Mon Atelier

The Studio is finally together enough to post images. The loft space has worked out better than we ever imagined. Most of my yarns and fabrics have been unpacked. The loom is put together; the spinnings wheels too. Many of my needlework tools are in a shadowbox on the wall. The books are on shelves to be organized by subject during the winter months. For the first time ever, my textile life is together, organized, and accessible. What a great feeling!

So Relaxed Part 2

Ok, this was too cute to pass up especially since he went upstairs to my studio just after my post. He found Karen's quilt before I could get it up on the wall. At least he can't fall off my work table. Pictures of the studio will be my next post! It is organized enough to photograph.

So Relaxed

Dante is a cat completely without stressors. He relaxes in place, will fall asleep, and frequently falls off where he has taken up residence. This is Dante in the pre-falling off the dining room table position. Within the hour he will have fallen to the floor.

Our Own Unsinkable Molly Brown

Zabelle turned 19 on August 2nd. But just before her birthday I found a tumor on one of her mammary glands. The vet said it was definately cancerous but she was too thin and her blood work not very good to operate. The surgery is very quick but he was a bit afraid to do it. He recommended a heart drug and a kidney-friendly diet and wait to see if her blood work would improve in a week or so. Well she HATED the kidney-friendly food and absolutely refused to eat anything. When we went back to the vet, the tumor was worse and he said it had to come out. So on Monday Belle had her surgery and came through it with flying colors. In fact she entertained everyone at the clinic by talking to them most of the afternoon until we picked her up. She is eating well (back on poached chicken kidneys be damned) and enjoying the summer weather. She is a remarkable cat.

Candlelight Tour of Ste. Foy

During July and August it is possible to take a candlelight tour of the XIII bastide with a costumed guide. These tours begin at dark which now is about 9:30 PM and last for 1 1/2 hours. They are well attended and give good information about the history of the town and the region. You carry a large wax torch (flambeau) to light the way and children carry small paper lanterns. Many towns in France organize these "Visites aux Flambeaux".

Last Marche de Producteur -- Malheursement

Ste. Foy hosted it's final Marche de Producteur for the season last night. It was extremely lively and quite festive. We had to wait about 30 minutes in line at our favorite beef producer only to find out that he was sold out of some of the cuts of meat he normally sells. We got a pave that was delicious and accompanied by pommes dore. We had arranged to dine with 2 other couples and others (a quilter and friends) also joined us. RXC did his video routine (remember Chick crossing the Atlantic?) much to everyone's amusement. The music was provided by a French New Orleans Jazz band which played all the classics.

This community event is one of our favorites of all the organized summer activities in the region. It's end signals that with the approach of quinze Aout (August 15th) just about all of France will be on vacation, the size of the Saturday market will diminish, buying school supplies in LeClerc will become frenetic, and the vines will be quite as we await the vendange.

Canning Season

We are putting up all the bounty from the garden. We have made liquors and jams with our fruit, 2 types of pickles with our beets, pickles with peppers, salsa with the tomatoes, and pickled green beans (we bought those in the market). We anticipate canning both tomatoes and tomato sauce later in the month when we will be overwhelmed by plum tomatoes. In addition, we have dried tomatoes, apricots, plums are ready to go into the drier (we have already canned some) and the figs will be coming ripe soon too!

We sent over all of our canning supplies. Unfortunately our proportion of lids for wide-mouthed vs. narrow mouthed jars was miscalculated and we have run out of lids for the narrow mouthed jars. Hopefully we will have enough wide-mouth lids to get us through the season until we can pick up more lids back in the US.

The New Bath

We finally have the new bath cleaned up enough, mirrors hung, etc. that I can post pics of the finished project. I need to get new curtains (white with hem stitched edging from Country Curtains) and then it will be complete. We are using it and the shower head is a joy. We will definately replace the shower head in the other bath to one of these big overhead ones. And I love the electric rack that dries and heats the towels. Otherwise the post renovation clean up and installation is going very slowly, but I will eventually get things under control enough to post more pics of the work.

Three on a Mouse or Three Mice?

Calypso must have found a nest of baby mice yesterday. In the afternoon I heard that distinctive trill a Maine Coon does when they are pleased with themselves and have prey. It usually takes me a minute or two to process the sound and react. When I did I found her under a chair in the dining room and already bored. So we took the baby mouse to where she would not get at it again and she went on with her daily routines.

About an hour later Dante comes running in the house with his head down. Another sign. He usually goes to the deep reaches of the house and lets the mouse go never to re-catch it. So I spring into action and get him out of the house. He is fast and takes off, later I discover he and Calypso with another baby mouse. Once again we put it where they could not get to it and they went on their way.

After dinner, we are watching a dvd and Belle begins with the trill. As she takes an antibiotic that makes her meow sometimes, I did not process what was happening. Eventually it sunk it and so even our 19 year old got a mouse.

La Porte Ouverte

I read on a vintner's blog that if a village offers a "Porte Ouverte" to profitez. Yesterday Pineuilh, the larger town which surrounds Ste. Foy organized one showcasing 5 wine makers. We took off after lunch to visit the Chateau l'Enclos which is a wine we have tasted before and liked. We had a tour of the facility seen here in the photos and of course a tasting. The tour lasted more than an hour, so we only got to visit 2 other producers. The third and last vintner we visited was transitioning his winery from conventinal production to organic or "bio" as we say over here. We found his wines excellent and very different from what we knew as Ste. Foy Bordeaux. There was a 2003 sauvignon blanc aged 2 years in oak that was remarkable. We placed an order as they had sold out of all the bottles they had prepared to sell on Sunday. While it is already in the bottle, the label and tax capsule has to be added. We will go back tomorrow to pick up our order.

The day was well attended and the owners and tasters alike seemed to be truly enjoying themselves. It was the only rainy day we have had here in weeks and weeks so people visited the winerys rather than going to the beach which seemed to be a good alternative.

Deux Ville Fleurie

Towns in France are rated for their summertime floral displays. These coveted ratings are part of a nationwide program run by each region that rates the displays as high as 4 flowers (like stars for a hotel). Communities put flowers anywhere it is practical. Ste. Foy has a 2 flower rating and at the moment the displays are at their peak. Flowers cascade from street lights, are in concrete pots along the sides of the streets, and in islands in the middle of the roads. One in three villes and villages in France participate in this program which amounted to 12,000 when last counted in 2005. Our region of Aqutaine has only 8 villages that has attained the 4 flower designation.