kittens! soap! walking!
Posted on | July 6, 2011 | Comments Off
KITTENS: our oldest cat, miss mousie, the savage and beautiful, has shipped off to parts unknown.
maurice has combed the neighbourhood for her, but she has simply vanished.
she was 13 years old, mightily bad tempered, and very independent.
i think she has succumbed to something or other, poor old thing.
we have looked and called and phoned the pound for two weeks, to no avail.
the only thing left to do, is to obtain more cats.
we still have a little bit of hope that she will just waltz in one night, but as the days go by, it seems less and less likely.
ever since we picked up norbulingka from the rspca, we have been besotted with norwegian forest cats.
beautiful looking, hardy cats, with a wonderful history of sailing with the vikings.
i located a very pretty little boy at a breeder in victoria and we broke our own rule of rspca-refugees only and purchased this delicious little fluffy bundle (a smoky gray stripey fellow) pretty much as soon as we saw his photograph.
we collected him at the airport and we named him bolli bollason, after a tenth century icelandic hero who sailed to norway and wowed them all.
on tuesday we were in the city….i was having physio….and we just thought we’d check the rspca.
lo and behold, there was knut….a wild-looking little darling with a squirrel tail and stripes and divine cocoa-coloured eyes.
we were able to collect them both on friday and by friday night, they were already friends.
they are around the same age, about 16 weeks.
of course, the big cats are highly miffed at these midget interlopers…..it’s a fulltime job keeping them placated and soothed.
it will take a few exciting weeks, then everyone will settle down.
i keep promising photos, but taking photos of anything with a bit of a mobility problem, is turning out to be much more difficult than i anticipated.
WALKING: i’ve been slowly coming along with my leg! my leg!
i cast off the walking frame a while ago and the blackthorn walking stick not long afterwards.
i can walk on my own, but not far and not fast.
lots of physio lies ahead, to rebuild strength, flexibility and balance…..but i see small improvements every single day, which is really encouraging and quite thrilling.
there is nothing like being confined to a bed for a couple of months to make you really relish your ability to move even small distances under your own steam.
part of my therapy involves a daily scar massage, supplied by maurice.
a mixture of vitamin e oil and my own blend of helichrysum/fennel/cypress essential oils (not the most lovely thing i have ever smelt, but very effective for the job at hand) is massaged into the dramatically big scars up either side of my ankle, and he is increasing pressure daily to help break up the scar tissue.
this week we are incorporating calf massage as well, because that is one withered tight sad little muscle at present.
to complement, i am doing a handful of basic stretches….calf stretches, a stretch that involves turning my foot inwards against a resistance band, and standing in bare feet and raising myself slowly on my toes.
this last is especially challenging, but will work wonders i am sure.
SOAP: we made a full moon soap last month and i was all set to get photos of it and sell it online…..instead it has been snapped up by the locals at various markets and it looks like none of it is going to make it to either of the web shops.
however
there is always another full moon coming up….and the july one falls at a very civilised time in the afternoon, so we shall be soaping for sure.
i’ve got a few days to dream up an essential oil blend and i shall blog it when i’ve thought of it.
i know it seems….
Posted on | June 26, 2011 | Comments Off
….as though i have been harping on about my leg! my leg! lately….but the damned thing is really on my mind.
and hanging off the end of my torso constantly.
after what felt like an interminable time in a wheelchair, things have started to move rapidly.
i refused to have any truck whatsoever with crutches….dangerous, painful, wobbly brutes of things…..and was loaned a walking frame.
i hobbled about the house on this for a couple of weeks, putting increasing amounts of pressure on the broken leg.
the whole thing is still swelling up at the drop of a hat, so prolonged strolls were out of the question.
the great day came last wednesday when i actually picked up the walker and took six halting steps entirely on my own.
i demonstrated this again on thursday, showing off for my mother, and she promptly turned up here later with a genuine irish blackthorn walking stick/shillelagh.
she also furnished it with a brand new rubber tip, so i wouldn’t slip and break, well, my leg.
i didn’t like the look of the thing at all, but gave it a go.
and now we are inseparable.
it is amazing how fast you can get used to something.
i am locomoting very nicely with it and it is now only five days since i took my first independent steps.
