Xylophèning

Not even sure if that's a word [well, actually pretty sure it isn't!], but let's pretend it is.

Apart from handling neurotoxins (that's what biocides are), the main downside to my activities seems to be the, ahem, reactivation of some dormant odours...

Someone in the past has had a kitty that sprayed the furniture!

I've met people who can live with that kind of smell (visit their homes and you KNOW), but it drives me potty - first I keep sniffing, in case I can pretend the stink is fictitious, and if I think it's fresh [more than once I've had cats come into the flat & spray - ooh yuck!], I'm there with my biological washing powder (I used to keep a box specially!) , and...

And I've forgotten the other thing to use!

I'm sure the enzymes in the bio washing powder break down something-or-other, and I can't remember why I needed the second (now forgotten) ingredient, so I'm resorting to searching the web for answers (very amusing, but not always helpful!) as I'd only had to clean paintwork before, and don't want to start scrubbing antique furniture.

Also hoping that as the solvent in the Xylophène seems to have "re-awoken" the smell it will go away again and the furniture cleaner that David just bought will deal with any lingering traces...

One time when I almost wish for the good old days before all noxious products became "low odour".

Oh and how I missed the good old-fashioned gloss that smelled and covered so much better when I was painting the flat!

To be fair, I'd probably use leaded paint if I could find it - the doors in the bedroom date back to 1850 (and it seems to be the original paint) - it's taken a year of builders in the house to damage the finish!

OK, OK, health & safety, but that stuff must have been GOOD!

30 in the Shade

It's just gone 7pm, and the temperature in the house has dropped to 28°C [I knew I should never have opened the windows/doors; glad I left all the shutters closed!], but outside it's still 30°C in the shade.

And that's "proper" shade, not like mum does and waits till the sun has moved off the thermometer!

Still, opening up the house brought the humidity down to under 50% (it was 80% in the bedroom when I got up); I will be glad when the hemp-lime insulation has dried out and I can just concentrate on keeping the house cool!

I want to go for a walk, but I don't want to risk overheating - there's still power in the sun, even now.

Hmmm!

Might have dinner then decide...

Wildlife

It's good to be back in the countryside; I know I can see squirrels & foxes in Brixton much more easily than if we lived in the country, but somehow that doesn't equate to the exhilaration of nearly treading on a hare!!

On my walks I have spotted so many hares I've lost count, and plenty of deer and buzzards.

I'm getting pretty blasé [surely that should be "blasée"?!] about the wonderful wildlife I am seeing; I can now even drive past orchids without stopping to take photos.

Unless it's one that is new to me, of course!

But I still got a thrill out of seeing a vixen with her two cubs playing in the verge one evening, and seeing a nearly-mature cub scooting across the road another evening.

Somehow, the sight of truly wild foxes (rather than urban ones) was much more exciting than even the close-ups I get of the fox that visits our garden.

David tells local people that we have seen hares; but it's like telling Londoners that you have seen pigeons - they can't quite see what the fuss is about, and can't imagine never having seen one till you get into your forties.

I've even had the local fauna dropping in on me! One afternoon I heard 'cheeping' sounds coming from the flue in the kitchen, and thought the sound was carrying from the roof or chimney pot; but it was awfully loud. I went upstairs, but it was much quieter there, so assumed that the flue was acting like a "speaking tube", and just hoped that whatever was on the chimney hadn't nested there.

Luckily it was a warm dry day, so I had all the doors and windows open...

Which saved a LOT of bother when a fledgling redstart dropped through the opening! He didn't seem fazed by this at all; I admit to being a bit startled.

A few moments to gather his wits sitting on my furniture, then he hopped to the window sill and before I could grab my camera he was off!

Have had to chase plenty of butterflies out of the house (and one out of the car; that was a bit distracting as I was driving!), but we came too late for the swallows to act as squatters!

[They come in looking for a place to nest; last year I could tell from the way they went quiet that they had flown into the house, & spent many minutes "herding" them out - I love birds, but they keep different hours than I do, and unlike Irish jaunting car horses, I can't put nappies on them!]

I also saw a linnet (a name that had dropped from my memory till I was trying to identify this tiny little bird we'd seen); it reminded me of the ornamental finches that people keep in cages, and obviously it's the same family!

Now I shall be humming My Old Man Said Follow the Van for the rest of the day!!

2 answers for the price of one!

Yes, I can do 140 characters of post! Now, do I want to...?

The hare in question was one of the six I saw last night when I went for my walk.

I like to go for a walk along the farm tracks, go under one bridge, walk along by the side of the motorway, over the next bridge and back home: it's about 1½ to 1¾ hours with plenty of ups & downs and there's a wood one field away from the track by the motorway, so an ideal opportunity to startle deer and hares!

I was strolling along and happened to look down at the verge, and there was a hare crouched down 3' to 4' away from me.

I was mesmerised; he looked as though he was hypnotised, so I risked trying to get my camera out...

Oops!

I can see why "haring" ["hareing" looks better, but apparently is not] is used to describe extreme scarpering!

What am I doing now?

Debating whether to sign up for Twitter…

And thinking about whether to post about my hare

Yes, that is the leporine kind not the hirsute sort!

Still here...

[Now why did I type the word "still" and have to fight a temptation to follow it with "crazy after all these years"? Too much retro listening, courtesy of Amazon and YouTube?]

I'm sitting here in the gloom reading Life on the C Train, the blog of a lady I'll never meet called Clare who writes beautifully, and generally helps me find a lighter way to look at things, and thinking "Hmmmm! Must do something on my blog... "

So here's a start!

Well, no photos yet [they're living in the camera; or are they just shy?] and as the place is a mess again, I might just wait till David comes back and take some more photos when we've moved all our furniture!

Yup! We went out & went a bit potty!

For the price of 2 dressers (i.e. prices that we have seen in England/a more expensive dépôt-vente), we bought:

• 4 dressers
• 2 tables (these were included with 2 of the dressers: a set called a salle à manger, but I suspect David thinks of it as a BOGOF!)
• 13 chairs (as above)
• 1 sideboard
• 2 wardrobes
• 1 bed frame (BOGOF, as before)
• 1 desk
• a trouser/jacket stand (think "Corby", but without the press bit)
• 1 bedside table

And on one of the days we weren't looking for furniture/borrowing a van to bring furniture home/going to Troyes to load furniture into a van so the bloke could deliver it, we went and...

Bought a boulangère stand!

My excuse is that at 20% off, it was worth it to buy it a day earlier - paid for the diesel we used and then some!

So, the long and the short of it is: lots of old furniture [either with woodworm, or that has been standing around for months next to furniture that has woodworm] artfully arranged around the kitchen so that I can get at almost all of it to give it three coats of woodworm treatment...

No photos here then!