A quintessential English B & B.

After a 4 hour drive through Normandy to Calais, a 30 minute train ride under the English Channel aboard the Eurostar Shuttle, a quick trip to Ashford for an appointment with my optician we finally arrived at Stone Green Farm our favourite B & B, the ideal place to stop and unwind after a long day of travelling and shopping.
Caroline and Geoffrey are the perfect B & B hosts and every time we stay with them it's like staying in a friend's home.

B & B resident Teasel came running out to greet us when we arrived.

After a quick freshen up (we're sleeping in the Boy's Room tonight) we came downstairs to the guests sitting room to enjoy a welcome cup of tea and some home baking.

Caroline's Victoria sponges are legendary. The china is Colclough Ivy Leaf.

This evening we'll be heading to the local pub in Mersham, The Farriers Arms, for even more quintessential English food - beer battered fish and chips and a pint of best bitter (beer) for the Senior Partner his reward for getting us safely back to England once again!

Bon Nuit.

Mosaic Monday # 76 - come dine with me

During the recent cold spell brought about by the Siberian blizzard "Beast from the East" I spent a lot of time feeding the wild birds who co-habit with us at the Presbytere.
I doubled up the fat balls which I hang daily from the branches of the ornamental quince bush at the front of the house and also put out huge amounts of Nature Mix (wheat; red sorghum; sunflower; millet and oatmeal) plus extra black sunflower seeds.
These images represent my first attempt at bird photography, something I never honestly thought I would have the patience to try.
Most were taken with my Panasonic DMC-ZS3 pressed up against the glass of various windows and others with my iPhone whilst leaning against the car for support!
Afterwards I played around with them in PicMonkey using a variety of effects and creating the bird mosaic.

a hungry blue tit 

(the most common of all the visitors to my garden)
enjoying a snack

In the back ground a wood warbler
and in front a male chaffinch?

I think this is a collared dove, a recent newcomer to the garden

a starling came visiting last week too

I'm an absolute beginner at identifying birds relying on Mr Google and a vintage edition of Collins Gem Guide - Birds" but it isn't easy.

is this a wren?

If I've mistakenly identified any of the above please do let me know, I appreciate any and all advice given.
Update: Valerie has commented and helped to identify two of the birds. What I thought was a wood warbler is in fact a female greenfinch and the wren is a dunnock! So helpful, thank you.

Next week's Mosaic Monday will be coming to you from the very Heart of England, as the Senior Partner and I enjoy a short break in the County of Worcestershire. I'm thinking visits to National Trust properties; Stately Homes; Cathedrals and Markets and as many Afternoon Teas as we can possibly fit in.
Want to come along? Watch this space........................

Normandy Life

An InLinkz Link-up

Mosaic Monday # 67 - Life is Good

In my first post of 2017 I declared that it was going to be a ridiculously amazing year and after looking back through my blog posts of the last 12 months I'm inclined to say "Oh, yes it was!"
If you've been a visitor to my blog for even the shortest time you probably have guessed that taking trips, experiencing new cultures, discovering interesting places, living in Normandy and enjoying good things to eat are the top five topics of this blog.
Last year we visited the Greek island of Crete for the first time, we fell in love with the scenery, the people and the slow pace of life.
Special highlights of that trip were the day spent at Agreco Farm (click on the link here for a tour) and the visit to the historic island of Spinalonga, two experiences I shall remember for a very long time.

We rented a villa in the small seaside village of Panormas as our base.

In July we enjoyed some crazy time with family in Orlando Florida it was good to spend time with them "doing the theme parks" 

I wonder where our itchy feet will take us in 2018?

Until then 

to quote Dorothy 

"there's no place like home"

Here are some links to my posts about interesting places which we explored closer to home such as the sculpture park and Cathedral in Cerisy, fascinating La Maison du Biscuit and historic Château de Colombières,  if you'd like to read or perhaps reread those posts.

la vie quotidienne en Normandie

Normandy Life

An InLinkz Link-up

Mosaic Monday # 63 - Church of Saint Nicholas, Kato Pafos.

Back from our latest trip to Cyprus with more tales and photographs to share.
One thing I learned from this trip is that the town of Pafos/Paphos lies inland and the area in which we stayed, Kato Pafos, is the more touristy area of town.
Don't misunderstand me I'm not putting it down at all, we loved the hotel's position overlooking the beach and enjoyed walking along the promenade which wends it's way from the Church of Saint Nicholas in the south to the harbour in the north.

The Church is a small, intimate church with a stunning interior of frescoes covering the walls  - an ideal choice for religious wedding services.  The chapel was originally built as an Orthodox Chapel, but the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus kindly gave their permission for Anglican and Catholic wedding ceremonies to be performed here. This chapel can hold wedding parties of up to approx 60 guests and is the perfect backdrop for wedding photography. (Source: Simply Cyprus Weddings)

Saint Nicholas is a very busy patron saint of many causes, of course he is most loved for being Good old St Nick or Santa Claus. His Saint's Day is 5th December.
Click on the link to learn about "Saint Nicholas and the origin of Santa Claus" on the St Nicholas Center website.

We walked down to the Church on a blustery morning after a night of rain and thunderstorms, a gentle 20 minute stroll, admiring the views and commenting on the various hotels we passed along the way.

After weighing up the pros and cons we decided that we had chosen the best one!

Normandy Life

An InLinkz Link-up

Mosaic Monday # 62 - sitting on a dock of the bay...................