i use it for balance mainly, so it is in my right hand, while my left leg is the broken one.
it has a knob of polished root ball on one end, for the handle….or for turning around and clouting people over the head with.
the shaft is covered in the stumps of thorns and the weird crinkly blackthorn bark texture.
you can totally see how blackthorn got it’s reputation among druidic types.
the parisian surgery feels good….it all feels straight and solid in there, and painless to boot.
the french surgeons weren’t just handsome….they were good carpenters too.
i feel incredibly lucky that i got such excellent care.
my job now is to rebuild muscle strength, flexibility and get my balance back.
much as i think the blackthorn walking stick adds a certain haughty je ne sais quoi to my usual get-up, i don’t wish for it to be a permanent part of my accoutrements just yet.
cold moon soap plans
Posted on | June 14, 2011 | Comments Off
i am astro-soaping again!
tomorrow at 6.14am, here in malanda, it is the peak of the cold moon.
we are all getting up before dawn, so i can make a proper full moon soap.
i’ll prepare the essential oils tomorrow before we start…..but i am dreaming of a blend of lime/vetiver/bergamot/geranium/basil/patchouli…..something really different.
i reckon it is going to be a darker blue soap than my usual full moon soaps ; i’ll help it along with some charcoal; with a white swirl, and some silver mica.
photos later.
slow but steady progress
Posted on | June 11, 2011 | Comments Off
since wednesday, i have been stretching my foot and leg, and hobbling with the walking frame, about doing some partial weight-bearing on the poor deformed limb for a couple of minutes at a time.
i can stand up on both legs now and rock my weight back and forth gently between my feet.
every morning, i wake up and my leg feels a little less alien and a little less peculiar.
the surgery scars are all pink and healing and no longer so painful. the cast-blister is settling down. the bruising has almost gone.
it is all very encouraging.
i mixed some fennel oil with olive oil and maurice massaged it into my foot….it does help with the swelling.
i shall add some cypress oil next. and lavender, just because i love it.
right now, i feel capable of doing a lot more….but i have to ration myself, and keep my foot elevated quite a lot of the time.
we are making plenty of soap in the rationed intervals and i have been very pleased with how well it is all going.
the soap looks and smells exactly as it should, and there is even talk of creating a full moon soap on the 15th.
van gogh cats….there’s an app for that
Posted on | June 10, 2011 | Comments Off
lately it seems that you can get an app for almost everything.
so, when i wanted to turn some favourite photos of some of our beautiful moggies into paintings, i knew where to look first.
fennel:
norbulingka:
miss mousie:
castaway!
Posted on | June 6, 2011 | Comments Off
last week i was wheeled along to my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon.
my cast was cut off, everyone inspected my peculiar-looking leg, there was a lot of prodding (but no pain)….and i was turned loose with no re-casting.
UNEXPECTED THRILL!!!!
once the damned clunky thing was off, i began to sleep so much better.
and such a relief to be able to see and clean the surgery scars….which have healed up impressively quickly.
after the weekend, my leg skin has bounced back to normal and i am moving my foot a little and even letting it bear 10 kilos or so for a minute or two when i stand up.
i still have to keep it elevated a lot of the time…it all swells up quite easily, and that feels horrid.
tomorrow i meet the physio and i can really get to work.
wheelchair soaping
Posted on | May 29, 2011 | Comments Off
i wouldn’t have believed it two months ago, but it seems that with a good system and excellent helpers, you can indeed produce soap.
we spent some time discussing how it could be done, even in the first grisly days in hospital in paris.
it helps to start getting a mental picture, even when you cannot imagine how it is going to be managed at all.
i booked dates and flights for our friend marshall, from brisbane, even while thinking i wouldn’t be up to much.
by the time he arrived three weeks later, i was feeling a lot perkier.
we spent an hour or two in the workshop moving stuff around and thinking about our workflow.
and the next morning, we made 600 bars of soap.
we have been steadily increasing the quantity each day for the last week….tonight we turned in 1300 bars.
i can do quite a bit from the wheelchair and occasionally i lurch up out of the wheelchair to totter on one leg and pour or swirl or drizzle hot raw soap for a few minutes.
