Nothing but blue skies from now on................

Summer has returned to Normandy and blue skies are the norm (!) once again.

For Mary's Mosaic Monday at the little red house and Blue Monday with Smiling Sally a little taster to brighten your day.

If the sight of blue skies fills you with joy,
if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has the power to move you,
if the simple things in nature have a message you understand,
Rejoice, for your soul is alive.

Eleanora Duse

As some of you will already know Sally has been hospitalised for some weeks now
 but the latest on her blog is that she's doing o.k.

Do pop over for a visit and say hi to Sally's grandaughter Lauren
 who assisted Sally with this week's Blue Monday.

Les Nympheas
Monet

Hazy lazy days of summer.....................

It’s August and practically all of France is en vacances, so grab your sun hat and designer shades and let’s head for the beach.
This looks like a great place to relax and read the newspaper.

The foot stool conveniently doubles as a table, so your cold drink is always close to hand.

.
Perhaps you need to cool off a little? Sitting here with the waves gently tumbling over our toes feels so good!

Time to eat? These folding chairs are so easy to bring along and the gorgeous picnic basket has wheels to make life even easier. The ancient rock face behind us will act as a natural windbreak and keep the sand out of our food.
Not a beach lover.................... seriously?
Maybe you’d prefer to spend your vacation somewhere in the stunning French countryside? Why not relax amongst the cushions, it’s lovely and shady here beneath the striped, blue awning.

I’ll just go and set the table for lunch.

We can take our afternoon nap here in the shade. Oh! I see you’ve already reserved your place with sunhat and shades.
Later on we’ll have tea in the garden.
We could sit here, or perhaps a deck chair on the lawn would suit you better?

Decisions, decisions.................................bonnes vacances tout le monde.
All images courtesy of Campagne Decoration my favourite French lifestyle magazine, the next issue is on sale 1st September.

With so much blue around I just have to link this post to the wonderful Blue Monday meme, graciously hosted as ever by Smiling Sally.

I just realized that it's one year exactly since my first Blue Monday post, wow, where has the time gone?

Click here to read it, on the sidebar link for more blue loveliness and say "Hi" to Sally.

Blue (&White) Monday @ Le musée Carnavalet.

The musée Carnavalet is a wonderful museum to visit.

The parisfr. website describes it thus: The paintings, sculptures, furniture and scale models, that the collections in these two erstwhile townhouses in the Marais conceal, tell the story of Paris from prehistoric days to the present. This museum also features a handsome collection of drawings, prints, photographs and posters – and a remarkable coin cabinet.

Tucked away in a corner I discovered a tiny parlour with a display of the most wonderful blue and white ceramics.

So, I thought I'd share some pix with Smiling Sally and all the great bloggers that gather at her place for Blue Monday.

Come back for Outdoor Wednesday and view Paris from a bateau on the River Seine.............

A kinda blue mosaic Monday

One of our favourite walks is along a country lane which (surprise, surprise!) has fields either side and these fields, in summer, have cows (many cows) in them.

We are in Normandy after all.

Recently, however, because of the inclement weather the river, which meanders through the fields, broke it's banks.

So, for Blue Monday @ Smiling Sally's and Mary's Mosaic Monday @ the little red house grab your coat, hat, scarf, don't forget gloves and come and breath the cold crisp air as we take Mr Ben for his Sunday constitutional.

These are photographs of fields, it's not a lake we're looking at!

Have a great Monday and as a treat, to yourself, do fly over to Sally & Mary's blogs and enjoy all the fabulous photo's on display today.

Blue Building Site Monday

We are entering week four of the new roof saga and our garage and surrounding area are being transformed into a builders yard more and more each day.

The lads are doing their best to keep things in order but it's a big job to replace such a large roof and so I can't complain too much.

This is what it's looking like around here.

Today Smiling Sally is once again hosting her ever popular Blue Monday event, so please go on over I know you'll see far prettier blues than these there.

Maybe next week I'll have something prettier to show you too, j'espere!

à bien tôt
Maggie

Blue bunny Monday

It's almost Monday again and that can mean only one thing, Smiling Sally is hosting another Blue Monday party. Do click on the link here http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/ or on the sidebar to join in with all the fun & check out the blue extravaganza.

I love to decorate using blue & white pieces, a vintage Bavarian carved blanket chest sits in a recessed window bay on an upstairs landing and is a perfect place for a bunny to sit in relaxed comfort.
In the early 1990's, when we were still living in Bavaria, sewing fabric bunnies was a pastime of mine. I sold or gave away most of them but this one was too cute to let go.




The "Blackberry" plate marked GW, was purchased for centimes at a French auction and the Tokyo bowl is one of a pair produced by Tunstall, England which I bought at an Antiques Show in Winchester, Hampshire about 10 years ago.

Happy Blue Monday everyone.

Blue Monday and Smiling Sally

When my friend Sarah began her new blog Hyacinths for the Soul, just last week, I never dreamt about the amount of trouble she would lead me into.

Through reading Sarah's blog I discovered Between Naps on the Porch and Tablescape Thursdays and today I found Smiling Sally and Blue Monday.

The blue hibiscus tree that I inherited when we bought this old house in the mid 1990's is in full bloom this month.

The first piece of Quimper faience I ever bought, I loved it because it was blue & white I had no clue at that point what "Kwimper" was!

A pair of blue and white chinese vases bought at an auction in Hungerford, Berkshire, UK almost 30 years ago flank a blue and white serving platter, circa late 19thc, from an unidentified English manufacturer

These great blogs are just what I needed to jump start my interest in my own blog again which has been waning, probably due to my involvement with the Quimper Club International blog.

A blue and white toile panel in the master bedroom.

So, since blue is one of my very favourite colours and I love to collect blue and white pottery, I decided to join in with the Blue Monday gang over at Smiling Sally's and share a few of the blue things that brighten our Normandy Life.