Cozy Homemaking

last days of summer vacations

School starts again next Tuesday, some (few, really) school supplies have been purchased today (quietly, though, I hate the back-to-school supplies purchase frenzy) After such a busy summer break, it hasn't felt like real vacations for hubby & I. (specially hubby I must say)

My mother in law is visiting today (for the next couple of days) & friends will be coming tonight with their one month & a half old baby. We shall also meet my brother in law & his daughter next Sunday. It's busy busy, time passes by quite fast.

I suppose most of you have been busy too, with back to school/work/business stuff or last minute vacations (who knows). I hope you're all doing fine & have been enjoying yourself on these last days of August.

In case you missed it, on Monday I have restocked the shop with lots of naturally dyed goodness, I hope you'll have a look here. (subscribers to the newsletter should have received it, along with a code for free shipping, woohoo !)

I don't have much to say right now, and it's pretty quiet here anyway, so I'll be back in this space sometimes next week ... hopefully with things to show and tell. Until then ... take care & be well.

xoxo

S

naturally dyed summer palette shop update & a giveaway

It's time for the shop update ! Please let me introduce this  naturally dyed summer pallette, in the form of scarves, pincushions & cushion covers !

from left to right ... dyed with ...

cotton gauze :
sage / colewort / achillea millefolium /wild  strawberry leaves / avocado skins (2)

cotton batiste :
avocado skins (the pale one) / fern leaves / eucalyptus globulus + iron (2)

(2) means that there are two of them available for purchase. As usual, they will ship in naturally tie-dyed handmade drawstring pouches.

Something new !!! The cotton gauze scarves are now TWICE wider, being now 27.5"x75" (70cmx90cm) But the price is not twice of course, they are U$ 30 each !

The cotton batiste are the same width, but their price is now lower : U$ 20 each. (13.78"x78.75" - 35x200 cm)

All scarves have raw edges.

these are the linen pincushions ... from top to bottom, they are dyed with ...

avocado skins (tie-dyed)
sage (dyed)
wild rosemary leaves (tie-dyed)
fern leaves (tie-dyed)
wild fennel leaves (tie-dyed)
alder cones + iron modified (dip-dyed) 

They are filled with kapok (vegetal fiber from the kapok tree, an earth friendly alternative to polyfill). The back of all the pincushions except the one dip-dyed with alder cones, is natural linen. I have decided that a pincushion shouldn't be priced too high, no matter what, and therefore from now on, ALL the pincushions in the shop will be U$ 10. They measure  7.09"x2.75" (18 x 7 cm)

And last but not least, the cushion covers (only the covers, no insert is included) !

There are three available. There are made of white linen on the front, which has been dyed or tie-dyed, and of natural linen in the back.

From front to back, they were naturally ...

... tie-dyed with immortelle flowers
... dyed with avocado skins
... tie-dyed with wild fennel leaves

They are U$ 35 each, sold without insert.

You can see more details & more photos (I didn't want to burry you all with tons of photos here) in the SHOP directly. I have also updated the shop POLICIES so that some things may be clearer for everyone.

If you are on Facebook, you can enter your name for a chance to win a pincushion, the almost identical twin one to the alder cones + iron dip-dyed one.

The brooch & the necklace that both were already in the shop, were marked down, and the naturally dyed silk square scarves had been marked down before the summer. There are bunches of nice things in the SALE section !

Enough said for today I guess ! I'm hoping to have a similar shop update at the end of September, with a more autumnal palette.

Have a wonderful day today, friends & readers, and thanks for stopping by today !

xoxo

S

refreshing

This short time away was refreshing. Literally, actually. There was a storm one night, and the weather at long last changed from awfully muggy (for a week, yuck) to "normal". Thank goodness !!! May it last for a long time !

Now we're back home, and the coming week will be the last before school starts again. We'll be buying new shoes & school bags, meeting with family, will try to go to the beach once, to the fair maybe too. It will be a week of transition between summer rhythm & school week rhythm. And as usual, I see myself being both looking forward to the "regular" rhythm, and absolutely NOT looking forward to it. Bah.

I'm chockful of sun energy though & feel ready to tackle everything that needs to be tackled. Some things are now behind us, thank goodness, so it leaves us a lot more carefree, so to speak. And since summer is usually here until the end of September (with highs & lows) we shall enjoy visits to the beach,  nature day trips or such things ... a little longer, even once school will have begun.

