I’m leading a Meditative service today – it’s bi-lingual, some in French, some of it in English. For those who might be interested, here is the text & links to music. I am planning to pass items around the congregation as well as “decorating” the church with things to provoke thoughts and meditations – a cup and bread, a palm, some rope, a whip, a pouch of silver coins…
It’s based on the spiritual “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” and I’m starting with this introduction:
This service is a service of meditation on the death of our Lord – as in previous years, it is a service with readings, with silences, with music. But this year, I have based the service around the senses.
There will be music to listen to – music that is perhaps strange to you, as I have chosen some modern pieces that reflect the mood and images of the Bible readings. You may not like the music, you may find it disturbing – but that is all for the good, as the crucifixion is a disturbing thing. It is not comfortable, it is not cuddly: it is the cruel death of one man for the redemption of all.
Not only will we be using the sense of hearing, but also of touch, as during the silences we will pass among us certain things to handle, to feel, to meditate upon. A piece of rough wood, nails, sharp and cruel, a piece of linen – things that were a part of Christ’s death.
We will taste and smell the sharpness of the vinegar offered to Jesus as he was dying, and we will see, in our mind’s eye, what Our Lord suffered that we might be forgiven. And we will speak – or rather sing – of these things, as we sing verses of the Negro Spiritual “Ils ont mis le Maitre sur la Croix”
The booklet guides you through the service. In each section we sing a verse of the song, there will be the reading, followed by a period of music and silence. During this time we will pass an object amongst us. Take your time: feel it, hold it, think about what it meant to Jesus and what it means to you. Do not feel you need to hurry. This is a solemn moment and we have time. Then we will move onto the next section.
Above all, this is a time when we can come before our God, as we are. Be honest about how you feel, be open to realising what God did so that we might be free. In the English translation, the words of the song that we sing are “ Est ce que vous étais la quand ils ont crucifié mon Seigneur?”. This service is to help us to say “Yes, I was there…”
And so we begin with the first verse of the song…
***
Sébastien: Qui a cru à ce qui nous était annoncé ? (Who has believed what we have heard ?) Tout : Qui a reconnu le bras de l’Eternel ?(And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed ?)
Alison : He was despised and rejected by others ( Méprisé et abandonné des hommes) All: A man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity (Homme de douleur et habitué à la souffrance)
S : Semblable à celui dont on détourne le visage (As one from whom others hide their faces he was despised) Nous l’avons dédaigné, nous n’avons fait de lui aucun cas (And we held him of no account)
A : He was wounded for our transgressions, (Mais il était blessé pour nos péchés,) crushed for our iniquities ; (Brisé pour nos iniquités 😉
S : Le châtiment qui nous donne la paix est tombé sur lui (Upon him was laid the punishment that made us whole,) Et c’est par ses meurtrissures que nous sommes guéris. (and with his stripes we are healed.)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Amen. (Nous étions tous errants comme des brebis, chacun suivait sa propre voie ; et l’Eternel a fait retomber sur lui l’iniquité de nous tous)
THE CROWN OF THORNS /LA COURONNE D’EPINES
VERSE (in English) : Were you there when they gave a crown of thorns…
READING : (en Français) Matthieu 27:27 – 31
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
As we pass a crown of thorns among us, we think about the torture of Christ, but also the torture suffered by our own brothers and sisters in this world. We pray that we will not be indifferent to their sufferings.
Pendant qu’une couronne d’épines passe parmi nous, nous méditons sur la torture du Christ, et sur la torture qui est encore endurée par nombre de nos frères et sœurs dans ce monde. Nous prions de ne pas être indifférents à leurs souffrances.
VERSE (in French) : Ils l’ont forcé à porter seul sa croix
READING (in English): John 19:16-17
Alors Pilate leur livra Jésus pour qu’il soit crucifié. Ils saisirent donc Jésus, et l’emmenèrent. Jésus, portant sa croix, arriva au lieu du crâne, qui se nomme en hébreu Golgotha.
Wood: the material with which Jesus worked during his life ; but now it is used as an instrument of torture. Alone he is forced to carry the instrument of our salvation. Think of this as you touch the rough, splintered wood.
Le bois : le matériau avec lequel Jésus a travaillé pendant sa vie ; mais maintenant, il est utilisé comme le matériau et l’instrument de sa torture. Seul, il est contraint de porter l’instrument de sa mort, il est forcé de porter l’instrument de notre salut. Songez-y pendant que vous touchez le bois rugueux et fendu.
VERSE (in English) : Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?
LECTURE(en Français): Mathieu: 27:33 – 44
They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is Jesus, the king of the Jews.
As we pass the nails among us, we think of the words « It is our sins that nailed him to the cross ; but it was his love for us that kept him there” Take a nail, hold it in your hands, keep it in your pocket…and each time you touch it consider the immense sacrifice that Jesus made – for you.
