Hello again! My Mum went home today. It felt like she lived just next door, rather than in a different country, since she left in the morning and we spoke on the phone mid-afternoon once she had arrived. I had a really nice time with her and wish we did live a little closer. The last two days of her stay were spent trying to make a decent chair cover from the "toile" I had already made of my wonderful leather club chair. Now this chair has a story = it was found in the street in Versailles by my friend when I lived in a studio flat in Paris. He knew I was poor and furnitureless and besides he still lived with his Mum, and so he bought me the chair in his Renault 5 (boot door open of course) and I adopted the club and we lived happily together until I moved in with me man and he reckoned that over a square metre of floor space was wasted on the club. A tug of war ensued and usually the chair and I won. Then in one flat the club was relegated to the cellar and at that point another friend who shared my love of it offered to take it off my hands. I reluctantly agreed (because I think generosity is worth working at!). Goodbye dear chair. I resigned myself to a life without and many (a couple of) years passed. But then fate took a unforseeable twist when our friend too moved and decided that a square metre was too much space for this particular seat. Lets face it, Parisian rent per square metre is indeed extortionate. And we had just moved and so the club reentered my life. Reentered my life trashed by his cat. I left an old chair in good condition and got back a mess. But, a mess that was just as comfortable to sit on as before. Hence... I am making a new cover for it. Hum. Tea awaits! to be continued!
My Mum is here visting and so today I took her to that amazing market I mentioned to explore further. We each came home with some beautiful fabric (and left some behind too, sniff) and further on we found a stall selling notions for a pittance. I now have a confession to make which is that I love zips! Not to wear - I just love making things with zips in and I love finding old colourful zips in shops. At this stall there were boxes and boxes of zips at less than a quarter of the price I usually pay. So of course I came home with 12 of them, as you do. And I probably won't be able to resist going back for more very soon. I am also a fan of rainbow colours.
Ah... mon marché m'a révelé encore de ses profondeurs aujourd'hui lorsque j'y suis allée avec ma maman qui est de visite. Non seulement on a trouvé encore du tissu merveilleux mais j'ai acheté une douzaine de fermetures éclairs pour le prix de deux en mercerie normale. Mon paradis à moi.
I have just read about Meat Free Monday. A really good idea, fairly easy to implement, which would have a very positive effect if everyone did! The kids and I had a MFM without even trying - Lentils, rice and green beans for lunch and vegetable soup and baguette for tea. Yum! OK most of our days are meat free but still...
One of my new local friends has shown me the most amazing market not too far from our new home. It's big, it's loud, it's cheap, it's multi-ethnic, it has a fabric stall (any 3m of pre-cut fabric for 10€). It's fabulous and will be part of my week from now on.
Le site est en anglais mais l'idée est internationale - Pas de viande le lundi!! De quoi aider à réduire les émissions de CO² émises par les animaux que nous mangeons.
Une nouvelle amie m'a fait découvrir un marché à côté de chez nous. Hourrah!! Enfin, un marché grand, bruyant, pas cher, multi-ethnique qui de plus a un marchand de tissus!! 10€ le coupon de 3m.
Lunch:(I made the most amazing discovery this lunchtime...)
Mix wholemeal flour + salt with water. Knead for a while, let sit for a while. Divide into little balls and roll into little pancakes. Cook on both sides in a dry, preheated, frying pan for a few minutes and voilà you have chapati (indian bread).
Mash some cooked chickpeas with a fork and add to taste some olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, powdered cumin and (my fave if you have it) smoked paprika. Mix a bit. Fill the chapati with a smear of mango chutney, some avocado slices, lots of fresh coriander and the chickpea mush described above.
Roll it all up, eat and enjoy!!
Ce midi j'ai fait une découverte incroyable...
Mélanger un peu de farine complète avec du sel et de l'eau. Petrir un peu, laisser reposer un peu. Former de petites boules et en faire des ronds fins avec un rouleau à pâtisserie. Cuire les ronds sur chaque côté dans une poèle pré-chauffée sans matière grasse. Voilà! Chapati! (pains indiens).
Ecraser des pois chiches et mélanger avec (au pif) de l'huile d'olive, du sel, du poivre, du jus de citron, du cumin en poudre et (super si vous l'avez) du paprika fumé.
Tartiner du "mango chutney" sur un chapati, empiler avec des tranches d'avocat, du coriandre frais et le mélange aux pois chiches.
Enrouler, manger, rêver!
I have created a really nice sewing space up on the top floor of our new house. There is a skylight just above my desk and I rescued a nice vintage formica cupboard which had been abandoned by at least two previous owners of the house in the shed outside but which now holds all my sewing related odds and ends at arm's reach. It is the first time I have had a dedicated area for my sewing where I can leave things out and I have been making the most of it. I have recently finished a blouse and skirt for me, a bag commissioned by a friend, a pair of trousers for my son and a pair of cargo shorts for him too. He hasn't wanted to stand still for a photo but you get the idea from the above...Update... I actually gave these shorts to my friend for her son so I will have to make a new pair and i'll talk about them more when I have.
I am finding it difficult to get the blogging ball rolling again as it were. Must get a routine going.
Tout le monde pense que nous avons acheté notre nouvelle maison pour faire le troisième enfant (nous avons quatre chambres). Mais en fait la quatrième chambre, que nous avons surnommée "l'appart" car elle est grande et ressemble à un studio d'étudiant, est notre pièce préférée de la maison et je pense qu'on aurait vraiment du mal à le lacher. Située sous les combles, elle est mansardée et fait toute la largeur de la maison - une grande espace donc pour laquelle nous avons envisagée une double fonction - salle télé et studio de création. D'un côté nous avons mis la télé et nos DVDs (pas de télé au RC = moins de temps passé à le regarder) et de l'autre côté, sous une fenêtre vélux, nous avons mis mon bureau et tout mon bazar de couture. Au milieu, à côté de la fenêtre, nous avons installé un chevalet pour peindre.
Bref (bon j'essayerai en tout cas d'être brève)... cette espace a donné une nouvelle vie à ma passion de la couture. J'ai réalisé beaucoup de projets depuis que nous sommes là et je compte les présenter ici. Seul problème, j'ai du mal à me remettre dans l'esprit d'une bloggeuse dévouée...
Récemment j'avais terminé un short hyper-mignon pour mon fils (en photo ci-dessus) Il va falloir que j'en fasse un autre car je viens de le donner à ma copine pour son fils! J'en parlerai plus avec de meilleures photos à ce moment-là.
Did I really write a post that long and boring about a chair?!! Gosh sorry about that. Getting back to the point therefore... I had made a "toile" (i.e. a mock cover in cheap fabric) but was putting off tweaking the design and cutting into the real fabric and my Mum helped me get my act together. It was only while doing it that I realised my procrastination was a blessing in disguise because it is much easier to manipulate so much fabric when there are two of you. Also my Mum really helped me with the construction detail and I was glad to have her experience on my side. You can see the finished cover above and I am very pleased with it. You can also see our new statue on the mantelpiece - it's made out of resin and was cast from the original Modigliani. My orchid is rather nice too...
This next photo is of the scene just over my shoulder... The link above has lots more photos. Go there next time you are in Paris.
