Musee d'Orsay, and Dinner Out

This morning we headed out to the Musee d'Orsay, that Mecca of Impressionist painting housed in a glamorous repurposed train station.

Imagine my surprise when we entered the courtyard and realized who was waiting to greet us: favorite painting of lady and her *African gray parrot*, usually found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art!!

Inside we bought tickets to the special exhibit, still not realizing exactly what was in store for us. Oh my, because it was an unbelievable display of Impressionist paintings that featured beautiful dresses, and rooms of the actual dresses themselves, and similar ones, on dress forms behind glass. And fascinating information about day dress, morning dress, afternoon dress, evening dress, and more.

After lunch we did some delicious wandering around. Passed La Pistacherie, a shop devoted to pistachios as though they were jewels!

Many things in Paris are presented as jewels. And priced like them.

I met a friendly reader on a street corner. Hello, Miles from Nottingham! Thank you for stopping us!

Before it got dark we looked at Saint Eustache, a small and beautiful church.

And then *accidentally* ran into La Droguerie, which was a little bit like dying and going to heaven, for someone who likes beautiful bias binding. I could not resist buying two metres of a periwinkle polka dot fabric to make Daisy a dress with. Or four green velvet leaves for fabric corsages, or three tiny squares of Liberty fabric.

I did resist the yarn which is all hanging in hanks!

Daisy becomes more French every day (see her new purple coat). Bella is still waiting for an opportunity to spend all of her money. Soon, dear!

The Composer's father took us to dinner in a bustling neighborhood restaurant. Daisy was so excited to finally get to order escargot, and loved the little utensils that came to the table. I loved my whole trout, and Bella finished with a poached pear in salted caramel sauce.

Not a bad way to finish.

Le Bon Marche, and Notre Dame by Night

There's always time for a little yarnwork before we leave the apartment. I bought some beautiful wools before we left for France, and started a massive Granny Square that will be this year's new afghan.

Our sunny morning kitchen. Which we left as we headed out to spend the afternoon at Le Bon Marche, a classy department store that's been around for 160 years.

Lunch in the dining room--we unravelled the mystery of the "plat froid" and all had turkey club sandwiches with glass dishes of yogurt with red fruits to follow.

Then started roaming. Embroidery floss and yarn, Liberty of London fabric (which I did not buy, way too much money!) I did get one skein of mossy green merino to add to my afghan. Daisy approved the color choice. She is very into my crocheting at the moment (see later picture).

The kitchenware department was a delight! See the tiny copper pots, just right for Daisy's dolls! We chose a . . . potato masher! We've been needing a good sturdy one, as Bella remembered at just the right time.

Isn't this stunning? The whole store is such an aesthetic experience. Oh, and I finally got to smell Caron's "Nuit de Noel" perfume, which I've wanted to do for years--only by accident, as we got lost in the lingerie department and there it was, not with the other fragrances.

Then home to rest up, and time for Daisy to work on her crocheting chain. She's been so frustrated, but when I finally suggested that she make up her *own* way to hold the yarn, something clicked, and she started racing along.

Bella and I had fun in the kitchen. First I had to learn the French word for yeast (it's "levure", y'all), so we could buy ingredients for Bella's fantastic pizza with potatoes, leeks, Gruyere, and bacon. Except in Paris, apparently we use lardons instead of bacon. Even better! Already diced, you see.

Then a nighttime walk over the bridge to get ice cream cones, and admire Notre Dame's bright back side.

Sent the girls upstairs with grandparents, and the Composer and I went to another concert, sacred choral music in the Cathedral. No biggie.

First Sunny Day in Paris

Traveling with Daisy you are always made aware of pigeons; they delight her constantly.

We headed out this morning and immediately ran into the flower market; it's a block away. Oh, there's a House of Orchids? I'll window shop right here, thanks.

And I like this tray of sedum too.

We headed to Saint-Chapelle, just another couple of blocks away. That's the one with all the stained glass. It's surprisingly tiny but also surprisingly full of stained glass. The sun was out, just right.

The museums and churches are so beautiful but they do become sort of endless-feeling to younger people. Pacing ourselves!

A walk over to the Louvre to visit the Tuileries; we're saving the museum for a rainy day, many of which are predicted this week.

Just about the biggest buildings we've ever seen, but not so exciting to Daisy as the clipped hedges in the gardens.

We watched the sailboats in the pond for a little while. This one was particularly charming because I believe it is actually patched up with scraps, done very tidily.

The Composer is always a fan of single perspective. This is the city for him (straight line vistas everywhere).

Home to cook dinner. It's actually my father-in-law's birthday! We went with something homey--a chicken roasted in the oven, a mixed-vegetable sauté in a skillet, all combined eventually with fresh linguine and rich stock, and served in a bowl.

And a visit to the pastry store afforded an assortment of tiny cakes and tarts to sample for dessert.

We brought aprons from home.

Cards for the others, while the Composer and I went back to Saint-Chappelle for a solo violin performance, of Bach's partitas.

And Now, from Paris

We were up all night on a plane, but not complaining, because now we are on an island in the middle of the Seine--Ile de la Cite--for the next week, being tourists in Paris.

The apartment has balconies. We're just down the block from Notre Dame.

