It is bucketing down: indoors (or at least, in the atelier), as well as out. There is now a very large damp area. I doubt that M. Babin will be arriving this afternoon as promised, because no way could he check the roof in this rain.
There was a break of a few hours in the rainfall this morning. I was busy tidying the kitchen and preparing the downstairs rooms for $Friend-cleaner who will be here on Wednesday[0] when I noticed Denis in the garden, wielding secateurs. I'd pruned the rosebushes a few days ago, but not to his standard of ferocity. While chatting, I mentioned the dead car battery, and he put down the secateurs and brought round his battery-charger. It wasn't plugged in for very long before the waterfall re-commenced, and as it was by then l'Heure, the engine got rather wet before he could return to unfasten the charger and put down the bonnet. I considered going out there and doing it myself, but every time I look at the bonnet I re-live that few minutes of having my fingers trapped... ugh. Middle finger is still sore and a slightly odd shape.
The rain has stopped again, and Denis is chopping wood in the little house. I worry about him doing so much - he is over 80 - but Ginette assures me he needs things to do since he sold his vinefield, and she's glad of some peace to get on with her own work.
[0] I know it's an old joke about cleaning the house before the cleaner comes, but really I'm not cleaning: it has to be tidy, that's all!
[UPDATE] M. Babin did turn up. He thinks it's not the roof, but the guttering. Hope so, because that will be much easier to fix.
Still raining.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Into every life...
Roo the car is completely lacking electrical power, so I couldn't go to the theatre in Saint Dizant last night to see Les Saltimbanques.
Some rain fell last night, confirming that the atelier roof is definitely leaking.
I cheered myself up by re-potting Darcy in a roomier home.
Some rain fell last night, confirming that the atelier roof is definitely leaking.
I cheered myself up by re-potting Darcy in a roomier home.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Les Buzotias d'Jhonzat
Yesterday I went to the theatre.
There are several local pro-am dramatic groups in the area, and during the winter they tour the small towns. Every little town has a building used for social and leisure purposes, and each one boasts a stage with curtains and a lighting rig of sorts. The one in Saint-Dizant-du-Gua is called the Foyer Rural, and its hall is quite a size. With a population of only about one-and-a-half thousand, it seems a big place to fill, but somehow people do turn out from not just the town but the surrounding hamlets.
This performance was not expected to draw much of an audience, but even so they had to go and fetch a few more chairs. And why did the Association Culturelle think it wouldn't be popular? Because it was a revue of sketches, recitations, and songs by Les Buzotias d'Jhonzat, a troupe which performs in the Charentais dialect (known as Saintongeais in other parts of the region). Surprisingly, there were plenty of young people there, which is encouraging for the future of the dialect; the troupe itself has several child actors.
I went along out of linguistic interest and a desire to Support Your Local Culture, hoping not to fall asleep, and was surprised and pleased at how much I followed. Websearches for historical information and linguistic analyses of Charentais haven't turned up much: there are vocabularies, and a few recordings on Youtube, but a dearth of information about how and why. It's interesting to see that Cajun and Quebeçois have roots in Saintongeais, though.
Curious points:
* The 'jh' is an aspirate, which is like a softer version of the Spanish 'j' (jota).
* Where the second sound of a word in Latin was 'l', it has changed to 'i', as it has in Italian (bianc').
* The final syllable which in modern French contains '-ai' or -'oi' has retained the early pronunciation '-ouai'.
I must admit that most of what I understood was helped by the acting. They had some very good bits of business and a few pieces of clever tech.
There are several local pro-am dramatic groups in the area, and during the winter they tour the small towns. Every little town has a building used for social and leisure purposes, and each one boasts a stage with curtains and a lighting rig of sorts. The one in Saint-Dizant-du-Gua is called the Foyer Rural, and its hall is quite a size. With a population of only about one-and-a-half thousand, it seems a big place to fill, but somehow people do turn out from not just the town but the surrounding hamlets.
This performance was not expected to draw much of an audience, but even so they had to go and fetch a few more chairs. And why did the Association Culturelle think it wouldn't be popular? Because it was a revue of sketches, recitations, and songs by Les Buzotias d'Jhonzat, a troupe which performs in the Charentais dialect (known as Saintongeais in other parts of the region). Surprisingly, there were plenty of young people there, which is encouraging for the future of the dialect; the troupe itself has several child actors.
I went along out of linguistic interest and a desire to Support Your Local Culture, hoping not to fall asleep, and was surprised and pleased at how much I followed. Websearches for historical information and linguistic analyses of Charentais haven't turned up much: there are vocabularies, and a few recordings on Youtube, but a dearth of information about how and why. It's interesting to see that Cajun and Quebeçois have roots in Saintongeais, though.