As promised, the shop will be updated tomorrow with a bunch of naturally dyed scarves, pincushions & cushion covers ! Please be back here tomorrow for more details, if you're so inclined !

I hope you had a wonderful weekend ! Thank you very much for stopping by !

oxox

S

happy 8

Today is my youngest son's (U) birthday, he was born 8 years ago !

This is the card I made for him. I hope he'll like it ! Happy Birthday my baby love !!

(We are not home currently, I pre-posted this post.)

oxox

S

when it's so muggy ..

... outside and inside, you try to live slowly, possibly around the fan. As I was laying on my bed, I decided to grab my camera & take snapshots, since our bedroom changed a bit this summer.

we brought this mirror back from my mom's house

here's a branch of Acer monspessulanum,
picked last week around the castle

one of the cotton rugs I had bought in the spring

(Ikea) storage container

some books hanging around my side of the bed

a basket saved from my mom's house, turned into a small bed bin.
And one of the 6 underbed drawers that turns into a bedside table.
Have already I said how much I love our new bed ??!

Leaving tomorrow after lunch, I'll bid you byebye until most probably Sunday evening. Be well & enjoy your time, at home or on the move.

See you at the end of the weekend !

xoxo

S

humidex and another sneak peek

Humidex is a word we hardly ever know in southern France. Actually, I think if I asked anyone in the street or in my family what humidex is, they wouldn't know what it would be. I got to know what it is last summer when I visited Margie, in the middle of a heatwave. The atmosphere is dry all the time over here, so when days like these days (specially yesterday & today) happen, it knocks us out.

We don't have air conditionning in our appartment, and a single fan for the whole surface. I read online today that it was 30°C/86°F at noon with a humidex of 40, which means that the humid heat feels like approximately like a dry heat of 40°C/104°F. (yep, exactly like in the wiki article)

But life won't stop even if it's too hot. Groceries needed to be done this morning (mom & I), a very early trip to the garage (hubby) for a reparation on my mom's car. And a trip to the hospital this afternoon for a minor surgery on U's finger. (hubby & U) It slows you down though. Forces you. We don't feel like moving, or doing anything else anyway !

But let's stop talking about the weather, shall we ... Time for another sneak peek of the shop update next Monday 27th August.

These are the naturally dyed scarves, made of cotton gauze & cotton batiste. Tomorrow, I need to get photos of the scarves done, write descriptions etc, then everything will be ready for the shop update.

Trying to work ahead of time because we won't be home on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, we'll be "nearcationing"(= a great break from daily life without going very far away) to celebrate U's 8th birthday (on Saturday) It'll be low key (because of his finger mainly), and it'll be just as well. We'll pack bunches of (small) board games & other fun activities, books, drawing/painting essentials, and we'll have a great time ! And I hope temps will be more pleasant by the sea than they are right now in Montpellier !!

Hoping you're all doing fine,

xoxo

S

what I'm really looking forward to

Next season, that is. We're in the middle of a heatwave over here, and all I have to say is that I am so done with summer temps by now ! I'm (not so secretly) dreaming of these ...

1. everlasting (detail), 2. gold berries cushion cover, 3. basketofyarn, 4. Fresh from the onion skin dye pot, ready to be hung up to dry., 5. 12 november, 6. buttonhole silk twist stitch, 7. Christmas eve in Reykjavik, 8. golden view, 9. walking on sunshine, 10. foxy loxy, 11. love where you least expect it, 12. bribery, 13. isn't it amazing what a little moisture can do, 14. windswept, 15. Untitled, 16. September leaves

... that is to say ... chillier temps, golden light, rainy weather perfect for crafting, layering clothes, walking in dry leaves, baking more, eating (locally grown) apples & grapes & pears & other yummy treats ... just to name a few of course ! This is wishful thinking, because it's SO not going to happen now !

Oh well. At least it provided me enough motivation & inspiration for this lovely mosaic ! Not so bad !

I hope you're doing fine & not melting away (like me right now) in the summer heat ! By the way, what's the weather like today in your corner of the world ?! I really would love to know !

xoxo

S

sneak peek

 Things have been piling up in my creative space ... which has been making me tremendously happy ! What makes me happy is not making for selling, but very simply the fact that I have actually been making things ! My creative mojo's finally back, thank goodness ! Fabrics ! Needle ! Thread ! Scissors ! Yay !