Pendant que des clous passent parmi nous, nous réfléchissons aux paroles : « C’est notre péché qui l’a cloué à la croix. Mais c’est son amour pour nous qui l’y a maintenu. » Prenez un clou, tenez-le dans vos mains, garde-le dans votre poche… et chaque fois que vous le touchez, pensez au sacrifice immense que Jésus a fait – pour vous.
MUSIQUE: « When I Survey the Wondrous Cross » Link:
SILENCE
Sébastien : Méditation (en Français)
LE VINAIGRE / THE VINEGAR
VERSE (en Français) : Ils ont lui offert du vinaigre…
READING (in English):Matthew 27:45 – 50
Depuis la sixième heure jusqu’à la neuvième, il y eut des ténèbres sur toute la terre. Et vers la neuvième heure, Jésus s’écria d’une voix forte: Éli, Éli, lama sabachthani ? c’est-à-dire : Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, pourquoi m’as-tu abandonné?
Quelques-uns de ceux qui étaient là, l’ayant entendu, dirent : Il appelle Elie. Et aussitôt l’un d’eux courut prendre une éponge, qu’il remplit de vinaigre, et, l’ayant fixée à un roseau, il lui donna à boire.Mais les autres disaient : Laisse, voyons si Élie viendra le sauver.
Jésus poussa de nouveau un grand cri, et rendit l’esprit.
They offered vinegar to Jesus, as a drink to assuage his thirst. It is not thirst quenching; it is not good. If you choose to taste the vinegar, acid and sour on your tongue, think of the suffering of Christ on the cross: the heat, the pain, the mockery of the crowd – and the sense of the abandonment (however momentary) of God.
My God, my God, he cried. Why have you abandoned me?
On a offert du vinaigre à Jésus, comme une boisson pour étancher sa soif. Ça n’avait rien de rafraichissant, rien d’agréable. Si vous choisissez de goûter le vinaigre, acide et aigre sur votre langue, pensez à la souffrance du Christ sur la croix : la chaleur, la douleur, les moqueries de la foule – et le sentiment d’être abandonné de Dieu.
The Word spoke the word, and redemption was complete.
Jesus, the Word, broke the power of death and condemnation in a whisper of agony:
“It is finished.”
He gave himself up for us. Sinner, come home.
Wanderer come home.
Sceptic believe.
It. Is. Finished. Now nothing can ever separate us from the love of God.
The Word, Jesus, has made a way.
It. Is. Finished.
SILENCE
LE LINCEUL
VERSE (in English) : Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
LECTURE (en Français) Jean 19:38 – 41
Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away.He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.
After his death the Disciples laid Jesus in a tomb. Confused and lost, like sheep without their shepherds, they were without hope. As we touch the linen cloths, we reflect on those times when we have felt far from God, and like the Disciples, have felt hopeless.
Après sa mort, les Disciples ont déposé Jésus au tombeau. Confus, perdus comme des brebis sans leur berger, ils étaient sans espoir. Tandis que nous touchons le linceul, nous réfléchissons aux moments où nous nous sommes sentis loin de Dieu, et, comme les Disciples, désespérés.
Sebastien : : Avec nos espoirs brisés et nos promesses déçues, nous allons vers toi, Seigneur
(With our dashed hopes and broken promises, we come to you, O Lord)
Tout :Car c’est toi seulement qui peux nous guérir. (For you alone can heal us)
Alison : With our broken relationships and our bruised hearts we come to you, O Lord.
(Avec nos relations brisées et nos cœurs meurtris, nous allons vers toi, Seigneur,)
All: For you alone can heal us. (Car c’est toi seulement qui peux nous guérir.)
Seb : Avec ceux qui sont brisés dans leurs corps et ceux qui le sont dans leur esprit, nous allons vers toi, Seigneur,
(With those who are broken in their bodies and those who are broken in their spirits, we come to you, O Lord)
Tout : Car c’est toi seulement qui peux nous guérir.
Alison : With those whose spirits are broken, and those who are without hope, we come to you, O Lord,
(Avec ceux qui sont l’esprit abattu et ceux qui sont désespérés, nous allons vers toi, Seigneur,)
All: For you alone can heal us..
SEB : Par ses blessures, nous obtenons la guérison,
Par sa douleur, nous obtenons le soulagement
Par ses souffrances, nous obtenons la libération,
Par sa croix, nous obtenons la victoire AMEN
ALISON : Through his wounds we find healing, Through his pain we find relief Through his suffering we find freedom Through his cross we find victory. AMEN
I’m always interested in reading what other people eat…It can give me ideas, make me feel self righteous/ guilty (depending on how much worse/better the diets are than mine!), or just make me say “Miam, miam” to myself
So here are our planned dinner menus for this week – some already eaten, some planned.
MONDAY: Thai salmon & vegetables, with rice. (Just veggies and salmon baked in sweet chilli sauce, and rice + more veggies with a sprinkling of soy sauce)
WEDNESDAY : Jacket potatoes, raclette cheese, salad and cold meat
THURSDAY: Pasta dish from the freezer (possibly with an added sauce)
GOOD FRIDAY: Fish and vegetables gratin, with roasties (eaten at lunchtime) & onion soup after church.
