a day with the horses in Normandy

Here in our little valley we are not that far from Deauville, and it makes a nice day out to drive there for lunch and a quick flutter on the races, followed, if the season is right by a polo match.

I love going to the races en famille.  We are not experts on form or breeding, but it is fun to watch the line up before each race, then pick a name that sounds promising before placing a small bet.  Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, no matter, it's taking part that is fun.

The polo grounds are in the centre of the racecourse, so it's easy to move from one to the next.

Once inside the mood and the tempo change.  The horses still as stunning, but the action is totally different.

The polo matches attract a different crowd,

 more chic ...  more restrained,

 more champagne less coca-cola  .... if you see what I mean.

This is surely the only situation where elegantly dressed ladies are happy to use their  pretty shoes to flatten turf in between chukkas!

how about you?  do you have a favourite venue for a family day out?

ghetto - the fetishist revealed

Ghetto has  an unsavoury characteristic that needs to be revealed.  You all think he is so cute, and funny and playful, but actually - as well as being a chicken assassin - he is also a fetishist.

yes, my friends,

Ghetto likes girls underwear .......

He covets lace lingerie, and in this house a girl has to be careful.

A door left ajar while in the shower, and a little black nose will soon peak through, about 12 " from the ground.  This is called 'reconnaissance'.  A quick glance towards the shower to make sure the enemy isn't about to emerge, and he darts in, grabs the underwear and is gone!

Failing the carelessness of a girl taking a shower, he will resort to tipping over the laundry basket and choosing a favourite piece of lace.

If the front door is open he'll dash down the garden, panties brandished proudly like some beribboned trophy, and if he can't get outside he'll retreat beneath a chair to gloat over his illegal possession in peace.

So far we have avoided any real embarrassment, but I dread the day when a guest to the cottage finds him burying my underwear among the roses ...

oh, the trials of living with a Ghetto!

dining in the kitchen

Dining space in the kitchen always looks relaxed and friendly, but I sometimes wonder how practical it can be when you're really entertaining?

 You know what I mean .... the table is laid beautifully, your guests arrive, everyone moves staight into the kitchen to enjoy an aperiitif and watch the finishing touches be added to the meal; wine is poured, the first course enjoyed ... then cleared for the main course and so what do you do with the dishes?!

If you are all sitting in the kitchen, you don't want dirty dishes spoiling the decor, and neither to do you want to start piling plates into the dishwasher... or the sink...

So I wondered, with the fashion for big open kitchen and family rooms, how do you work it?  Where do you like to eat?  I mean for big family meals, or if you invite friends over for dinner or lunch.

Here in the summer (if it ever arrives!) we enjoy nearly all our meals outside, but the rest of the year it's mostly in the kitchen for breakfast and quick family lunches, then in the dining room for 'proper' meals and when we have guests or friends with us.  

As we finish with plates they are taken out of the dining room and into the kitchen to wait.

The kitchen looks like a riot broke out by the end of the meal, but I don't mind because it is all out of sight, and I just clear away once every one has gone.

So how do you work it?  Do you think that dirty dishes just adds to the fun, or do you hate the thought of your guests seeing your kitchen in a muddle?

Do tell, I'd love to know  :)

hope you have a happy weekend, thank you for reading me

all pictures from Pinterest

Watching our children grow - a family evening in Paris

Although I used to love those years when the children were little and we did everything as a family, and somehow life was more simple to organise ... I have to say that there is also a great pleasure in watching our 'little ones' grow, and become adult and find their own dreams and ambitions and then work out how to make those dreams come true.

I  never spread my family life over the pages of this blog, but suffice it to say that yesterday evening brought this home.

We all (except for one, "sorry honey , next time!")  met up in St Germain at our favourite Paris restaurant, and enjoyed a long, happy leisurely dinner, listening to them tell us about their projects.  Watching their eyes sparkle, feeling their excitement and I realised how good it felt to let go a little and see that yes, they can fly on their own, and actually they'll probably end up flying higher and further than we ever have!

I'm sure you know what I mean.  I'm sure you've felt that moment when you say to yourself "wow!  I never thought that one of my children would pull off something like that!!"

One of those very good family moments ....

What I am more than happy to share with you is this excellent address in Paris.  Le Monteverdi, I have mentioned it before, but I'm happy to do it again.  The boss, Claudio is Italian.  He's worked in his restaurant for over 40 years.  When my husband and I first started eating there, (long before we had any children)  Claudio had his mamma working with him ... this is a family affair.

This is not a tourist spot, it is essentially Parisian.   Good food, wonderful cosy decor, great service, excellent wine, and if you are lucky as we were yesterday, you may have a beautiful pianist playing the grand piano quietly in the corner of the restaurant.

If you get there be sure to say hello to Claudio for me!

Le Monteverdi

5 - 7 rue Guisarde  ▪  St. Germain des Pres  ▪  Paris  75006

my favourite christmas gift and why our food is round!

So what was your favourite gift among the goodies I'm sure you received for Christmas? 

 Mine was small, shiny and round with a hole in the middle

 .... and no, I don't mean a diamond ring ...

Among the gifts in my stocking this year were these baking moulds, and ever since nearly everything that we eat is ... round!

I am experimenting rather than following recipes, and this week we have eaten individual potato bakes - yummy! 

individual apple and almond crumbles (so sorry about the dreadful picture, they disappeared so fast that I couldn't even get the camera focussed!!)

the most delicious blueberry cheesecakes AH!  to die for - really!!!.   I simply broke spicy almond biscuits over the base of the mould, then sprinkled some frozen blueberries, then covered the base with my normal cheesecake mix

for lunch today I made some courgette or zucchini bakes

and finally some little tiramisu, not yet un-moulded,  and decorated with Y-U-M-M-Y .... hey, this is the country, we get our kicks where and when we can!

 so that is what is happening in this house as the christmas school break draws to a close. 

