Dreaming of France ...

French Meme .. with

Paulita from An Accidental Blog.

Do you have fond memories

of France? Maybe a book,

a film, a walk or too!!

I have lots of wonderful memories of

France, but inparticular PARIS!

So many photos to share,

Lots of fab friends there too.

This photo was taken in

August 2010.. when out with

good friends Barbara and Didier.

Ecole Militaire and the Eiffel Tower.

Happy New Year to all my readers and friends.

a big thank you to

you all.

After a big break in blogging

due to depression, you

were all still there

and you came back!!

Really means a lot!!

 I could not get to Paris

this year ... sob sob sob...

 I have so many photos , hard to choose

one .. but going through them

I found this one.. .

Do you remember Barbara???

Take care,  Happy New year to you all!!

Sons!!

My two wonderful sons

who came to visit today..

Not often I can get them to

be in the same place at the same time..

AND

Get a photo of them together :-)

Jonathan and Luke .

My latest Ceramic Art work ....A commission for my Mum-in-law!!

A few weeks ago

my mother-in-law asked me,

if I could design 3 tiles

for her,

to go above her sink

in her bathroom.

They had to be of a

particular design - The Hogweed!

The link above is a stencil,

but mine were done freehand and with

nothing to copy .. !! Just the design

I had in my head , and she wanted them done

in a dark Blue.

She LOVED THEM, and I am over the moon!!

What do you think???

Dreaming of France Meme ---Further than Paris but still France ..

My blogger friend Paulita from the blog

An Accidental Blog is doing a weekly meme

and I have decided to try it too!!

Back in August 2010

I took a trip to the Lot Valley,

to stay with a lady |I met through blogging.

I took the train from Paris to Cahors

passing through some lovely places.

After arriving in Cahors, we took the bus to Cadrieu.

Photos taken from the bus

On the bus, along side the Lot River.

Enjoy !!!

September and an afternoon at Williams F1 Conference Centre..

With my friend Linda.

Entering the factory grounds, I came across a new Topiary, which

won  a Gold Medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower show.

Below is the Topiary outside the Williams F1 Conference Centre..

An Italian nursery made the model for Ferrari but Williams bought it,

changed the shape of car to reflect their own car design.

It took two and half years for the plants to weave around the metal frames.

The 11 ft car is made from six plants and each 6ft high mechanic is made from two.

Twice a year,

staff at Williams get the chance

to watch the race in

Williams F1 Conference Centre,

with Breakfast or Lunch,

and tour of the museum.

And as my husband is on the team and always

at the races ,

he gets tickets that I can use, without

him being there!!

My friend Linda, works there, just as

I used to , (well I am still on the books,) so

we have seen the museum and the Technology

and Trophy rooms , quite a few times.

But it is still a treat to go as a guest, rather

than being a hostess!!

and us in the simulator!!!

This year was Sir Frank Williams 70th Birthday ..

and this was an amazing card given to him ..

I couldn't get it all in ... :-(

I do have lots more photos , I might put them up, but

this is about two friends having fun :-)

Thanks to my hubby.:-)

Frosty morning .....

taken on a little walk to my friends .

Found this little gem ......

sitting on the shelf of the store room

in the Charity shop I work in.

Only came in yesterday !!

Put some lights around and I have my

own twinkling tower :-)

Twinkling Christmas card holder ....

Just took all my postcards off, added the lights

and hey ho , It is a sparkly Christmas Card holder ,,

and my little

Joyeuses fetes heart from my friend Sarah.

My new Angel .

Simple easy Salad - Chicken and Bacon ....



Chicken Breast

Bacon

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Peppers

Croutons

I put the chicken and bacon in the oven and cooked.. Bacon comes out nice

and crispy.  Once cooked , cut the Chicken into pieces and break the bacon up.

Arrange your other ingredients as you wish , add the Chicken and Bacon pieces

and dress with a Balsamic dressing ..

Simply Delicious, easy and quick too.

Window Dressing ....

Today I had to dress the window

with the tree and gifts,

at the charity shop ,

I am a volunteer in ..

First time for everything LOL ..

I hope the Regional Manageress likes it !!!

How wonderful is this photo??

It is not mine

but I have been

given permission

by my friend Mike

to use it .

Beautiful reflection of the setting sun in the still very flooded water meadow.



This is their meadow (Karen and Mike's) in Garford..

not far from my village.

♥♥♥ 



Another wonderful postcard arrived today..........

NOT from a blogger

BUT from a

Long lost friend.

Marilyn and I have known each other

years and years, but we lost touch.

She still lives in the town where we met ..

Bury St Edmunds

Our boys joined the Royal Air Force

and ended up at the same camp in the end:-)

but it was only recently that

Marilyn and I made contact through Facebook!!

The boys when we met .....

My son Jonathan is the one with the sunglasses on !!

Who has just done 19 years in the Royal Air Force..

and a daddy to two nearly 3 .

(ignore the bottle of wine LOL )

They are now daddies themselves -)

Anyway back to the postcard

...



This is from Bagan ..which is in Mandalay Region of Burma..

(first time from there)

A very very big surprise postcard :-)!!!

Big thank you to Marilyn ... she said she would send me one

but I didn't know where from , or if she would remember .. LOL LOL

Only Joking Marilyn !!

Postcards keep coming .. thank you so much Diane

My wonderful friend

Diane

sent me a card

of

Cognac et Pineau BALLUET

the photo above is the postcard in my
heart postcard holder.. with my little french heart.

located in

Neuvicq-le-Château

in the department Charante-Maritime

where Diane and her husband live.

One day I will get there to try the local
Cognac and Pineau :-)

Diane has three blogs ...
PhotoDiary ,  My life in Charante
and My Life Before Charante

All are amazing . if you have not read them before,
go and have a read .. she has written so much about the
area and photos are fab too!

Big Thank you Diane :-)

My trusted Tour guide Aidan and my Trip to Cupar, Fife, Scotland...

Our eldest grandson Aidan, age 9

wanted me to see where he lives

CUPAR Fife

He wanted to be my tour guide

for two days:-)

A VERY EXCELLENT JOB he did!!

So I have put together some collages of all the places we saw..

We had a great time walking around the town and I know

where to go to eat and where NOT too!!


Please click on the photo, then you can see them all closer up!!

Wynd is a Scots word for what is typically a narrow path snaking through houses to join two major roads

Pend is a Scottish architectural term referring to a passageway that passes through a building, often from a street through to a courtyard, and typically designed for vehicular rather than exclusively pedestrian access.

I think Tak Tent o Sma Things --- .means take of your small things

(not quite sure why it is a sign on that wall)

Lots of Chimneys ....!

Two different churches right next door to each other.

The best Icecream Parlour EVER!!!

Aidan LOVES it!!! ♥

Thank you so much for being my Tour Guide

Aidan, we had a super duper time ..

Love you xx

Next we will have shops .. he loved going with me.