SATURDAY: Dinner from the freezer (I don’t know what’s in there, but I suspect there’s a couple of “Curry for One” boxes that can be combined to make “Curry for Two”)
EASTER SUNDAY: Chicken, cooked in my Instant Pot, roast potatoes, veggies, cauliflower cheese.
EASTER MONDAY: Cold chicken, chips and beans
TUESDAY: Stir fry chicken, with noodles & veggies.
I’m not a Fish-on-Friday person, but somehow I have this hangover that one doesn’t eat meat on Good Friday (or on Christmas Eve). Considering I come from a Methodist (not Roman Catholic) background this is a bit bizarre. Still, it does no harm (except to the fish, of course!) . So on Good Friday, we’re having a fishy lunch, and then I’ll put an onion soup into the slow cooker, so I can have it when I get back from church. I’m leading a joint service with our English speaking Episcopal Church and the Eglise Protestante Unie (who own our church building) – it’s a meditative service with some readings, music and things to think about. As it’s at 19h, I won’t get home much before 21h, so soup will be welcome. I’m using the same recipe as the onion soup we eat on Christmas Eve – with yummy toasted cheese on top.
I’m planning on attacking the balcony on Easter Monday – it is a complete tip! That’s a bit weather dependent, but fingers crossed for good weather. I thought a quick to prepare chicken, chips & baked beans would be an easy meal for when I’m knackered.
I recently had a bit of a move round in my study – since I changed rooms, about a year (maybe more?) ago, I’ve had my desk at right angles to the window. This was so that I had light on the desk, but could still reach the shutters to close them if necessary. As more and more of my lessons have been online, I have found that this wasn’t quite as successful as it could have been. I have half my face illuminated and the other half in darkness. Even a light on that side didn’t help so much.
So last Sunday I decided to move things around, and I’m now facing the window and can look out over the square. As I hadn’t shut the shutters once during the time I’ve been in here , I thought it wouldn’t be a problem. I actually have to close my “voiles” (thin curtains) when I’m teaching though, as the light makes me a bit squinty! It is generally a better arrangement, and I still havreiu____________è²&aéçà___________zzzzz (Jim walked across the keyboard)
I still have easy access to everything I use. There are two cat boxes (one for Jim, one for Jasper – although, of course, they both want to use the same one!)
Here is Jim, sitting on the window sill, and looking majestic
Across the square you can see a white house. This was the house of our friends Monique & Michel: they were lovely, lovely people. So generous, and friendly. We would often go across, or they would come here, for aperos, that turned into dinners, to share cups of tea, for chats. Michel showed us how to make Vin de Peche, and shared many bottles with us; he also let us into the secrets of making walnut wine too. Before Covid, they were teaching us Tarot (a card game, not reading the Tarot cards) and we were teaching them Cribbage.
Then Michel had a stroke, and after a few days he died. It devastated Monique, naturally, and then, fairly soon after came the Covid Lockdown. Monique had always struggled with alcohol, and the isolation, tied in with the loss of Michel, and then the death of her dog, tipped her over the edge. She was unable to cope any longer and was taken to live in a Maison de Retraite – we had no idea this was happening – we just saw the house was shuttered up. It is a sad story. We don’t know Monique’s family so can’t ask what has happened.
So I look across the square every day, at the shuttered up house, and say a little prayer for Monique, wherever she is residing.
Before I swapped rooms, this was the spare bedroom. One of our friends who came to stay enjoyed drawing, and produced this cheerful little sketch of the square on Market Day. I really love it for its quirky detail.
The square outside is called Place Rochetaillée – named after a local family: En 1892, la famille Rochetaillée fait construire l’église actuelle et en fait don à la commune. Quelques années plus tard, la baronne fit construire un collège et afin d’honorer son défunt mari lui donna le nom de collège Saint Camille. (In 1892 the Rochetaillée family built the present church, and gave it to the community. Some years later the Baronness had a collège built and honoured her dead husband by naming it Collège Saint Camille)
The collège is next door to our house. Here’s an old photo of some gymnasts performing outside our house
The Collège is to the far left, and then our house is next to it. We’re not sure of the age of the picture, but we’re guessing about 1900-ish. When we looked around the house, with a view to buying it, I saw this old postcard lying around, and asked if we might have it. The seller agreed and left it for us.
I do like living in an old house, with its history, and its stories – the beautiful staircase I fell in love with, the beams, the cupboards built into the thickness of the walls (which are about 30 cm deep), the wooden floors…I’m less enamoured with the crumbling stone work, and the lumps of plaster falling off the walls! If we move (and I’m angling for a move to Clermont Ferrand sometime in the not too distant future!) we’ll go for something a bit more modern. Probably.
View from the Teapot 