Keep Out
Posted on October 2, 2019
I spotted this barred window on an old building in the village of Bussière-Poitevine and it seemed perfect for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week. It reminds me of one of those ‘coffee-time’ magazine puzzles where you have to find as many squares and rectangles as possible in the diagram.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Groceries
Posted on October 1, 2019
Frank’s theme for this week’s Tuesday Photo Challenge is in one sense a little out of the ordinary, but in another way could hardly be more mundane – ‘groceries’. So here are some groceries that are a little out of the ordinary: a basket of coloquintes (gourds) that I spotted at an open-air market in the town of Chabanais. They’re nothing if not colourful.
The weight of tradition
Posted on September 27, 2019
Go to any brocante or vide-grenier around these parts and you’ll find plenty of old farming utensils which would nowadays probably be classed as – and only useful for – ‘design pieces’. Almost inevitably,somewhere in the jumble will be an old set of weights – like these:
Thursday Doors: Bussiere-Poitevine (3)
Posted on September 26, 2019
A third instalment of doors from the nearby village of Bussière-Poitevine
As I’ve noted on numerous occasions in these posts, the streets of many villages and small towns of rural France are littered with old, long-closed shop premises which often display a ‘frozen-in-time’ snapshot of design from fifty or sixty years ago. Bussière is no exception. This one seems once to have been a mercerie:
Equally past its sell-by date is the sign on this garage door alleging that it is in constant use. It’s fair to say that it isn’t:
More doors that no longer seem to perform any function:
Although there just might still be a spark of life in these:
Thursday Doors 26 September 2019
Vintage Car Parade
Posted on September 25, 2019
A line of classic cars prepares to parade through the nearby village of Nouic
Posted in response to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Cars
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Stone
Posted on September 24, 2019
Frank is looking for images of stone to meet his theme for the Tuesday Photo Challenge this week. This small portion of the massive façade of Chartres Cathedral has stone aplenty and certainly would have made a powerful statement about the overwhelming power of the Church.
The recycled bicycle
Posted on September 20, 2019
This old bicycle which has been repurposed as a sort of window-box was just crying out for the sepia treatment.
Thursday Doors: Bussière-Poitevine (2)
Posted on September 19, 2019
This week, another instalment of characterful doors from the nearby village of Bussière-Poitevine.
Apart from this first one, which careful readers will spot immediately is, in fact, a well-rusted gate.
During my doorscursion wander around Bussière I came across a little street that was cordoned off at each end. Naturally, I stepped over the tape and went to see what the fuss was all about.
The notice on the first door was posted by the local Mairie and advises that the building is in a dangerous, structurally unsound, state and calls on the registered owner (who has an address some distance away from this area) to do something about it within three months. It’s dated about six months ago.
Next door is what may once have been a shop:
In rather better condition are these two neighbouring town houses in a little square:
However, my clear favourite from this batch is this unusually designed green door on the opposite corner of the same square. My best guess is that this used to be a pigsty.
Thursday Doors 19 September 2019
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Fuzzy
Posted on September 18, 2019
The seed head of the variety of grass known as Queen Ann’s Lace is naturally fuzzy, but is rendered even more so after a heavy frost.
Mont Blanc Collection
Posted on September 17, 2019
While I was working – and, obviously, getting paid far too much – in the parallel universe that is investment banking, I built up a nice little collection of Mont Blanc writing instruments. Although nowadays I only use the Rollerball (second from bottom) on a regular basis, I do occasionally break out that fantastic Meisterstück fountain pen (top of the image) and write like people used to.
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