The Paris Episodes : Turning water into wine

Photo from HERE

You thought I'd never get back to my Paris Episodes didn't you? Ha! Here is the latest installment as I just couldn't let my first Christmas go by without a fond mention. One simple (but never ordinary) day out of 365 taught me a lifetime of lessons!

Etiquette lesson N° l: Always wait until EVERY ONE has been served their wine before you make an innocent comment ...Remember,  mincing your words makes it easier to eat them later!

There I was, rescued by the Ex and his Guardian Angel family for Christmas dinner. Phew! This was no 'mince affair' as Christmas is very strictly reserved for family in France so I was most grateful and priveleged to have been included, especially as the guest of honour. As Mr C, a graceful and stately gentleman, served me a very noble wine (wasted on me at the time I'm afraid), I noticed he'd made a mistake and poured it into the water glass, and not the wine glass. Quickly glancing around, I observed also that, not only had no one else made a remark - but they appeared not to have noticed. So I very brilliantly kept my mouth shut for once and watched as he continued the round... My pride has thanked me for this profusely at every major event that I have since attented in France. (We won't do the 'trials and tribulations of affecting the right attitude for the wife of a military aircraft salesman' till next year... I'm still getting over it!)

When we finally all raised our wine glasses to the 'santé' of those present and absent (that was you Mum and Dad) I had the epiphany that one pours the wine into the SMALL wine glass in France - and leaves the BIG wine glass for water. This was a major revelation for me at age 25! And one I'm still fighting with I assure you, hahaha!

While I was reeling from that narrow escape (5 year's experience in various restaurants between Mooloolaba, Brisbane and Auckland had never taught me THAT), Madame C served the asparagus entrée. Let me warn you now that I did, and still do, have a hearty appetite. And not wanting to be impolite, I of course accepted an extra serving every time the asparagus plate passed by... But there was still room for more (this Aussie girl did NOT survive on cigarettes, lite yoghurt and coffee as most Parisiennes did at the time).  Did I THINK to ask myself at the time why no one else, even the men, accepted a second helping of this? NOPE!

The foie gras was then passed intently in front of my nose.

Photo from here

ALERT ALERT! Animal cruelty!!! Let me tell you: Mr C was a VERY big wig in Nuclear Energy. I was a nobody pacifist who strongly protested against it (Born and mostly raised in NZ - what can I say?). However, I was also smart enough to know that I wouldn't win any friends or influence people with my 'extreme' views on the risks of nuclear waste at the dinner table. Foie gras wasn't high on my list of 'politically correct' foods either but hey, my 'breeding' got the better of me. After all - it is bad manners to bite the hand that feeds you, n'est-ce pas?

Between keeping my mouth shut on the wine glass fiasco, the dangers of nuclear energy and the injustice of force feeding geese in order to eat their livers, the green salad arrived. You may, and justly so, wonder how I managed to eat so much with my mouth clamped firmly SHUT! But EAT I DID! Just when I was starting to feel a bit full - and looking forward to dessert, Madame C brought out the first meat dish. I distinctly heard the word 'first.' You mean there is MORE THAN ONE meat dish??? My wee stomach started crying out to bring in the reinforcements...

Etiquette lesson number two: ALWAYS only take a small amount and politely refuse seconds of ANY dish, even under threat of tears from your hostess! THIS IS A TEST OF CHARACTER! REPEAT! THIS IS A TEST! ;-)

At Christmas especially, you can be deliciously subjected to as many as 6 different dishes before dessert, of which some regions boast thirteen of those as well!! And, as the guest, you will ALWAYS be targeted. This is dangerous even in the face of a voracious appetite, like mine. If you must, mumble some excuse about feeble health or an impending stomach operation so as not to offend your hostess. As an adventure racer and triathlete, this has rarely worked for me but age is now starting to have some pull as a valid excuse. Remember, every Parisienne worth her salt still wears a size 8, even after 15.3 children!!

I have learned many other 'Etiquette lessons' since that very first Christmas (Podge would say it was high time!) - but I'm afraid they'll have to wait for another episode as it's time to go and prepare my own 13 desserts!

Christmas is being held La Rivière this year and it's time to take my revenge ;-). Rejecting the traditional almonds, nougat and marzipan-stuffed dates, I have opted for Pavlova...

photo from here

...some of those great Panettone adaptations for my FiL who is Italian from Millie's Blog and this Ice cream cake from a very JOYFUL blog I had the good fortune of stumbling across yesterday...