As you can see, next shop update will be in a week from now, on Monday 27th. There will be cotton bastiste & cotton gauze scarves, pincushions and ... new new new to the shop ... cushion covers ! I'm pretty excited to say the least ! (small things, right ?!)

Don't forget that if you're a subscriber of the newsletter (before the shop update, of course), you get a discount code when the newsletter gets through for the shop update ! (and you also get a discount for your birthday if you provide your birth date)

I'm already thinking about the next shop update, which I hope will happen late September, with more autumnal hues & products. As much as I'm enjoying summer & summer colors, I am SO looking forward to autumn & its golden palette !

Have a great week ahead !

oxox

S 

up to the castle

Hubby prepared earlier this month a treasure hunt for the boys. It was not easy, quite intellectual for their age, but with very few help, they managed to find where the treasure was. Yesterday was then the final part of the treasure hunt ... going to find it & dig it ! Hubby enjoyed the process very much (I'm certain of that), and worked his butt off to make everything perfect. He even made a great map, and went to hide the treasure two days ago. He hid it on top of a local "mountain", by an old castle's ruins.

We left home late, because it's been really hot these days, and we walked up to the castle. It's been so dry over here, no rain for weeks & weeks & weeks, but I tried to capture nature at its best.

I don't know what it is but it sure looked special,
like a mini jingle bells plant 

Pistacia lentiscus / mastic / pistachier lentisque

feathery seeds in the late afternoon sun

these were everywhere, though I don't know what they are

dry and beautiful

there was so few of these but they were SO beautiful !

like little suns !!

loved the darkness of these, which were actually
the same thing as on photo #4 

here it is, Montferrand Castle !

and there we are ! inside the castle ! and it was already 8pm !

The boys found the treasure, two genuine silver coins, locally made in the early XIIIth century (purchased by hubby), we had a small picnic & then it was late & we walked back to the car, in the darkness, with flash lights. It was not really easy, but it was doable, and became a superb memory of suummer 2012 ! Thank you honey for making it so special !

On a different note, I wanted to say how amazing you all are. I'm happy that the ones of you who visit are happy to visit & enjoy your time here ! I share with much pleasure, believe me !

And one last note, sewing has been happening yesterday & I hope it shall happen again this weekend, to my very delight ! The stock for the next shop update builds nicely, it makes me very happy !

I'm VERY full of motivation & good intent, and it fills my heart with joy ! For me, process is even more enjoyable than the final result !

We're going this afternoon to my mom's house for the VERY final things to do. From next week, the house will be inhabited by a family with three children. I hope they'll build sweet memories in this house. Life goes on. No other way.

Have a wonderful weekend ahead ! Much love,

oxox

S

mid august

For my boys (10 & soon 8), school will start again on September 2nd. Three weeks left of summer break, then. These days will go by fast, and I'll probably be less present in this space until it starts again. (but hey, I'll always be around)

Here are some snapshots of these last days. I have no motivation for grabbing the actual camera these days, but I'm sure it'll all come back. A little lack of motivation can come from time to time & I think it's normal.

it's still so hot, we need to close shutters most of the day

games, games & more games !

enjoying summer food ! (these are organic cantaloupe & greengages)

these are the most delicious greengages we've ever eaten !

organic ewe yogurt & homemade/organic vanilla sugar
yummy ! 

while quiche was baking in the oven, yesterday evening,
the boys helped me with the French beans 

enjoying this beautiful, locally made, ceramic votive holder,
which I was gifted two days ago

Just a word about the way I blog, because I'm feeling I need to say it.

Some people blog about their crafts exclusively. Some people blog about what they would love to purchase. Some people blog about their trips & celebrations exclusively. Some people blog tutorials very often. Some people blog about their children. Some people blog almost exclusively about their shop. Some people blog about their daily life. Some people don't want to say a single word about their life, but have no problem sharing photos of their children (toddlers or teens) Some people blog about nature & its breathtaking beauty. And some people blog about the most futile things in the world.

