The Comeback Trail

Posted in France, randomTagged , ,

Here you go, a more-than-slightly over-edited shot of the back garden on this rainy day. Jacques shines, as always.

Well. I was in Paris, then I came back here and got sick. So, long time, no blog. I’m well now, no worries.

Paris was newly open, which was a blessing, but no one had restocked, so it was a bit sad. Toward the end of the visit deliveries had been made and people were out. Things had picked up a bit.

I have to think about the direction I want this blog to take. I have a couple of projects to do this summer, but that’s it. My blog’s original reason for being — documenting the renovations — will be no more.

The thing is, I like you guys, so I want to keep writing something. But do you really want to read about my daily life? I sew, I knit, I garden, I brush the dog. Classic old lady stuff. Local politics, no, too boring. My current rabbit hole, my piano lessons, no, crazy boring to anyone but me. Or the other rabbit hole, chess: no, please no. So, must find a way to refocus. Right now it’s all a mystery.

25 thoughts on “The Comeback Trail”

  1. Hi Lynn. Always a cheer to see your blog. Yes , things change but new things fun too. Especially outdoor/garden news. J, of course! I want to see more if you, home, village as I count on visiting in the future. Keep them coming. Agree, no chess posts, but then maybe I have things to learn about! Ciao! Susan

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    1. Susan! What a wonderful surprise. Yes, absolutely, the door is always open to you. Then maybe we can toddle up to Copenhagen, see how things are going with Asa.

      So okay, I’ll work it out. After I published this, I thought of something the Dalai Lama said. Maybe something like what he said, but you get the idea. If you get bored or think you’ve done a thing to death, you probably just need to look at it more closely. I’ll look at life around here a little more closely, see what turns up.

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  2. Please don’t disappear completely – enjoy yourself as much as you can, and things will happen that are bloggable now and then. Your garden is looking like a garden now!

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    1. Thank you. Actually I enjoy every day very much. I just wonder how I might write about it in a way that is enjoyable for others. I’m glad you like the garden. You didn’t even see the best part. I visited my peaches today. White peaches. If they actually ripen — many’s the slip — I may not have the patience to strain them for bellinis. I’ll be too excited, finally, peaches, and eat them right there at the tree.

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    1. Thank you. If I get too lost in the minutia — I got all excited about a jacket pattern today, as if you can’t just buy one and as if I don’t already have too many — just nudge me out of the rabbit hole. Now I’ll just step out for that packet of cigarettes.

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      1. Have you tried the Shetland wool shawl patterns? I span the wool, lent it and the patterns and never saw either again. You could pass a shetland shawl through a ring…..

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        1. Where are they? I’d love to see. Plus I have a friend who goes to Shetland Wool Week every single year. I can ask her about it.

          The whole pattern sales thing is becoming quite the cottage industry. Ravelry has become a platform for independent spinners, dyers and pattern makers. I guess for most it’s not enough to make a living, but certainly enough to make it worthwhile.

          Now that I’m well I can pick up the shawl I was working on. Linen, so not the same kind of thing at all, in this incredible grayed purple. Sounds awful, but gorgeous and when I saw the name, Byzantium, I knew I had to make something with it. The yarn is American, the pattern is Finnish and I’m here in France, grateful to the Internet for making it so much easier to find these things.

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          2. She just accused you of being Irish, Tom, and not in a nice way. Me, my family is Scots-Irish, so I’m officially neutral. But if I weren’t, I’d say she actually quite likes you. Hmm-hmm.

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          3. Now don’t tell him I said so, but he is a delightful chap and I shall always be grateful for his kindness and encouragement when my husband was very ill….but a man who cannot track down a bottle of Powers Three Swallows with all the liquor stores available to him…well! Nuff said.

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          5. Oh, and we were being nice. So what do you have, there in private, that’s better than a bit of Three Swallows or that armagnac that I just picked up in Toulouse? Gotta wonder…

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          6. You guys are fierce. I need to find a really good but affordable armagnac. Prices here are reeeeediculous. My choices are Knob Creek bourbon, Jack D Tennessee whiskey, Remy VSOP for casual cognac and I am not an educated Scotch drinker but I have a jug of McCallan 15 and some JW Blue. Top shelf I’ve got a couple XO cognacs.

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          7. Not bad. You should be able to find some solace in that.

            If I find an armagnac that is actually affordable, though. I’ll keep it for myself. At that shop in Toulouse, the armagnac was chained down; my 90-euro bottle was one of the cheaper options. When I chose it, the guy clipped the chain. What I thought was a display bottle was actually all they had. Top price? I forget but maybe upwards of 400 euros? My single-malt habit has become a bargain.

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  4. I have to admit that Jacques brought me to your blog. Since then there’s been so much more I’ve enjoyed and I would be despondent if you disappeared. Look at it this way: your activities in France and elsewhere in Europe are pretty exotic for folks whose day-to-day calendar takes place in Southern California. Everything from gardening to construction and from rug negotiating to pizza ovens is very interesting even if they seem pedestrian to you. So I’m with Madame Devries (it hurts to admit that but sometimes one must…😈) and encourage you to write when you want on whatever topic amuses you at the moment provided, of course, that we get regular Jacques updates.

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    1. Really? I led the exact same life in California. It’s just that here the surroundings are nicer. Plus, well, it rains here, and I had a different dog. And a series of smaller houses. And different husbands, come to think of it, but maybe we’re straying into TMI territory. I’m one of those people that detectives know they can find because wherever they go, they always turn up in the exact same places.

      I can’t have you being despondent. Besides, I need your gardening tips. So, thanks. I’ll work it out. I couldn’t do without you and Helen.

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      1. Good. We, and many others, want you around. And come to think of it, you are 100% right: except for housing, canines, husbands, weather, and overall quality of life things ae indeed exactly…the…same! Miracle!

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  5. Personally I love reading about the banal daily stuff. That you tried an olive oil that was great, or found a wine at a great price. And what your sewing and why and where you got the fabric. What I like about blogging is we find people we actually have points in common with other than accident of geographical proximity.

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    1. Oh, be careful what you wish for. I’ve got banal daily stuff going on, every single day. I’ll see what I can do to make it seem somewhat interesting. Thanks.

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  6. “Mr. Wonderful Died” . Those are the words that resonated with me and began my vicarious journey with you. You see, my own “Mr. Wonderful ” had up and died as well and I was desperate for something…anything…to make me feel as if I could breathe again. I was fascinated by your bravery and your willingness to share everything you’d gone through and all the adventures you were beginning. While I watched your journey silently from a distance, I now must join the others in asking that you continue sharing your most extraordinary life. You truly never know who you might reach and what a difference it might make for another who’s suffering and looking for a reason to keep going.

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    1. Thank you. You guys are so nice to me. You have no idea how much it means to me. So now I’m looking at everything as if it were a story. I have three in mind, so yes, there is more to come. If you get bored just kick my butt. If I don’t like the comment I’ll unapproved it, but I will always pay attention. Thanks again.

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  7. I love reading about other peoples’ lives in France – mine turned out to be much more banal that I imagined it would be!! But I still blog about its banality (when I remember!!)

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    1. My life has been a lot of things, but rarely boring. And my definition of banal often differs from that of others. So please, as I keep hearing on Youtube, like and subscribe. I’ll keep figuring out things to write about. Thanks.

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