France
June bloomed as we said goodbye
We are back from our last foray to La Belle France and to our holiday home of 14 years. Over the years we’ve been restricted by school holiday periods and travelled every other month except June. I now discover a little of what we’ve been missing. Here are just a few snaps of the flower bed beneath the lounge windows. The roses smelled just as divine as they look and the camelia flower was as big as my hand splayed open. There are too many other photos and views to share here, but I shall hold them forever in my heart.
The weather was beautiful for the whole of our 11 day trip, which included 7 days of isolation in our house and garden due to Covid restrictions. That made the hanging around a little more palatable at times as I sat in the sunshine with a book a few times before we really got into sorting out 14 years of ‘stuff’. Two vans full of junk to the municipal dump later, tears of frustration at ‘what to keep/what to throw’, cleaning, packing things up safely to bring home have left me drained and exhausted physically and emotionally. The next step is finding new homes for everything that made it back to the UK, equally frustrating as packing it up!
A little colourful crochet
I think my crafting mojo might be back! It’s either that or I am using crafting as a distraction from other things. I have so much going on at the moment it might be the latter. Mind you, at least my distraction isn’t lounging on the couch eating chocolate and watching trash on tv. That’s been a known distraction in the past and I enjoyed it but ask me to recount detail of those tv shows and I will probably be blank!
I am trying to use up some of my yarn stash. Technically, that’s something I promised myself I would do in 2020 and I did it a fair bit, albeit continuing into this year, I have had to supplement a little this time. Oh it felt so good to yarn shop, even online! The difficult thing was to stop when I did. So most of this is Lovecrafts Paintbox Cotton DK from my stash with a smattering of Drops cotton and King Cole Cotton. It should be a colourful edge to edge shortish cardigan. I reserve the right to turn it into something else along the way – as with several projects this has actually happened.
I have even resurrected a hexi patchwork project. This has been ongoing for years (have blogged about it before). What began as a cushion has grown into the beginnings of a sofa throw, maybe a third of the front is assembled already. It is mostly autumnal reds, browns, soft yellows and greens. I still have a way to go but this will be the latest hexagon filling a ‘gap’ in the design.
And onto why I am being distracted – very soon I am going to France to sort out the contents of my second home before we sell it. For several reasons we are selling and truthfully there are lots of highs and lows about the sale (many, many lows). I won’t bore anyone about the hoops we are jumping through to get there, which involves several Covid 19 tests, self isolation there and again when we return, then more tests. If we don’t go we break a contract with the sale, there is no possibility of delay, otherwise we wouldn’t be travelling. We even asked someone else to clear our house and store it’s contents but sadly that wasn’t possible. I cannot think why anyone during a pandemic would take on the stress of travelling abroad for a break away. Certainly wouldn’t advise it!
Well, back to the hook for me (and double/treble checking we have the right paperwork to be let out of the country/into another country!). Bye for now!
French Style, Giverny and a little crafting progress
Read the title and think about how succinct it could be. I shall try and make it short – less is more, right?
This August holidaying in France (I loved it as much as ever!). My favourite day out – a visit to Monet’s Garden in Giverny. What a tranquil oasis. I’d highly recommend a visit. The village remains almost as it did when he lived there from 1883-1840 (gorgeous cafe and house in the main Rue, see above).
Monet’s house itself is still lovely (we read up beforehand not to expect his own paintings on display, more his own collection of Japanese drawings). No photos allowed inside, preserving it for future generations. The gardens are beautifully kept, the famous water lily pond amazing, yet the bridge in all the paintings is now slightly hidden.
And when I wasn’t visiting lovely places, supping french wine, eating cheese and pastries or sunbathing, I crocheted. Progress since former blog here.
What’s everyone else been doing lately? Please tell !
Crochet or a book or three?
Am currently on hols – still crocheting but yarn is competing with paper.
I just finished a great novel – The Bed I Made by Lucie Whitehouse. It’s a psychological thriller. Fun part/topical line – ‘my Isle of Wight has been the one running 20 years behind the rest of southern England’. ‘… even a wool shop which I was sure had been there when I was a child’.
Then there’s a local guide book I brought with me. Plus a town guide in French – that really tested my brain today – so much I couldn’t understand!
Bye for now.
Bluebells, Lilacs and Knitting
Spring has sprung and ‘my’ world is full of new blues and greens. I leave a patch of my garden here in the UK wild. Nature takes over, bluebells pop up – this year they are glorious.
Lilacs have arrived too. In Sussex my German sister in law has snipped off a few to adorn her dining table. They are so beautiful. This lilac bush was just a twig from Germany a few years ago and this is the first year there are blooms to enjoy.
I have just returned from a few days in France and lilacs are in my garden there as well. I only wish you could smell their wonderful scent.
And a little knitting for the journey to France. I switched between this new pale green wrap and another white lacy top currently being worked on. You could say is was a ‘mystery’ knit. I printed off a pattern before I left but the printer ran out of ink so I had the instructions but not the photos. It’s called Spring Roll by Anne Baker. It even has ‘Spring’ in it’s name! So there’s a little bit of my Spring. I hope you enjoy the views.