Needless to say - the wine here shall be served in BIG glasses ! I figure that I'm allowed to be a rebel now that I'm nearly 40 and I understand what I'm rebelling against ;-)

Extra big glasses for an EXTRA big "Santé" and this extra special toast to you all and your loved ones (and mine)... wherever you are in the world. Below is my Wishcasting Wednesday wish for YOU this festive season and for the coming year ...

Wish star christmas tree by Cécile Lebert

Le seul fait de rêver est déjà très important

  Je vous souhaite des rêves à n'en plus finir..

     Et l'envie furieuse d'en réaliser quelques uns

       Je vous souhaite d'aimer ce qu'il faut aimer

       Et d'oublier ce qu'il faut oublier

    Je vous souhaite des passions

     Je vous souhaite des silences

                 Je vous souhaite des chants d'oiseaux au réveil

 Et des rires d'enfants

             Je vous souhaite de résister à l'enlisement

           A l'indifférence, aux vertus négatives de notre époque

         Je vous souhaite surtout d'être vous....

Jacques Brel

                                                            

Translation:

Merely to dream is already important in itself

I wish you endless dreams

And the furious desire to go and make some of them come true

I wish for you to love what needs to be loved

And to forget what needs to be forgotten

I wish you passions

I wish you silences

I wish you birdsong when you wake

And children's laughter

I wish for you to resist indifference, resignation and the negative traits of our times

Most of all ... I wish for you to BE YOU...

Much love

Ange

Noël 2009 - A Great Vintage

The fire is glowing on this cold winter's evening...
Doucement, l'arrivée du père Noël approche...

 

Once these old fire-cups (ventouses) were used
to take the winter ills and pains from poorly bodies.
To some extent - they are still fire-cups to me ;-)

Mais maintenant - elles décorent ma cheminée 

et m'éclaircissent avec la lueur d'une petite flamme

There is laughter behind everything at La Rivière
Le rire m'accompagne de partout à Nöel, et toute l'année d'ailleurs... 

 

Tiny "pampilles" decorate my wreath.

Even the rosehips deserve a bit of Christmas sparkle...

C'est la saison de briller!

We have music playing ... but the violin just listens now.

So come in and share some Christmas cheer...

Promise - the Chateau Guiraud is a great vintage too!

There's a glass waiting just for you...

Joyeux Noël! Et bonnes fêtes de fin d'année...

à TOUS et à TOUTES

Noël Christmas banner by my Libellule

More of a great vintage Christmas at Joan's.

And if you would like some tips for making singing angels

with vintage clothes pegs

click here!

Making peg angels tutorial

A few of you were interested in my little vintage peg angels. So I thought I would show you how to make them...

To start off you will need the following ...

Some vintage pegs (I finished my stock and was lucky enough to find some copies in a local store). 

Gesso (found in most art and craft stores),

Ink (I used my favourite red ink from the Calligraphe and a mix of acrylic ink with grey gouache for the hair and face),

Scissors,

A paintbrush

A fine nib for drawing the eyes and mouth and what ever words you would like on the body

An old, irreparable book if you find it a bit too tricky to write the words on yourself

Here we go!

Start by painting a 'dress' onto your angel with the white gesso. You could use an acrylic paint if you like ... or even stick on some fabric instead...

If you are sticking on words from a book, place them while the gesso is still wet as it works great as a glue.  If you click on the picture, you'll see I used a vintage prayer book - seemed more fitting for angel messages...

If you are writing the words on, wait until the gesso is really dry (about 1/2 an hour) before you start or your nib will get clogged up.

Next, paint in the hair. I painted a 'playmobil' style as the pegs had a similar shaped head :-)

Then draw in the face. I like them with eyes shut and mouth open as if they were singing...

Draw your wings onto a piece of fabric like 'tarlatane.' Mine is from a ham curing bag that I found at our local supermarket in the preserves section. It's easiest to fold the material in half and draw one wing only - guarantees they are even on both sides once cut out.

Then make a line of glue along the middle crease in your wings and stick them on to the back of the angel.

Let your wings dry for at least half an hour before you turn your angel over and pick it up. Oh yes, these ones roll so prop something solid next to them so you don't ruin your work.

