First of all, may I tell you that your comments make me feel so much better — thank you! (And Pater thanks you as well, because as patient as my lovely guy is, sometimes having different eyes and ears to see and hear takes the pressure off.)
Still working to find the groove after a pleasantly busy weekend (spent Sunday afternoon with our always gracious and entertaining Bordeaux friends), and a bout of wee-hours insomnia, but I pushed past some of the Mean Inner Critic, “Oh, what’s the use” stuff and used proper watercolours (instead of my mini-box with the dry cakes) on proper paper for the first time in a long while. Want to see?
(And after I painted those, I chopped them up and added them to the onion stock I made yesterday, and ripped apart a quarter-loaf of day-old baguette. When that mix had simmered until bread and asparagus were dissolved (the former) and tender (the latter), I ladled it into a bowl, grated in a generous serving of the delicious cheese Paul brought home the other day, and added a dollop of crème fraîche. . . . Mmmm. . . I’ve been making a habit of adding ends of onions, carrots, celery, whatever, to a soup-stock jar in the fridge, increasingly alert to our propensity in the Western World for food waste. And homemade veggie soup is so easy and surprisingly satisfying (and no, I don’t always rely on dairy to augment it).
I didn’t try making anything with the peonies and ranunculi, you’ll be relieved to know. . . Just had fun laying down some colour, and some frustration seeing how much work my technique needs. . .
After I’d made and eaten the soup, and I’d knit a few rows and finished my book, I tried napping (conveniently, even though it was after lunch, I was still in my pjs). I’ve been unwinding with guided Yoga Nidra meditations using the Insight Timer app — for me, at least, it’s surprisingly effective. Anyone else try this, or something similar?
Next, a walk in the sunshine to mail some cards, and then a brief foray into the shops where I might just have been inspired by that High-heeled Susan in the Wilderness to pick up a pink hoodie. . . Do you think she’ll mind the copy-cat? I promise to make it work and work and work . . . (and it will go with my pink shoes, which have been working their poor little soles off. . .
On the way home, I remembered my resolution to practice sketching the window treatment that’s very typical here. I’ve already filled a few pages of my tiny sketchbook with previous efforts, but Variations on a Theme can be a good way to work on skills, so . . .
Pater’s just called out that dinner’s ready — he’s made a chicken curry and the flat smells delicious! Before I go, I’ll share two more photos. Let me introduce them by telling you that when we FaceTimed with a Funny Four last week, she told us she’d had to resort to a “Nature Pee” when out and about with her folks and in desperate need, no toilet available. So we told her about this statue, which some of you may have seen and others may have heard about, and a whole crowd of tourists were clustered about in Brussels ten days ago and probably are today as well.
Manneken Pis, he’s called, which seems a pretty descriptive name. . . .
EDITED TO ADD: I’ve just remembered this little putto which I sketched in Trogir, Croatia, a few years ago, lifting his robes to do the same thing . . .
Only a few blocks away from that little Nature Pee-er in Bruxelles, I was amused to see this very reasonable graffiti question written across the side of a pissotière (in use, as you can see by the shoes — I tried to be discreet with the phone’s camera, or someone might have got the wrong idea!). . . Ou sont les pissotières pour femmes? . . . Where are the public urinals for women?. . .
A question my granddaughter might ask?
Okay, I must go — can’t resist this heaping plate of goodness he just placed in front of me. . . And there’s a new episode of Killing Eve to watch while we eat. Good times in Bordeaux.
xo,
f
Definite good times all around and a sense of humor. xoxox.
Silly humour for the win 😉
Love hearing about life in Bordeaux. Where, indeed, are the pissotieres for women?
I also love the window theme – will we see more?
I'm not quite sure how they'd work, the pissotières for women, but there are times I'd be desperate to give them a try! 😉 And yes, if you don't think you'll be rolling your eyes impatiently, there will probably be more windows. . .
You paint a lovely picture mater both in your book and how you have spent your day…lunch and dinner sound delicious!
Love to see you wearing Your new pink hoodie and how you style it.
Thanks!
I haven't had a hoodie in decades and decades, although I've popped on one of the kids occasionally over the years. . . (remember when we used to call them "kangaroo jackets"?).
Ah yes, Manneken Pis. I first met him when I was 17, with a group of fellow exchange students. You can probably imagine the chortles he elicited from the teenage males in that group. I have remembered Manneken Pis fondly ever since and have made a point of visiting him each time I've returned to Brussels.
Lucky to have such a long relationship with that fellow. . . I hope I'll have a chance to visit again.
I love your sketches and paintings
I've wondered a while ago how your typical day in Bordeaux looks like
As I haven't comment on your last post- you are not in a work camp,you don't have to "achieve"something there-just try to relax,enjoy the surroundings and do whatever you please….I know from experience that it is difficult to turn from planner to complete spontaneity,but plan the day and than erase half the things for tomorrow….you have to leave something for the next year,no?
Don't follow the Instagrams of "overachiever" travellers-it is about what stays with you and what makes you happy,not other people
Dottoressa
Thanks, K. . . and yes, I really could/should leave something for next year 😉
Having a hard time keeping up with your posts at the moment! I've just left a comment on your last one and now hastening on here to see what's happening in Bordeaux. It all sounds delightful and good for you doing proper using-up ingredients cooking – it must make you feel as if you're really settling in to your Bordeaux existence. On meditation I've just done a free 10 day trial of the Headspace app and am rather convinced by it.
Do you think the 'où sont les pissotières pour femmes' author is channelling, in a very intellectual European way, 'où sont les neiges d'antan' by François Villon?
Hmmm, I don't see that in this graffiti — wouldn't that imply the writer was implying there had once been "pissotières pour femmes"?
And yes, using up the leftovers is part of feeling at home here.
Glad to hear someone else is finding a meditation app useful — the one I'm using (Insight Timer) has a level that is completely free (for now, at least), and that still satisfies my needs.
May your Funny Four never experience what I did at Five when nature called–in more ways than one–while my family was visiting Woburn Abbey Park. Never having gone in the great outdoors, I was greatly dismayed when joined by an interested animal while relieving myself. That little event so traumatized me that I have never tried that again–ever! I still retain visions of myself attempting to run with my knickers around my ankles. 🙂
Oh Mary, sorry to laugh at your trauma, but the anecdote really made me laugh!
The meals sound delicious! i really like your watercolours. The Funny Four always seems hilarious.
Thanks for the encouragment. And she is a pretty funny girl!
I love those watercolour asparagus. For me, they represent late spring and early summer, the most delicious season of the year.
Btw, one of the things (among many others) that I like about the city of Basel in Switzerland is its tight net of public lavatories. You will find one in every park, clean, well kept and free of charge.
I have to agree about asparagus.
And someday perhaps I'll get to Basel — meanwhile, this is good to know 😉 I wish that were the case everywhere.
Why am I always hungry after reading these posts? I like the watercolours; have you seen Beth's of Lisbon? (The Cassandra Pages)
Yes, I've seen Beth's wonderful, wonderful sketches — she's so good and I loved her post thinking through what and why she was doing with them. Humbling for me, but inspiring still. . .
I love your watercolor of the asparagus as well, and your soup sounds wonderful. I tend to do that, save bits of ends of things and make soup. It is such a treat to have something so delicious from the ends and bits.
Your time in Bordeaux sounds wonderful and I am glad that you are able to keep that instinct for busyness at bay, at least some of the time. it sounds like a wonderful trip and will probably change you in ways you least expect. Thank you so much for sharing.
You're very welcome, Mardel, and thank you for the encouragement. It's hard to suppress that push to be busy, sometimes, but I'm working at it (ha!)