Monday, September 04, 2017

Tempus Fugit

August Outtakes


As usual, I'm a little late to write this post, but time flies, especially now that I'm back to school. Here are a few things that happened at Cottage in August but weren't interesting enough for a post... Re-reading those last words, I'm wondering how many readers I just lost with that sentence...

Comme d'habitude, je suis un peu en retard pour écrire cet article sur les "scènes coupées" d'août, mais le temps passe trop vite, surtout maintenant que l'école a repris. Voici donc les quelques petits trucs qui se sont passés en août mais qui n'étaient pas assez intéressants pour faire un article... Bon, je sens que je n'ai pas bien vendu l'affaire là...

 
1. On TV, they keep saying it was the hottest summer in France since 2003... Well, except in Brittany! August was definitely cold. I still went out (when it wasn't raining) but you can see that the beach flag is orange, meaning the sea is dangerous, and people are fully dressed. I don't share family pictures or you would see my father and I wearing parkas as if it had been October...

1. A la télé, les journalistes n'arrêtent pas de dire qu'il s'agit de l'été le plus chaud en France depuis le fameux été 2003... Bon, la Bretagne fait exception. Août a été vraiment froid. Je suis tout de même sortie, quand il ne pleuvait pas, mais le drapeau orange flotte sur la plage et les gens ne sont pas en maillot... Je ne publie pas de photos de famille, sinon vous verriez mon père et moi en parka pour affronter le vent glacial lors de cette balade à Saint Coulomb.


2. The wood seller and I finally found an agreement on the delivery and it was delivered up to my gate and not on the street... I did have to carry it to where it's stocked in the garden... But I "stole" my neighbours' wheelbarrow whose cat I was feeding while they were away in Crete to help me with that task.

2. J'ai fini par trouver un accord avec le livreur de bois qui au lieu de me laisser sa palette dans la rue, me l'a déposée au niveau de mon portail... J'ai ensuite dû tout transporté jusqu'à l'abri de fortune qui me sert  pour l'instant pour stocker le bois... J'avais "volé", pour m'aider, la brouette de mes voisins dont je nourrissais le chat pendant leurs vacances en Crète.


3. I got a lovely gift from a reader: seaglass from the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. I was very touch that Wende would think of me and Cottage from the other side of the Ocean. The seaglass feels right at home on Cottage's mantel. And I checked pictures of Chesapeake Bay on the Internet, it looks wonderful!

3. J'ai reçu un adorable paquet d'une lectrice : du verre poli par la  mer en provenance de la côte est des Etats-Unis. J'ai été très touchée que Wende pense à moi et à Cottage depuis l'autre rive de l'océan.  Les couleurs douces ont naturellement trouvé leur place sur le manteau de cheminée. Et si par curiosité vous cherchez sur internet des photos de la baie de Chesapeake où ont été ramassés ces trésors, vous ne serez pas déçus, c'est superbe.


4. Two of my neighbour's cats (not the wheelbarrow ones) got used to eat on my kitchen window sill during her summer holiday and they keep coming.

4. Deux des chats de ma voisine (pas celle à la brouette) ont pris l'habitude pendant ses vacances (elle est partie quinze jours) de venir manger sur le rebord de la fenêtre de la cuisine... et ils continuent de venir malgré la rentrée !


5. The end of summer means it's harvest time in the fiels behind Cottage. It's also means that Gaston is back as every year. (If you're new here, Gaston is big heron who has been spending fall around Cottage for the last three years.)


5. La fin de l'été, c'est l'époque des moissons et du fauchage dans les champs derrière Cottage. C'est aussi l'époque du retour de Gaston, comme chaque année.


6. I began working on several projects at the end of the holidays that were stopped suddenly with more bad news about my work for this school year. Some of those projects were visible in that picture Cottage showed you, but it seems most of my readers focused on something else when it was published...

6. J'ai commencé plusieurs projets à la fin des vacances mais tout a été arrêté par de nouvelles misères faites par le rectorat. Certains de ces projets se devinent dans l'arrière-plan de la photo que Cottage avait prise, mais il semble que mes lecteurs étaient alors focalisés sur autre chose...


What you could have noticed... All the architrave for the upstairs doors have been bought (thanks, Dad) and I now need to take care of it instead of letting it clutter the living-room, if the collection of bottles and jars and all my DVDs are pilled in the bookcase, it's because I needed to empty the TV unit to move it from the wall I was painting.

Mais vous auriez pu remarquer... les moulures qui sont stockées dans le salon (merci, Papa) et attendent d'être posées autour des portes de l'étage... les DVDs empilés dans la bibliothèque car il a fallu vider le meuble télé pour le pousser et peindre le mur derrière.


7. The school year didn't begin very well... But I decided to stand my ground in front of the new headmistress and I could see her waver and wondering if she should change her mind. I'm meeting her again on Monday to see if we can find an agreement.

7. L'année scolaire a mal commencé. Après des années à faire des remplacements tous plus délirants les uns que les autres, je suis moins patiente et j'ai décidé de ne pas tout accepter cette année. Je tiens donc bon face au rectorat et à la principale... On verra dans quelques jours si les choses s'arrangent.

See you next time,

A la prochaine fois,

Hasta la proxima,



PS: Of course, even if August was cold and rainy, I'm not complaining and I think of those who live in Southern France, California or British Columbia where there were numerous fires, of those who live in flooded parts of Texas or Louisiana and of those affected by this year terrible monsoon in India.

PS : Bien sûr, même si je me plains gentiment d'un mois d'août froid et pluvieux, cela ne se compare en rien aux récentes catastrophes et j'ai une pensée pour les gens du sud de la France, de Californie ou de Colombie Britannique, touchés par des incendies qui semblent sans fin, pour les habitants du Texas ou de Louisiane qui habitent dans les régions inondées et pour les Indiens touchés par une mousson terrible cette année.