We've joined the Composer's parents--they're here for a month!--Bella got her school assignments and is already keeping up with German vocabulary. Hope the French doesn't confuse her.

So many cathedrals within a stone's throw! The Composer and I just did a quick walk this evening in a little bit of rain. Around the block, then over the bridge to Ile Saint-Louis,

and poked our heads into Saint-Louis-en-l'Ile church, just to whet our appetites for tomorrow's sight-seeing.

And shopping . . . and eating . . . and enjoying.

Two Neutral Dresses

Alabama Studio Style six-gore dress; you've seen it in progress. Quilting the stenciled shapes is so much fun. I did this in two layers of cotton/modal blend jersey, both fairly lightweight.

The stencil is "Angie's Fall" from the Alabama Chanin website.

And here's a dress I finished last spring but never photographed. This is Vogue 8648, not one I'd recommend. Do you see how this is a fairly simple silhouette--a fitted bodice and a circle skirt? Well, the dress actually consists of FORTY-FOUR pieces, I kid you not. True, it's lined. But the bodice is pieced out of innumerable itty bits. And they are all cut on the bias. And they are all topstitched. What could go wrong?

Right?

Vintage Advice for Travellers

"Take with you, from home, all the writing and sewing materials you may require while [travelling]. . . scissors, pins, meedles, or paper; no lady should be without her own portfolio and work-box."

--Florence Hartley, The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness

Fruity Tea Loaf

Such is the power of suggestion that after I saw a picture of this "Fruity Tea Loaf" in the UK Country Living magazine, I headed straight to the kitchen to make my own--my first sortie into Baking with Metric Weights. It was much like baking in English measurements, not really the all-new experience I anticipated.

I did love this recipe though, and will share it with you with my own tweaks, but you're going to have to use a scale, because that's what I did.

Brew up 350 ml of hot tea--I used Cream Earl Grey, but you can use anything fragrant and strong.

Pour it over 225 mg small dried fruit. I used dark raisins, golden raisins, and dried cherries. You could also chop dried apricots or apples, or use dried cranberries.

Let it sit til it's cooled and much of the liquid is absorbed. Ideally several hours.

Toss together in a medium bowl 200 g dark brown sugar and 275 g self-rising flour.

In a small bowl, beat 1 egg with a fork, then stir in 50 g orange marmalade.

Add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients to the bowl of marinating fruit, and stir all together gently (including the tea) until just combined. Pour into an 8-inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper, and bake at 350 for about an hour, until a toothpick stuck in the loaf comes out clean.

Let it cool, and store for several days like a fruitcake, rightly wrapped.

Fitzwilliam the Magnificent

I know that I am a lucky woman, that this cat came to my deck from the great unknown and decided to love me. He's so big that he can lie with his front legs in my lap Sphinx-style and lean his head up against my shoulder. He's a yard long from nose to tail's end, and he weighs seventeen lean pounds.

Today he enthroned himself upon Daisy's sheepskin, and I heard Frederick practicing all four syllables of his name.

Magnificent.

Black Walnut Log Cabin Quilt in the Shop

Black Walnut Log Cabin Quilt--so perfect for fall--is in my shop this morning!

Violet, Paisley, and Beads

All the car time this weekend was worth it-- to see Clara's face, hear her play, meet her delightful friends, and stock her fridge with treats.

Beading is not the easiest choice for car stitching (give me a straight seam please!) but it's what I took. I'm working with the paisley design from Alabama Chanin, which I never seem to see anyone use, but I don't see why not--it's got some of the biggest motifs (less stencil cutting) and lots of potential for decoration.

Which brings me to the subject, yet again, of cotton jersey. Running a search on the Composer's magic phone we found a hole-in-the-wall fabric store in the city, one I'd never heard of, which had very bad (but interesting) reviews and we decided to try it. Everything was stuffed in a tiny shop with no labels and no prices; I told the proprietor I was looking for all-cotton jersey and he started pointing at rolls and offered to let me go up the ladder for more if I wanted.

Clara and I were totally not believing him on fabric content, we couldn't tell for ourselves with all the sizing on the fabric and he clearly wanted to sell us everything, but I bit in spite of my doubts because everything was just *three dollars* a yard. Somehow I felt better when he mentioned we were getting a bargain because now you have to pay around $12 for all cotton. At least he knew that!

Actually, now that I've washed all of it I'm pretty certain I scored, so no regrets! Onward with the paisley in all kinds of colors now . . . .

My Arms Around My Big Girl

Off for the weekend to put my arms around my big girl! See you on Monday!

Matty's Window Log Cabin Quilt Top

At bedtime the sky turns soft dark blue. If you look long enough you start to see tiny stars. Maybe the Milky Way. And the safe brown shadows stretch out on every side.

Oh, Functions!

Bella's working functions in Algebra II. No thanks.

I think we'll wait for the Composer to come down for lunch.

Both Boys for the Weekend

Young mothers, I'm telling you now to enjoy having all your children at home while it lasts. Mine have started to disperse and while I take great pride and satisfaction in seeing them succeed at their various endeavors, there is nothing like getting them back under my roof for a weekend.

Fried okra, homemade rolls, and singing+banjo+guitar were the order of our days.

And on the airport run I was able to pick up *two* finished quilts from my mother's house. These are delicious, especially the turquoise . . . .