We all blog differently. We are all different. Personally, this is the way I blog :

I blog about our trips (local or further)

I blog about our daily life

I don't post photos of my children (or you can see their faces)

I don't post my children's names

I blog about my cat

I like to share recipes I like, from time to time

I blog about my natural dyeing,
because it's been a journey of mine for the last 3 years now

I blog about my shop update, the very few times it happens

I blog about my contributions to any kind of projects

I blog about my personal thoughts
because this is like my diary & I like to write them somewhere

I post the photos I take when we are in nature
because I think it is necessary to share with the world
the beauty of the place we live in

I blog about my personal experiences (happy or not)
so that it may be helpful to someone else

I'm NOT looking for more visitors, more comments, more traffic,
and I appreciate each & every comment that you leave here,
knowing it took you time to stop by, read, and maybe comment.
Sincere & honest readers/visitors/friends is all I hope for.
On the other side, if you don't have to comment, I also understand,
I/you/we can comment on 100 blogs a day, it'd be insane & unhealthy. 

I have been such an introvert for so many years,
pessimistic & all. It's been a long work on myself to
change this about myself, and I can say with much gratefulness
that with the support of some friends, it's never ever going
to change, no matter the bumps on the road.

and yes, I am (rather, ok, very) chatty

I don't seek any approval here, I'm not looking for any kind of comforting. I'm not looking for any kind of judgement neither. I'm just saying the way I am, the way I blog, the way I use this space of mine.

If you think that I'm too chatty, that I post too many photos, that I share too much about my personal life, then I won't force you to read my blog. If this is the way you feel about me or my blog, please click away.

If you come here with pleasure & joy, if you enjoy my photos, if you like to read what I have to say, if you think my blog is a nice place to stay a minute or two from time to time, then you are very much welcome. This place will be yours as much as it is mine. A place for people to gather & enjoy photos, thoughts, recipes, tips, art (not mine) & more.

I promise I won't talk anymore about the way I blog. I'll add it to the "about" page, so that new visitor will know what to except. I've bored you way too much these last few days with my personal life & I need to close my big fat mouth.

Yet, again, sorry for another, long & boring post. For me, it was a necessary one. Thank you for your understanding. Thank you for visiting today, and thank you for your comments, and your presence in general.

with all my love

xoxo

S

supportive

I am floored by all the comments you left yesterday. I want to thank you all, the ones of you who stop by every time I post, friends or friendly regular visitors, and also the ones of you who delurked, who took time to leave such kind & supportive messages.

Let me say it again, it was a team effort, I didn't do all that tremedous amount of work on my own, it couldn't have been possible. All of your words are also for my husband & my mom herself. Some of you asked how she was doing. Well, I think she is doing rather fine actually. I'm not saying that everything's perfect in her world, that it feels like nothing had happened, it wouldn't true. But being so close to us (she takes lunch & dinner with us, and helps me with the houseworks & with the boys), and with all the works that needs to be done, and all the activity that my two boys generate (mental or physical), she hardly has time to sink in the depth of depression. And that is exactly what I wanted for her. Had she stayed in her house, she would have fallen deep deep deep into depression, I don't think there could have been another possible ending.

There will be a next step though. She doesn't know how to relax. I'm not in her mind, but from what I've witnessed,  she keeps her mind busy by doing housework. Earlier in winter I had managed to get her into some kind of crafting (she is a talente seamstress, and she can knit & crochet too), but it suddenly stopped, for some unknown reason. (or maybe working to empty her house was too much already) As soon as "new normal life" will resume (school will start in a little over two weeks ... already), a new rhtythm will follow, and hopefully I'll try to get her into a project or two or three ... who knows. Anyway, I'll let you know here, and maybe blogging about her projects could motivate her.

Thank you for your kind & supportive words. Thank you for being around when life wasn't so happy. I understand that some people are not comfortable with sharing personal thoughts on their blogs, but this blog of mine is more than a blog where I only show my crafts (hardly happening these last months, anyway, to say the least), it is like a diary I would write in, and if anyone can learn from my mistakes or from my experiences, then I am grateful for that.

My dad was 69 when he passed away (last year), and I was 33. I would have NEVER in the world imagined that I'd lose a parent at this moment of my life. I know you can't chose such things, but I didn't know I'd have to face all the consequences of a death, even before hitting 35 years old. (I know it sounds stupid saying this, but heck)

If you've been reading my blog for long enough, you know that I've been trying to own less, to have less things at home (and it is a challenge), and after having to empty my parents' house, all I can say is that if there was a lesson for everyone (of you) it would be (even though it is not very happy, on the moment) :

- we are all mortal. I will die, you will die, your parents will too. Ignoring this simple fact is pure madness.

- if your parents are still alive, it doesn't mean they will stay healthy forever. They may, but they may not. They will grow older & older & their health is not supposed to get any better.

