Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Monday 16 December 2007
To market, to market to buy a Christmas tree. N went and fetched a good big one yesterday morning, which we have put in the salon in front of the French windows as last year, but as it is so tall have moved the sofa sideways, as we had thought of doing when the piano comes here. The tree smells lovely, and we had fun decorating it yesterday afternoon, also a couple of smaller artificial trees and decorative candles.
There are more and more decorations in the village too; this will be the third year we have seen them as they were all here when we arrived almost exactly two years ago. The street lights have been up for some time, now joined by two big fir trees either side of the church door and the life-size crèche and manger in the market place, with Mary and Joseph in their second-hand polyester garments as usual. Shops are decorated too, in particular the hairdressers, (I complimented them when I went to make an appointment) the boulangerie and the traiteur.
When N came back from the market with the tree he said that all the stalls were "huddled" together - when I went along later I could see this new arrangement; the fish man said what did I expect, it was cold; and the fruit & veg man said last week they had to give up and go home as the stall almost blew away. (We had noticed reports of storms in Normandy while we were in Paris.) I was buying some wonderful large and sticky soft dates; I'd had some three weeks ago when last visiting the market, and was pleased to find there were some left. Dates and clementines are our constant and very seasonal « dessert » at the moment.
Temperatures are very low at present; typically -4 or -5 degrees first thing in the morning and not much higher later. There is ice on the water butts and watering cans all day. On our newest rhododendron nearest the verandah door there is a large fat icicle, which we think is as a result of the steam coming from the heating chimney above. This is an « Albert Schweitzer » rhododendron; last week N confused me by referring to it as Albert Einstein; I said I thought neither of them would be flattered by the comparison, he said on the contrary both should be very flattered.
On Sunday we lit the fire as usual, although we had also lit it on the day we arrived back last week to warm us and the house up, and because it was nice having tea and reading all our Christmas correspondence in front of it. After lunch we began reading «The Box of Delights«, N’s choice and a book I have never come across before. It’s not that easy to follow, and reminds me of so many other children’s stories - « The Snow Queen », « The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe », various E Nesbit stories, and Harry Potter, to name but a few. As the story culminates on Christmas Day, I think we shall have to have a few extra token Sunday readings, so as to finish it on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and not be reading it through various Sundays in January.
It’s very pleasant and a little unusual to have all presents and cards finished and done with so early! The presents we have received are under our tree, and I am enjoying receiving cards from friends who have received and answered my Christmas letter and who are sending their own! In Cambridge it was lovely to receive cards of course, often posted through the door from friends nearby, but they are all the more special when they have come over the sea, and contain news from people I haven’t seen for some time, and not heard from since last Christmas.
N is still spending a lot of his time on researching adverts for apartments, both in magazines and on the internet, still occasionally changing his mind about exactly what he wants and needs and about which areas are best. It’s all we can do at the moment - until the holidays are over and we are back in Saint-Denis - but I don’t think any research into suitable areas will be wasted - we both already know a lot more about the geography of the western Paris suburbs than we did, and will doubtless know even more by the time we have finished. He has also had fun re-arranging the theme from the Wallace and Gromit films for trumpet and piano, in response to a Christmas request from his granddaughter Iona. This involved buying a book over the internet called « Movie Themes You Have Always Wanted to Play » some of which he might even play on the piano!
After knitting and sewing various small Christmas items, including some fabric napkin rings for the apartment at Saint-Denis, I have returned to my long-term project - a rose-patterned cushion which had lain unfinished in my sewing trunk for many years. It went into store when I moved from Cambridge and has been upstairs in the sewing room ever since, but was re-started when I finished the red sampler, and should keep me busy for a long time to come.
I am now half-way though reading the final volume of Les Thibault, trying to make it last! There will be two editions of The London Review of Books to catch up with before I start on anything new.
To market, to market to buy a Christmas tree. N went and fetched a good big one yesterday morning, which we have put in the salon in front of the French windows as last year, but as it is so tall have moved the sofa sideways, as we had thought of doing when the piano comes here. The tree smells lovely, and we had fun decorating it yesterday afternoon, also a couple of smaller artificial trees and decorative candles.
There are more and more decorations in the village too; this will be the third year we have seen them as they were all here when we arrived almost exactly two years ago. The street lights have been up for some time, now joined by two big fir trees either side of the church door and the life-size crèche and manger in the market place, with Mary and Joseph in their second-hand polyester garments as usual. Shops are decorated too, in particular the hairdressers, (I complimented them when I went to make an appointment) the boulangerie and the traiteur.
When N came back from the market with the tree he said that all the stalls were "huddled" together - when I went along later I could see this new arrangement; the fish man said what did I expect, it was cold; and the fruit & veg man said last week they had to give up and go home as the stall almost blew away. (We had noticed reports of storms in Normandy while we were in Paris.) I was buying some wonderful large and sticky soft dates; I'd had some three weeks ago when last visiting the market, and was pleased to find there were some left. Dates and clementines are our constant and very seasonal « dessert » at the moment.
Temperatures are very low at present; typically -4 or -5 degrees first thing in the morning and not much higher later. There is ice on the water butts and watering cans all day. On our newest rhododendron nearest the verandah door there is a large fat icicle, which we think is as a result of the steam coming from the heating chimney above. This is an « Albert Schweitzer » rhododendron; last week N confused me by referring to it as Albert Einstein; I said I thought neither of them would be flattered by the comparison, he said on the contrary both should be very flattered.
On Sunday we lit the fire as usual, although we had also lit it on the day we arrived back last week to warm us and the house up, and because it was nice having tea and reading all our Christmas correspondence in front of it. After lunch we began reading «The Box of Delights«, N’s choice and a book I have never come across before. It’s not that easy to follow, and reminds me of so many other children’s stories - « The Snow Queen », « The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe », various E Nesbit stories, and Harry Potter, to name but a few. As the story culminates on Christmas Day, I think we shall have to have a few extra token Sunday readings, so as to finish it on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and not be reading it through various Sundays in January.
It’s very pleasant and a little unusual to have all presents and cards finished and done with so early! The presents we have received are under our tree, and I am enjoying receiving cards from friends who have received and answered my Christmas letter and who are sending their own! In Cambridge it was lovely to receive cards of course, often posted through the door from friends nearby, but they are all the more special when they have come over the sea, and contain news from people I haven’t seen for some time, and not heard from since last Christmas.
N is still spending a lot of his time on researching adverts for apartments, both in magazines and on the internet, still occasionally changing his mind about exactly what he wants and needs and about which areas are best. It’s all we can do at the moment - until the holidays are over and we are back in Saint-Denis - but I don’t think any research into suitable areas will be wasted - we both already know a lot more about the geography of the western Paris suburbs than we did, and will doubtless know even more by the time we have finished. He has also had fun re-arranging the theme from the Wallace and Gromit films for trumpet and piano, in response to a Christmas request from his granddaughter Iona. This involved buying a book over the internet called « Movie Themes You Have Always Wanted to Play » some of which he might even play on the piano!
After knitting and sewing various small Christmas items, including some fabric napkin rings for the apartment at Saint-Denis, I have returned to my long-term project - a rose-patterned cushion which had lain unfinished in my sewing trunk for many years. It went into store when I moved from Cambridge and has been upstairs in the sewing room ever since, but was re-started when I finished the red sampler, and should keep me busy for a long time to come.
I am now half-way though reading the final volume of Les Thibault, trying to make it last! There will be two editions of The London Review of Books to catch up with before I start on anything new.
# posted by Chez Katherine @ 6:27 AM 
