Touring Blogland

Recently my dear friend Sarah invited me to join her on the Blogland Tour and featured me on her blog @Hyacinths For The Soul. 

Sarah and I have been friends since meeting at the Quimper Collectors Club’s second annual gathering in Washington D.C. in 2000. 

Sarah and I had a great day antiquing in Bayeux
when she & her husband came to visit in 2011.

As collectors of French faience in particular the pottery produced in the town of Quimper, Brittany, we always enjoy getting together with other Q collectors. I for one am counting down the days until we meet again next month in Nice, the jewel of the French Riviera.

plage Beau Rivage, Nice, France.
(photo from internet)

As part of the tour Sarah gave me 4 questions to answer.

What am I working on right now?

First of all with my Quimper Club Secretary’s hat on I’m working on preparing a report to present at the meeting next month. 

Mark Twain once said “there are two types of speakers, those that are nervous and those that are liars”. I know which type I am, addressing an audience is not something I am very comfortable with doing. Luckily I only have some statistics relating to the membership to report, so I think I’ll be o.k. 

Around the Presbytere I’m working on keeping everything “show home” ready as we never know when the Immobilier/ estate agent might call to arrange to bring a client over to view the house. 

My precious “me time” is spent in my attic craft room and it seems that lately I've been scrapping vacation memories.

L. Tulum, Mexico 1998
R. South Beach, HHI 2012

Some of my most recent pages.

L. Kos, Greece, 2013
R. HHI again with Dad & Joyce, 1992

How does my work differ from others in this genre?

Such a good question, but I’m not really sure that it does. I do have certain things that I like to include on my scrapbook pages, whether I’m following a sketch or a set of criteria set down in a challenge. I usually draw doodle a couple of lines around the edges to frame the layout. Tags! Almost every layout has to include tags wherever possible and I love to pile on embellishments in clusters and layers. These are my “signatures” I guess.

Why do I write or create what I do?

The simple answer is that I started my blog to share our life in Normandy. Our beautiful home, which we fell in love with the first time we saw it, is in a very small rural hamlet and there’s not a lot to do here if you’re not a farmer! 

In 2008 when I first started blogging I had no idea if anyone would be interested in my ramblings but just started chatting as if to a friend and went on from there.

 ice cream sundae, anyone?

I write about my garden, especially the potager, our pets, my husband, our little trips around the area and those to more faraway places. Blogging and scrap booking are the perfect hobbies for me.

How does your writing process actually work?

I always have my camera close by and anything such as my latest read, a beautiful sunrise, a bee on a lavender bush, a dog looking cute, white fluffy clouds or a new recipe can easily find its way onto the page. It’s almost always the photograph that dictates the post and inspires my words.

Lettuce soup, better than gazpacho!

Enough about me.

Time to introduce you to two ladies whose talents lie in quite a different direction to mine, you'll soon see why.

Lorrie @ Fabric, Paper & Thread is a blogging friend of many years who lives in Victoria, BC, Canada. 

On her blog you will find links to her Etsy store and Craftsy page where she says " I love to sew and create in a variety of mediums. Sewing, embroidery, paper crafts - you name it, I've probably tried it. But I always come back to my love of fabric and sewing! "

Another very talented lady is Sue @ I Sew Quilts. 

Sue and I met through the Quimper Club when we both attended the 2001 annual meeting in Quimper, Brittany. At that time she ran a very successful store aptly named “The Pumpkin Patch”. Sue’s blog is a feast for the eye, not only does she share with us the projects that she is currently working on but takes us travelling around the UK and the US, to the many museums and quilt shows that she visits with her quilting friends.

I’d like to thank Sarah for inviting me on the tour and you, too, for your company today. 

Please do visit Lorrie and Sue 

on Monday, the 18^th August 

for the next sequence of the Blog Land Tour.

What I Saw Today...............................

La vie quotidienne (daily life) has once again been diverting me from blogging and weeks have passed since I picked up my metaphoric pen to write.
I got to thinking, just what is it that is filling my days and keeping me away from blogland?

our daily bread, first stop before walking the dog!

Ever since the Senior Partner retired last year we certainly are doing more together "as a couple" and it was whilst I was sat in the car, waiting for him to finish an errand this morning, that the germ of an idea for a new blog post one that could possibly become a regular feature came to me.

the lambs belong to the Jacques, the shopkeeper and live in the field next to the shop

I'm calling it "What I Saw Today", (my take on something that many of the bloggers that I follow already do brilliantly) sharing our Normandy Life with my followers one photograph at a time.

On the agenda this morning was a visit to the Veterinary practice in Bayeux as M'selle Fleur has been suffering with a painful ear for a few days. Today's vet was new to us and according to the SP was a little afraid of Fleur, insisting that she be muzzled during the examination. I didn't attend but apparently Fleur took this in her stride and behaved impeccably.

the clinique equine with Bayeux Cathedral as a backdrop

85 Euro later they emerged with lotions & potions and strict dietary instructions, no more chicken for Fleur!

Back home we found our farmer neighbour had arrived to feed the cows, so I leant over the garden wall to have a chat with "les girls" as they munched away.

these girls know all the latest gossip

Whilst chatting I couldn't help but notice how well the plants and shrubs by the wall are looking after the recent rainfall.

hortensia

wisteria

old fashioned rose

even when the petals are gone the clematis flower head is fascinating to see

After a short potter around the garden we were off again.

This time for a walk along the riverbank before lunch in our favourite local restaurant.

On our way home I stopped to take a photograph of one of the village's WWII memorials, one that I thought my Canadian followers might enjoy seeing.

That's some of what I saw earlier today. I hope you've enjoyed seeing it as much as I've enjoyed sharing it with you and finally................ my next project - sitting on my desk - a scrap booking layout that's still a work in progress.

à bien·tôt

This new hobby is seriously affecting my blog!

Lunch at Villa Maria, Ravello.
RRR Team Challenge

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging as often as I used to?

UKS May House challenge

Well, the reason why is, that I have fallen back in love with scrap booking and am devoting all my free time, when not out in the garden, to playing with paper and glue!

Week 1 challenge

Here are some of my most recent lay outs that I created for the May monthly and weekly challenges over at UK Scrappers.

Week 2 challenge

I recently volunteered to take over the running of my team, The Rockin' Ribbon Raiders, when the previous team leader had to step down.

Week 3 challenge

It's been a steep learning curve but I've had plenty of support and encouragement from other team leaders and members of the scrapping community at UKS.

Week 4 challenge.

My latest obsession is making tags and here are some that I did for the May Trendy Tag Swap.

 You may have spotted that tags have started to appear in my lay outs too?

 I tell you, I am addicted to them!

Hope you've enjoying peeking into my craft room today.

What new hobbies have you taken up this year?

Perhaps, like me, you've rediscovered an old favourite?

I'd love to hear how you spend your leisure time?