- try to imagine if you had to empty the place your parents live in currently. What is the amount of things they have been keeping/storing ? 30, 40 or 50 years worth of life stuffs ? What really are the essentials ?

- if you can sort part of their belongings (or junk, or everything) with them (and your sibblings, if you have any), it would be such a responsible way to see the future. For THEIR future, for YOUR future, and also your children's.

- imagine (even though it's painful) that youll be losing one of your parents. What will happen for the remaining one ? Where will he/she live ? Will it be the best solution for him/her and for you/your sibblings ? Is there a solution that is best for everyone ? There is nothing worse than having to take decisions in times of emergencies. If you give a little thought about it, & talk about it with the concerned people, decisions will be easier & less painful to take, when sad times will come.

I don't want to feel like I'm giving lessons to the all of you. I don't know more about life than you. But if you can benefit from my small experience, then please do.

Sooo ... one a lighter note ... yesterday evening, we attended a little event in town. We were there with my niece (almost 3), her mom & aunt. It was Bon-Odori celebrations (like all over the world), Bon dance is a style of dancing performed during Obon (Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors) A local charity/association was holding this event, with dances & Japanese drum performances. It was very interesting to see & hear. Here are some photos I captured :

I also bought a little handmade pouch for supporting the local association. The book behind is a lovel one I bought this year : A Year in Japan, by Kate T. Williamson, ISBN 978-1-56898-540-4

Sometimes I really wish I could invite you all around a cup of coffee or  tea (or a glass of beer or mojito ah !). Support each other is the way for this planet to go round. I feel fortunate to be part of this circle. Being supported & being supportive.

Gary & I send all our love.

Thank you for stopping by & reading yet another loooong post.

xoxo

S

light at the end

... of the tunnel, that is, of course. If you're new to my blog, you won't know what I'm talking about, so here's a reminder.

My father passed away last October, quite abruptly & things went very fast in a matter of two weeks. I couldn't imagine leaving my mom living all alone in their house, so after a good turn of event, she could rent a room just next to us. My parents had a main house & a summer house (inherited by my dad) Taxes are pretty (oh hell yes they are) high over here in southern France, and keeping a house in which you're not even living in, afloat, is pure luxury. Which we can't afford. So, since my father's passing away, we've been emptying the main house completely (30 years worth of stuff), junk, essentials, memories, everything had to be sorted & be taken care of. The main house will be rented (empty) before the end of the month, and the summer house has been rented from earlier this month (but all furbished) Papers will be signed next Monday, so I can officially say that this is the LAST week of work, thank goodness. The light at the end of the tunnel. Yesterday hubby & I took care of what remained of the preserves & also moved all the wine bottles & other bottles. My mom'll be going (with a friend) to clean the house thoroughly & the garden too.

Hard work will be paying off. We spent so many Wednesdays, Saturdays or Sundays, working our butts off to sort things, throw, give, recycle, save things. When it was cold & that the house wasn't heated anymore, when it was hot (like now) & everything in between.

I am waiting no crown or medal. I'm not saying this by pride, I'm not showing off here. Please don't take me wrong. And in the same perspective, please don't go thinking that emptying the house I grew up in (age 5 to 19), for other people to live in, was painfree. As much as I'm trying more & more to forget about material things (a house is just bricks & mortar, if you see what I mean), because after my dad's death, that was what it was all about (health/material things), a house is still a home, a place you build your nest in, a place full of memories, in every corner of the house, of the garden. I swear, it was NOT painfree.

I am simply sharing my own experience. So that you know that with motivation, and help too (my husband, mom, and some family members on the side), it was possible to do it all in less than a year. It was not going to be easy, materially (because it was SO much work) or mentally (for my mom, mainly), but it was possible. It would not have brought my father back, I'm not stupid, but if all this had lasted years & years, I'm not sure my mom would have felt the same way as now. My dad would be happy to know we've been taking care of things in such a responsible way, even though it meant to part with things they had bought, been given, etc. He would also be happy to know we're taking care of my mom the way we do. She won't have the same life as the one she used to have. Everything is different, actually. But it's much better (in my opinion) than the one she would have gotten, if she had stayed on her own, in that big house, with memories in every centimeter.

So there we are now ... "new normal" life shall resume soon ... if you see what I mean. No more days spent working over there, no more worrying about it. Just a couple of non-material things to be done next month, for a complete transfert of my mom's stuff, and it will be over. Phew.