it is all quite challenging and i am expanding my skills.
but i’d be unable to do any of it without maurice and marshall….who are not only helping to make the soap, but are also cutting it, packing it, shipping it….not to mention cooking and cleaning and making endless cups of tea all day long while i loll on pillows.
i have become a bit more confident in the wheelchair and i have been rolling it cautiously up and down a single step into my office…and therefore i have access to the verandah and the laundry as well.
i have ordered up a wheelchair with a narrower profile….when that arrives i’ll be able to get into the kitchen on my own, and make my own damned cups of tea.
today’s meanderings
Posted on | May 16, 2011 | Comments Off
time slows right down when you are lying in bed with your broken leg elevated.
and life simplifies down to the very essentials…..eat, shower, sleep, conversation, make sure the ipad is always charged.
i think that without the internet i would have gone completely and utterly off my head in the first fortnight.
and now the ipad is a constant source of stimulation….i can play with photos, read books and magazines, surf the net, write stuff, skype friends….do everything but walk around, really.
today, we have an adventure planned…we are off to cairns.
i need a haircut and i want to look at clothes.
and i want to take my husband out for lunch….he has been cooking and cleaning and looking after me nonstop for weeks.
i finally feel up to the drive.
tomorrow is paperwork day….invoices to send, orders to ship, the remainder of my travel insurance claim to sort out.
don’t leave home without travel insurance….my hospital and surgery bill was a cool €16,000.
for a simple broken leg!
no icu or brain surgery or anything really expensive like that.
i bought a dricast cover online and it posted from new zealand in record time.
it is a big heavy duty latex bag that seals over the plaster cast for showering…and apparently swimming too.
while swimming is deinitely part of my rehab plan, i have no wish to start before my cast is removed!
it has made life a little easier around here.
i pull a big plastic bag over my cast first….it protects the latex from the outside of the cast and makes getting the thing on and off an absolute breeze.
i am about to get up and shower and i have two cats snuggled in solidly against me.
everyone is going to be disupted and annoyed by the movement….but i reckon they’ll probaly fall fast asleep again within a minute or two.
an etsy treasury
Posted on | May 10, 2011 | Comments Off
i put this treasury together today, in between taking down soap orders for maurice to pack and ship.
i started with no theme in mind, but a colour trend emerged slowly and subtly.
enjoy!
‘a copper, green and gray mood’ by pattiflynn
random favourites of mine.
 rustic stoneware dinner… $85.00
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 Smoke Gray Pure Cashmer… $398.00
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 Vintage Victorian Cameo… $750.00
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 Set in Stone, Moss Pend… $35.00
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 Dark Grey Gray Pure Woo… $228.80
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 Become Rose Garden Shaw… $175.00
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 Sweetgrass Place Settin… $
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 3 lb. Anise Clove Vegan… $28.50
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 Victorian Vesta Silver … $2200.00
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 Antique English Copper … $725.00
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 TRIANGULAR PANTS $99.00
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 Art Nouveau Style Vase … $90.00
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 Nice 19th C. Antique Co… $395.00
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 Dark Gray Handwoven Pon… $1800.00
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 13in Wedge tote – Pewte… $180.00
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 Vases by Anna – Chrysan… $300.00
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Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.
and we are open for business
Posted on | May 10, 2011 | Comments Off
i received a few emails from good customers this morning, requesting soap.
so, after conferring with the long-suffering husband, i re-opened my online shops.
the conferring was necessary…because the work will be added to the husband’s plate, while i continue to loll about with my foot up on a pile of pillows.
if you do order in the next couple of weeks, please allow for a possible extra day or two, as there will only be one person packing the orders and that person is also looking after a patient who requires a considerable quantity of looking-after.
that would be moi.
we have excellent help flying in towards the end of the month, and i hope to be in full production mode from a wheelchair by then.
soapmaking continues to provide fresh challenges and perspectives!
right now, i am helpless, pinned by norbulingka and fennel, both stretched full length on either side of my cast.
i can type, and i can move my lips to ask for more cups of tea.
it isn’t too dire.
service
Posted on | May 6, 2011 | Comments Off
we spend so much time complaining about telstra in this country…i thought i’d talk about some wonderful service i received recently, for a change.
