Harmony comes with give and take..... and a few odds and ends.

 

Photos and text: Corey Amaro

The other day I found this book, the pages were barely hanging on, I asked the dealer how much? French Husband looked at the book, looked at me, looked at the dealer and shrugged.

He doesn't get the attraction to things on their last leg.

He doesn't understand that kind of reckless beauty.

His knees don't buckle at the sight of old junky stuff with a price tag...

BUT he does get me. He shrugged, then said, "I am certain it is going to look better the moment you take it home."

French Husband lets me do what I want with our home. He likes how I do what I do. Sure sometimes he pitches a fit about some little thing, like why he can't put a hammock in the living room, or why I do not want him to glue photos on the wall, or have post its on the refrigerator door.

Like I have said a million times to that guy of mine: We both have our passions, we both have our different hobbies that make us who we are... He likes to jump off mountains, go down caves, ride with the wind and fly in the sky... And I like to create a home with falling apart old things from the brocante.

He gets his toys.

I get the house.

I get to hear his adventures without getting dirty or bruised.

He gets to come home, sit on a rickety chair, eat off a chipped plate and sleep on linen bedsheets.

Harmony comes with give and take..... and a few odds and ends.

 

The winners of an old falling apart book are (so many good entries I could not pick just one):

Delphine Payne with her entry:

"....‘A book! A book! You bring home a book. What good is this? You think you are a man of education, just because you can read. You squander our money on , on, on…..books. We cannot eat books. I drag water from the well, I feed the hogs your mother gave you and you sit on your derrier reading. I , I want a divorce. ‘
He placed the book on the table and looked at the unkempt woman before him and nodded. He was not happy either . He could hear his mother’s voice ,‘I told you so. She cannot even write her own name.’
The divorce was swift and he returned to live with his Maman.
Celeste got a job in an inn and worked hard. The Inn Keeper was old and looked upon her as a daughter. He died and left his little business to this hard working girl. It was just a small inn outside of Paris. Celeste hired Madame Lune to be the cook. As each coach stopped for refreshments she paid special attention to the drivers and made sure they had plenty to eat. Soon word spread and all coaches stopped at the little inn (La Petite Cygne). Business was good and Celeste bought another inn on the other side of Paris. Within three years she owned most of the inns on the outskirts of Paris and a fine house of her own.
She had time to rest. She employed a tutor, Monsieur Delon. Her mind was quick and she soon learnt to read. Monsieur Delon was most attentive and spent many, many hours with Celeste. Together they read and shopped for … books."

 

and another winner of an old book is:

Cheryl at Casual Cottage Chic:

We laughed
We loved
We lived
We lied
We lingered
We left.

Tamra The Gilded Barn, who wrote:

The Good Husband: Le Bon Mari:

"But your Honor, he promised me a Chateau, I got a small maison with a sod roof which I have cleaned ever so diligently.
He promised me running water but did not explain that I would be doing the running as I carried it from the well every day, which I did.
He promised me lovely shoes with buckles of silver and pearls but did not explain that they were once his mothers and much too small for my feet, which I tried ever so hard to put on.
He promised me a household staff to manage, he did not explain that I would be the staff and would have to manage his mothers orders.
He promised me delicious food from the garden but did not explain that I would tend the potager all by myself AND do the cooking, which I have done.
He promised me pets to delight me, he did not explain that it would be livestock for me to tend to, which I have fed taken care of.
He promised me fine meats but did not explain I would do all the butchering.

The Constable turned his gaze from the beautiful young wife and lowered his eyes on the "Good husband". The "Good husband" gulped.

So in my defense your Honor, he never once explained that his mother did not take a little arsenic in her tea......"

Lindsay:

"The Happy Divorce, L'Heureux Divorce"

The Rules for a Peaceful Household

"As all men know, the wife sets the mood for the home. Should your wife fail to wait upon you hand and foot, it is your right as the man of the house to seek alternate arrangements. Consider a quiet and swift divorce. Then wed the comely and buxom milkmaid at the neighboring farm, or perhaps the shy daughter of your business partner as a less contentious companion..."