Sorry for the long & boring post, but I had to say it aloud (so to speak). Almost a year worth of work is not a little thing. If you've read it to the end, you deserve a fresh drink, you must be so thirsty by now ! Go get one !

Thank you for being around, lovely girls. Love all around.

xoxo

S

PS : the photos may seem unrelated but in my mind they illustrate well, how such tangled things can find a good ending (seed finally touching the ground & sprouting) Also loved the connectivity imagery.

summer dyeings

Earlier this summer, I dyed several times. A couple of times with plants I had already used & had been looking forward to summer for seeing them & using them again. And a couple of times with plants I had not used already.

(as always, it is difficult to capture the very exact color/hue, but I always do my best for it to be as close as possible)

I used wild strawberry (fragaria vesca) leaves again ... picked at the summer house's. (I remembered to press a leaf)

And I also used sage leaves again (salvia officinalis), picked at the summer house's as well. (sorry, the  leaf was a bit tired when I used it for the photo)

Then I picked colewort (geum urbanum) at the summer house, it was growing like crazy, the kind of plants local people considered as a damned weed (because its burrs get caught your clothes & socks !)

image credit : Wikipedia

 

And finally I used common yarrow (achillea millefolium), picked in nature, around the summer house.

image credit : Wikipedia

The article on Wikipedia (link on the plant name) is very interesting, I couldn't quote it all here.

What I'm not showing on the photos is that I dyed cotton gauze scarves. Not shown as well, because I didn't have any ready to dye when all these dyeing sessions occured, are silk threads.

I made a couple of extra dyeings, which I hadn't had the opportunity to take photos of yet. Each and every dyeing brings me a lot of joy & excitement, no matter the result, and even though it REALLY is a challenge to do indoors, in an apartment, in the summer, when the heat is on all the time.

PS : slowly but surely, I'm building up a stock for the next shop update ... probably the last week of August or first of September. (stay tuned)

PS2 : I updated Naturally Dyeing blog with seperate blog posts.

I hope your week is colorful & exciting !

xoxo

S

life lately

I'm still around, a little bit. This was life lately ...

I've been dyeing, dyeing (blog post to come)
but no crafting (to my own despair) 

been enjoying summer food while it lasts

been buying ceramic plates, cups & bowls
(these are the plates) 

been delivered the table, benches & the bed

instructions were very clear but it still took
us all Tuesday to assemble it all (and
disassemble the old table & bed) 

we are so very happy of our new bed
with underbed drawers (lots of room !)
we'll simply get new lamps, touching the floor instead 

yesterday at my inlaws', we sorted, peeled
& saved seeds of Lunaria annua

my inlaws will sow some of the many seeds, next spring

a Lunaria annua face :)

I got to bring a bouquet of shiny Lunaria annua home

after a long day of reorganizing some more
(specially the boys bedroom & our room)
& after having dinner at my inlaws', we went
to the fun fair in Palavas-Les-Flots & eat candy floss,
and admire pink flamingoes flying in the sunset.

This afternoon, I shall meet Erika of Miko Design (who has been on vacation in Montpellier), and if everything goes right in her timetable, Deborah of Kickcan & Conkers. It's a very hot week in Montpellier, it's not even 11am & already 31°C (went up to 35°C in the shade yesterday)

OK off I go now. Have a glorious weekend everyone ! (I hope ours will be quiiiiiiiet & relaaaaxing)

oxox

S

a happy explosion of colors

I'm too busy & too tired for something more elaborate than this mosaic I created this past weekend. The last three days have been full, I've hardly felt that tired.

A huge thanks to the artists, photographers & craftswomen who shared their photos with us ! 1. simple stitches, 2. etsy update in two parts today, 3. mexican sunset - detail, 4. Untitled., 5. watercolor drawing, 6. Lola's cover, 7. Mushroom Caps, 8. rags, 9. special delivery 

Hoping you are doing great. Take care !

xoxo

S

papaver & physalis

Picked in & around my parents' summer house's garden, last month. Papaver roheas (poppy) dry heads and drying/dried/skeleton Physalis husks.

The little wooden dishes were also salvaged while sorting things at the summer house's. The wooden tiny scoop was bought from Neëst shop.

Today's the first day of a busy week. Tomorrow we shall be delivered pieces of furnitures that we ordered a while back. A new bed with underbed drawers, a bigger (+ extensible) table, and 2 benches.

