Renovations in France?

From this

The formal sitting room in our French cottage

to this ?

The sitting room in a guest suite at Chateau Bournand, home of
the delightful hosts ,Vicky, John and Button

If only wishing would make it so .........

Disappointment. The plans for the repairs to our house in France were to be completed by 31 March. I had been accessing my emails with great anticipation leading up to the 31 March, just in case they were completed prior to this date.

31 March came – no plans. The date of completion was altered on that day to the 30 April. The French would say, shrugging their shoulders,  "c'est la vie", but as the owner of the house "merde" is more appropriate!  Now 30 April  is approaching, will I be “let down” again? Perhaps My French Folly is low priority because we will not be visiting until June 2012, but I need the plans to keep my dream alive and to motivate me to budget for the repairs….......On reflection, the thought of having a cold wash in a bucket and using a commode in the absence of a toilet is enough to help me boost my coffers without seeing the plans. And I hate the thought of personally plastering and painting in my holidays.
I'm counting down to the end of April - in French.

Counting down to the end of April in French!

Yes, I'm still at "beginners level" in French. Doesn't auger well for survival in an isolated French village!  

EASTER GALLERY

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who come alive."                         Howard Thurman

"Easter spells out beauty and opens the doors of hope, trust and renewal."

"Forget love; I'd rather fall in chocolate." Anonymous

"There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate."                                                 Linda Grayson

An Easter quote for politicans and fanatics of all religious persuasions.

"Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there."Clarence W. Hall

Easter (le Pâques) and chocolate in France

Like all church bells in France, the bells in the ancient minster that overlooks My French Folly, were silenced on Thursday, in acknowledgement of Christ’s death.

The bells' stillness cast an eerie silence over the village, but this interruption to the daily rhythm is short-lived.

Tomorrow, Easter Sunday, their dulcet tones will be heard once more declaring that “Christ has risen”.

A quaint tale is told to children to explain this practice during the Easter period - "the bell’s chimes have flown to Rome to visit the Pope and will return on Easter Sunday".
The significance of this Easter ritual has resulted in the French exchanging chocolate bells, cloche volant, as well as traditional Easter eggs, les oeufs de Pâques, which are often hidden for children to find.

Chocolate fish, Poisson D'Avril also appear in April. Fish signify an “April fool” consequently chocolate fish first appear on April Fool’s day. For a number of centuries, children have attempted to pin a paper fish on the backs of adults on April the first. If they succeed they call out "Poisson d'Avril" (April fish) as they flee their target.

Easter is a time for reflection, renewal and hope.........

L’Automne et une Belle Chanson, Les Feuilles Mortes

"Texte + mélodie + interprétation exceptionnels = Un monument de la chanson française."

Ma saison préférée est l’Automne. J’adore la lumière, les couleurs des arbres, les monceaux de feuilles et le temps. Le ciel est bleu, le ciel est gris………. Aussi en Australie nous célébrons Pâques pendant l’Automne. C’est un moment où nous espérons que tout se passera bien…..et nous mangerons plus de chocolats. La chanson Les Feuilles Mortes me fait penser à l’Automne.

“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower”
Albert Camus - French novelist, Nobel Prize for Literature.

Les Feuilles Mortes

Oh je voudrais tant que tu te souviennes

Des jours heureux où nous étions amis

En ce temps là, la vie était plus belle

Et le soleil plus brûlant qu'aujourd'hui

Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle

Tu vois je n'ai pas oublié

Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle

Les souvenirs et les regrets aussi

Et le vent du nord les emportet

Dans la nuit froide de l'oubli

Tu vois, je n'ai pas oublié

La chanson que tu me chantais

C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble

Toi tu m'aimais, et je t'aimais

Et nous vivions tout les deux ensemble

Toi qui m'aimais, moi qui t'aimais

Mais la vie sépare ceux qui s'aiment

Tout doucement sans faire de bruit

Et la mer efface sur le sable

Le pas des amants désunis

C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble

Toi tu m'aimais et je t'aimais

Et nous vivions, tous deux ensemble

Toi qui m'aimait, moi qui t'aimais

Mais la vie sépare ceux qui s'aime

Tout doucement sans faire de bruit

Et la mer efface sur le sable

Le pas des amants désunis.

Oh I so want you to remember
The happy days when we were friends

At that time, life was more beautiful

And the sun brighter than today

The dead leaves gather on the rake

You see I have not forgotten

The dead leaves gather on the rake

Memories and regrets also

And the north wind emportet

In the cold night of oblivion

You see, I have not forgotten

The song that you sang to me

It's a song that resembles us

You loved me, and I loved you

And we lived together every two

You who loved me, who loved me

But life separates those who love

Gently, without making any noise

And the sea erases on the sand

The footsteps of separated lovers

It's a song that resembles us

You loved me and I loved you

And we lived, both together

You who loved me, who loved me

But life separates those who love each other

Gently, without making any noise

And the sea erases on the sand

Dance with Me

Life may not be the party we hoped for but while we're here we should dance.  Proverb

Back at the Blog!

Perhaps a bookshelf of diaries?

