Yesterday absolutely nothing - or almost nothing - happened in the village. The PONs watch a gaggle of pilgrims wander along the lane. The pilgrims wave. Sophie looks ferocious. The farmers are busy ploughing up the sunflower fields and planting wheat. The last tractor finishes at 10:35 pm.
A red Peugeot and a white Renault drive up and park outside The Very Old Farmers house. Distant relations come to evaluate what slim pickings are left inside. After an hour a woman emerges with a large bronze bed warmer that would once have been filled with hot coals from the fire. Today anyone using it would find their insurance premiums increasing tenfold. It'll be in the rubbish skip within the year.
Bob, Sophie and 'The Font' head off across country ( avoiding the yellow jacket protesters ) to the hardware store. The brown ceramic floor tiles have been in place for 200 years and are beginning to lose their lustre. 'The Font' thinks they would originally have been buffed up with red 'Cardinal' tile polish. The woman in the hardware store looks blankly ( 'Never heard of it' ) and has no helpful suggestions.
Our search for a femme de menage to replace the stroppy Caroline will need to resume.
Vellichor and ellipsism.Unusual words for unusual emotions :
https://youtu.be/hEDWHQr2Wjw
And here's something French :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-VE9Kba3GY
11 comments:
Sophie is looking ferocious, but I'm a little unsure how to categorise Bob's demeanour this morning. He hasn't been on the Pomerol has he?
Bob's look can be put down to the strong 'blow drying' wind.
When we had some ancient tiles restored (under orders from Bâtiments de France), the expert informed us that back in the day, folks would do one room, then, when they were able to afford to do another room, the tiles wouldn't be the same color. Or tiles would break and be replaced with mismatched ones. So the fancy folk would paint their tomettes to make them all look the same. Indeed, when the paint was stripped from ours, they ranged from deep rust to pale ochre, and the colors weren't spread in any discernable pattern. We left them natural, so I can't offer tips about where to get paint.
Hari Om
Hah! I used Cardinal Polish many a long (last century) ago on some hall tiles in our Edinburgh home. I am certain it could be 'delivered' to you. Imagine the excitement of the PONs to welcome that "Smile"... YAM xx
Briochin has a few products for cleaning and polishing terracotta tiles.
Perhaps the cheerful young lady in the bakery might know of someone for the housekeeping job, someone young who likes dogs and who can bound up and down those stairs.
THIS was on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tableau-Polish-RPM-Marketing-Sussex/dp/B01MRJ8ACP/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1542736630&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=red+Cardinal+tile+polish
Bob, I love seeing your sparkling eyes this morning!
Thank you. $47 for a can of polish tells you how popular it is !
In the first photo, Sophie looks as if she's wearing a vaguely Elizabethan headdress. Queen Sophie.
The French video says not available in the US.
...well if you haven't already discovered for yourself Angus, there is this... Yxx
The modern treatment for terracotta tiles is a product called Sarpasol (it turns out to be heavy naphtha when I read the label). Our local artisanal tile factory recommended it. You do several coats of it, then a couple of coats of an oleofuge/hydrofuge product which is basically liquid teflon and stops stuff soaking into the tiles and leaving marks. These products are breathable and so suitable for terracotta. The tiles should end up brighter and cleaner. The oleofuge/hydrofuge should be re-done once water stops beading on the tiles (so every couple of years). You can re-do Sarpasol at the same time or at less frequent intervals when you re-do the other.
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