They are wonderful for closing a special package, decorating your tree or as a gift in itself with a wee Christmas message on it! My hand written ones are singing the chorus of 'Deck the Halls.'

If you would like to find out more secrets - don't miss Seth's Secret Sunday where more than 200 artists reveal their techniques and inspirations. You can find the SECRET SUNDAY button on my sidebar.

Blessings to all...

Ce n'est pas un petit travail...

... d'accorder sagesse et musique.

(But Dino, you do it so well!)

How can you tell when a girl has been spending too much time in the virtual world, and not enough time brandishing (or in my case calmly holding) her 'plume?' The answer may be found above.

I have been learning 'l'Anglaise' now since mid September and I am still fighting with the slope and the angles. I have tried changing my 'plume,' changing my ink, adding medium to my ink and changing my paper.

Looks like I just can't get away from the evidence... more PRACTICE!

Well dear FiL - You will have to settle for this for now as it is leaving tonight come rain, hail or (in this case) snow with your son, unbeknownst to you, in order to be added to the Golden Book that will be offered to you at the surprise fiesta that is being held in your honour tomorrow in Digne les Bains.  Vive la celebration of the 50th anniversary of l'Académie de l'Accordéon in the Alpes de Haute Provence!

Just as you still do with your beloved music, I promise to diligently practice every day to get better so I can re-write that phrase, which so aptly describes you.

My FiL, with your charming smile and silver white hair, you can still bring a sparkle to the eyes of the Provence folk when you play your waltzes and tangos on that well-loved and worn accordeon. Dino, your calm, quiet wisdom influences all who cross your path. "Better to practice 15mts every day than 1 hour at the end of the week" you say. They are words I would do well to remember and ... implement. If you can do so, and even brave the pain, after chopping the tops of all your fingers off with the rotary trimmer and being told that you would never play again, well then, I can do so too with no excuse other than ... lack of time.

I am safe in letting the secret out a day early. I am safe because I know you won't read this, given that you have sworn to remain faithful to the real world of touch, taste and smell - another wise decision on your part as we do have a tendency to become, ahem, diverted from our primary tasks just a tad when the Blog takes on a life of its own.

So from my perch on the hillside at La Rivière I raise my glass to you dearest FiL and try to imagine your face, a mixture of joy and shy humility, when 50 years of challenges and joy reunite in the form of an orchestra of accordeons comprising many of your still devoted 'élèves' and favourite classical pieces from right back in that very first year. Even your son has taken up the accordeon again over the last two months, for the first time in 20 years ...

Horizons Bleus ... to you Dino for ever more...

Chasing Happiness...

...with the colours of l'Ile d'Yeu (my favourites).

For Karine's papa, to whom I wish a très joyeux Noël...

On the seas, on the tracks ... We chase happiness.

But happiness is here, where we are...

May this bring you happiness...

wherever you are

Ce n'est pas un petit travail...

...que d'accorder Sagesse et Musique

...euh... et BLOG!

Ca fait 2 heures que je pratique mon 'Anglaise' afin de pouvoir rendre un projet demain.

L'encre est de la même couleur que le torchon que j'ai teinté dans cette photo... Elle ne m'aime pas cette encre Broux de Noix. Mais je l'aurai. Elle va devoir m'obéir. Ou je vais devoir lâcher prise. Peut-être un peu des deux.

Je suis tachée d'encre. J'adore ça ;-) et je progresse enfin... mais ce n'est pas encore parfait. Il faudrait attendre encore quelques heures minutes que l'encre sèche pour vraiment étudier le résultat. Nous allons patienter ensemble. En attendant - je vous offre la planche que j'ai faite pour Séverin... Sa maman voulait qu'il RÊVE en GRAND!!

Demain des photos du nouveau travail donc ...

Et aujourd'hui?  Je vais tacher de faire des Rêves très GRANDS aussi (comme le conseil Mr F Scott Fitzgerald) afin de bien arriver à faire une parfaite 'Anglaise' et offrir une super surprise à mon FiL.

Time for bed methinks. La nuit porte conseil...

PS - les gremlins de la toile ont fait des bêtises avec ce 'poste' c'est pourquoi j'avais un peu de mal tout à l'heure... Sorry

Expect Success Tralalalala la la la LAAAAAAAA

It's a funny thing about success... Sometimes it pops up even when you least expect it.

