We washed our first load of laundry today. It took two and a half hours for the wash cycle. It will take another 24 hours to dry them; not because the machine is inefficient. It’s because there is no dryer. It’s pretty standard in Europe for the washer to take a long time to complete its mission just as its location is quite common: in the kitchen. Continue reading “How dry I am (not)”
A few years ago we were in France’s Loire valley which boasts the country’s highest concentration of chateaux (castles) per square kilometer. On some days we would visit one in the morning, stop for lunch, visit a second in the afternoon and then return to our own rented castle for the evening. Even after a week of that schedule we only saw a few of the 300 or so that exist there. One especially memorable chateau was Chambord, not only because it’s the valley’s largest but because of how cold it was inside; colder than it was outside; stone cold. Continue reading “Stone cold”
My father was in the Navy during World War II and one of the expressions he came home with was “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em; bum ‘em if you don’t”. He would hear those instructions whenever it was time for a break and it was safe to light up without alerting the enemy to their position. In those good ‘ole days sailors were issued a daily ration of cigarettes. My interpretation of that phrase today might be closer to “use it or lose it”, “tomorrow’s not guaranteed” or the more pleasant “eat dessert first”. Continue reading “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em”
Although this photo might look as if the trash collectors have gone on strike or perhaps that there’s a waiting list to get into the morgue, it’s really much more tame. It’s yarn, 24 bags of yarn, almost 1000 pounds. Yes, we finally cleared out Bill’s design studio in the bonus room over the garage and this is what’s left. Last week he sold off the last of the knitting machines and those lucky buyers get to return this weekend to collect these rolls of soon-to-be fabric. Not to worry, there’s plenty going to France but that’s already been boxed up, and there’s the rub. Continue reading “Spin us a yarn”
Marie Antoinette is credited, perhaps erroneously, with suggesting that if the starving peasants had no bread they should eat cake instead. Since we’re trying to use up all of the remaining food in our house these days there’s neither bread nor cake left but there’s still plenty of meat. You can have steaks of many varieties and thicknesses, chops, a roast, ham slices, salmon fillets, chicken breasts, and even an 18-pound turkey. No carbs, just all protein ready for a quick weight loss diet. Bring on the bacon! Continue reading “Let them eat meat”
When Bill and I were working we both had a pocketful of keys: the house doors, the cars, the Club security bars for the cars, our work building doors, various office keys, locker keys, etc. Bill had to repair more than one pair of pants that didn’t hold up to all the extra weight. Last night we sold our one remaining car and now we each have just one single house key on our ring. It’s really a burden lifted, figuratively and literally. Continue reading “And then there was one”
Earlier you may have read Bill’s post about coming to the conclusion that we were going to need more than a trash can to get rid of years’ worth of accumulations. This morning we rented a 15-foot truck to haul things away. Yep, we’re still in the purging process although what went into this 10’ X 15’ foot metal box on wheels was never destined to make it to France in the first place. In addition to the cost of renting a truck and driving it to the municipal landfill (aka county dump), we had to pay 38 dollars for leaving just over a ton of mostly leftover construction materials behind. Continue reading “Tons o’ fun”
Let's Live In France 