Work for Idle Hands: July 2006 Archives

Archive Entries for July 2006

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Saturday July 29, 2006

Just so you know....

...sometimes I do complete things.
Sometimes I complete things more than once. Here are my two cardis:

The turquoise one with the reknitted sleeves.
The original (Rowan 39 "Deep" in Summer Tweed) did not have the sleeves turned back, although I thought that's how they were in the magazine picture. This is probably because of the striped pattern which I omitted (I know - what is the matter with me? omitting the opportunity to knit stripes!).

The black one (Rowan 37 "Lucy" in Cotton Tape ) with everything but the sleeves reknitted (in a much smaller size - and still too big). Experience with the other Rowan cotton tape sweater I knitted leads me to believe it will improve when washed, (and then, according to Alison, stretch again as you wear it).

Finally - my yellow Conkers repainted an attractive shade of red for the complete Noddy and Big Ears look, which is so fashionable now.

I have to confess that after this thrifty refurbishment, I was seduced by the local village shoe shop and bought 2 more pairs of shoes - one (you guessed it) in red, and the other in navy blue. One in every colour. (I guess there's a reason I have been unable to buy navy shoes for the past few years - the same reason they are in a shop in the village - but I am ignoring the obvious). The worst part, I am not about to confess - even to you - since my (older) sister assures me that once you start buying shoes by this manufacturer, you have to admit to really having reached your dotage (..... but they are so comfy. And no-one will ever need to read the label, as I will never again be forced to kick off my uncomfortable shoes during business meetings...).

Here are the Conkers in France (enjoying a break with a cup of tea) while still yellow.

Posted on July 29, 2006 at 1:44 PM. Category: Knitting.

Monday July 24, 2006

Amiens et les Muches

I am pleased to report that the air-conditioning in the car has now been fixed so the journey home was quite pleasurable - probably more pleasurable than being out of the car in fact. The pleasure was further increased in that we did not have to drive to Boulogne for the ferry all in one day.
Our stop-over turned out to be in Amiens, which is a lovely town, and was complete serendipity since it was the only place we could find that was available at the time we booked.

On Saturday evening we ate at the seemingly inappropriately named "Queue de Vache" on the Quai Bélu which has a lot of restaurants to choose from. George ate an uninteresting steak (the only one on the menu), and I had a delicious "souris d'agneau", which I discovered was a lamb shank - supposedly because it might look like a mouse when cooked (? - they must have big mice in France - that's all I'm saying).

On Sunday morning we visited the "Maison de Jules Verne" - it is a quietly impressive house. Living there, even I might be inspired to write exciting adventure stories and make my fortune.

There were many great items on display, including models and puppets, as well as memorabilia and early editions of his books.

We then walked back into the town, and along the river to see the Hortillonages.

These are allotment gardens surrounded by water which were developed on marshland during the Gallo-Roman period. There are numerous plots of land, criss-crossed by canals, the “rieux”, which are navigable by flat-bottomed boats known as “barques à cornets". The Hortillons (market gardeners) sell vegetables every week from the quai, and once a year, in June, they dress up in antique costumes and sell from their boats in a "water market". You can go on a tour in a barque but we passed on that due to the intense heat.

Amiens was serenely beautiful and the weather was glorious - and you cannot help but poignantly think of the notorious battles of the Sommes - and fail to imagine.....

After lunching at a riverside cafe, we sped on to our next destination: Naours.

The “muches”, (hiding places), which apparently occur under many towns in Picardie, are underground passages hollowed out of the limestone by man. I can compare them to our own Chislehurst caves. These underground passages can accommodate an entire village including the cattle. The Muches at Naours are the largest, made up of about thirty galleries extending over a total length of 2 km, including public areas, cattle-sheds, wells, chimneys and even a chapel with three naves. The height of these galleries varies between 1.60 m and 2 m. They were constructed to provide shelter during the wars and invasions, as well as extracting building stone to construct the village.

Of course you only visit a small part of the caves on the underground tour [I have read a very mean-spirited review suggesting that the experience is not as advertised but merely a tourist trap]; however I found it nonetheless very interesting - despite the whole tour being commentated in French of course (though a written guide was provided for us in English). It is quite cold in the caves - a steady 9 degrees (warm for the villagers in Winter) - which was a great relief from the current heatwave, but really you need a cardi!
The tour ends with "a small museum dedicated to the old Picardy crafts" - probably least said about this the better, but maybe fun for kids.

We ended by climbing Watchtower Hill, above the caves, to see two pivot wooden mills. One was an oil mill, the other a flour mill.

Posted on July 24, 2006 at 3:20 AM. Category: France.

Tuesday July 18, 2006

Villedieu-les-Poêles

Yes - that's right: God's town, (of) the frying pans.
Best not to ask. But they are well known for their copper ware (as even a passing tourist might deduce), and for their bell foundry. On previous visits we did the museum tours - I wanted to see the lace museum (which I enjoyed but no-one else did), and I can thoroughly recommend skipping the tour of the furniture museum (yawn) - what a lot of wardrobes those French have... my, my.
But the tour of the bell foundry was a real treat (honestly) - not to be missed. I think it has to be said we were lucky with our tour guide who seemed to be a young member of the family who own the place, and utterly fluent in English as well as very knowledgeable on the casting processes. They make small commerciaI souvenir items, like doorbells, but their traditional business is in casting gigantic bells - big one-off special projects for churches and so on.

