The Delights of Upholstery

It came, it finally came. It was on order for over a month. If you order something in July, it cannot arrive before the end of august, even if it is coming from china where presumably they work during that month. Auguist is sacred in France. It is the month of the vacation. No work gets done, no one returns your phone calls, no permits are issued, and no chairs arrive. However, on the 28th of august, my recliner turned up at Conforama in beziers. I am presently sitting in it, writing this short blog entry. I have not had a piece of soft furniture since I left my previous rental, in mid-June, unless you count my bed which is actually not very soft (but pretty, see photo). Its an enormous pleasure to sit in a cushy chair which can be reclined enough to take a nap.

Managing to get a recliner was not easy. I found this chair several months ago, but my new house would not be closing for a month or more, so I didn't try to buy it. When I went back, it wasn't there. Meanwhile I looked at other furniture stores, and on the internet, and there were the most ghastly recliners you could possibly imagine, making the worst of american recliners look positively elegant, beer refrigerators and all. The recliners on offer were also not comfortable. The furniture situation here is pretty dire. New furniture looks like stuff from a 1980's discount outlet, and the old stuff certainly walks by night. There is not much antique furniture from the sofa and chair period, as all of europe suffered greatly from two world wars, and wasn't making much furniture as there was no one to buy it. Nothing was thrown away either, as there was no money to buy more, so upholstered furniture was basically work out. I have been able to buy some nice old handmade wooden furniture, and there is an abundance of marble topped night stands -- I own 5 at the moment, and only one bed. I'm using a nightstand for a desk, the drop down shelf where the chamber pot goes has a nice storage area, just don't think too hard about what used to live in there.

The house is coming along fine. Of course, the mason and the architect took august off, so i'm not much further along with those things, but I've got the kitchen almost ready to install the new sink, and I've partially stripped the front door and some of the painted over floor tiles upstairs -- they are tomettes, very like mexican pavers but quite thick, and about 150 years old. Makes a huge difference to get the red paint off. I discovered that the proper method is first stripper, then hydrochloric acid, and they look very good after sealing with linseed oil and turpentine. Photos of the floor, and the door with the left side done and the right side in progress are included for your viewing pleasure. I've done some work in the garden, its much improved but I could work on it for years. I also figured out that my cave (the basement) will be a fantastic big workshop. It is as large as the house footprint, and has power. The house is built against the hillside, so the cave is not actually underground, only part of it is. Its dry and will be good storage and working area for power tools, etc. It has stone walls and a dirt and stone floor, so it isn't terribly clean, but it can be fixed up a bit. Its actually the living floor of a much older house, I probably mentioned that, and has the outline of the old fireplace and various places where you can see that there were beams supporting sleeping platforms, etc. I don't know how old it actually is, as it may be on top of yet another building. The way the floor is higher in the middle I think there may be another vaulted room underneath. This entire property was at one time covered with houses and buildings, and was probably part of the chateau or the abbey. Must get around to digging for treasure.

Had a bat in my bedroom last week. I had left the light on and gone to another room, and when I came back it was flitting back and forth, no doubt entered chasing a bug. While I stood there trying to figure out what to do, it went back out the window. I should mention that I have no screens. No one does except english people with holiday homes. So stuff comes in. Only once have I had a mosquito (!) which I assume could be partly due to the fact that there are a lot of bats and swallows, but I do belong to the Scorpion A Day Club, which is exactly what it sounds like. Most days I find a scorpion in the house. Some days are special and there are two. I haven't had three yet. I believe in a former blog I explained that they aren't particularly dangerous, like a bad beesting, but I don't plan to get stung. They are very easy to remove and relocate with a glass and a piece of thin cardboard.

I think fall is coming. It was very hot most of august, a week ago it was 43 degrees centigrade, which is around 100 I think, but the last couple of days have been like a typical san diego day, warm with a cool breeze, and in the morning I put on a long sleeve shirt. My vegetable garden by the river has provided many eggplants, peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes, and seems to be getting ready to do a second big harvest. When it gets too hot it slows down, but the frig is still full.

The recliner inspires me to find a couple of other soft furnishings, so I may make the trip to Ikea in montpellier for a small sofa and a couple more chairs. They will probably have to be ordered .....