And then there is the chapter hidden from the male readers...

How to rid yourself of the bad husband

Should your husband become tiring and a bore, consult the chapters which describe the bad wife, and follow each suggestion. If well carried out, you should be soon rid of him, as he instead takes the local milkmaid or partner's daughter to wife. Then you may retire to Paris to write, paint, frequent cafes and attend literary salons with your lover du jour, while he is tethered to the uneducated, uncouth milkmaid who has resulted in his being dropped from all polite society, or the incurably silly, constantly giggling daughter of his business partner, whom he cannot divorce because his entire livelihood would collapse. Thus you may enjoy a happy divorce...

Thank you each and every one of you who adding something to the story. For the well thought out entries, so clever and creative you are.

Comments

[adee]

hahaha
i loved the last story the most
women have always been cleverer than men :)

and yes, i loved these words by you:
"We both have our passions, we both have our different hobbies that make us who we are... He likes to jump off mountains, go down caves, ride with the wind and fly in the sky... And I like to create a home with falling apart old things from the brocante."

fortunately, both me and my love, love books. so much that we fight for which one to keep amongst ourselves. and we've decided, that when we get married, our home will be full of books and laughter and candle light stories...

[adee]

by the way, you have to come and read my new poem about me and my love here: http://delhidreams.blogspot.com/ hope you'll like it :)

[maria]

"I am certain it is going to look better the moment you take it home." What a guy! You are so blessed, Corey! Have a great day...

[Jo]

Congratulatons to all your brilliant authors! I loved their stories. Such talent! Alas, my family too has learned to live amongst old tattered things, rickety furniture, etched mirrors and unpolished silver. Little do they realize that they are living in the lap of luxury!

So happy to hear you will be visiting your family soon! How wonderful for you!!!

[Penny]

Delightful! The give and take between you and Yann are such fun to "listen" to, and what clever readers you have. Congratulations to all.

[Everton Terrace]

Bravo everyone - BRAVO indeed!

[Marilyn]

Such clever stories. I see where you would have a difficult time picking. Congratulations to each of the winners.

[Victoria Ramos]

Kudos to the winners -- I loved reading their entries!

[Lizbeth]

Congratulations to all the winners. I liked Cheryl's the best.

[Chris Wittmann]

Great stories, every one! Wonderful to hear you'll be visiting your family Corey. We just had family up from Virginia and New Jersey, including my 89 year old mother-in-law. It may well be the last time she comes to New England, so we made the most of the few days and took her to some of our favorite beautiful places. It's nice to connect with distant family and friends when you can, life is too short.

[Elizabeth]

What delightful, clever little stories. I so enjoyed reading them all, and giggling:)

[Marie Noelle]

I LOVE Tamra's imagination !!! The best words to fill up the gap in your book !!!
So creative, inventive and "tuning" (accurate/ matching/ ??
more XXX

[M.]

....and thus we may conclude that books are troublesome, but husbands and wives moreso. finis.

[Julie Ann]

An enduring love story, its real & tactile & beautiful, jx

[Rhonda P.]

Congratulations to the lucky winners, with fabulous imaginations! I sure wish I could have played. I so wanted one of these shabby books.

Totally understand the his thing, my thing.
We still argue over the home decorating thing but (and I'm smiling here) I'm winning, slowly.

[Tamra / The Gilded Barn]

OH MY GOSH! I just found out I won!!!

Thank you Corey!

Thank you for posting delightful and happy stories everyday to give us a little smile each day.

Thank you for sharing what seems like a simple french life to you, yet to us Americans is a perpetual dream of french markets and brocantes.

Thank you for bringing old books and their interesting stories into our world.

Thank you for encouraging us to stretch our creative minds and write something.

And Thank you so much for being so generous!!

Merci, mon ami!

[cityfarmer]

my friend Tamara thanks you kindly ... she's a sweetie