Today we were there to catch the Market as this is where the Market is on a Tuesday. It does not get to Brécey until Friday and we will be thinking about leaving by then. It was very hot (has been every day). So having got up at 6 while it was still cool enough to work in the garden, we were in Villedieu well in time for coffee and croissants.
We were also on a mission to buy a replacement for our cafe curtain which the previous visitors had broken somehow, (hard to imagine how but it was mangled and the fitting snapped). Instead of mentioning this when they left, they had set it up like the slapstick "paint bucket atop the door" joke, so that it fell on our cleaner immediately she walked in - very amusing....

Posted on July 18, 2006 at 3:39 PM. Category: France.

Sunday July 16, 2006

Les chatons sont arrivés

And here they are (photo supplied by George):

cat+kitten.jpg

Very shy as usual, but the more couragious one did tolerate my touching his head momentarily whilst distracted by scoffing some food. He withdrew immediately he realised what was happening, of course.
They are similar to the previous kittens in that: there are 2 of them, one is white with blobs of plain colour, (the bold one, seen left with his Mother), the other is white with blobs of tabby colour, (the scaredy-cat); however, most delightfully, instead of being ginger and white, they are grey and white, (be still my heart!). If I could coax them into my handbag they will be coming home to England with me...

Here is Scaredy-Cat who would not come down for me and "have his photo took", (and he's so pretty...)

I estimate they are 6 weeks old and suspect that next time we visit they will be gone - hopefully to a self sufficient life in another territory rather than anything more sinister.

Posted on July 16, 2006 at 11:53 AM. Category: France.

Wednesday July 5, 2006

A plague of frogs.

Here they are again - cute isn't it?

Our entire lawn covered - and I mean literally hopping - with baby frogs about 1 cm long. I guess they all mature at the same time and leap out of the pond - and then rush off to find a nice mossy home somewhere. I suspect most of them get eaten by the birds - except for the ones that are contained by the 3 year old from next door - having shown him the frogs he went to get his garden rake ("that's best"). His older brother was very worried and wanted to take them all back to the pond (little softie).

I think this happens on one day every year but we don't always see them on the day. Can you find the frogs in this picture?

Read on for the "spot the frog" competition solution:

Posted on July 5, 2006 at 5:39 PM. Category: The Garden.

Tuesday July 4, 2006

An up-start Crow

I walked along the Thames between London Bridge and Blackfriars early this morning. It was already hot. I got slightly lost on the way as I walked too far along the river, but on the way back I saw this fabulous piece of Victorian aggrandisement: "London Chatham and Dover Railway". I arrived at the client hot and bothered, but then spent all day in a windowless air-conditioned room - for which I can only be grateful really.

I had a hot return journey on the train. Spent the time knitting (which seemed especially unseasonal); reknitting "Cannes" from Beach Cool. It seems to be so small I am beginning to wonder what on earth I did to the first version - wrong needles perhaps?

Posted on July 4, 2006 at 7:05 PM. Category: Days Out.

Monday July 3, 2006

Toast

We took our toaster to live in France. And a new kettle. [Visitors take their toll].
Ever since then, snacks have been off the menu.
But today - the Fancy New Toaster arrived.
See here, lovingly displayed on its way to delivering poached eggs on toast.

Yesterday evening I made 3 pots of strawberry jam.
Hmm... another idea involving a snack and toast is forming in my mind's eye....

Posted on July 3, 2006 at 8:46 PM. Category: Kitchen and food.

Saturday July 1, 2006

...wearing divine garlands and apparel...

So now it is really hot, and I have just returned from the quilt show at Sandown, (where it was really hot). My compatriots in this venture were George's Mother, and her neighbour.

Naturally I bought loads more Stuff, (see under "stuff"), including yet more bag handles, when in fact I am pretty sure I have never actually made a bag. But soon that will be resolved. I shall make a bag. Or two bags. Or as many bags as I have handles.

I bought some pretty 1950's style fabrikkk (see under "Miss Soutar" pronounced ssootaah); however, I remain unsure as to whether to make myself a pretty summer frock, or cover the sofa with it.

I also bought a book - Erika Knight's "New Knits: 20 knitting projects with a contemporary twist" - on the basis that there were at least 3 things in it I wanted to knit, and which I am not going to reveal here. However I now know the solution for Alison to make over her Pottery Barn living room furniture; start knitting now, sister! [Good Advice].

A view of our day at the venue.

A well as an opportunity to spend money, this show exhibited entries to the National Quilt Championships. Here are some of the quilts that I liked; I would say they are not necessarily the best quilts or the winners - they are ones I would like to own or copy. [The middle row shows a detail of the quilt above it].