When I was sellling my 'French patine' furniture, I learned not to do Christmas or even summer "markets" the hard way... Zero Sales! To the extent that I came home a couple of times doubting both myself and my products. Were they not pretty? People would glance at my stand and race off to buy a yellow sunflower. Hmm - maybe it was all that grey ;-)

Thinking I was too expensive (dear Niminy Fingers has written about this here), I lowered my prices for my second market. This wasn't easy to do as I had worked hard and long on each item between getting up early to find them, cleaning and repairing, then painting and finishing etc. I work fast and still didn't count all my hours. I don't think you can with hand made. Lo and behold, lowering the prices didn't make any difference. I was devastated. It appeared plain and simple. People didn't like my work!

Then I had an insight - maybe I wasn't in the right place. You know the old phrase 'location! location! location! Through friends, I was lucky enough to meet a darling lady who had been doing private sales of up market home furnishings and fabrics to a select group of clients for about 15 years. She (to my surprise and delight) loved my products and had never sold patine but we agreed on a commission price and my first sale at her home in May 5 year's ago was enough to put a smile on my face for months.  It snowballed from there...

This summer, rather suddenly in some people's eyes, I stopped Patine. It happened for various reasons including: an increasing difficulty to find unique objects at fair prices, an increasing number of people offering a similar product at similar prices although not always with the same quality or finish  (Yes friends - I am a stickler for finishing off the niggly bits and having everything perfect.) and let's not talk about the influx of cheap imported copies made by poor people in hideous conditions. But mostly it was because I had been wanting to do something more original, that was uniquely me, that you couldn't find anywhere else and that would use my calligraphy skills at last. And most importantly of all: I want to encourage and motivate.

It started by handwriting my phrases on these planks as a way of inspiring others to live their dream. In the process I'm realising that it's through personal experience and by example that one motivates. Each of the people that uttered these words quite simply never gave up whatever the cost. They lived their words. That is why they are inspiring. Whatever 'success' we may see in these people is a direct result of an unbending faith and courage in the face of adversity. Speaking of, let's get back to Saturday's Christmas market.

I went NOT expecting success. Now don't get me wrong. I wasn't blatantly being negative. It's just that I had had experiences of Christmas markets before so I was pretty sure that I wouldn't 'fit' with what was on offer, and that's pretty penalising. (oh dear, is that an English word or not?). I didn't have many really inexpensive things either - just my wishsticks and my angels. As it turned out, I was right - I didn't fit. Neither did a very talented young woman who sculpts and makes art with clay... But that didn't stop us both from having a great time chatting away with 'potential' clients. A number of people also took our cards without it being forced upon them ;-) I'm not a good 'hard sell' person.

I also know from experience that it takes a time to acquire a reputation. People are rarely as enthusiastic about your own product as you are yourself. It takes time for them to integrate something new, understand what you do, and find a place for it in their homes. Such was the process with Patine. One month it's not in the budget or in the plans, the next month and idea's taken root and ta daaaa - you get a phone call. This is why big business has sales staff...

So NO, I wasn't being negative, just practical. I'm starting out... it's only just beguuuuuuuun.

To top it off, Saturday appeared to be a day when people just plainly weren't spending. I personally have never seen a cake or food stand still half full at the end of a Christmas market which was the case here. Maybe it's the effect of the 'crise.' So you can imagine that I nearly fell over backwards when a lovely couple stopped by my stand. I could tell right away that he was intrigued with what I did. While Madame looked at the angels and wishsticks, Monsieur asked lots of questions about my work including the prices. Without batting an eyelid he said to his wife, "I would like that one for my Christmas present. I love the phrase and the colours! It's just what I needed." Wow! It was one of my personal favourites too. One I liked, full of white, cobalt blue and big orange letters and texture. Men like colour - I've noticed that before.

I sold a couple of others too - notably an 'Expect Success' one that a lady thought would be great for her son who was passing his University entrance exams that year. So there you go! If you judge success by the amount you sell, then we could define it as being pretty average: 4 planks, half my little angels and nearly all my wishsticks. If you judge success by a few other criteria - then I had a great day all up! Sold the planks, made a few people really happy, met some interesting people, found out about a new market in Toulouse for 'createurs' with a definite art/design slant to it, and had the yummiest piece of christmas cake in years!

Now if that's not food for thought!

