Pot-pourri —– is a stupid title

Did you know pourri means rotten? The French term came about during the Napoleonic occupation of Spain. It began life as the name of a typical Burgos dish which mixed all sorts of meats and vegetables: “olla podrida” (olla=pot, podrida=pourri.) With such an appetising name who wouldn’t want to try it?

In Summer Girls News:

The girls have written to confirm their arrival in the latter part of July. They took longer this year to get their tickets which made me think they’d changed their minds. That they didn’t like us, or the house, or Mazamet, or the dogs, or France anymore. I thought this for two full weeks – which was stressful. But I soldiered on with my plans for doing up the central south bedroom (bed arrives tomorrow) and getting things outdoors looking decent.

future home of the pergola

I repainted the iron chairs and table legs (for what must be around the 10th time in my life). I got a 1 metre tall (dog proof!) butler’s tray for canapés etc. The white terracotta pots are Tunisian and will have cordylines planted in them. I’m considering a second sofa.

In work news:

A mixed bag. We have a tenant who makes noise and that’s upsetting the other tenants. Apparently French law says it’s up to us to fix this so we’re looking into our options. I sent pictures of two items (that I love) to auction houses this week only to be told they’re going in a different direction – that people just aren’t buying things in my style anymore. That’s sort of a kick in the teeth because this style is where my knowledge lies. As Mike likes to joke I should have been a child of the 60’s, the 1760’s.

In Baclofen news:

The thing actually works. It’s over a month now and my alcohol intake continues to be greatly reduced. The pill calms you and creates what I’d call a mini-high. In my case that just means the volume on the negative voice(s) in my head is lowered. Alcohol did that as well, but it took ever increasing quantities.

In tech news:

Apart from removing the sim card from my smart phone (it only works on the wifi), I’ve removed most apps from it. Anything that bleeps or wants me to “check” on anything is gone. The sim card is in an old fashioned flip phone and I will only check on computer related matters when I sit at the computer. I feel the ability to check on things online constantly is detrimental to the way my mind works as it increases my levels of anxiety.

In number 42 news:

I’ve been working on the garden. The plan is to create 3-5 new areas of interest. Here’s number 1. I’ve been slowly removing the dead tree that was by the wall. A bench is going there, perhaps a Lutyens. I planted the two pillar thingys and akebia will grow on them, and I need to find a large pot for the stone plinth which I found in the old chicken coop.