therapy in my french country garden

A busy week here, but a few moments were found at the end 

of the day to enjoy that special light and tend the garden 

Some people call it gardening

I call it therapy

Hope you got your dose of green this week ...

Happy summer solstice!

running away to Paris - a tale by my friend Martha

Have you every dreamt of packing up your life and making your way to Paris?  Have you wondered what it would be like to fall in love with a tall, handsome Frenchman?   Have you sighed at the thought of living in a pretty French house and filling it with beautiful antique furniture, and cooking delicious meals in your country kitchen? .....

I have a very dear friend called Martha who did just that.  She used to live down the valley from me, and we spent a lot of time together doing everyday things that girlfriends enjoy.

She lived in the sweetest house in the centre of the village.  Behind her blue shutters she created a charming home for her husband and daughters; her garden was beautiful; her cooking divine .....  we always had a lot to chat about!

Martha moved back to the States a few years ago, but we have stayed in touch.  It wasn't easy for her to leave France and start over.  She and her family recreated a new life for themselves and are living happy and successfully, but she has always felt nostalgic for her life here.

Today I am proud to tell you that she has published her story for Kindle.  She has a lovely easy to read style of writing that whisks me back to her kitchen table, chatting over a cup of tea.  

It is  a brave move to publish a memoir.  One's own life story.  Not only do you reveal your writing skills to the public, but also your life!  I admire her immensely for the candid and unpretentious way in which she has achieved this.

I enjoyed the book so much that I wanted to share it with you too.  She tells it like it is, just the way a good friend would.  Through her story you feel the thrills but also the difficulties in running away to a new life in a foreign country.

Of course I won't tell you the whole story, but let me say that this is a tale of love and delectation.  The tale of a young woman working out how to live her dream, and how to react when that dream takes some unexpected turns.

If you would like to download Martha's book, just click here ..... then find yourself a comfy chair, make a cup of tea, or pour a glass of wine, and let yourself get lost in her charming and touching tale.

Martha Alberti

Faith over Reason

all photos thanks to Martha

dining in white - the french summer table

 summer dining

it should be easy, and elegant, and relaxed

keeping it white 

keeping it simple

the evening air filled with the scent of orange and elder blossom

summer dining is something I love

the french garden deck chair

 The sun and the summer warmth are now here to stay for a few months in Normandy, and of course we get out our deck chairs.

I love these canvas chairs, scattered around the garden, in the shade of a tree, or beyond the terrace, single or in groups.  Even if I am too busy to spend much time sitting down in them, their mere presence makes life feel slower and more relaxed.

I am not disciplined enough to put the chairs away each evening, and by the end of the season the fabric is ready for renewal.

Here comes the quandry ... which fabric to use.  In the past I have done white, bold stripes, subtle stripes, flowers and even toile de jouy.  But this year I cannot decide.

The look I prefer is that of the vintage chairs I sometimes find with their original covering.  Subtle faded stripes that just seem to fit right in to our garden and lifestyle.

So tell me, if you were me, what would you choose?

bright and beautiful stripes from Toile du Soleil?

sweet toile de Jouy?

or a happy mix of flowers and stripes?

or would you do like I have done so often, and wait for that perfect vintage chair to call your name in a fair one Sunday morning?  :)

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend and that you too, enjoy some quiet time in a deck chair

Photos 1,2 & 8 taken here and at friends

Photos 3-7 thanks to Google images

the french countryside in May

I may have lived here for ever, I think I'll never 
tire of the beauty of the countryside.

I take my camera nearly everywhere with me; my family is  quite used to the car screeching to a halt on the road so I can capture a view, or the light that is "just right".

Here are just a few things I snapped over the past week, 
I hope my enthusiasm is contagious!

Wishing you a lovely weekend,
 thank you for reading me this week!

the french month of May

 The month of May is always delightful here in Normandy.  Not only because it is the first month that we feel the warmth of summer edging closer, nor because it is a month filled with blossom and irises, nor even because it is the month when the valley is patchworked in bright yellow fields of rapeseed oil flowers ...

 but mostly because it is a month generous in bank holidays and long weekends.  A month to picnic, to visit with family; to tend your garden and to br-e-a-the.

This year the first of May fell on a Wednesday which was a cool break midweek; then  we had the 8th May celebrating the end of the WWII, followed by 9th May Ascension Thursday.  So if you have Wednesday and Thursday off then why not go the whole way and take Friday too?  Et voilà!  a 5 day weekend.  

But that's not all.... the 20th of May is Pentecost, and on a Monday, so that gives us another three day weekend.

So there you have it ... another reason to move to France

Wishing you a lovely May weekend, thank you for reading me.

the french garden chair

I have always admired those friends who know how to 'furnish' their gardens.  You know what I mean: the seat that is placed in just the right position to enjoy the fragrance of a rose bower, the bench that catches the sunshine at the end of the day, or that invites you to pause and admire the view.

I love the slightly ramshackled garden seat.  The one that stays outside all season, and who calls my name on a long summer afternoon, encouraging me to wander down, a good book and a couple of cushions in hand.

Just love these 're-structured' chairs for the garden, available here

When life is busy, the sight of a garden chair gives the comforting feeling that time can be made available to rest.

I often come across old garden furniture in the flea markets here, and I'm looking for some new bits for my place this year.  What I would love is a meridienne, an old iron daybed that could be left out year round, and dressed up for the summer.

Here are a few of my favourite chairs,  tried and tested ...

I wondered what style you prefer?  Do you look for practicality, and like your chairs to look pristine, or do you think a little rust adds character?

All these pictures have been taken over the past year: in Normandy and in the South of France.  Which do you like best?