July 18th, 1788

 

We are now at the end of our time in Riom with Maman, her husband, and Andre with his wife and new baby daughter. It seems that our isolation in pleasant Auvergne is likewise at an end, as I have been recalled to court to attend to Mme Elisabeth. I had thought to beg more time with my own child, but my husband was much against it. So it is that in a mere few weeks we must pack up the household, find lodgings for Aurelie and M-, (my husband), and resign oneself to committing my daughter to the care of her father and nurse. 

Aurelie's nurse is named Aimee, and was recommended to us through an acquaintance of Maman's, so I do not yet feel that I know her well. The baby seems fond of her, but then she is enamored of all who meet her gaze at present. The child is active, with a bright smile, and even brighter eyes of blue with long lashes. Many who meet her do exclaim that she strongly resembles me; a fact which displeases M- though he is loathe to admit it. I wonder if his insistence that I take I do not delay in taking up this post is to separate us more. Admittedly, he also makes much of the penury he feels we suffer under, and is relieved to know that my position comes with somewhat generous compensation.

I must send a letter to Elizabeth R- to inform her that I will be returning to Paris sooner than thought, and hope to visit with her and my god-daughter. Of course, I also thrill at the thought of introducing Aurelie to my dear friend whose counsel has often been of such use. It will be good to hear from her the news of late, for I am terribly ill-informed at present. 

So many tasks call that I will cut this short. Alas, I had thought there would be more time in these happy days of seclusion; but then are there ever enough?

-Olympe

For Your Chateau

 

Bringing it back! In today's For Your Chateau we look at costume and reenactment apparel; and with the success of the Bridgerton franchise I thought we'd encompass "the long 18th century" with some Regency items. Making repeat appearances are items from Etsy favorites RoseGalante and Sign of the Grey Horse. Don't forget that many shops are having 4th of July sales right now, so you might snag some historical styles for less!

Mantle Project- Finished!

 I'm finally getting around to posting the results of a couple of years ago, when we completed installing the Greek Revival fireplace and Delft/Spode/etc. tile insert. As this was originally done at Christmastime, you'll forgive the decor being odd for my summer posting.

Not only did it end up being, I think, a really perfect addition to the room, but it quite handily provided a better spot for the tv than the somewhat lower, all-black, massive console which had previously stood in its place (and which we donated to a local charity shop). In order to take care of the many irregularities in the wooden backing of the mantle itself my partner first build a U-shaped structure that attached to the wall. To fit it as closely as possible it was necessary to decide whether to cut into the existing skirting boards at the base of the wall, or to notch out the dimensions of the board from the base of the box. I was concerned that, should we decide to the move the fireplace unit with us to another home, that we'd regret making modifications to it, but my partner assured me that we'd likely meet a similar issue in the next home, and that he could replace the box easily enough. 

The next step was to build and attach the tiled insert, which we did with a piece of MDF (IIRC, from what he did), and to tile the front much as one would do in a kitchen or a bathroom. Since many of the tiles are original, and in some cases antique, Spode or Delft tiles I took the opportunity to photograph them from every angle, including the back first. I arranged them for him in an order that made sense to me, no two tiles being too similar next to each other. You'll note that several of them have nautical or boat themes, which is deliberate as several of the paintings in the room are either of water or of boats. That being done, he tiled the insert and attached it to the box, and then set about building the platform for the fireplace insert itself. This is really just a simple, small, rectangular box, which I then painted with the same paint I used for the sanded areas of the outer mantle. 

We plugged the fireplace in and scooted it into place, to check that everything worked. At this point we knew that there would be a small gap between the upper edge of the tiling and the lower edge of the mantle itself. Initially we thought that this might not be too distracting and would provide needed ventilation; but the insert actually vented very well from the front of the unit and I did find the gap distracting. The solution was the buy a piece of pre-painted white molding, cut it to size and adhere it to the inside edge of the mantle so that it sits above and in front of the tiled section. No one would ever be the wiser (except that it's on the internet now).

Finally, we moved the antique mantle into place, leveled it, and attached it to the box and frame, which are screwed into the wall with huge anchors. There was some touch-up painting, and some rather more extensive painting of the box; which should have been done before most of the rest of the process, but wasn't due to time constraints owing to when my partner could be in town.

It being Christmastime when everything was completed, we had to decorate with some evergreens and holly from our own property, as well as the blue and white porcelains which I collect. Then we hung some stockings. 

This year, almost a year after it was initially completed, my husband and I were able to hang one more in joyful anticipation of what the new year would bring.