No. It's a wooden sculpture of a life-sized

bookshelf, on display in a Chateau of the

Loire Valley, France.

Yes, mother was right - my handwriting is illegible - even to me. The on button of the computer has been pressed and my newly acquired diary has been cast to one side.  I am of an age where my memory is less reliable so what is the use of recoding my thoughts and observations if I can't read what I have written? I suppose I could "ramble on" in a word document, but then I would be denied the pleasure of browsing my photographs for a purpose. Blogging also provides an effective means of “updating” friends en masse without the complications of social media.The recent claims made in the press, that internet friendships are superficial and often of a bogus nature, are a gross generalization ......At least they don't apply to me -  a sample size of one.  For many of my generation emailing has replaced the long, hand written letter to family, friends and pen pals from our youth.

 In this time-poor age it is rare to be able to sit with friends and colleagues to discuss issues . And when we do, the conversation is usually superficial.

Seldom do we give a detailed description of personal observations or thoughts about events that are important to us……………but writing an email, particularly to people in distant places, often necessitates these omitted verbal details in order to communicate clearly.

Two friendships I value highly have been nurtured over the Internet. Jo I met briefly in France. Despite living in different hemispheres we regularly have “a cup of tea and a chat “ via email. Rosemary is a professional travel writer whom I contacted after she had published an article about the region in France in which we have bought our "renovator's opportunity with great potential".

Both of these women write beautifully.  And enhance their  photographs with well-crafted descriptions.

The old vine at the gated entrance
of the B&B where we met Jo, her husband
and le vulcan, Terrance Gelenter

Jo knows me better than my colleagues with whom I have been working for 21 years! I consider both of these women to be real friends who have been honest and open in their communications with me about many aspects of our lives. Thank you Jo. Thank you Rosemary. Thank you technology.

Norfolk Island Medical Dictionary - by Anon (Thanks Jo)

A French artery

Too frantic to write and a touch disheartened by my recent 
photographs. I'm having difficulty mastering my new camera 
lens. Not sure if blogging is for me.........It's probably more 
time efficient to pick up a pen and write my thoughts in an old 
fashioned diary..................If only I could read my scribble.
At least Easter is approaching - a time for contemplation 
and chocolate. 


Definitions from the Norfolk Island Medical Dictionary
 Artery......................The study of paintings

 Bacteria................... Back door to cafeteria

 Barium.....................What doctors do when patients die

 Benign.....................What you be, after you be eight

 Caesarean Section......A neighborhood in Rome

 Cat Scan...................Searching for Kitty

 Cauterize..................Made eye contact with her

 Coma........................A punctuation mark

 Dilate........................To live long

 Enema.......................Not a friend

 Fester........................Quicker than someone else

 Fibula........................A small lie

 Impotent....................Distinguished, well known

 Labor Pain..................Getting hurt at work

 Medical Staff...............A Doctor's cane

 Morbid.......................A higher offer

 Nitrates......................Cheaper than day rates

 Node..........................I knew it

 Pelvis.........................Second cousin to Elvis

 Post Operative............ A letter carrier

 Recovery Room........... Place to do upholstery

 Rectum....................... Nearly killed him

 Secretion.................... Hiding something

 Seizure....................... Roman emperor

 Tablet......................... A small table

 Tumor.........................One plus one more

 Urine.......................... Opposite of you're out

A Sicilian cat scan

                          

 from Anon

A Touch of France: My French Kitchen

Entrez!

When will I be  savouring my next crème brûlée en France or whipping up un coq au vin in my French kitchen, circa 1750? To save words, below are some photographs of the current state of ma cuisine française ... ... il ya un évier de cuisine et de l'eau froide. C'est tout! Mon dieu, je suis une idiote. Unfortunately there is no photograph of the bathroom, because that room doesn't exist, but the woven willow hand rail on the stairs is quite beautiful......and rare!

I am currently waiting to receive the plans for the renovations to My French Folly. Contemplating the extent and price of the repairs - which may surpass the GNP of Bhutan - gives me a prolonged mid life glow and a palpatating heart.  Well at least ma folie française is in the Champagne Ardenne region, parce que il faut que je boirai plus de champagne française to deaden my self-inflicted pain.

Despite my anguish, doubt and paltry bank balance, ma maison ancienne has given me renewed vigour and purpose.  Since our children morphed into adults and my hormones became schizophrenic, I had been feeling directionless and as if I have had "one foot in the grave". My career had also hit a hiatus and my body appeared to be slipping into an age-related decline, with various bits migrating south. (Apologies mother, I know it is not good form to mention these things.) Sadly, the only aspect of my life in which gains were being made was my weight. A masochistic tendency of the bored and anxious.
“Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of Eden maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?” Palahniuk                                                                 I fantasize about our little piece of France looking like photographs from French Country Living, but will be happy settling for shabby chic and sharing a meal of local cheese and wine with our French neighbours, who don't speak any English. So now it is off to my French books followed by an evening stroll and then a supper of homemade tart tatin.  A new day waits...............