our internet was creeping along at a snail’s pace and being stuck in bed with elevated leg, of course i was noticing it.
i used speedtest.net to check our connection speed and lo, it was about a tenth of what it should have been.
i telephoned telstra to find out what was happening and got put onto a very nice man who looked uo our useage for the month……hmm, we were away for 3 weeks and then within 48 hours of arrival, we scorched through half our monthly allowance.
then over another day or two, we burned up the remainder, so they had automatically slowed our speed.
that gels….i seem to remember extreme jetlag and insomnia combined with some heavy duty hours and hours of youtube viewing; which would account for everything.
i said, well, i need to increase my plan for a couple of months and the guy puts me through to someone else.
this was a very helpful girl who listened to my woeful broken leg = i need internet tale and then told me i was out of contract and could now sign up for a new plan…four times the data at four times the speed AND twenty bucks a month cheaper (how is this even possible?).
i positively leapt to sign up and she said it would take effect from midnight.
i thanked her profusely and she asked me to please hold.
then she got back on the phone and said she had spoken to her supervisor and they had allowed me the upgrade immediately….no waiting until midnight.
i was absolutely delighted by this….midnight was an interminable fifteen hours away.
there, you never suspected that they had human beings at telstra, did you?
the next amazing thing to happen was when a visitor mentioned that she was shopping online with woolworths and getting her groceries delivered.
i was thrilled to the marrow by this…they deliver HERE??? all the way out HERE???
i could hardly wait for everyone to leave so that i could get online and start buying groceries!
i made a modest initial order, booked a delvery wndow and lo and behold, 48 hours later, the truck rolled down the driveway.
i am loving this service….i can help maurice with the grocery shopping at least.
he has his hands pretty full with the cooking, the laundry, and the nursing.
pretty in pink
Posted on | May 5, 2011 | Comments Off
i had a glorious five days with no cast on my leg.
i was able to shower and feel the breeze on my skin and maurice applied pawpaw ointment to my surgery wounds to great effect.
it seemed easier to sleep without the cast.
i began to feel as though things weren’t so grim after all.
and then i went to see the orthopedic surgeon.
maurice wheeled me in and there was another guy in the room as well.
the dr took one look at my x-rays and asked me how i did it….then the second guy started wheeling me out.
i said, woah dudes, where are we going?
dr said, you are getting a new fibreglass plaster.
i said what? no nifty bootie thing with velcro that i can take on and off? mostly off?
he said no.
i said, how long is this for?
he said, four weeks.
i blanched and said, but what if i go crazy?
he said, i can refer you to a psychiatrist for that.
meanwhile the guy behind me is snickering away.
i said, PLEASE can i have a two-piece cast?
he said, it isn’t safe enough for you, but if you promise to be reeeeeeeally careful, you can have one.
so off we go to the plaster room (i can say this in french of course).
turns out the guy wheeling me is the plaster-master himself.
he gets to work and starts chatting about falling over on wet tiles…tripping over cats…earth tremors…..being tired….crippled for life.
finally, maurice says to me: that’s it, i’ve heard enough…you are getting the full plaster.
plaster guy kept his eyes down and worked diligently while i freaked out a little.
finally, i said, ok, if i start to go completely insane, can i please come back and have this cast cut into two, in a couple week’s time? PLEASE?
he agreed…. a shade readily, i thought….and so now, here i am, completely incarcerated.
i am grateful that it merely comes to my knee, and that i got to choose the garish pink.
home sweet home
Posted on | May 1, 2011 | Comments Off
we arrived home last saturday, after an indescribably horrendous 48 hours of travel.
although, cathay pacific couldn’t have been more fabulous….wonderful staff and top notch amenities.
one does wonder why there is no little ramp between air bridge and aircraft….on our three flights, there was a substantial step up into the aircraft and from a wheelchair, with one useable leg and a lot of post-surgery weakness, frankly, the first one seemed insurmountable until we figured out how to do it.
if I had any shorter legs, I think I would still be there trying to get into the on-board wheelchair, with the pilots and the rest of the passengers urging me on from the air bridge.
it was extremely difficult and all made worse by a codeine reaction in hong kong, which was decidedly unpretty.
