Summertime, When The Livin' Is Easy...What?!

Not here folks, we continue to work on the ancient horsehair and lime wallboard to wallpaper it anew in the guest room. We've discussed the pattern of the stuff in an early blog entry...animals and winged humands in make-believe islands named Asie, Afrik, Europe etc. Very nice in the room as it is far brighter than the dullness that pre-existed therein. Various features of the room however make this a lasting (slow) project for even us experienced in wallpapering olde piles of rocks. The walls are tre uneven, hilly outcrops of olde time hardened beams protrude and warp the horsehair covering this way and that. The horsehair was kept hidden as I guess they wanted to hide which horse the hair came from...was it THAT one, that golden one with the bald strip down it's back or that one there, the black one with no mane? Such as it was, the stuff, believe it or not, is STILL available at the hardware store should you need any to cover...say a wall or a nearby horse for example. Alas...therefore the layer itself placed over the old waddle and db...mud and rocks is itself uneven so as hide the hair of course. So it goes. Progress, slow progress. Kelly does MOST of the awful work, I am purely advisory most of the time fullfilling the role reserved for Furry, The Kat when she, The Kat, is asleep.
___
Sourdough class for L and N our Scottish friends who brought me so many fine goodies for my baking enterprise. Tomorrow we bake bread for all the neighbors and they get to do it hands on, in and around the masses of dough. I've preped a basic lesson plan though sticking to it is problematic as the sourdough itself. Nonetheless we will have fun together and learning on both sides will take place. I'm a teacher at heart and always have been, it's the best interaction people can have, trading ideas and knowledge, problem solving. We'll cover the starter, making your own, the flour and types necessary, the water and it's effects, the new folding technique that I LOVE, the dough-how much water? The yeasty guys, the Acidy guys, the war between them and the oven bit. I need to drag a table from the barn into the kitchen so we have an extra work surface on which to prepare the stuff and go buy a bit more flour too...I'll do that after the Carefour opens back up at 3 this afternoon as is the usual restful French work schedule (2 - 2 1/2 Hr lunch break! Imagine!).
I hauled out the table I built last year for the courtyard and placed it in my kitchen after moving the hob table back from the oven. Looks workable, we'll change it if necessary. Got out the bowls and all the supplies, water, yeast etc. to inventory. It'll be great fun!
Pictures forthcoming!

All,s Quiet On The Western Front...Or Is It?

Truth is...it isn,t, at leqst not on this part of the Western Front. We have been busy as beqvers and that,s pretty darned busy. The guest room is our latest target now that the sewing room is partially papered with the yellowstriped stuff Kelly wanted. Now we have attacked the walls available tobe coverred with a grey and beige trois...a set of scenic drawings of the fancified continents, all manner of animal life and winged persons interacting with them in colorful and maybe even questionable ways. We cannot compplete any of the external walls as they must first be coated with the magic paint nano_naunt or some such which will aid in heqt retention in the old place. The stuff, all 5 gallons of it was to be shipped on/about the 18th of May and though I have written the company and they have cashed our check there has been no reply and no paint either. So we wait and strike out in directions that the situation allows. Which included the following activity.,
---
We had a dinner for 8 last night, our best friends A&R, S&D and nearly relaives by marriage to A&R whose daughter is in a serious relationship with. Future mother in law and father in law types. It went off quite well if I do say so myself. The main event was a coq a vin done in the style of Bay Wolf the restaurant in Berkeley, California. Not the usual cooked to deth chicken boiled in red wine, no, noth this. Every ingredient gets carmelized first then assembled into the dish with the chicken skin side left out of the liquid thus it gets/stays crisp. The cqrmelized mushrooms were sweet and eqrthy at the same time, delicious!