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.,
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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!

Off to IKEA...NOT!

You know Ikea by now. The GIANT stores that have all manner of home goods and furnishings for quite low prices. We have bought many items from them both for our abodes here in France and in California. Now, you ask, why am I bringing this up at this time? Well Poppsie because my dear, sweet, evr searching wife and best friend ever has found two Ikea items on eBay that are used and no longer needed by their owners and has bought them.
Reader asks: ''Why? Isn't your house full of furniture by now?''
Reply: yes it is, it really is.
reader asks: ''Then where are these two items to go, a couch named EKTORP and a chair
also named EKTORP?''
Reply: wherever she wants them to go, I am not in control of this program.
reader asks: ''She will be replacing select pieces which will then either replace something else or into the grenier to hide until we figure out what we might do with it. See how logical?''
Reader asks: '' Didn't you like the first selections?''
Reply: ''We (ahem) liked the first selections just fine for the house as it was then, the period between then and now being somewhat over 2 years. Now the house has changed what with new curtains, rugs, new uses etc. therefore this need.
Reader Asks: ''So you said you bought these items; from Ikea I assume.''
Reply: No.
Reader Asks: ''Then a moblier store near you?''
Reply: No.
Reader Asks: ''So where did you buy them?''
Reply: On eBay.FR
Reader Asks: ''So there were cheap and in decent condition?''
Reply: Well, maybe, the pictures were so bad we knew the price would be low so we took a chance and won.
Reader Asks: ''So where are they located?''
Reply: Both are near Paris, Southeast side for one and southwest for the other.
Reader Asks: '' So how long will that take?''
Reply: Kelly put the address in the Tom-Tom and Jane thinks we can get to the closest one in a bit over 3 hrs using the fastest route...which means the toll roads.
Reader Asks: ''So then how long to get to the other one?''
Reply: I think about an hour given traffic near Paris, maybe even longer.
Reader Asks: ''Then how long home from there in rush hour Paris traffic?''
Reply: I think maybe 4 or 5 hours. If we are home by 9pm tomorrow night we'll call it wonderful!
Reader Asks: ''Are these two gizmos going to fir in or on your car, the trusty Avensis?''
Reply: No, we borrowed Tommy and Erica the Totota sedan and trailer from A&R for the day, take the pair home on Sunday. So we are outa here tomorrow! Whoopee another French road trip! We love 'em! And a chance to meet new French citizenry. Very cool indeed, worth the eBay buy several times over!