 

 

 

I think we shall get them all tomorrow. Which means that there'll be much work tomorrow for dis-assembling our current pieces of furnitures, assembling the new ones, and on Wednesday a big big "moving-furniture-from-a-house-to-another" day-long session, with the help of a rented van. (our place/my parents'/my inlaws'/my grandpa's) But since it's all for the best, it'll be done with a smile & happy vibes.

Hoping your week will be just as good. Take care. And thank you for stopping by !

xoxo

S

insta-sunday #5

Here are today photos I took last Tuesday, when we visited the Mare Nostrum Aquarium, the 5 of us. I know I already posted photos about it, but heck, here are some more.

loved the pattern on the two fishes (above & below)

African penguin
aka black-footed penguin 

brittle star

Thor amboinensis

    Axolotl
aka Ambystoma mexicanum

heteroconger hassi
aka spotted garden heel

I hope you enjoyed these colorful photos (taken with the phone) I didn't enhanced the contrasts (I even faded the colors), by the way, it is that bright for reals. We are very lucky to have such a big and nice aquarium, and the visit is really worth the non-really-cheap entrance fee.

Have a great Sunday !

xoxo

S

insta-saturday #6

If you don't follow me on Instagram, here are the photos I posted the last couple of weeks.

framed original artwork by Tiel

evening at the seaside on a very unusually foggy evening

too hot, I'm sleeping on the floor

Gary enjoying being by the Nile ... eheh

the boys sowed aromatic herbs organic seeds
& they've grown so much already !

trying to keep busy ... from time to time ...

concentration

(actual) hieroglyphs, drawn by U (almost 8)
it says his name & his big bro's 

soaking in the early evening sun

Mexican beer at Tommy's Diner

the boys helping us making a zucchini soup
(which was so good, I may share the recipe here) 

a (cotton) top I've (naturally) dyed (for me !!) last week

I blew bubbles around 9.30pm, the other night

we went to the beach last Thursday,
I loved the color scheme going on in my hand
(yellow, orangey, greyish purple) 

so good to cool us down

I embellished the boys' sand castle with "sand poos"
(which I've always loved to make LOL) 

raspberries/lemon/rolled oats/sesame seeds muffins
that I baked two days ago (yummy) 

Gary & his soft toy representation ahah

at my inlaws' yesterday
I love a good wall of hearts (ipomoea leaves)
I had given them seeds I had harvested 5 years ago

I'll share tomorrow IG photos from our afternoon at the aquarium. See you !

xoxo

S

the last evening before we left

Hubby & I went on a very small walk, the evening before we left. I felt like I needed to encapsulate one more time the feelings of the walks I used to do, over there, when I was a little girl.

blackberries to be

thistle

beautiful grass

it was past 9pm

the path from the village

wild & gorgeous

two kitties of a neighbour

the church roof top

another neighbour's house

And that was it. This is how I want to remember that place. I hope you enjoyed all the photos I took there, as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Next week's supposed to be busy. Actually the busiest week of August. Some things that were planned to be done in August got a precise date. I hope to make time for the rest too, and not only for those chores. (because let's face it, they are chores ... that need to be done)

Have a glorious weekend everyone ! I'll post an Insta weekend post.

xoxo

S

by the river

One sunny afternoon, just a couple of hundreds meters from the summer house ...

I'll upload one last post about our vacation in the Tarn, tomorrow. I'll make a little Instagram recap of the last weeks, this weekend, so that I'll  feel up to date with these two things at least.

Hoping you're having a nice week so far. Thanks for visiting !

xoxo

S 

early walk in the woods

On the third day of our vacations in the Tarn, we decided to wake up early (6.30am for the boys, on vacation, is what I call early), and to go walking in the woods, and around. The first photos you see were taken around 7am, hence the "weird" light. I won't include some of the fungi photos I showed two days ago, and that we saw that day.

Arion lusitanicus

I think this is a Limax maximus / leopard slug / limace léopard

Queen Anne's Lace in her morning splendor

Hypericum perforatum / St John's Wort / millepertuis perforé

um, yes, I must admitt, this kind of sight makes me
long for autumn ... 

this butterfly was so focused
that we could all very delicately stroke it !

I love how these unfurled ferns look like snails/amonite fossils

We didn't regret a single second waking up early ... specially that we came home to warm coffee & to lighting a fire in the chimney. Oh yes, how much I loved this part too ...

HAPPY AUGUST everyone ! Take care !

xoxo

S