Curious points:
* The 'jh' is an aspirate, which is like a softer version of the Spanish 'j' (jota).
* Where the second sound of a word in Latin was 'l', it has changed to 'i', as it has in Italian (bianc').
* The final syllable which in modern French contains '-ai' or -'oi' has retained the early pronunciation '-ouai'.
I must admit that most of what I understood was helped by the acting. They had some very good bits of business and a few pieces of clever tech.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Lemon tree
M'friends mentioned that there are small lemon trees for sale at a reduced price in the garden-shop in Pons and that they were thinking of getting one. I know I shouldn't be spending money at the moment, with windows still to pay for, but I've wanted a potted lemon tree ever since seeing Ginette's which appears to be permanently covered in fruit. So of course I said metooplease.
It's arriving tomorrow. It's quite small but already fruiting. It will have to live in the salle for the moment, until the cold nights are over.
M'friend referred to it as 'he' so perhaps it/he should have a name. I'm not sure a tiny lemon tree presents as male, though.
[Update]
It has been named Darcy (or Darcey), with thanks to Oxford Reader. You can think of it as an elegantly handsome Austen character or an elegantly beautiful Principal Ballerina.
Ten lemons on such a tiny plant!
It's arriving tomorrow. It's quite small but already fruiting. It will have to live in the salle for the moment, until the cold nights are over.
M'friend referred to it as 'he' so perhaps it/he should have a name. I'm not sure a tiny lemon tree presents as male, though.
[Update]
It has been named Darcy (or Darcey), with thanks to Oxford Reader. You can think of it as an elegantly handsome Austen character or an elegantly beautiful Principal Ballerina.
Ten lemons on such a tiny plant!
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
On seeing the first lizards of Spring
Gardening today. Oh, joy! Baby lizards scampering over the walls, and bumblebees lumbering around the early flowers. It's so good to see the daffodil and lily-of-the-valley leaves growing tall, and the rosebushes covered in new growth.
Shame about the bluebottles getting into the house, but I feel kindly even toward them in the warm sunshine.
Shame about the bluebottles getting into the house, but I feel kindly even toward them in the warm sunshine.
Saturday, February 05, 2011
A Wurzel moment
There's a tractor in the garden.
Neighbour Denis looked at all that old wood from the Atelier-space (beams and planks and such) and offered to put it through his big saw next time he was cutting up their firewood. He thought there was enough to last through the spring without having to buy any more logs. Excellent! The wood had been moved into the little-house-across-the-lane; he collected a load of it, the saw did its noisy work, and then he brought round a load of woodburner-sized pieces of pine and aged oak. To get the wood to the storage area on the terrace he had to drive the tractor and trailer over the mint lawn. It smells wonderful out there.
... I drove my tractor through your mint-lawn last night
Oo-ar-oo-ar ...
Neighbour Denis looked at all that old wood from the Atelier-space (beams and planks and such) and offered to put it through his big saw next time he was cutting up their firewood. He thought there was enough to last through the spring without having to buy any more logs. Excellent! The wood had been moved into the little-house-across-the-lane; he collected a load of it, the saw did its noisy work, and then he brought round a load of woodburner-sized pieces of pine and aged oak. To get the wood to the storage area on the terrace he had to drive the tractor and trailer over the mint lawn. It smells wonderful out there.
... I drove my tractor through your mint-lawn last night
Oo-ar-oo-ar ...
The Atelier is usable
When I returned from England I sent off the acceptance of M. Babin's quotation for insulating the roof of the Atelier (which is the back half of the house, and used to be a haybarn and stable). Three days later I was startled to get a call from the friend who had recommended him, saying he'd be over the following morning to clear out the wood and chipboard and old beams and ancient electrical rubbish, so that the scaffolding could be put up in the afternoon ready to start work the next day.
I'd thought it would be a couple of months later. Panic checking of savings accounts! And oh woe, the pound had nosedived again. There was no choice but to empty the savings and transfer it all, at a depressing exchange rate.
For two weeks there has been scaffolding inside the house (yes, the ceiling is that high) and I've had to get up before sunrise to let them in. They have finished now, and there is a big gloriously empty space with an echo which is a bit over the top. When the sun shines I can open the shutters, and then it becomes golden-warm. The view to the west is lovely.
Now all it needs is the music.
I'd thought it would be a couple of months later. Panic checking of savings accounts! And oh woe, the pound had nosedived again. There was no choice but to empty the savings and transfer it all, at a depressing exchange rate.
For two weeks there has been scaffolding inside the house (yes, the ceiling is that high) and I've had to get up before sunrise to let them in. They have finished now, and there is a big gloriously empty space with an echo which is a bit over the top. When the sun shines I can open the shutters, and then it becomes golden-warm. The view to the west is lovely.
Now all it needs is the music.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)