21 comments:

  1. C'est avec un grand plaisir que je lis vos blog-posts et que je suis les progrès que vous faites pour la restauration de Cottage qui devient de plus en plus beau! :)
    J'adore la photo de Gaston, quelle chance de l'apercevoir de si près!
    Quand j'entends "Chesapeake Bay", cela me fait toujours penser à "Chesapeake Bay" par James A. Michener, un des meilleurs livres que j'ai lu.
    Bon courage pour l'année scolaire!!
    Best wishes!

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  2. Good morning dearest Magali! I spent last week at school for meetings and classroom preparation. Tomorrow, I see my students for the first time! You are already back? BON COURAGE! It was a lovely summer, but here too, it was cooler than normal with a lot of rain. But when I think of all the unfortunate weather events not only in our country but elsewhere, I am just grateful for having had the summer off.

    I wish you a marvelous school year!

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  3. Oui l'année 2017 aura été météorologiquement sévère dans sa grande majorité pour les populations, entre incendies (volontaires pour la plupart), inondations, catastrophes naturelles et autres tempêtes, je plains les gens qui vivent ces contraintes presque avec fatalité.
    J'aime beaucoup ce bleu doux du verre dépoli par les vagues et le sable, c'est doux à l'oeil et ça me donne des idées pour ma future déco
    Je te souhaite une bonne reprise, ça ne doit pas être facile
    @bientôt

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  4. I hope your meeting went well today. Welcome home Gastonia!

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  5. I always think of France as being sunny, even though I've been twice and know first hand it isn't always. That erect flag shows how terribly windy Brittany can be!

    Good luck with your meeting, and good for you for standing your ground.

    xxx

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  6. Hi....you are so Welcome for the seaglass..an the bay is wonderful..wish i could send you some of our delicious blue crabs..so sorry that you're facing trouble at school the first day..i sure hope it all goes your way..an now that i know about the architrave for the upstairs doors is an up coming project..i look forward to seeing that post in my inbox..will those get paint..if so..just thinking i won't hold my breathe til it gets here =^)
    love the cats on the windowsill..i hope shadow is ok with that.! til next time..i hope it turns out that you have a nice week..

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  7. I never think of France as being cold and damp, I always think your weather is like ours without the humidity. Hope you work things out with the Headmistress, teaching is hard enough without non teaching people making it harder.
    The seagrass is so pretty. We've been to Chesapeake Bay, our daughter use to live in Maryland.

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  8. Loved catching up to what's going on in your part of the world!
    Brenda

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  9. Stand your ground with your convictions with the Headmistress ( sounds so formal ). I would love for you to have a good year teaching your students:). Nice to see your window in the kitchen, especially the kitties for entertainment:). Hope Shadow is his feisty self, without his need to fight though! Kathleen in Az

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  10. Hope you and the headmistress can come to an arrangement that suits you. Stand your ground.

    Like the window in the kitchen even though the kitty's like it. That was a lot of wood to bring in to your storage.

    Be glad that your summer wasn't as blazing hot as it has been here in So CA. i have never experienced such a hot 4 months and I pray that Fall will be cool. We even had a little rain yesterday from one of the hurricanes and it's cloudy here today.

    Good luck with school and I hope you have wonderful children to teach.

    Mary

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  11. The seaglass is so pretty, perfect for Cottage. If it was so sweet of Wende to send it to you. I hope everything works out at school and that you have a good year. They'd better treat you right! I love the name "Gaston" -- it fits the heron so well. xo

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  12. Loved your post today Magali. That toad is fabulous. They always have said if toads are found in your yard that means your gardens and yard are very healthy. Good luck with getting back into school.
    xoxo
    Kris

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  13. The toad made me smile! I do hope things work out well at the school. Your lovely cottage is a treasure! Here in Oregon we have wild fires in the lovely forests and it has caused lots of smoke and ash which keeps everyone inside. So sad to see such beauty destroyed. Still battling it and attempting to save many homes. Would love to breathe your fresh, clear air there!

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  14. Glad you didn't have the awful heat most of France was expierencing. We certainly had it here but nothing we didn't expect. Love when kitty neighbors visit and yours are very friendly. Hope your meeting went well! Nothing like starting the year off with issues. Take care........

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  15. quelle est jolie la photo de la rose sur fond de moissons ! j'adore le verre poli mais je n'en n'ai jamais trouvé d'aussi beaux... bon courage pour rendre l'éduc nat pragmatique - bien cordialement - monique59

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  16. I always love my visits to your sweet cottage, Magali! Good luck with the new headmistress!

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  17. I am so sorry that your year isn't off to a good start with the headmistress. I was fortunate to only work for one principal that I did not get along with.

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  18. Lovely post, Magali - I enjoyed the views around your cottage and glad that you are getting your firewood for the winter and that you are getting some nice visits from the neighbor cats and Gaston and one un-named fat toad. The sea-glass is beautiful and such a perfect color. What a nice gift. I do hope you can see eye to eye with the Headmistress and all goes well. xo Karen

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  19. I always enjoy your photos, kitty and trivia = not that's it's not important....very important!

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  20. Cottage is a real devil for showing one's backside when she isn't looking. Hoping your school troubles get overcome and you have better days ahead.

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  21. J'espère que ton année scolaire se poursuivra mieux qu'elle n'a commencé.
    Que te font-ils encore comme misère?
    Tes chats ont-ils jalousement réagi avec les miaou-squatters?
    Tu as une bonne réserve de bois pour nourrir ton joli poêle........mais ça part très vite.
    J'espère que tes soucis vont vite être réglés.
    Caresses aux chats. Bises. Babette

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