It’s one of those perfect mornings and I thought of you all. I didn’t have time to write a lot or to edit photos, I simply picked up my camera and snapped away. This is a simple Sunday morning in a country farmhouse in a quiet village in rural coastal France. Continue reading “A Sunday Morning in France”
Today I am doing something totally new and it’s taken me completely out of my comfort zone! When I was first asked by Mary Ann and Cindy if I would join them and a group of other bloggers for their latest ‘Project Design: Simple Ideas to Update Your Entry’, I was not at all sure. I felt I would be joining highly esteemed blogging company and some very talented ladies with beautiful entrance halls, and I didn’t want to let the side down. To say I felt a little out of my depth would be an understatement! But there is nothing I like more than a challenge; ask me if I am up for something and it’s a bit like a red rag to a bull, of course I am up for it! Actually, I really want to thank Mary Ann of Classic Casual Home and Cindy of Rough Luxe Lifestyle for including me in this fabulous group, as our entrance hall has had a complete makeover and has never looked so good!
Continue reading “Project Design: The Entrance Hall; Before and After!”
Something completely out of the ordinary today! The supernatural. Do you believe in it or not? I like to think I am a very grounded, down to earth sort of person, I don’t watch Sci-Fi movies and I rarely fantasise about things, well except perhaps about a holiday in Bora Bora or some such thing! I have had two strange encounters in my life, one with a ghost and one with a UFO and both experiences have happened in France. Continue reading “Ghosts and Aliens”
This is a time of year when we can literally feel spring coursing through our veins. It’s a season full of rebirth and new growth, a time of endless possibilities, and a time of innocent hope. Whilst our climate is generally mild here on the coast and the risk of a frost is pretty much gone now, March and April can be fickle months; we can be dining al fresco with windows and doors wide open one day, and the next be plunged into less favourable temperatures with chilly winds and in definite need of a coat. It’s also a time of year when you can bring spring inside too, when branches of blossom can fill the house with colour and scent Continue reading “The Optimism of Spring in Our Garden”
Do you ever feel like you are being stretched in every direction, without enough hands, with not enough hours in the day, in fact not enough time full stop? It’s the first week of the children’s winter holidays and that means I am juggling balls trying to keep the wheels turning. I need to be here, there, and everywhere else whilst also attempting to keep the house running in a somewhat civilised manner. Some people cope with stress by doing yoga, and others try meditation; I, however, like to take photos! Continue reading “Appreciating the Ordinary”
The phone suddenly burst into life with a jolt of energy, and picking it up, I heard a distant voice asking, “Susan? Susan? Is that you? I think I may have found something………”and my heart gave a lurch of excitement; the dread I had been feeling for a week lifting tantalisingly off my chest. There were more words on the other end of the line, but I was already gone, drifting back to France and the sound of cicadas. Continue reading “The Story of How We Bought Our Home”
The weather gods have certainly been playing with us this winter and I daresay they’re not done yet. They’ve been tossing us around like a bunch of wet socks inside a washing machine, and we’re never sure quite what they will throw at us next. Continue reading “The Wrath of the Gods”
When I fantasized about living in France many years ago, I imagined a shared passion with new found French friends for the simple pleasures in life; I never dreamt it would actually come true. Continue reading “Listening to the Locals”
Blogging for me usually follows one of two forms. Often I think of exactly what I want to say whilst in the car or in the shower (or somewhere else equally inconvenient where I am far from the keyboard!); as soon as I can I quickly write down my thoughts and then head out when I have time to search for photos to illustrate what I have written. At other times though the photos come first and then the story follows. Today’s post is definitely a case of the latter; it was just another regular early morning search for vegetables in the market, and as always I clicked away with my camera, fingers growing numb in the cold. It was only when I got home that I thought the humble winter vegetable might be deserving of a little more attention.
Mother Nature has us in her icy grip and when we step outside winter smacks us in the face, with the icy chill raw against our cheeks. This week much of France is shivering within a frozen landscape. Driving through our village early in the morning I see little children walking to school, clutching an adult hand in thick gloves, their little bodies bundled up against the cold. All that is visible are bright red noses, rosy cheeks and eyes sparkling with excitement, and even though it’s not snow on the ground the weather is still just a little out of the ordinary, enough to create a frisson of anticipation.
Continue reading “The Big Freeze, French Plumbing & Who Won Those Toffees!”
Our French Oasis 