The Chateau Diaries #108 Crazy, strange, eyes wide shut, in the middle of nowhere

[billybudd]

Of course it is, a rather smelly load of balls indeed. She never shows her financial statements to anyone (and I would argue not even to her "boyfriend") as she is too ashamed for the mess she has created over time by not paying enough attention. She's not even capable of maintaining the simplest of housekeeping books, let alone be responsible for the employment of so many of her entourage. She can pretend all she wants, my guess is they all know about her monumental f**k ups in the past and don't trust her one little bit when it comes to their payments. IJ kept her under financial guardianship for the longest time because of her disproportionate spending habits, but was kicked aside when SJ started to make "her own money" (read: receive donations from gullible fans).

Haunted by the image of IJ dropping SJ off, in evening dress, at a party she wasn't invited to.
Did IJ also instill the idea that aristocrats don't work?
(Thinking of a friend whose polycystic ovary issue caused many problems early in life, not least a beard and a massive weight gain. Remember the bearded ladies in the freak shows? PCO sufferers. None skinny. Her mother, a true piece of tit, used to drop her off, aged 13, at Overeaters Anonymous meetings, to fend for herself amongst the batshit anorexics and child rape victims who protect themselves with pounds.)

 

[Madame No]

Usually only the CEOs of public companies and govt depts have their income public here.

Public school teachers salaries, at least in California, are also public.

 

[billybudd]

Creating a garden like that will take years and years, to get it judged and registered as a garden of interest even longer. It will not be in her lifetime that any created garden at her HMN will open up to the public, nor is this in line with the wishes of our charlataine: she wants a small Versailles for her private pleasures.

And there is NO evidence the installation of the gardens -- as opposed to the ancient lake -- is a restoration. Not to mention the turning of the barns into gites.

OT- I watched our beloved Flower Killer's vlog a short time ago, and it appears she has fired Sarah as her editor. Sadly, I think Sarah did a far better job of editing the vids, but what do I know? I was really rooting for Marie, but her sense of entitlement has grown- the beloved Nicki was never once featured (sadly, most of us really adore Nicki, and seeing her "Mother Hen" to Marie is incredibly endearing- Nicki is a beloved member of the community, and she took the sad little girl under her wing, and has done nothing but try to help her.) The cave business location could actually do well with proper marketing and integrating oneself in the community by volunteering and joining the local chambre of commerce (one has to start from somewhere), but in Marie's mind, she is a success in her own right and needs a better space. (Is she trying to grift one?) All whilst she lives for free at Nicki's, Nicki feeds her (and cooks her dinner) , and is utilizing the 2nd floor dining space of a local restaurant- which is free to her during the off-season (because of Nicki). Marie's SO successful in her own mind that she cried about having no money to go home to Norway for Christmas, and Nicki, Jill, and THEIR friends PAID for her ticket (no word yet as to who paid for her rental car whilst she was there.) I have never seen a more "un-greatful" (pun) person. The flower order for the whopping ONE person for her floral workshop was insanity- every cent of her Christmas Wreath profits were spent on this calamity. SMH- WHY?!? Marie, I was rooting for you, but you're digging your own trench. You're not a YouTube star, but a mooch. Nicki needs to kick your "un-greatful" bum to the curb.

She truly believes she is a YT star and keeps mentioning that as she meets Haworth strangers. Who are not, God bless Yorkshire, impressed.
At least the Yorkshire shepherdess is still working on her farm, even if she seems to have ditched her husband and is hungrily pursuing dog food commercial stardom. I just bought her cookbook. It's awesome.

 

[Le Comte de Monte Cristo]

He's also wearing those when he's out and about, well, at the Emmaus that is, because nowadays grocery shopping is beneath the lord of her shittoo and because he is famous he can't just go anywhere (his literal words). He gets a lot of attention with them, and not in a good way...

what!!! he cannot go anywhere because he is famous..you couldnt make it up...omg dont make me laugh..what a nutcase..YT has gotten to his head...omg that guy needs for sure therapy when she knocks him out.. I know more famous people who do their own groceries in their local supermarket..what a pretentious pathetic little piece of tit..

 

[billybudd]

I don’t understand how someone so young can look so old! Or why someone so young would WANT to look so old. You’re only young once, and Snorts is spending his youth in a rundown farmhouse, pretending to be lord of the manor, riding on SJ’s coattails rather than making his own way in the world. I guess the saying is correct… “Youth is wasted on the young!”

