bag 'n' trash -- home of monster yarn

V is for ...

Vaux Sur Mer

when i go to France, Vaux sur Mer (Vaux on the Sea) is where i ultimately end up.  it's where i spent my summers as a teenager, and where my parents have retired.  In the winter, it's quiet and a little depressing.  half of the shops are closed, many of the houses are inoccupied, and the skies are gray. during the months of June, July and August, though, it's vacation-o-rama (ohh another "V" word) when tourists from all over europe come for the beaches.

the beaches ... right.  i don't have a picture of the beach. 

sorry.  alrighty ... that's "V." 

 

Eye Candy Friday

i have off from work today.  yay!  which means that i'm actually home during daylight hours so i'll be able to take some pictures.  in the meantime, for eye candy friday, i'm going back into my trusty bag of pictures from france.  what am i going to do when i run out?

Hollyhocks

h

roses tremieres, or hollyhocks, grow all over the place in the department of charente-maritime where my parents live. 

while looking for some information about them for this post, i learned that they're grown in the US as well.   this surprised me since to me they're so quintessentially charentais, like oysters, houses covered in white stucco, with red tile roofs and blue shutters, cognac and pineau, and ugly plaid slippers.

Q is for

QUAY

so i've been screwing around with this post for over a week now.  i had "q" down weeks before that, but i haven't been able to write anything that doesn't sound forced and stupidly encyclopedic to accompany these photographs.

english was never my best subject in school, but that just means that i got A-/B+ instead of A's. my writing is utilitarian, grammatically ok, and just perfect for writing up lab reports, work memos, and scientific papers.    a few years back, i took a creative nonfiction writing class at grub street and didn't make a total fool out of myself -- a very brave thing for me.  since starting this blog, however, i realize that my writing compared to others really just sucks.  like there's some sort of funnel between my wordless thoughts and the part of my brain that puts those thoughts into words through my fingers onto the computer screen.  i'm an excellent and very fast typist so it's clearly that part between my emotional thoughts/feelings and forming words based on those thoughts that is all muddled.

of course none of this has anything to do with my post.  or these pictures. 

see, when i try to get back to this post, i've got "nothing."

even this picture is all out of focus.  kind of like my brain.  by the way, this is a bouquiniste's (secondhand bookseller's) stall. 

they sell old magazines, and newspapers, paintings and prints, photos, gentlemen's publications (cover the children's eyes!).  great old stuff from as early as the turn of the last century if you're willing to take the time to browse.  i find them to be a little sad, and am amazed that these guys actually manage to make a living especially since most have resisted filling up their space with plastic eiffel towers and cheap t-shirts.

Neutrals

Saturday Sky

yeah yeah i know.  yet again...another france picture.

Eye Candy Friday

N is for ....

NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL

i'll let you read about notre dame, because everytime i go, i'm rendered speachless speechless (and totally freakin' unable to spell).  i only wish my photos could convey the awesomeness that is this architectural marvel.

Saturday Sky

Oh, Right ... The Haul

sorry, i got distracted by the ABC-Along.  i had some serious catching up to do.

so the haul.  i did bring stuff home.

i brought home some pottery

this cute little chicken ...

and this sponge-brillo pad "hut"  and matching butter dish.

 

oh.. right, you don't want to see this crap...

so the yarn -- like i said before, i found very little but i couldn't leave one store without buying these three little skeins of italian cotton.  i loved the colors.  they'll be good for MDK inspired warshrags.

i also bought some beads.  these from the crafty shop where the lady didn't mind me taking pictures.

and these from la droguerie.  yes, i had the NERVE to pick up the jar that these shell beads were housed. 

and finally, the books.  OOOHHHH BOOKS.

of course i had to get the current issue of marie claires idees (and the special edition of prima -- another crafty mag).

and then i went a little nuts...

i love the title of this series of books...

Shhhhh.. I'm creating. (or  SHUT UP, I'M MAKING SHIT)

i got two -- one that uses every day sewing notions for making jewelery and other decorative items.  and one that uses beads and buttons for jewelery.

 

i also got a book on red embroidery.  this one reminded me of some of the japanese craft books we've been seeing.

then there's this one on crochet trims, and another put out by the people of DMC.

 

and last but not least, a couple of knitting books/mags.

 

and of course, i've told you about  the chocolate.

Eye Candy Friday

place des vosges

M is for ....

old minis

old mini parked in front of a new mini

(oops! not a mini)

someone else's mini

my mini

L is for ....