I doubt I have ever endured anything more trying in my entire sheltered life.
by the time I got to my seat, I was a gibbering wreck, but a few hours of business class service and episodes of modern family calmed me down considerably.
my mother had organised mobility equipment for me at home, so all i had to do was collapse into my own bed.
i was immediately surrounded by three of our cats and they have been pretty much constantly with me ever since.
the first few days are a blur….we were both so jetlagged and stressed. and finding our way around a whole new routine.
however, every passing day brings improvements. i am responding to fresh air, pure water, peace and quiet, wonderful care, and regular meals with plenty of smoothies and salads and fruit.
we arrived back in time for all the passionfruit and citrus in our garden, and have been making the most of it.
I was permitted to remove my cast, if I am not going anywhere…sleeping and showering with that damned thing OFF my leg, has been utter heavenly bliss.
maurice has been massaging in plenty of arnica cream for my exciting bruising and has me on a regime of supplements and vitamins to support the healing process.
i took my last painkiller in hong kong, 9 days ago, and haven’t felt the need for any more.
sure, there is some discomfort….but no actual pain.
experienced bone breakers have told me that this may change as time marches on.
for now I am happy enough.
a soap making friend in maleny has posted me the entire series of six feet under dvds…..that will keep me absorbed for the next 3 weeks!
yes, I have 3 weeks of bed rest and keep-the-foot-elevated at all times, ahead of me yet.
this entire episode has been an exercise in slowing down, handing over control, and taking some time to ponder life….which is kind of nice.
progress
Posted on | April 21, 2011 | Comments Off
as i use the walker more often, i am becoming more adept with it.
as i get further past the surgery and am sleeping better, i feel stronger.
the idea of managing at home is becoming less and less daunting.
after a few days of complete immobility, it is so terrific to be able to get oneself to the bathroom and shower under one’s own steam.
we all just take these things for granted.
the travel insurance folks rang me this morning to tell me that they had finally received all the relevant paperwork from the hospital and that i was all covered and approved for the enormous hospital and surgery bill, and the expensive travel home, in a bed up the front.
my years of being adamant about travel insurance have paid off.
i had a celebratory nap out of sheer relief.
there was a scramble-about for accomodation for maurice yesterday.
easter approaches, and the hotels are full.
the closest hospital-relatives-assistance accom was also full and is 35 minutes away by metro.
the wonderful nurse who has taken charge of me, solved everything on her own initiative.
she cleared it with her matron, who said yes to moving me into a private room, and a folding bed was brought in here for maurice also.
so now, i have round the clock attention and someone on call to collect chocolate eclairs.
because they are french, they also immediately offered hospital meals for maurice, but wisely, he decided to organise his own food.
he says there is plenty of choice within a few minutes walk of the hospital, so that makes it simple.
on the medical front, we are all hanging around to see if the internal scar on my inside ankle wound is doing any better.
the others were all coming along nicely as of 36 hours ago.
monsieur le docteur is coming by to check it tomorrow sometime.
if it looks good, i should be cleared to fly. as far as i can gather.
this evening, maurice is getting a lesson on how to inject an anticoagulant shot into my thigh.
i think he is quite looking forward to it.
a dramatic weekend
Posted on | April 19, 2011 | Comments Off
after my surgery to install some screws and a plate in my leg, i spent the weekend completely immobilised and confined to the bed, while some slightly worrying bleeding went on and on and on.
a vigilant night nurse noticed it first…. she just lifted the sheet by my knee and sucked her breath in, which smartly grabbed my dozing attention.
lo and behold, i was lying in a veritable pool of blood, like some piece of french film noir.
after that i was watched very closely day and night, with several bandage changes and entire bed linen changes every 24 hours.
it was a blood bath.
there was a lot of chat about the blood bank and for three nights running i was prepped for a further surgery….but then they changed the type of anticoagulant medication and things slowed right down to the normal seep.
things have moved rapidly since then.
i have a new cast, i have been x-rayed and i am awaiting the doctor.
i guess the trip home is going to be sooner than i thought 24 hours ago, which
is great.
the staff here have been wonderful….i have never received such care in my life.