A Horse on A Course (aka Still Water by sculptor Nic Fiddian-Green), a little bit of culture
Looking through some electronically stored photos from earlier this year I was thinking how pleasant it was previously to have more physical photos to hand. I have been quite prudent in recent years as we live in a world where we take photos everyday with our smartphones, tablets, etc. If we printed and displayed them all we would be buried shoulder deep in pictures and the planet would be suffering. I am the first to admit I am not a perfect photographer by a long shot. I envy those who take great photos but continue in my own haphazard ways.
Take this beautiful sculpture admired at a racecourse in Deauville, Normandy, France this August. I took a couple of snaps (one of which in fact only showed half the artist’s details).
I do not do it justice but thanks to the internet I have now admired more of Nic Fiddian-Green’s work from afar. I hope by showing my poor photos here someone else may enjoy it too.
I have also been digging out old wedding photos and family snaps. It is truly precious to have at least many of those to reminisce over, to see family resemblances and to talk about those we love who aren’t with us anymore. I shall endeavour to print out a few more photos as the years proceed. I would hate them all to be lost on electronic systems that become out of date and inaccessible. Happy snapping to all!
A tranquil weekend with a bit of grey (shrug)
Adjective: Tranquil – free from disturbance, calm
My tranquil place last weekend, Houlgate beach, Normandy, France.
There was the odd other person there but mostly just seabirds strutting their stuff.
It was a bit chilly to knit at the beach (well, it is November!), so back to the house for some more calm, a hot chocolate, yarn and sticks. The basket of grey from last week is growing slowly into a chunky shrug. Progress so far.
I feel so lucky to get to France as often as I do. Home away from home. Jusqu’à la prochaine fois (until the next time) …
Pont L’Eveque, France
A small montage of images from a special place (to me) in Northern France, Pont L’Eveque, Normandy.
Hopefully you can see age and quaintness in these snaps. Sadly much of the town was damaged during the occupation of the Second World War so much has been rebuilt. I am not sure of the actual age of the original buildings but I know the first mention of Pont L’Eveque was in the 1100’s so it’s been there awhile! As for professional photos, I am definitely a snapper rather than a true photographer, please take this into consideration when reading my blog posts. The bike rack is just for fun!
We spent a morning here recently. I cannot show you the cafe where we sat and people watched whilst sipping our cafes au lait. Nor indeed are there photos of the colourful macarons purchased (then eaten!) or the Beaufort cheese sampled at the market. The famous Pont L’Eveque cheese of the same name is not actually to our taste but we have tried it. It’s supposed to be the oldest known cheese from this area of France. Did you know there are more than 400 cheeses made in France? !
Pont L’Eveque is now a thriving tourist area yet it still manages to feel serene and even on market day little is rushed. If only I could time travel.
More bunting and beach huts, a little bit of early summer
Lovely readers know I adore bunting and beach huts. Recently I blogged about both.
I had made some bunting to donate to a friend for a charity event. I used cotton fabric from my fabric stash which I’d been holding onto for something special. I loved it so much it was almost difficult to gift it! Therefore I made another length for myself.
We’ve just been away to France for a few days. We had glorious sunshine, mostly.
A little visit to a nearby town, Houlgate, reminded me of the inspiration for the beach hut in another recent blog post (on the right!)
Houlgate has this great line of beach huts, each year reconstructed on the promenade. I often wonder where they go for the winter. This year we were there when workmen were putting together the last few and lining them all up ready for their summer use. They are numbered, some are named and even though I have been visiting for more than ten years I have never counted how many there are. In this photo the last one is number 154 !  Some numbers are missing, some are in better condition than others, but they are all orange and white stripes.
As for crafting over the last few days… here’s a snippet of me one afternoon …
Knitting and sewing is high on the agenda at the moment but so is getting a little bronzed !
Where do you like to knit if you get the chance?
The difference between beaches
We headed for the coast last Monday, a Bank Holiday here in the UK. Luckily we started out early, arriving at Louisa Bay, Broadstairs in time for a bacon buttie breakfast at a little cafe right on at the edge of the beach. It was fairly quiet, so afterwards we lay and read our books listening to the gentle waves lapping on the sand, a little chatter around us, hubbie even had a nap, waking himself with his own snoring! This is a photo of the ‘crowds’ about midday.
After a couple of hours, baked and searching for more liquid refreshments we strolled a few minutes around the corner to Viking Bay, which most people consider the main beach at Broadstairs. If you look closely there are patches of sand free! This isn’t my idea of a pleasurable afternoon on a sandy beach – just tooo packed!
We bypassed the hoards and found a cute bar/bookshop and took refuge in the cool. https://www.chapelbroadstairs.com/  I wish I’d taken my own photos here, it’s a unique place with aged books to browse from every floor to ceiling shelf and though I had a soft drink, I understand the craft beer is great!
We returned to ‘our’ little Louisa Bay afterwards which has decreased in size due to the tidal flow, but it was lovely for a short half hour before we headed home.
I love a beach (anyone who catches my blog will already know this). I know we have to share sometimes but I think I might avoid Bank Holiday trips to the coast in the UK for a while and continue to visit out of season. Here’s Cabourg, Normandy, France last October ….
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