PS, let me know if you want a tutorial for the wishsticks or the angels. They seem pretty self explanatory to me but if you need a guiding hand - I would be happy to put it up!

And THANK YOU ALL for the lovely encouraging comments.
They really do give a much needed boost when you work alone in the country!

On a wing and a prayer...

I've been bustling busy making some New Year's wishes cards out of my home made photos (yes, I am aware that I'm not a fabulous photographer like this lovely lady) and the pages of a postcard album from around the early 1900's. I sort of liked the effect and the mix of modern glossy photo paper with worn out cardboard. Still have to fix extra card onto the back to make it both writable and stable...

Then I made these New Year's wish sticks from pieces of driftwood. There's something I love about the feel of driftwood. They still have to be bundled into little groups and tied up with pretty pieces of string. That will be for some time after midnight tonight by the look of things!

My little Christmas angels, made from old pegs are still waiting for faces, text and wings...

..that'll be for after dinner I think - if I can get the messmonsters into bed in time. I'll take photos when they're finished. It'll be like a tutorial in two parts.

At least the new planks are all finished and signed,

must take photos of those tomorrow on my stand.

All I need is to put a hood on my Mac

 and to get myself a pair of these

and I'll fly through it all ...

As the French say, " Pfff, Fingueur in ze nose!"

And they DO say that!

My first Christmas market since I officially stopped 'patine.'

Wish me luck...

Don't Forget Brimont or What does 700 kg of Champagne look like?

I think I should start with a disclaimer :

First of all, I assure you, it's not all for me (and you can't even see the top). It's not even all for the family. However, this was of no consolation to the poor DHL truck driver who skidded his way down the driveway past the house and into the horse-fields below. It's been raining recently... And he had to drive back up the track... I called SkippY and we briefly thought about getting a tractor to pull him up. After much swearing and huffing saintly patience the truck arrived in front of the garage. Needless to say that on his way out, the driver very politely wished me a bubbly festive season, mentioning on the side that he hoped we would never see each other again - at least not under the same circumstances.

How did all this come about? You may well ask! It all started about 8 year's ago when Beaker, at the time a budding wine buff, happened upon a huge feature article in "Vins de France" magazine in which their expert oenologue got about comparing France's champagne brands. Luckily for us, that year the comparison was not between bottles of the same price range but about quality and taste, regardless of the price. So we found a few champagnes that were rated above such notables as Ruinart, Mumm, Moët & Chandon, Laurent Perrier : the list goes on! As such, we were able to find a selection of some of France's best champagne - at between 10 Euros and 15 Euros per bottle. Needless to say, the same feature article the following year compared brands by price range!  Who got their fingers smacked I wonder?

This of course necessitated a wee drive to Reims, Epernay and throughout the rest of the beautiful champagne region to put the tastebuds to the test! We came back from the first trip with about 100 bottles to last through the festivities of that year... You can make your own decisions as to whether we are party people or not ;-)

Since moving to Toulouse, with three messmonsters, the drive up to Champagne doesn't happen once a year anymore. But we still have our favourites from our initial selection. My personal fave being 'Forget (pronounced "Forjay" not forget) Brimont.'  Whatever you do, don't Forget it!!

I adore extra brut champagne: Those really dry bubbles with very little liqueur. How I got into adoring that is going to be the subject of this Friday's "Paris Episodes," featuring some very zany parisians with a penchant for 18th century antiques and pastels... But I digress. Forget Brimont, if you ask them two months in advance, can even supply 0% liqueur (at least they do for us, I hope I don't have to eat drink my own words later) - which I adore and which is wonderful both for apéritif and certain dinner party dishes.  Sounds dubious I know but (nodding head vigorously) "Trust me!" I've just spent the last 8 years hosting all champagne dinner parties and wine tastings. Anyone want to be invited to the next one - let me know!!

The result of all these parties has been a constantly growing fan club for Forget Brimont (and others who I will introduce you to on Friday) that now prevents us from driving our people mover to Champagne with the kids to pick it up ourselves... if you catch my drift. We nearly had to leave the poor possums in Champagne last time ;-)

And of course, I would take your order for next year... but Monsieur Brimont will have to find a new delivery company !

Well my posts are meant to be about my art, and about inspiring people. But sometimes life nudges its way back in there and there's something about a 700kg package of bubbles that I personally find inspiring anyway.

A votre santé!!