LA TREMBLADE....

located in the departement of Charente-Maritime, La Tremblade is a small town situated on the banks of the Seudre, an estuary of the Atlantic.  my fantasy of living in a small town was feuled by summers spent hanging out with my cousins.  oyster farming along with tourism is the primary industry of the region.

Saturday Sky

this sky overlooked the place de la bastille and the opera bastille.

Look What I Found

j found this old wheel wedged between a dusty plastic plant and other junk in my parents' garage.  apparently it belonged to my father's great-grandmother (i think) and my father rescued it when the house he was born in was sold and needed to be emptied out of generations worth of junk.  for some reason, my father thought to rescue this little gem.

   

 
  it's very small, it probably reaches no higher than slightly above my knees.  anyway, i know nothing about the type of wheel this is, what kind of wood (although my guess is oak) and whether or not it's missing any pieces.  for that reason, i left it in france.  my father plans on digging it out of the garage, cleaning it up and setting it up in the living room.  someday it will be mine at which point i'll have it restored if necessary.

pretty cool, huh.

Two Hundred and Eighty Seven

the title of my post refers to the number of steps it takes to get to the top of the arc de triomphe.  doesn't sound like much, but i'm old and fat.  and it was hot.  and all i could hope for is that it would be well worth it.

Black Sheep Have You Any Wool?

so ... the yarn...

there was none. 

or not much. 

before leaving for france i did my research and had a list of yarn shops that i needed to visit.  granted i didn't visit all of the shops on my list.  but those i did, were a disappointment. 

there were several phildars listed in paris.  i wasn't unable to find one.  they were gone.  poof.  even the one that used to be close to my brother's place ... it's now a trendy boutique for women who wear no larger than a size 2.  (hey skinny bitch with fake dark red hair that looks fake and scary dark tan -- i will eat you -- so don't even look at me that way).  another little shop that i found was closed for friggin' lunch until 3pm (i dropped by at 1).

i did stop by la droguerie but after getting yelled at for not knowing the rules about purchasing beads ... DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TAKE THE JARS OF BEADS OFF OF THE SHELVES!!!! ... i wasn't about to start looking too closely at the yarn.  i did manage to get this photo before catching another earful about taking photos of the inside of the store.  (i was being watched and for some reason -- my rusty french language skills, not wanting to appear like the "ugly american tourist" -- i'm much more easily intimidated in france than in the US).

i did  come across a phildar in la rochelle.  but i was with j and the nieces and didn't feel as if i could properly linger.   (again, i had to be quick with the camera to not raise suspicions).

but all was not lost.  in royan i came across this cute little craft shop with a very limited selection of yarn and crochet thread (although knitting isn't popular, crochet and needlework is a little more so.  as is beading) and beads ... the shop lady was nice and if she did notice me taking pictures, she didn't say anything.   

and when back in paris, after sending j and the nieces to the louvre (been there done that) i came across this craft/art store.   again, not much in the yarn department but several knitting books, translated from english,

wonderful crochet thread (which i've seen ads for in american publications so i'm keeping my fingers crossed),

needle felting materials and tools, cute little knitting and crochet kits,

sheep embroidery kits, and paint by number kits. 

stay tuned for the haul.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

anyway, onto the vacation recap.   i hadn't been home in 4 years so it was good to be back.  as beautiful as france is, to me it's a country of smells -- bread baking, cheese (sometimes very smelly cheese), gauloises cigarettes, metro car rubber wheels, pastis, coffee -- rather than sites, and it's always the first thing i notice when i get off of the plane.  well after the surly border control guy.  when those smells assail me, i know i'm "home."

we hit the ground running.  the first four days were spent in paris.  what's the first thing we saw?

what else?  when you've got nieces who have never been to france, you show them the eiffel tower.

then you go buy water and a "doghnut" (and if you're me, and you've been to the eiffel tower a bagillion times and you're tired and jet-lagged you take pictures of silly misspellings on snack bar menu boards).

 

next stop, my favorite place in paris -- montmartre.

 

French Lessons

j and i are always on the lookout for the "home of our dreams," and every day i receive via email real estate listings that might be of interest to us.

the "cul de sac" appears to be the type of street you want to have your house on.

"cul de sac" means "ass bag."

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ooh, today is my half birthday!  happy half birthday to me.  i think i'll half a cake.