Thursday 21 February 2013

A Beautiful week in February '13

Another beautiful week - I know it's not going to last though, ever since the sun has been out and shining everyone has been promising it will be -5 at the weekend!! Although saying that there is a real bite to the wind today sooo........!?

Well anyway after I wrote and published last week, we had some really brilliant and fabulous news - our eldest passed her first year Uni exams with an "Assez Bien" we are really thrilled for her, as she and her friend spent 3 days swotting in the Christmas holidays, they are both very happy and seem to have taken in all in their stride and now working hard for next lot of exams! That same day Chloe also found out she and her friend have been selected to go to Italy with the musico class, how fab! Somewhere she has really wanted to go and now the lucky girl is going!

So what with the youngest of to Ireland and the eldest of to Italy, both in April and just before their 21st and 18th Birthdays in May, presents - sorted!  And what a fantastic way of celebrating. I remember celebrating (or should I say re-celebrating) my 18th with my best friend, who did turn 18 whilst we were in the States! We had a wonderful 2 weeks stay in Florida, Jacksonville and Orlando and the Keys - which is where Tina turned 18, the only problem - yes we had to be 21 to go out and have a drink and that is another story!


I have had a few chances to go outside with the camera over the weekend which was great, not only did I manage to capture some more Robin shots we had a lovely bonfire and a turn out in our sous sol all thanks to gaining a new (to us) Fridge Freezer! 

On the 15th after another warm and sunny day we went out for a lovely long walk - the first chance in a few weeks to do so without any rain! We went out just in time to enjoy the close of a lovely day and week!

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Sun going down


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Silhouettes

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Fence Posts in Silhouette

Saturday more blue skies and although a tad frosty we had warmth in that sun by mid-morning, so warm in fact I actually broke my own rule and "cast a clout" although I did still have a jumper on so only last a light layer really ;) Two Robins seemed to be having a "sing off" in the garden so I couldn't resist becoming stalker and for the next 15 minutes these beautiful birds sang whilst I took their photos - perfect!


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Robin One

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Robin Two

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Robin One singing

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Robin Two being inquisitive 

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Robin Two now posing!

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I can sing louder than you.....

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Yes! I can.....
After taking these (and many more) I read just the next day, "When a robin red breast constantly visits you or crosses your path, a loved one in heaven is trying to say 'hello! I'm with you!" Well I suppose it's a myth, superstition but it's also maybe what you want to believe and for me - actually I would like to think it true as my lovely Nana passed away 21 years ago in February and it was also a beautiful week and she truly loved good weather (she hated rain and the cold!)  I also read this.....
"The robin features prominently in British folklore, and that of northwestern France, but much less so in other parts of Europe. It was held to be a storm-cloud bird and sacred to Thor, the god of thunder, in Norse mythology. Robins also feature in the traditional children's tale, Babes in the Wood; the birds cover the dead bodies of the children. More recently, the robin has become strongly associated with Christmas, taking a starring role on many Christmas cards since the mid 19th century. The Robin has also appeared on many Christmas postage stamps. An old British folk tale seeks to explain the Robin's distinctive breast. Legend has it that when Jesus was dying on the cross, the Robin, then simply brown in colour, flew to his side and sang into his ear in order to comfort him in his pain. The blood from his wounds stained the Robin's breast, and thereafter all Robins got the mark of Christ's blood upon them.  An alternative legend has it that its breast was scorched fetching water for souls in Purgatory. The association with Christmas, however, more probably arises from the fact that postmen in Victorian Britain wore red uniforms and were nicknamed "Robin"; the Robin featured on the Christmas card is an emblem of the postman delivering the card. In the 1960s, in a vote publicised by The Times newspaper, the Robin was adopted as the unofficial national bird of the UK.[34] The Robin was then used as a symbol of a Bird Protection Society." (Thank you Wiki)
But whatever myths and stories go with Robins they still have a special place in my heart along with Seagulls!
On Sunday we finally got to see Chloe and took our lunch up to her Appartement and had a long awaited catch up, after lunch we joined many other families and went for a 2 hour walk around the historic and lovely city of Poitiers..
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Hôtel Fumé - one of the Fac's in the town - what a lovely place to study!

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The Tower where Eleanor d'Aquaitaine lived

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La Palais de Justice from the side view

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l'Eglise Saint Pierre de Poitiers



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l'Eglise de Sainte Radagonde


Interior of Sainte Radgonde


Nearly home!



