The most beautiful week, day 2, Sunday

Sunday started, as every day started during that week, with piles of breakfast pastries from our much loved Epicerie in our little village, baked by the proprietor, Gilles. After breakfast, the girls and I decided to pick our sweet little cherry tomatoes to go with lunch -

Somehow, although we picked many, we ended up with only a few for the lunch table ;-). Most went straight into their mouths, I guess 

We like picnic style lunches, with cold meats, salamis, tomatoes, pickled gherkins, French bread of course, and lots of different cheeses -

To work off some of the calories, Stefan had a little play session with Poppy. We usually keep the dogs behind a gate when the children are around, as Hector can be a little unpredictable and Poppy a bit too excitable, and safety has to come first.

The girls had taken a shine to our bathroom, especially the sunken bath ( which we dislike intensely but can't replace yet ), and we found Grace sitting or laying in it on numerous occasions. So, to make her more comfortable, I gave her a pillow and a blanket. Happy Girl! -

And then the boys decided to seriously exercise - BALL GAMES!!!  Two small juggling balls, three grown men being little boys again, a very slopey garden and French sunshine all made for much hilarity. First, the rules ( or non-existence of rules ) were discussed -

throwing techniques were practised -

and then a fairly tame game commenced -

entertaining the spectators -

It didn't stay all that tame though, lol, and for some it just was too much, tehehe -

But of course kids don't stay with anything for very long, so after Emily had taken over the spectator's chair for a little while, 

we wombled off to see the cows in the field next door -

Hey, the girls said, the cow is posing for us, we should pose as well-

Back in the garden proper, there was a new twist to the game, girl power was now on show!-

and the game had progressed, or perhaps regressed,lol, to throwing under leg. Four people, two balls, and it seemed way too many legs :-) -

By the end of that game, we were all falling about laughing and more than ready for a big home cooked meal.

Love the family and the fun we had together!

Toodlepip xxx

The most beautiful week, day 1, Saturday

Last week was magical. My whole family, three sons, one daughter in law and three grandchildren came to visit us here in France. It was the very first time in the twelve years we have had our cottage that the whole family was together. They arrived on a very dark grey Saturday morning, very tired from a looooong car journey overnight, but with big smiles on their faces. As you can imagine, I took about a million photos during the week, and as I want to remember every single moment, I'll be filling a few blog posts with them :-). You are welcome to share the week with us, but of course you can also skip this week completely, lol, I won't mind if you don't read the posts ;-).

So, here goes. I had been following their progress right from the start, from all of them meeting up, driving to Folkestone to the Tunnel terminal, to arriving at Calais and their long journey across France. Of course I didn't sleep a wink Friday night to Saturday morning, tracking them on Find Friends on the iphone and seeing their progress kept me from worrying too much. And then there was that magic moment when I could hear their cars coming up the hill, turning into our little lane, and there they were.... and I was so excited, I didn't take a pic of them arriving! First pic was this one when my three sons came through the gate -

And almost the first thing out of the cars was this frisby-ish thingy ( which caused much hilarity over the week by landing in adjacent fields, amongst cows ) -

 This is youngest son Nick, btw

And this is oldest son Chris -

 Middle son Stefan, father of my three granddaughters -

My poor darlings were so tired -

but still there were many many smiles -

A cup of tea always works wonders. This is my beautiful daughter in law Ashley, who looks gorgeous even after a sleepless night in the car -

and my oldest granddaughter Paige -

I had found a sweet princess dress for Grace, which she promptly put on -

Where do they get their energy from? Paige and Emily, the youngest one -

And while we were tucking into delicious French breakfast pastries -

our little darling decided to get ready for summer :-) -

But the weather gods had other ideas, it started chucking it down when the boys were unloading Nick's truck -

A little snooze is always a good idea -

because you wake up an hour or two later full of energy again ( at least for a little while, lol ) and the rain had stopped, yay -

Ah, my saintly No. 1 son, lol, the photo caught him throwing the frisby ring, and made it look like a halo! -

At 4pm we took them to the gite we had rented for Stefan and his family, and cooked them dinner there. They loved the place, so after dinner we left Stef and family there and returned to our cottage with Chris and Nick. What a wonderful first day. My eyes are tearing up again...........

Day 2 will follow tomorrow!

Toodlepip xxx

Rain, glorious rain! And a Flash Giveaway winner

Woke up at 6am this morning to the sound of distant thunder and RAIN! Omg, rain, real proper rain, not just a light drizzle for a few minutes. How can I get so excited about rain? After 2 months of drought conditions, weeks of hearing the distressed cries of starving cows and having to fetch water every day to try and keep the veggies alive, this is such a blessed relief. Our three rain butts are filling up, the ground is getting a proper soaking, so we won't have to water the veggies for a couple of days, and maybe, just maybe, the fields around us will turn from a burnt yellow/orange to a little bit of green here and there.

This is our view this morning, gorgeous grey, yay -

I hope my painting stands up to the rain, lol -

Hector's favourite outdoor water bowl has filled up and is blowing bubbles -

There are tiny little puddles in the hollows of the large stones outside the door -

So here I sit with a smile on my face, watching the rain dripping down -

Mustn't forget to announce the winner of the little flash giveaway, must I? The name picked out of the hat is -

LESLEY UK

I can't find an email addy for you, Lesley, so please contact me with your addy and I'll get your win on the way to you.

My family is arriving on the weekend, and I am so very happy to have them ALL here at our cottage in France for the very first time. I think I might just have to have another giveaway in a week or two, so stay tuned :-).

Toodlepip xxx

Coup de Coeur

I saw her from a long way away, and it was love at first sight. She was destined to come home with me. Such a beautiful face, so serene yet compassionate. She stands over half a metre tall. She put a smile on my face as soon as I held her, and the smile is still there. My beautiful Vierge -

I can display sweet French rosaries on her, like this shimmery glass pearl one -

And because this made me so happy, I am adding another couple of bits to the weekend giveaway, 2metres of this gorgeous metallic gold and copper trim which I found today, and a vintage French postcard of a family group -

Add a comment on the original post HERE if you would like a chance to win.

Happy Sunday! Toodlepip xxx

Flash Weekend Giveaway! NOW CLOSED

I was very lucky to find a roll of gorgeous 1950s lingerie lace at a little brocante. I love the soft cafe au lait color and the pretty floral design. 

And because there are many yards of this lace, I thought I'd share my good fortune and send three yards of this lace to one of my followers. 

Leave a comment on this post and your name will go into the hat. I like drawing a winner the old fashioned folded paper bits way. I'll do the draw on Monday.

I HAVE ADDED A COUPLE MORE BITS TO THE GIVEAWAY, SEE SUNDAY'S POST :-). -

Toodlepip xxx