Kalimera from Cyprus.
We've been thoroughly enjoying ourselves this week at the Athena Royal Beach, an adults only, 4 star hotel in sunny Paphos.

Our days have been filled with good books, good food and plenty of rest and relaxation.
On Saturday morning we caught the local bus down to the harbour, we strolled around looking at all the different boats, visited the Castle which deserves a post of it's own, looked around a pop up art gallery then stopped at a waterfront café to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and watch the world go by.
Paphos was given “enhanced protection” status in November 2010 by UNESCO’s Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
Click here to learn more about it's amazing history.

This year Paphos has something else to be proud of having won the international competition to become the European Capital of Culture for 2017 along with Aarhus in Denmark.
Although we've been to Cyprus several times before this is the first time we have been based in Paphos. On previous visits we toured the island with private guides stopping at museums, archaeological sites, wineries and monasteries.

This vacation has been much more low key but we still have a few days left to see more of the city before we leave, that is if we run out of books.

Normandy Life

An InLinkz Link-up

Mosaic Monday # 61 - leaving on a jet plane

By the time most of you start checking in for Mosaic Monday this week the SP & I will be heading to the UK, via Calais & the Eurotunnel, before boarding that jet plane for a 10 day winter break in Paphos, Cyprus.
I can almost feel that warm sunshine on my face already.

Cypriot blues

Whilst we're gone M'selle Fleur will be enjoying a staycation at home with her two besties June and Leighton.
We love to travel and over the years I've collected quite an assortment of suitcases, totes and carry on bags, some have been more successful than others.
A very useful back pack which was great to have on the plane over to Florida in July became a cumbersome nightmare in WDW. Every time that I needed my camera, or iPhone, or a tissue, or just about anything out of it, down it came and our progress around the park came to a halt.
After the first half a dozen times this happened I decided that enough was enough!
A quick trip to TJ's, on the way home to our rental villa, was in order to find a replacement bag.
This is it, a Baggallini black nylon cross body bag.

It has a stylish camo pattern and turquoise lining with plenty of pockets to hold everything you need. Waterproof too, which came in handy on some of those theme park rides! The wide cross body strap allows the bag to be carried comfortably with the weight evenly distributed leaving both hands free.
When we travel by air I always check a suitcase no matter how long a trip we take, I've never been adept at packing light.
However, if that suitcase should get lost along the way to our destination I like to have certain things on the plane with me and I thought why not see if I can get everything that I'll need during the flight into the Baggallini?

My carry on bag checklist;

Both of our passports

Purse with cash & credit card. Ditto the SP's wallet

Enough meds for the entire trip.

Copy of passports and medical prescriptions.

Kindle paper white, iPhone & charger; ear buds.

Halo, (a.k.a. Angel Annie) my cherished Beanie Baby. Almost 20 years old and very well travelled she was a gift from a dear friend who is sadly no longer with us.

Jewellery, not expensive items but the memories attached to each piece are priceless.

A pair of Toms flats to slip on during the flight.

Note pad & pen to jot down ideas for potential blog topics!

Necessary liquid items, to make the flight more pleasant, go into a carry on approved see through bag.
(I always follow the 3-1-1 rule when packing liquids. Liquids must be under 3.4 ounces, fit in 1 quart-sized plastic bag, 1 bag per passenger.)

Antibacterial/antiseptic hand sanitizer gel, to take care of anything unsavoury that my hands might come into contact with.

Ayurvedic eye drops to refresh tired eyes.

Dr Bach's Rescue Remedy to comfort & reassure should things get bumpy.

L'Occitane lip balm to soothe.

Because our flight leaves very early in the morning I will probably board the plane sans makeup (shock horror), before we land I'll nip to the loo and freshen up a little. The airlines we fly with nowadays don't hand out little travel bags of useful items so I always pack a disposable toothbrush/paste. Olay's 7 Total Effects BB cream, Burts Bees "Redwood Forest" lip crayon and a light swipe of black mascara should banish any signs of fatigue.

These are the "must haves" that went into the Baggallini for this trip, no problem fitting everything inside with even room to spare for a snack or some travel sweets.

Larger items such as my iPad, holiday travel file, assorted cables & adapters plus a Longchamp Pliage Tote (in case of impulse purchases in Duty Free) will go into the Senior Partner's larger carry on bag.

Next week my Mosaic Monday post will, hopefully, be coming to you from a cabana by the beach, watch this space............

Normandy Life

An InLinkz Link-up

Mosaic Monday # 50 - home again, home again, jiggitty jig!

Home again from our wonderful vacation, we literally just walked in the door.
I said thanks and goodbye to our lovely house sitter, June, then headed straight up to my attic craft room/office to pen this week's blog post before jet lag and exhaustion from 48 hours travelling (we flew to the US via the UK!) take over completely.

The second week of our Florida vacation was just as amazing as the previous one, we managed to fit so much into the days we spent with my family but still enjoyed plenty of "us" time for just the Senior Partner and me.

The latest "land" to open in Walt Disney World in the land of Pandora which you may know from the movie "Avatar".
The plants and flowers both real and "imagineered" used in the theming of Pandora are amazing, here are just a few.

Apologies for such a short post this week, I'm sure you'll understand why.
I'll be better prepared next week I promise!

Also just a heads up..............after next week's post Mosaic Monday will be taking a short break during the month of August, returning all fresh and revived on Monday 4th September that's 09/04/17 if you're from across the pond!

An InLinkz Link-up