This week I have helped an Artist Friend bring her work to Facebook with her own dedicated page to her fantastic Pencil Drawings, you can find Gill's page here; https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gill-Latham-Artist/250106948458967 why not pop over and see what she does? She also sells at the Lemon Tree in Sauzé Vaussais!

Now I have to get my head into gear as I have realised that we are now nearer to the end of February and I have cards to make, which means selecting photos for the new season to choose for cards and Limited edition prints! It's the choosing which is always hard but so far I seem to be doing ok!
So what's next? who knows? Another weekend is soon to be upon us and we then have Chloe home for a week, so with any luck in between their social life and our working life we might get a chance to spend a day together out and about! 

So for now I bid you au revoir ...





Thursday 14 February 2013

February 14th St. Valentine's Day

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Happy St. Valentine's Day!
Well I could say it's always like Valentine's Day chez nous ;) there is nothing more important in life than being loved and cherished apart from loving and cherishing I think......When we were younger we did celebrate in style but once the girls came along we just loved staying at home instead - you get used to not celebrating when your Husband travels around for work or was out earning a crust at the weekends entertaining other romantic couples - at the RBL!! mmmm...anyway my life would not be what it is without my lovely husband and best friend and our girls so really for me it's a celebration of what we have! Ask anyone what  St. Valentine's is about and we hear the lovely romantic stories but I found this wiki link rather informative (but not so romantic!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine

Anyway that's enough of romance - I have had a pretty exciting month so far...

I had a Product Photo Shoot at the beginning of the month working alongside a lovely young lady who is also very passionate about what she does, hairdressing and latterly creating hair products and designing the style of the bottles etc... it was fun, if not a little infuriating at first as Purple and Black are not kind colours to photograph especially shiny bottles at that - but we got there in the end and I look forward to seeing Laura's interpretations of the photos when she has finished editing them.

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Purple!

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White!

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2 Purples

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Little white!

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The Family!

I have now also been asked if I would like to sell from another local establishment - would I what?!...well of course I would be very happy to try selling my Limited Edition Prints at this lovely family run Salon de Thé, The Lemon Tree is a great place to be really, lots happening there and always a good cup of hot chocolate and a slice of cake to be had! The Lemon Tree is in Sauzé Vaussais and open Tuesday - Saturday - plenty of chance to have a brew and peruse the great gift ideas for sale there!
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For Sale at the Lemon Tree
Finally my lovely friend (she of creating ceramic magic) has her own Facebook page and eventually will be able to share all her lovely handmade items with us all...I have to say I enjoyed helping her create the page and now look forward to watching her work and hopefully getting much deserved support for her work. You can find her newly created page at https://www.facebook.com/LesCeramiquedeLinda?fref=ts why not pop over and take at look at her beautiful flower necklaces?

Finally a very big thank you goes out to my lovely and supportive friend Jacqueline Brown, the Blogging Queen of the Deux Sèvres (and beyond) she gave me a couple hours of her precious time this week to help me get my head around Blogging! A very patient lady indeed, I learnt much and enjoyed finding out more than I ever thought I would remember let alone come home and remember to do! So French Village Diaries is another link I am pleased to share today! French Village Diaries is about the life here en France and how most of us try to live if we can! I love her passion about everything around here and the lives here, I feel very boring in comparison!

Hopefully the next couple of weeks will bring us some much needed sunshine - the Cranes have been heard in some areas - which means Spring should be on the way.....

In the event of trying to find the one photo I have taken of the Cranes I came across one of Scooby and his "girlfriend" Tess - I thought I would share as it was taken on the 14th February ('10) and back to the romance! (and no still can't find the photo of the Cranes!)




Snow was on the ground well not lots obviously but enough for it to be very cold - so standing around watching these two playing really warmed our hearts!


I found this as well and couldn't resist a share - taken just down the road at a local farm!

Have a lovely St. Valentine's day whatever you do/have done to celebrate until the next time a bientot....

PamelaJayne Photography's photostream

Poppy fieldPoppy and WheatVibrant RedUp here!Shades of Red3 in a row
white flowerwhite clematisSunny Side onsunny centralPink AzaleaPenstemon
Carnation in PinkPink CarnationForget me notmorning glorylyns tulipsso blue
GladioliGladioli for youSimple but trueWild GeraniumsDaisyAfrican Daisies
I have re-activated my Flickr account! I will be adding more photos of our lovely region - the Poitou Charentes, France and all things that I love! Please keep popping back - all the images are for sale as Unique photocards and Limited Edition Framed Prints at affordable prices for lovely gifts!