they are skilled, polite, discreet, thoughtful, and they all naturally have the most divine french accents.
you haven’t lived until you had some gorgeous frenchman patting your knee in the middle of the night and saying “courage, courage” as they change another dripping wad of bandaging and catch the look on your face.
the painkillers roll around at decent intervals and i have experienced very little pain since the initial shoch horror smashcrunch, and subsequent re-location of my ankle.
i have moments of discomfort and long periods of pure bliss : after a wash, and fresh bed linen, a bowl of coffee arrives, and they open the window next to my bed,. and i actually bask in the spring sunshine and the gentle breeze.
maurice has been heroic throughout.
he brings me fruit treats and sushi and makes me laugh for hours with his tales.
this is his third time rolling around paris alone, looking after a patient…..me last june, with the flu; his mum last september; and now i have broken all records for attention-seeking drama queen behaviour.
……………..
it is now 8am tuesday and i have had a divine, uninterrupted 8 hour sleep.
an hour ago, i was able to take a shower, mostly unassisted, sitting down with a plastic bag covering my cast.
a proper shower after 6 days of bed baths, is possibly the most wonderful experience of my life so far.
i am sitting up and smacking my lips for my bowl of coffee and hunk of bread.
and now we just wait for the insurers and hospital to organise our travel home.
a spot of bother
Posted on | April 14, 2011 | Comments Off
this morning, i slipped on wet tiles in the bathroom and smashed my foot against the bath tub.
my leg at the ankle was bent at an angle i never wish to see again.
maurice called the ambulance and they arrived within minutes.
i was carried tenderly down 3 flights of our steep spiral staircase and whisked to the hospital.
what a trip. it is thankfully now somewhat blurry.
in the ER, they nicely distracted me with lots of laughing gas before brutally wrenching my foot back into a more normal position.
then i was prepped for surgery….i have broken both bones in my leg, down by the ankle, and i now have metal galore in there.
i suppose i will be in the hospital for several days, and then they will apply a cast, and then we plan to hobble home.
i cannot face the thought of the rest of the trip on one leg.
there is always next year, after all.
right now, i am comfortably numb, a bit shocked, but quite lucid.
i am so sorry i won’t be doing the planned catching up with the friends and family over here, but as they say, c’est la vie.
i am just grateful that i didn’t break my neck…and that my husband is here.
a city stroll
Posted on | April 12, 2011 | Comments Off
yesterday we walked for miles and did a lot of window shopping.
our first stop was mariage freres, in rue bourg-tibourg.
they are famous tea merchants….we had a good time looking at their beautifully presented tea, and checking out the tea museum up an ancient narrow steep spiral staircase.
we are going back for afternoon tea today, with a soapmaking friend from canada who is also visiting paris this week.
then we wandered the back streets of the marais, checking out window displays and going into a couple of particularly appealing looking shops, stuffed full of arty designer decor.
salivated over some very sexy leather and chrome furniture….the restoration hardware look seems to be very happening right now, with the chrome and distressed leather, and airplane fuselage rivets everywhere.
spotted a really practical bamboo bed tray table, with folding legs.
one half of the tray slid up, to create an adjustable angle bookrest. or ipad rest.
it was all very light and well made.
at some point, i noticed a shopping arcade entrance and in we went.
it was a high-ceilinged, grand, ornate, gilded, carved, tiled old arcade, and the shops were dim and full of treasures.
looking in the windows, i could not tell what half the shops even were….the things inside were a mystery to me.
there were antiques, art, modern design, clothing…..it all looked very expensive and obscure.
and then, right at the end of the arcade, in the primo corner spot with street frontage and loads of windows….christian louboutin!
not a huge shop, but it was simply stuffed full of parisiennes busily trying on shoes.
the spring range was in the wndows and was the usual collection of beautifully-made fantasy shoes and boots: completely unwearable with impossible stiletto heels.
there were a handful of flats…two adorable slide sandals with lots of gold, and black ballet slippers with bloch-looking toes. so we can all be black swans this season, but preferably, without the craziness.
the jewel encrusted ballet slippers were cute, but the matching huge honking stilettos looked perfect for a drag show. or the sort of thing anna nicole smith would get married in.