View attachment 1007215

Exactly. He looks like Miss Havisham's grandpa.

 

[Marty McFly 9]

The whole "restoration" vs. "renovation" conversation always has me interested.

In reality, there isn't really that much that she does that is restoration ... and I would argue none of what is actually seeing action is restoration ...

These are what I would understand as "restoration":
~The lake
~the façade
~the chapel
~windows
~shutters (or not)
~the roof
~she'd like to argue the paneling ... but she'd really have to prove there was THAT type of paneling there in the past to make that fit.
~ restoring the mill

The heating system and insulation I see as necessities, but are they restoration or renovation? I'm not sure where to classify these.


but the things she focuses on are renovation and decoration:
~new apartments
~wallpaper
~bathrooms
~the gardens (unless she can prove that these were the type of gardens original to La lande, I don't see how they can be considered renovation, and what they are putting in I just don't believe were ever at lalande)
~ courtyard gravel, not sure if this would have been original

Maybe I don't understand the difference ... to me restoring is taking something back to what it was ... renovation is changing it's purpose ... the out buildings, for instance, would need to returned to their origin, not made into apartments. Like you could restore the structure/walls as restoration, but adding bathrooms and apartments to live in, that's not restoration at that stage.

 

[Le Comte de Monte Cristo]

Do they really need all this staff ??

I mean Lalande is not a big chateau. A big manor ok but not Versailles or Chambord !

I have come to wonder if all these people don't take advantage of the Chatelaine.... and her new money.

i am sure they are...and she loves it..pretending to be Marie Antoinette..this woman is so disturbed..

 

[KyBourbon]

I want to marry Scotchette

No! You don’t want to do that! You should really, really reconsider! There’s a lot of baggage “upstairs” to unpack with that one.

 

[Trollda]

I think the only restoration projects I have seen happen at Lalaland are the stone oven, the Chapel windows, and the pantry hallway that Dan just finished. I'm not sure the attic floor is even a restoration project since I can't really tell if they are restoring the floor to the way it was originally.

 

[billybudd]

The whole "restoration" vs. "renovation" conversation always has me interested.

In reality, there isn't really that much that she does that is restoration ... and I would argue none of what is actually seeing action is restoration ...

These are what I would understand as "restoration":
~The lake
~the façade
~the chapel
~windows
~shutters (or not)
~the roof
~she'd like to argue the paneling ... but she'd really have to prove there was THAT type of paneling there in the past to make that fit.
~ restoring the mill

The heating system and insulation I see as necessities, but are they restoration or renovation? I'm not sure where to classify these.


but the things she focuses on are renovation and decoration:
~new apartments
~wallpaper
~bathrooms
~the gardens (unless she can prove that these were the type of gardens original to La lande, I don't see how they can be considered renovation, and what they are putting in I just don't believe were ever at lalande)
~ courtyard gravel, not sure if this would have been original

Maybe I don't understand the difference ... to me restoring is taking something back to what it was ... renovation is changing it's purpose ... the out buildings, for instance, would need to returned to their origin, not made into apartments. Like you could restore the structure/walls as restoration, but adding bathrooms and apartments to live in, that's not restoration at that stage.

The only real restoration jobs she's done in my book are Selmar's stone work on the downstair loo floor, and the botched resto of the ancient masonry wall of the terrace. In a Patreon video she says she doesn't talk about it because she didn't want to make the masonry villains YT stars, as I recall, and that the architect would be negotiating and supervising a redo by the same ancient masonry dudes.
And, she drained the fisheries pond. So that will be a resto job?
I think heat and insulation have got to be renovation, as well as the entire infrastructure she's installing for the barn: Insulation, heating, plumbing/septic, new electrics, which she's writing off as business expense for Nati's apartment.* Nati gets an apt she doesn't seem to want, but Gerry, Isabel, Potts, Larkin, and other new gites all get new infrastructure as well. It's the only way I could figure out what the whole Nati apartment scam was.
_________
*me and my forensic accounting degree insist, though <------this is SPECULATION

 

[Jeeves]

No! You don’t want to do that! You should really, really reconsider! There’s a lot of baggage “upstairs” to unpack with that one.

Maybe Scotchette is too busy trying to bump into Nick Fairford?

 

[KyBourbon]

The whole "restoration" vs. "renovation" conversation always has me interested.

In reality, there isn't really that much that she does that is restoration ... and I would argue none of what is actually seeing action is restoration ...

