The past two weeks have been interesting. The weather can’t decide if it is spring or winter. We have had some glorious days, a day of snow and some absolutely shocking stormy weather. The daffodils are up and about to flower (lots elsewhere have already flowered) my tulips are on their way up as well! Last week when I took Pat to the airport it was very windy and we knew it wasn’t going to be a pleasant flight for Pat, but when I got home I discovered our neighbour’s tree was down over the road that runs between our two houses. It also bought the phone line down. I thought that it would have cut the phone but thankfully it hadn’t, to us at least. I was also worried about not having power but that was still all ok. Our neighbour Benoit was out early on Sunday with a chain saw to remove the tree.
I’ve finished the magazine rack, not as happy with it as I would have liked but it will do the job I want it to do. The other thing I have been painting was a big blanket box which Pat had made me. I am very impressed with his ability to make this type of thing so I’ve painted it a nice soft green (the colour is a little more minty than I wanted but I still like it). This is now also in the spare room to be used as storage for the spare bed, bedding. And hopefully my sewing machine.
Blanket box before painting (well part way through undercoat)
Blanket Box after
The other crafting thing I have done this week was to “hack” a piece of Ikea furniture. I had been wondering what to do with this piece as the last couple of moves have been hard on it, with the top having been scratched. I was originally going to paint the top, but by all accounts you do need to find a good quality oil based primer, this is not easy to come by these days. So I found another idea which is covering the furniture in contact. Now for those of you who remember contact (the plastic covering that we used to cover our school books and folders in) it has come a long way since the 80’s. The patterns are better but also the plastic itself it better. So I decided for a roll or two I could try it out. I like the result. I’ve covered one of the drawer fronts – not sure if I’m going to do all of them or just leave them white. One thing I did discover this idea is so popular, someone has started a company where you can buy perfectly sized pieces of contact for your Ikea furniture, but I must admit since all you need is a good sharp craft knife, buying the contact paper and cutting it yourself, while fiddly is cheap and do-able.
 Front before – note big scratches! |
 Front after |
 The side after the contact |
 To drawer or not to drawer? |
I’m now looking for a classier design contact paper to cover our bedside tables which have also been through the wars.
Last weekend, while Pat was away I did sit down to watch the TV, not to watch TV programms but to watch a couple of old films. I’ve been re-reading Lauren Bacall’s autobiography so I decided to watch a couple of her first films (with Humphry Bogart). So I watch “To have and to have not” which is a little bit slow but good and the following night sat down to watch “The Big Sleep” which I didn’t finish. Partly because it is a slow movie but also because I realised I had seen it before. It is interesting to watch old films, they are very different to modern films. The classics stand up (such as Casablanca) but the others just feel old.
Last Friday, as Pat was away for Valentines day, we went out for lunch. We had been recommended a bistro place in a nearby village for the lunch menu. Off we went and we had a lovely lunch, starting with the soup (which wasn’t all that good), chacuterie (which was lovely), steak and chips and finishing with a crème brulee and coffee. This was served with a small jug of wine and all for the grand cost of €14 per person. We rolled out of the place, but will be back, however next time we will avoid the soup. This Friday, I was back at art classes – yah.
This weekend I’m hoping to get some of my seedlings started. I did spend some of last weekend out in the garden doing some final pruning to the wisteria. Today is not looking that great to be outside but I do need to visit the Gamm Vert to get the potting mix. I’ve also got more painting lined up for myself – for our new internal shutters for the back window. So I should have a busy weekend.
I will see you in two weeks and remember Pats blog next week – http://patblog.patb