Groove is in the Heart: Pastoral, Idyllic even

I had thought to give a daily update on our progress here, and there are two reasons I haven't done that. The first is, I don't know how to take photos very well and Katja has been under the weather for the past day and half, so there isn't much good photographic evidence of our hard work. The second reason is that we have been so damn busy with this painting project that by the end of the days I've been too pooped to write. Today however, we finished the major push we wanted to get done. The living room/dining room area, the stairway and the upstairs landing walls have all received the first coat of the shade chosen by Sheila; and it looks damn good.

Yesterday we bought new rollers and some other goodies and the new rollers turned out to be really good so most of the work we did today will stand and we'll only need to go over some patches where the white base still comes through a little. On the whole, all four of us, who all worked a good 7 hour day, are very pleased with the results of our efforts. We had a lovely light meal of roasted Salmon and fresh beans, and I've had a couple of Chimays (which are damn cheap here... why are they 7 dollars a bottle by us?) and it's still 75F outside (9:30p). And so, I write.

The paint shop screwed up the tint order and we had to take it back and wait a day. So yesterday, instead of doing what we did today, I covered the upstairs area with a second coat of base in an attempt to further conceal the hideous orange that you see in the shot of the staircase; believe me, it is/was much worse in person. Katja and I also had a chance to wander through Fontenay-le-comte yesterday. We saw the church (Romanesque, early 15th c., crypt built in 11th c. on remnants of Roman temple), and made our way through the charming streets, admiring the surprisingly well preserved architecture. After our short afternoon walk we described what we saw to my folks and apparently we've seen more of their new surroundings than they have. New homeownership = more damn work than anyone can be prepared for.

Life here is pastoral. There are chickens across the street who politely wait until half-past eight every morning to remind the neighborhood of their presence. An old woman cruises the neighborhood each evening, selecting the best of each yard's fruits and berries as she goes -- you can almost set your watch to her walk. An owl has taken up residence nearby and hoots his presence nightly and in fact throughout the day as well. Some frogs have just started in on a good croak, and, as this is the countryside, there are the ever-present flies. Truly idyllic. Arthur Dent would certainly love to settle down here if weren't for all the Frenchies he'd have to deal with. And the complete lack of good English tea - outside of my parents home that is.