Work on finishing the kitchen continues. The wall behind the (movable) sink is now framed, with electrics in place (not shown here), waiting a non-rainy day when we can borrow a trailer to go get some wallboard.
Last week Ed commented how he hadn't really injured himself, beyond the usual sorts of knicks and bruises, while doing all this work. Oops, he spoke too soon. This week he smashed his thumb with a mallet and now has three stitches holding it together. Ouch! This has slowed work down just a bit.
This morning we went to Angoulême to order the wall-mounted faucet (rare things these days) and under-cabinet lighting, as well as the new sink counter, stainless steel with two sinks built in. We'll get the faucet and lighting in the next week or so. We're aiming for having the sink installed in the second half of July. This should give plenty of time to finish this wall off, the next section of the wall (which has no plumbing, so should go a bit faster), and—the big step—getting the new floor intalled. If the floor isn't in place when the sink is installed, it will mean cutting tiles to go around the supports, which wouldn't be fun.
Around Palm Sunday, a tradition in southwest France is cornuelles. (We thought we'd written about these before, but haven't been able to find them, so please pardon if this is a bit of a repeat.) A cornuelle is a triangular butter cookie available at all boulangeries and groceries for several weeks, up to Palm Sunday traditionally, but nowadays much later. (There were some at the boulangerie where we bought bread this morning.) They are usually about hand-sized, with a hole in the center and sugar-coated anise "sprinkles" on the corners.
Just in case you weren't sure that this was pagan symbolism, it turns out that in the town of Barbezieux they traditionally sell a pine to go with the cornuelle. We haven't seen these in person, but here is a picture borrowed from the Charente Libre article.
Over the easter weekend, we took ourselves again to the Bach à Pâques festival in St. Maixent-l'Ecole. This time we stayed only one night, and saw four concerts, so we didn't have too much time for touristing. Concerts that were supposed to be held in a local church were moved to the local auditorium because the church was too cold. Nevertheless the big evening concert was held in the abbey church, which had some heating that helped minimally. We all sat bundled up while listening to beautiful music. On the way home we passed a wind farm where you could get up close to the windmills. Usually they're behind fences.
And, of course, we can't be in this area without stopping at the beautiful romanesque church of St Hilaire at Melle. (See google images for better pictures).
The church is built into a hillside so there are steps leading down to the front door, and then down again into the nave. This is the front door from the inside:
It looks like Spring may finally be winning the battle after weeks that have been mostly cold, gray, and rainy. Sealing the leaky window in the kitchen has helped that room at lot, but we are really getting quite tired of the gloom. This afternoon the sun is trying to come out, and the forecast high for tomorrow is 25C (77F), which is truly summer weather. We are looking forward to it.
This morning we went to Angoulême to order the wall-mounted faucet (rare things these days) and under-cabinet lighting, as well as the new sink counter, stainless steel with two sinks built in. We'll get the faucet and lighting in the next week or so. We're aiming for having the sink installed in the second half of July. This should give plenty of time to finish this wall off, the next section of the wall (which has no plumbing, so should go a bit faster), and—the big step—getting the new floor intalled. If the floor isn't in place when the sink is installed, it will mean cutting tiles to go around the supports, which wouldn't be fun.
Around Palm Sunday, a tradition in southwest France is cornuelles. (We thought we'd written about these before, but haven't been able to find them, so please pardon if this is a bit of a repeat.) A cornuelle is a triangular butter cookie available at all boulangeries and groceries for several weeks, up to Palm Sunday traditionally, but nowadays much later. (There were some at the boulangerie where we bought bread this morning.) They are usually about hand-sized, with a hole in the center and sugar-coated anise "sprinkles" on the corners.
Just in case you weren't sure that this was pagan symbolism, it turns out that in the town of Barbezieux they traditionally sell a pine to go with the cornuelle. We haven't seen these in person, but here is a picture borrowed from the Charente Libre article.
Over the easter weekend, we took ourselves again to the Bach à Pâques festival in St. Maixent-l'Ecole. This time we stayed only one night, and saw four concerts, so we didn't have too much time for touristing. Concerts that were supposed to be held in a local church were moved to the local auditorium because the church was too cold. Nevertheless the big evening concert was held in the abbey church, which had some heating that helped minimally. We all sat bundled up while listening to beautiful music. On the way home we passed a wind farm where you could get up close to the windmills. Usually they're behind fences.
And, of course, we can't be in this area without stopping at the beautiful romanesque church of St Hilaire at Melle. (See google images for better pictures).
The church is built into a hillside so there are steps leading down to the front door, and then down again into the nave. This is the front door from the inside:
It looks like Spring may finally be winning the battle after weeks that have been mostly cold, gray, and rainy. Sealing the leaky window in the kitchen has helped that room at lot, but we are really getting quite tired of the gloom. This afternoon the sun is trying to come out, and the forecast high for tomorrow is 25C (77F), which is truly summer weather. We are looking forward to it.
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