i thoroughly enjoyed seeing them and they are truly works of art….but i couldn’t see them fitting into my rural, soamaking lifestyle.
we wound up at the fabled doors of e.dehillerin, where julia child used to shop for kitchen tools when she lived in paris.
maurice exclaimed, o i have been here already!
he had stumbled across dehillerin last september and already scoured the shop looking for a miniature brass pepper grinder (we cannot find one anywhere and it might be time to turn to ebay).
he said he had an amusing moment after leaving the shop and heading confidently out to his next port of call.
he walked around for 20 minutes, then came across another big green corner shop front and actually wondered for a second if it was a franchise….before realising he had walked in a huge circle.
dehillerin was closed for lunch, naturellement, so we had a break under some shady trees up the road and then headed back at 2pm.
every man and his dog in paris was already crammed into the sacred aisles by 2.05pm, and within ten minutes, i was asked by two separate lots of people, if i spoke english?
after confessing that yes, indeed, i spoke english perfectly…like a native!…they then asked me if i knew how to figure out the prices of the items they were clutching.
alas no. nobody on earth knows how to figure out the prices…apart from the harried sales staff themselves.
i fondled a few items, and drooled longingly over the mauviel saucepans (they had simply hundreds of them, in every style and size and grade imaginable)…but seriously, i didn’t feel like lugging it all around europe for the next few weeks.
in any case, how many copper saucepans does one household really need?
if my current copper ever wears out, i’ll be heading straight back here to replace it. but until then, i can scrape along ok.
i left reluctantly, and went on to the verreries des halles, which is close by.
there, i bought a peugeot nutmeg grinder, which i had already admired at the peugeot (cars) showroom a few days ago.
it was a euro or two less expensive at the verrerie des halles and i earned the discount by having to put up with the second-rudest person i have encountered in paris, who was ensconced behind the cashier window.
i said bonjour madame, and the witch just made that exasperated-sounding grunt (you know how it sounds) and actually pulled a face, then turned back to her paperwork.
tres charmante.
i was taken aback, to say the very least.
i can only charitably wonder if something extremely unpleasant had happened to her earlier that day.
from there we strode confidently towards the museum of decorative arts and i almost got run down by a large bus going into the courtyard of the louvre….i was looking in entirely the wrong direction for the traffic and i stepped out idiotically and was missed by inches.
after all that, the museum was closed on mondays anyway.
all in all, a marvellous walk.
that is the wonderful thing about paris…it doesn’t matter where you go, there will be something amazing to see. guaranteed.
kaleidoscope, musee de cluny chapel ceiling
Posted on | April 10, 2011 | Comments Off
at the musee de cluny the other day, i took a photo of the ceiling in the tiny little ornate chapel there.
truly, the room could not have been much more than 7 x 7 metres, but it had this tremendously ornate ceiling, all arched and vaulted.
when i got back to our apartment, i fiddled around with the image on my ipad and came up with two kaleidscope images.
i love the subtle colours and the incredible patterns…wouldn’t they make fabulous fabrics?
more madame gres
Posted on | April 9, 2011 | Comments Off
more gres frocks and sketches:
the lady and the cat
Posted on | April 9, 2011 | Comments Off
last year, from a cafe on the rue saint-antoine, i noticed a lady in the crowd waltzing by…she had a large glossy black and white cat draped across her shoulders and the cat looked completely comfortable.
the other day, on the same street, i saw her and the cat again.
this time we spoke.
the cat’s name is “amore” and she obviously loves him very much.
i was fascinated at how calm the cat seemed, amongst the nonstop bustle of the marais.
maurice, admiring amore:
not the best photo of amore, but shows some of the background action:
random paris photos
Posted on | April 9, 2011 | Comments Off
madame gres at the musee antoine bourdelle
Posted on | April 9, 2011 | Comments Off
i am not at all dressy myself, but i love looking at beautiful clothes.
i had a major treat today…they are showig the first ever retrospective of madame gres’ couture at the musee antoine bourdelle.
firstly, the museum itself is lovely.
it is a small museum, housed at the sculptor antoine bourdelle’s original studio and apartment.