 I love school holidays, always have done, and baking for the family is just a natural part of the fun. 

But now its your turn to tell ... what was your favourite gift, and what have you been cooking?!

mothers losing count ....

As I sat up late one evening before the holidays, wrapping some gifts and ticking things off of my to-do list, I thought about how much repetition is part of a mother's life.

How many tables to be laid, meals to be cooked, rooms tidied, nappies changed, stories read, vegetables peeled, beds made, homework checked, grazed knees kissed, drawings admired ... christmas gifts wrapped.....

how many parents evenings sat through, how many team matches cheered at, how many school runs driven, or late night parties picked up from .....

I could go on for a long while .....

In my attic I have  a box of old letters that I have received  throughout my life from family and friends.  Each and every one ends with something  like  "love to you", or "take care darling, I love you".

Remember letter writing?   such  a wonderful way of saying how much we care.

In our busy world of changing communications and anonymous living in big cities, the reassurance that someone cares is more and more important.   We may not write letters any more, and emails aren't quite the same, so  it's up to us to find other ways to show our love.  To remember that our little ones always need to hear those words, even when they've grown a head taller than us! and to know that someone in today's world is caring for them and holding them dear to their hearts.

So my list of repeated tasks is maybe more than just an ode to domestic duties, maybe each and every little thing we do is simply our way of saying those three little and totally unconditional words

I . . . . love. . . . you

photos found on google images

music for my christmas parties

What music do you like to play in the background as 

you prepare for christmas ?

There are certain tunes I love to hear as I prepare for our family celebrations - whether I'm cooking, wrapping gifts or decorating, I find that a seasonal tune makes it all more fun.

These are some of my favourites this year ....

first of all and for sheer fun, I listen to Eartha Kitt wooing Santa Baby

  

for christmas eve, I rarely miss the BBC broadcasting of the Kings College Cambridge  choir boys singing christmas carols .......

For christmas cocktail parties I'm quite happy to let Frank and Bing take the reins and jingle those bells

or listen to  Nat roasting chestnuts .....

and to remind me of the days when my children were happy

 to believe in the whole magic of christmas I love to dream of  flying snowman

 For sweet romance, I sing out loud to All I want is you

 and finally for sheer fun because it makes me and

 my children laugh so much, the unmistakable Bill Nighy  

singing Christmas is all around

so tell me please, do have any suggestions for

 additions to my Christmas repertoire?

french summer dining

A last minute decision to invite friends for supper

warm enough to eat outside

one friend brings wine, another turns up with delicious patisserie

a few flowers, a few candles, a rising moon

chatting, laughing,

teenagers mixing with adults and nobody in a hurry to leave the table

summer evenings as they should be  ...  simple.

no stress - welcome to my life!

With four children aged between 14 and 21, this month of June has been pretty intense as far as exams go.  Each of my crowd has had, or is having important end of year exams  to deal with.

You may think that would mean a studious atmosphere,   heavy with stress and anxiety, but no matter how hard I try, it would appear that my kids are unflappable!  I'm not blowing my own trumpet here, I don't think I have much to do with this; it seems more of a generation thing ... or maybe we were all like that as teenagers?!

But this morning one of my girls took the whole "don't stress mama" bit to a new level ... to hitherto unexplored territory .... let me explain.  And before you get worried, I have had her permission to tell you this! ...

Mademoiselle had her first written exam for her French Baccalaureat today.  This is a Pretty Big Deal.    The French system offers very little opportunity to try your hand out at exams, so it was practically a first.  The Baccalaureat are the French end-of-high-school exams and are spread over two years.

We decided last night that we'd be leaving extra early this morning, the exam was at 8.30am, so it would be good to be there at least 20 minutes ahead of time.  Sounded good, controlled, planned ... reassuring.

Mademoiselle had a good breakfast, triple checked her ID papers  and off we went.

On the way to school in the car she was exchanging text messages with her friends "wow, they're already there!  Why do they want to be there before 8, they're mad" ....

Can you see where this is going?

A few minutes later, just before 8, she reads another text ..... "weird ... why are they going into the exam room already?!"  

I chime in, a sinking feeling in my stomach  "Honey, please don't tell me the exam is at 8 and not 8.30!"

She pulls out the exam register paper from her bag, "wow, that's so weird, it's at 8, why didn't anyone tell me?!!"

pause for a few long deep breaths ......

We cruised into the school car park at 4 minutes past 8, having broken most speed limits en route and taken a bus lane down the last section of the road.  She jumped out of the car, blew me a kiss, and said "don't worry mummy, it will be fine, love you!"  and off she went.

I watched her speed into school, long blonde hair in the wind, legs up to her armpits, beautiful and  happy.  Yup, happy and - all things considered - remarkably calm and together.  I sat in the car thinking "where did my little girl go, who only five minutes ago was setting off for her first day of kindergarten?!"

Four hours later she emerged smiling and still happy, content with her exam, the lateness put down as something silly but not life-threatening.  I guess she's right.

So with all this rambling, I just wanted to say that I think our kids are part of a generation that will deal with pressures we never imagined.  They need to be strong, they need to be stress resistant, and they need to know how to stay happy and smiling whatever life throws their way.

I wish the best of luck to all those sitting end of year exams - may you live out your dreams, and look forward to a wonderful life ahead of you, no matter which path you go down.  And you know what?  turning up five minutes late to an exam - in the grand scheme of things - is really not that dreadful!

photos via Maxppp and google