These are what I would understand as "restoration":
~The lake
~the façade
~the chapel
~windows
~shutters (or not)
~the roof
~she'd like to argue the paneling ... but she'd really have to prove there was THAT type of paneling there in the past to make that fit.
~ restoring the mill

The heating system and insulation I see as necessities, but are they restoration or renovation? I'm not sure where to classify these.


but the things she focuses on are renovation and decoration:
~new apartments
~wallpaper
~bathrooms
~the gardens (unless she can prove that these were the type of gardens original to La lande, I don't see how they can be considered renovation, and what they are putting in I just don't believe were ever at lalande)
~ courtyard gravel, not sure if this would have been original

Maybe I don't understand the difference ... to me restoring is taking something back to what it was ... renovation is changing it's purpose ... the out buildings, for instance, would need to returned to their origin, not made into apartments. Like you could restore the structure/walls as restoration, but adding bathrooms and apartments to live in, that's not restoration at that stage.

You’re absolutely correct…there IS a difference between restoration and renovation. But, let’s face it, to SJ it’s all the same…in her mind, everything is categorized as “restoration.” Just like all the funds she collects from YouTube and Patreon is all the same. In her mind, there’s no distinction or difference between the two. It’s all just a pot of money to use for whatever she wants…including trips, clothes, wine, and other luxury items. Making it a nightmare for an accountant or anyone who attempts to look at her finances.

 

[Marty McFly 9]

Exactly. He looks like Miss Havisham's grandpa.

thread nomination!!!

 

[Patriciarella]

SA was a long flight and they lost Gerry’s luggage. SJ said there wasn’t room to pack my epipen she needed space for the face thing from the attic.

SJ needed a nap so I said of coarse darlin sleep then Gerry said of coarse darlin sleep and IJ said you’re not just gonna sleep all day and let me with that child are you?

I’m a bit scared to eat the food in SA. The spice and unique items and IJ said allergies will go away when I grow up. So it’s been great I don’t need food.

 

[Sparrowsfart]

Talking of long grass and floaty dresses - A long long time ago - about 33 yrs or so, in South Africa, there was a cowboy type USA tv programme with Jayne Seymour who was a doctor in the show I think. My small son used to call her "she who runs through tall grasses with skirts in hand" it is a fond memory for me.

Dr Quinn medicine woman. Used to watch this too

 

[Jules100]

Do watch your step darling you almost stepped on my aunt’s nephew’s grandma’s second cousin’s dead fathers grocery list- we must frame it!

When we bought our house, we had to throw out 9 cubic metres of paper, among other things the collected shopping lists of the previous owner. We didn't frame any of them........

But surely the former owner of LL, the Marquis’, old grocery lists and receipts would be worthy of professional refurbishment and framing. Definitely a keep!

 

[Wilhelm]

In the UK, and, I imagine, in France also, there are employment laws about the correct temperature in a work environment, and in establishments where staff and guests stay. If so, she certainly breaks the law in that respect too!

But does it apply to bnbs?

 

[Le Comte de Monte Cristo]

The Marquis’ Fiancee here:

Any business that gets a visit by or patronage from someone famous is a huge deal for the owner and the business. It may be the modern day equivalent to any 19th-century lord of the manor hosting someone above him in the aristocracy. Lily James gracing LaGorce not to mention her subsequent mention of the chateau on her personal social media platform must be exciting for Anna and Ed, and a huge promotion for their business. I’m not a fan of Bordeaux Life, but they now have something that none of the other chatelaines can brag about.

we only think about famous people being special because we think they are..famous people are just people like all of us..you are right that it may look good on there portfolio..but in the end an actress is also just a human..i recall what Queen Elisabeth ones said...its not overwhelming if we dont think of it as overwhelming....most famous people are quite normal..its the fans who make gods of them..and when something goes wrong...have the loudest laugh about them..for sure Ed and Anna can benefit of this..but in my opinion..its al very overrated..

 

[ggyahoo]

I see restoration as putting back as original, or repairing as is. Renovation is renewing or upgrading to a different state.
Dan's work hacking off the plaster and exposing the bare brick walls in the pantry corridor would be renovation. If he had repaired or replaced the plasterwork in similar fashion, that would be restoration.

 

[Espe]

He's emulating Casey Neistat. I wish the gift grab looked more like this

Maybe that's where he got the idea of wearing sunglasses a lot. The music is sometimes similar too. That style does not suit Dan and is not a good idea!