Simply Neutrals No. 35

Wen's lovely post about textures for Simply Neutrals No. 35 last week prompted me to post this photo. I took it a couple of days ago here at our cottage in France. We are quite snug and warm with the central heating and the fire going as well, but the radiator in the kitchen area is bust and for the last few days we got ice flowers on the inside of the window! Just little patches in the corners of the small window panes, so not a huge deal. The textures of ice on glass are endlessly fascinating, and although the ice was melting, it still provided some lovely textures. It was pretty dark outside, so the reflection of the kitchen light added a little bit of warm colour.

Please hop over to Wen's blog to see the beautiful neutrals photographs posted this week for Simply Neutrals Tuesday No. 35.

Toodlepip xxx

Simply Neutrals No. 34

I am so happy that Wen from the AppleApricot blog is hosting the Simply Neutrals Tuesday linky party again, I adore all the beautiful creations and images shared by the participants.

We arrived back in France again last week, and I have finally unpacked my craftacase, sadly not in the craftavan but upstairs in our cottage. And I also have to confess to paying a quick visit to a French charity shop, Emmaus, and coming home with a little bit of lace and ..................

Tada, this gorgeous wax flower and bud couronne de mariee, a wedding crown/tiara 

Please hop over to Wen's blog and take a look at all the gorgeous neutrals HERE

Toodlepip xxx

Looking back to Spring and Summer in France Part 3 ( June )

June started with a beautiful misty morning

June was also the month when all the hard work on the veggie patches started to pay off. The veggies were growing like crazy, you could almost watch them grow. I had a huge amount of parsley, so I made a potato and parsley soup sprinkled with lardons ( small pieces of bacon )

The caulis were coming along nicely, as were the potatoes, and we started harvesting cavolo nero

Of course, the weeds and wildflowers grew like crazy as well :-)

Early June I also found a girlfriend for Gizmo, my son's family's dog, which they had adopted through Paws2Rescue. She came from Romania as well through Paws2Rescue. It was love at first sight, lol, they are inseparable

By the middle of June, there were so many beautiful butterflies and moths around, the lettuces were ready for harvesting, the main crop spuds started flowering, the first cauliflower was ready, and we dug up the first First Earlies, :-)

We went back to the UK for a brief break for some appointments and of course to see the family. Mum was so happy to see us

The dogs are incedibly good in the car. Sometimes they snuggle up together, sometimes Poppy has to watch the world go by while Hector needs a cuddle from me, so he slides his head inbetween the front seats

What a difference ten days make, lol, we came back to many more veggies ready for eating, yellow and green courgettes, radishes, yellow and green climbing beans, potatoes and lettuces, so we were back to our favourite foods, veggies straight from the garden

Of course the flowers had also grown in that time

my dear friend Christine gave me this seed pod, which she had been given by a friend, weird thing, full of huge amounts of fluffy stuff and lots of small seeds, but I failed miserably, they didn't grow, sob sob

Can't remember whether I ever showed you this fabulous old sharpening stone wheel, such an amazing thing

Towards the end of the month, some of the yellow and white patissons were ready as well

And finally, we were able to dig up some beetroot as well. Btw, the beetroot leaves are sooo delicious, I treat them like spinach, so chop them finely and add nutmeg and cream. Baked beetroot, beetroot greens, home grown potatoes ( with pork steaks )

I was very strict with myself and didn't allow myself to go to many vide greniers / brocante, but this one at the end of the month was set in the amazing Roman amphitheater in Autun, and it called me :-). There was one massive stall which must have sourced their stuff from a science department at a school or something like that, there were so many weird and wonderful things to look at, I got totally stuck there

And the month ended with the most stunning view over the valley, a beautiful rainbow way below our cottage

July next :-)

Toodlepip xxx

Looking back to Spring and Summer in France Part 2 (May)

It is bitterly cold this morning here on the Channel coast, so I am cheering myself up with another look back at France 2017. Done April, so its May next :-). Be prepared for a whole month's worth of photos, lolol.

May 2017, what a wonderful month it was. Our youngest son drove out to visit us very early on in May, he loves the cottage and being surrounded by all the peace and quiet of the countryside so much. The dogs of course, were very happy to see him

The mornings were often very misty and with an eery atmosphere 

Our closest neighbours, the Charolais cows, were enjoying all the fresh new greens

and I was enjoying the first flower on my newly planted peony

while Hector was enjoying his first outing on his lounger

10th May, and we planted out some brassica ( and boy, did they turn out great! )

The weather was pretty good and by the middle of May, the grass and wildflowers were growing like crazy. I adore the daisies

Every day, the view from the cottage presents a different scene, always beautiful

and our Poppy girl loves nothing better than sitting in the lower field, admiring the view and watching the world go by

whilst Hector sorts out the settee and plays at being a couch potato

Mind you, they both like their creature comforts. They don't mind sprawling out on the grass 

but they do prefer their very own outdoor beds, lolol. Hector has his own lounger, and we had to build Poppy her own sandpit bed, because she kept laying down on every bit of freshly dug ground in the veggie patch or flower beds

Flowers, aaah yes. I don't have a flower garden, our so called garden is more of a field, lol, but I do have a couple of new rose borders and I do love my flowers in pots and baskets. Some of the roses first

another newly planted peony

and my beloved antique flower trolly, flower bed and pot plants

My potted herb garden by the front door

One of the great delights of being at the cottage, sitting outside with good friends, enjoying food, wine and great views

oh, and being able to hang huge pieces of knotted lace on the washing line in the garden, can't do that at home in the UK

Love love love salads for lunch, of course eaten under the trees in the garden

Some of nature's beauty collected to be admired indoors

And I leave you with these amazing shades of green on one of our trees