March is coming in like a Lamb!

Well I can hardly believe that is now March and saying the usual "Pinch and a Punch first day of the Month" finishing off with "White Rabbits" which is great until you start explaining this phrase in the local restaurant (at this point I think why? oh why did I start this!!) Thankfully my dear girls were there by my side to help translate but I don't think poor Isabelle really got it - although she was all for popping off to the kitchen to start pinching and punching!

The last day of half term today and we did think we might go out for the day - escape the confines of the office but it was too flipping cold! So yes, by the way the -5 did come last week, along with 2 days of snow!! Woke up Monday morning to a semi-white world and again on Tuesday, I didn't have chance to get out with the camera on Monday but took a quick 15 minutes with the Robins (again) on Tuesday.....

I started this post quite obviously on the 1st March and it's now the 7th!
Every time I came back to update something else came along! In the meantime I did finish off the editing of all the photos I took at a lovely Family Photo Session...4 Children, 1 baby and their lovely parents. There have been a few faves so far but I think this one is going to be on my cards this season!

Although Valentin slept through most of the 2 hours there this one is possibly one I will be happy with for a long time. Whilst getting things set up I like to "test" the lighting etc....but for me sometimes this time turns to a moment like this

There are many, many more but I won't share them all :)

We had our first lovely long walk (7.5kms) on the 3rd March, the sun was out and the sky was blue - warm in the sun but chilly in the shade....we enjoyed the time talking and walking, taking in the silence and of course a few photos!

Scooby enjoys his first paddle of the year - clear but chilly!

Source du Chaboussant

Lapwings

Signs of Spring

We popped to Charroux on Tuesday - primarily to leave cards at the Office de Tourisme whilst waiting I did take a few pics of the infamous Abbaye de Charroux for more information on this Benedictine Abbaye it's worth a little read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charroux_Abbey it never fails to amaze me - how something built in the 11th Century still stands proud today! So full of history and quite a few stories! The photos were taken through a fence but I will hopefully go back when they are open!


Finally, I heard the Cranes flying over but could I see them? I was so busy hanging out the washing - oh yes I did and it dried! I realised that the noise I could hear was not coming from the playground from the Primaire but from the sky - another mad dash indoors and.........

Flying High!

Yes they are high but you can clearly see they are the wonderful noisy Cranes - I don't remember them flying over our way before but hopefully they will come back again and again! Not the hundreds that other family and friends have seen either but I am happy to have seen them!

Another Spring day blossomed on the 4th - it's always a lovely time of year (my favourite!) because of the new, fresh shoots flowering the anticipation of what's to come and of course the Bees and Butterflies come out to eat, drink and work hard!

Today though I have had one of those "moments" you know when you see something you want to take a photo of but the camera is not next to you? With a yelp I ran to my youngest daughter's room who had her camera  located in a place I could lay my hands on it and ran back to the kitchen praying the batteries were charged ..... and that my subject was still where I had left in... YES....(taken through the kitchen window) a Kestrel makes a brief stop on the bird house!

and I have a feeling this is what made him fly away

umm that's a large one on my bird house!

Need to check....oooh it's gone!

and this is what you have to deal with if you come back big bird from the sky!!

This photo was taken on the 4th March - I have a feeling by the end of today we will have more in flower! Although I am hoping the reports of snow are wrong - we really need some sun and warmth now!

New Facebook Page alert - my lovely friend has started her own business - her page is new as it was only launched last week but I know it's going to be a very useful page (and I might even start on my own house when it's time for spring cleaning!) but in the meantime I am reading and digesting all her fab ideas/tips! Cut the Clutter can be found here https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cut-the-Clutter/463478547039508

Have a great weekend - when it arrives - we are off to our youngest daughters second concert with her music class and am already anticipating her solo of "With or Without You" with nervous excitement...another "proud mum" moment!

February 14th St. Valentine's Day

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.

Purple!

White!

2 Purples

Little white!

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!

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....