they have kept things almost as they were in bourdelle’s time, wth some of his personal effects and his own collection of his contemporaries work.
the grounds are dotted with his marvellous bronzes, large and small.
the large ones are qute epic in scale….my favourites were the dying centaur, and eloquence.
very powerful sculptures and quite a bonus for one who was seeking only frocks today.
the gres dresses were stunning.
madame gres trained as a sculptor and you can see those sculptural qualities in her clothes.
pleated and folded and draped in silk jersey and wool jersey and taffeta…they must have felt very beautiful to wear.
they looked completely fabulous just hanging on the mannequins….how much more fabulous when they were moving?
there were dozens of garments and dozens of beautiful photographs and a few pieces of stunning jewellery designed especially to go with a handful of gres frocks.
i love it when i see a piece of jewellery or a dress or a coat that is 70 years old and looks like you could take it and wear it right now and look completely fresh and up to the minute.
a lot of the gres garments had that quality.
finally, the crowd was fascinating.
i spent some time at the end, just hanging arund the foyer and watching the people.
there were some gorgeous clothes around, some real couture stuff and some fashion student street stuff.
a mon seul desir
Posted on | April 8, 2011 | Comments Off
yesterday we went to the musee de cluny, mainly to view the fabulous lady and the unicorn tapestry cycle.
once there we were thrilled with the bonuses of stained glass, ornate reliquaries, a couple of papal rings, lots of crosiers, roman ruins, dozens of statues without a whole nose amongst them, loads of other tapestries and various other mind-bogglingly ancient bits and bobs.
the lady and the unicorn tapestry cycle was truly the star of the whole show, however, and it is wonderfully presented in a special round room with very tricky lighting that simultaneously protects the 500 year old silk and wool and also shows it to it’s best.
there are six tapestries and they are all huge, lavishly coloured and sumptuously decorated.
they truly were a feast for the eyes and we were quite enchanted with them.
i didn’t take photos, i don’t think it was permitted….but if you wanted a look at them i am sure they are google-able.
today i am going to see a madame gres retrospective….but first, a cafe creme and a croissant at our favourite little grungy cafe on rue saint-antoine.
paris photos
Posted on | April 7, 2011 | Comments Off
a garden nursery along the seine, filled with spring flowers:
place des vosges:
a window in a quiet courtyard in the marais:
i cannot stop taking photos of parisian dorways and gates:
i thrust my arm through cast-iron gates for this photo:
lingering jetlag
Posted on | April 6, 2011 | Comments Off
we’ve been wide awake since 4am around here…..have already finished a really bad john grisham novel (the associate….don’t waste your time), made coffee, consumed fresh pastries and yoghurt and strawberries, put on some laundry and made plans for the day.
off to the louvre today for another gawk at the italian renaissance masterpieces….i didn’t get anything like enough of them last year!
there was such a huge pile of them that it was impossible to take it all in at once and i had already made up my mind last year that i’d return to paris as soon as i decently could.
i had a bad few minutes this morning, thinking i had destroyed my new ipad….it froze up and i tried a soft rest only to be met with an endless spinning wheel.
i was already thinking about taking it to the louvre with me….like all true apple maniacs i had noted the location of the enormous apple store beneath the glass pyramid when passing by last year.
eventually, i hit-&-held both buttons simultaneously on the ipad and things resolved.
memo to self: do not email wads of photos to flickr all at once….it crashes the ipad mail app.
yesterday we walked for hours/miles, and thoroughly enjoyed the brisk temperature, the weak sunshine, the gorgeous beds upon beds of tulips blooming at the luxembourg gardens, the lunch at a lebanese place (shawarma poulet, followed by vicious little noisette coffees and awesome baklava).
we walked around the cluny abbey, the louvre, notre dame, along the river, through squares and gardens and down cobblestoned alleyways, in and out of interesting little shops.
we had hot chocolate at the tiniest bar i’ve ever been in, with a toilet smaller than an aeroplane toilet. seriously, you couldn’t stand up straight in there, and i am not the tallest person you ever saw.
on the way home, we stopped along our street and bought bread, cheese, pate, asparagus, strawberries and sweet soft enormous medjoul dates at various vendors and had an early picnic dinner.