Genius is the ability to renew one's emotions in daily experience.     Paul Cezanne

Flagstones and a vaulted ceiling

C'est tout!

Hand woven willow stair rail

* Photos by  Didier Laurent  Ian McKuster. I have yet to see My French Folly!

A Touch of France : Crème Brûlée and the Child Within.

For most people, a secure childhood is crucial for well-being and success as one pupates into adulthood. Our entrenched behaviours often mimic that of our parents. Keeping with this observation I should be “looking good”, but sadly I have inherited a disproportionate number of my parents rogue genes which have overridden much of my environmental influences. One could say that I’m the “black sheep of the family” - definitely a product of nature and not nurture

My childhood was simple, rhythmic, and comfortably predictable; full of laughter and crammed with low cost, high return activities (CFO* heaven) – mud pies, biking adventures, catching yabbies, fishing, reading, being read to, camping, bush walking, playing cards in front of an open fire, endless concerts (for which I was the producer, director, choreographer and "star"), cooking with mother and eating at our expansive dining table, usually with an additional guest or two............Idyllic.

Of course there were challenges, emotional and physical, but they made us stronger and fade into the past, tempered by a “balanced life”.

The smell and taste of specific foods evoke strong memories of childhood and a feeling of security, despite my age. Just a waft of cooking toffee or true vanilla custard carries me back in time.

Still catching yabbies
.......with my nephew

Cooking family meals was an expression of my mother’s love for her brood. Our food was often a multicultural affair - accompanied by an appropriate wine on Saturday evenings. Special occasions called for mother’s revered Tante Marie, her kitchen bible, to be opened. Thus crème brûlée has become one of my favourite adult “comfort foods” in which I take refuge in times of stress and delight in time of repose. Savouring it is a sensual experience - a glistening toffee hat on rich creamy custard with a hint of vanilla…..soft and smooth against brittle toffee that emits cranial echoes on shattering in the mouth. Bliss in a bowl! 

A trail of empty crème brûlée dishes chronicled my last journey around France.............Delish. 

So for a touch of France, here is my crème brûlée recipe adapted from The Food of France, a Journey for Food Lovers. The orange flower water adds a subtle layer to the much revered recipe from mother’s beloved Tante Marie.                                                                    

Crème Brûlée Recipe 

Ingredients (metric measures)

2 cups double cream

¾ cup full cream milk

½ cup of castor sugar (superfine sugar)

1 good vanilla pod

5 egg yolks (from large eggs)

1 egg white (from a large egg)

I tablespoon of orange flower water

½ cup Demerara sugar

Collect 8 ½ cup ramekins and a roasting dish in which they may sit.

Mixing

Preheat the oven to 120⁰ C

Mix together the egg yolks, egg white and ¼ cup of castor sugar.

Put the cream, milk, ¼ cup of castor sugar and vanilla pod into a saucepan and bring just to boiling point, but do not boil.

Strain the boiling milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking and continue to whisk well, then add the orange flower mixture and stir. The custard mixture is now complete.

Cooking and Storing

Divide the custard mixture evenly amongst the 8 ramekins.

Place the ramekins into the roasting pan.

Carefully pour hot water into the pan until it comes half way up the sides of the ramekins.

Cook the custards in the oven for 1 ½ hours or until they are cooked in the centre.

When cooked, cool the ramekins and refrigerate them until needed.  Before eating allow time for then to come to room temperature.

Completing prior to serving

Sprinkle the top of the custards with the Demerara sugar and caramelise until very hot. This can be done by placing the pots under the griller (broiler) or with a blowtorch. Watch carefully to avoid burning the sugar............Bon appétit! 

And my first dessert to be cooked and savoured in My French Folly?  Crème Brûlée!

*CFO – chief financial officer

The Land of the Rising Sun.........in our thoughts

The land of the rising sun is indeed a land of contradictions. For all of its technological wizardry and sophistication, Japanese people lead relatively simple lives compared to their western counterparts - of this,  I have personal experience.

Ancient traditions are intertwined with contemporary living.

Complexity is juxtaposed to minimalism.

Despite the recent devastation in Japan and the horrific ongoing threat of nuclear contamination - social order, dignity and respect persist– qualities that were sadly lacking in many parts of New Orleans post Cyclone Katrina. Is this civilised response by the Japanese to the current catastrophic events an inheritant outcome of a collectivist, Buddhist society? Are the rights and increasing self-indulgence of individuals in Western societies impinging on the rights of others and the wellbeing of society as a whole?

“Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.” Oscar Wilde.

Australian medical scientists who have been monitoring radioactivity levels since the 1950’s found that nuclear explosions anywhere in the world are accompanied by an increase in the level of radioactivity in sheep fat – in Australia! Yes the world is indeed a global village. Horrifically, its food web continues to be contaminated by nuclear waste with a half-life of thousands of years. What is our biological “tolerance level” to radioactive waste?

May the world learn from the unfolding tragedy in Japan. It’s time for the political opportunists and spin-doctors to check, and if necessary, realign their moral compasses.

Our thoughts and prayers are with friends, “family” and strangers in Japan.

“In all things it is better to hope than despair” Goethe