Countdown + the newest family member
It’s countdown to Holy Week when the family arrives. People from Holland, (the) Ukraine and Britain. One of them is heavily pregnant with this child above! They don’t want to know the gender until it’s born.
To make everything just that little bit more difficult the entrance gates started acting up last week. Opening then not closing, then not opening at all. The CAME repair guy had to order then install a new circuit board (€280 just for the part!), which is finally done today. This week we’re also finally getting a downstairs WC (under the stairs). It’s starting to look excellent.
I’ve also started putting the guest bedrooms together. I’m going one by one, and trying to get it perfect before I move on to the next. That means I’m still on the first. Then the hardest part comes, which is completely emptying the dining room and setting the table up in there. Meanwhile the armoire we got for the study was delivered. It’s going to house tablecloths, napkins and guest towels.
It’s late Empire (period) but heavily influenced by Louis XVI. I’d seen a similar piece on Proantic and it was the perfect size – but I didn’t love the colour of the wood for that particular room. Then I found another one online but it had a glass door instead of mirror. Then I finally found one here in town at the Liquidarium. Fantastic price and he threw in free delivery. The owner is extremely nice. We know his mother and his aunt as they were the owners of what is now our Building I. Anyway, back to work.
My Mazamet 
Speaking of deliveries — have you brushed up on your midwifery skills? Just in case? 😉
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May mithra help us 😀 I’m assured it’s still perfectly safe for them to travel…
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Ha! I was trying to figure out how you’d managed to get pregnant. Or surrogacy. And that led to a whole series of thoughts about what a mini Pink would be like and based on the dogs, well, er, um, I am glad it’s temporary. FYI the last few weeks of pregnancy are incredibly uncomfortable. Be kind.
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A mini Pink? No, thank you. I can barely stand myself as it is.
I’m hoping to give them a great, relaxed time. This evening I’m emailing to ask about diet 🙂
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Avoid serving prunes. .. 😉
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Me, too. It sounded like a Mr. Mom announcement.
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Comments by Kris and Steve are HILARIOUS. . . !! 🙂
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I never, ever, ever considered the idea of reproducing 🙂
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“I’m going one by one, and trying to get it perfect before I move on to the next. That means I’m still on the first.” – Possibly forever eh? Hahahaha. Your attention to detail is second to none Mr Pink, and that is no bad thing. I absolutely love that small armoire, the wood is lovely and the old mirror an absolute joy, well done that man!
Have a marvellous time with the clan dearie, and I echo Carmen and Kris; be kind to the one carrying and have some hot towels and rubber to hand! *laughs*
– Esme Cloud waving at Mr Pink
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Aha! A plunge into midwifery sucks, does it?
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Enjoy your guests! I always find it a mixed blessing, though always good to see those I’ve missed for awhile anyway 😉
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This set is incredibly easy, and nice – every visit is an absolute pleasure 🙂
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Fabulous.
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It’s “Ukraine”, without “the”. “The” refers to a province or a region and was appropriate in the name “The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic” which was a part of the USSR. These days, Ukraine is a country like France or Germany and should be used without “the”. You may say “the French Republic”, but you would not say “the France”. Ukrainians are very particular about these linguistic nuances.
When I came to the U.S. in 1997, people kept asking me “What part of Russia are you from?” Historically, in the West, they thought of the whole Soviet Union as “Russia”. It’s not true anymore. It’s kind of like asking an Irish “What part of England are you from?”
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It’s an unusual linguistic vice. I wonder why? If I were translating in my head, you’re right, I’d have to put an article behind every country – so there must be another explanation.
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The use of “the” with geographical names is confusing. Here is what I found:
Geographical use of the
There are some specific rules for using the with geographical nouns.
Do not use the before:
names of most countries/territories: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia; however, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the United States
names of cities, towns, or states: Seoul, Manitoba, Miami
names of streets: Washington Blvd., Main St.
names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a group of lakes like the Great Lakes
names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn
names of continents (Asia, Europe)
names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands
Do use the before:
names of rivers, oceans and seas: the Nile, the Pacific
points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole
geographical areas: the Middle East, the West
deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/540/01/
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Found this explaining the background – very interesting: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18233844
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Yes. I think this article gives a very good review of the issue.
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With the names of countries, “the” is used when the name has a word for the political formation like “Union”, “Republic” or “Federation” – “the United States”, “the Soviet Union”, “the Dominican Republic”. But “France”, “Germany”, “Spain”, “Ukraine”, “Russia”, etc. Not sure why “the Netherlands”. “the Philippines” could fall into the category of “islands”. I’m pretty sure that “the Ukraine” comes from “the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic” – the linguistic legacy which Ukrainians now want to erase from collective memory.
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It’s very interesting. In French you always use an article for countries but never for cities. And for me psychologically, it’s more respectful to use an article than not use an article.
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The use of articles is, perhaps, the most confusing issue for non-native English speakers. When I had my thesis edited by my professor, articles where the most common correction. “Which” vs. “that” is another interesting nuance. I also believe that language determines the way people think.
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I’m sure you’re right. It definitely controls status, for example.
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How amazing that you’d find the perfect piece so close to home. Beautiful piece, btw.
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It took some time, but we got there in the end 🙂 I’m thrilled we didn’t just rush into anything by buying the first thing we saw…
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-nods- These are the times when my hind-brain starts gibbering about ‘fate’. Logical or not, it really does sound as if you were ‘meant’ to have that piece. 🙂
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Kismet works every time. If one is patient and resilient enough to walk away from the not quite perfect then she will present the absolutely perfect to us just as we are despairing. This is my philosophy and I am not always true to it because I am SO impatient but your patience paid off in buckets … that armoire is perfectly beautiful 🙂
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I have to thank Mike for that as I’m terribly impatient too. Had I done it my way I would’ve probably gotten the first one and spent the rest of eternity complaining it wasn’t quite right 😀
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This is why we settled for the men we settled for. I absolutely need HB2’s calming influence – without him I would be like a mostly distraught magpie who had collected on a whim and was regretting vocally!
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The scan looks like a baby – often to me they look like a black & white muddle. Enjoy the visit, but make sure you don’t get exhausted beforehand striving to make everything perfect.
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It does, and a cute one 🙂
The first scan we saw was a muddle except for something that looked like a webbed hand.
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I’d stock up on booze, just in case the child arrives inconveniently.
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Do you think I’m ever not stocked up? LOL 😀
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The thought of an impromptu childbirth scenario made me panic for you.
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