Garden shadow shots.

As I was passing by an upstairs window I noticed the fabulous shadows that the cherry trees already sprinkled with white blossom, the laurel hedge around the potager and the ancient old crab apple tree loaded down with mistletoe, were casting over the back garden.

Grabbing my trusty Lumix I took these shots before heading to the front of the house to see what was happening there.

The huge ornamental cherry which dominates the garden is about to "pop" into glorious pinkness, here and there you can see small flowers appearing, almost on an hourly basis. I was thrilled to see the almost mirror image shadow that this tree was throwing across the lawn.

When we bought this house there were three linden trees growing against the wall. Sadly, over the years, two of them fell victim to gale force winds which brought them crashing down, now only one remains to cast it's shadow across the driveway.

By the way as I sit here blogging I can hear a cuckoo in woods behind the house (first time this year), the house martins returned exhausted after their long flight from Africa at the weekend (I wonder if the volcanic ash slowed them down at all?) to their nests in the eaves of the garage, and everywhere I look the cows are back in the fields. WooHoo!!

I'm linking this post to Outdoor Wednesday graciously hosted by Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer who reminds us in her post that tomorrow April 22nd will be the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.

At the weekend I'll also link to Shadow Shot Sunday held every week @Hey Harriet's Australian blog.

There's still time to enter my giveaway, the winner's name will be drawn on Saturday 24th April.

Click here if you missed the details.

Mosaics, Meringue, Marais, Monet & Maggie's giveaway.

Mrs Matlock's class is discussing the letter M for this week's Alphabe-Thursday and to be honest I was spoilt for choice when thinking about today's post.
One of my very favourite weekly meme's, which I always try to join, is Mosaic Monday @ Mary's little red house. It was through Mary that I came to learn about Mosaics and how to create them. Click on the MM link to see Mary's Crab Apple Blossom Mosaic today.
When I wrote to ask her advice on how to make my mosaics larger she very kindly shared this information:
"to make your square mosaics (or pix) large, click on "Edit HTML" and change the width and height to 800 pixels. Also, change the bit of code that says s400 to s800. Then click "Save." That should do it.
For rectangular images, the numbers are 800 and 532, and s800."I followed these instructions and the results were very good however this only worked when I was using the Minima Stretch template.
With a three column template the mosaic was too large and was cut off on the right hand side. To make it larger for a three column layout change the first two numbers to 600 and the last to 800.
I use Photoscape mostly for creating my mosaics I like the large choice of layouts that it offers, you can also adjust the size at the same time which makes life easier!
When I blogged recently about our long weekend in Paris I received so many wistful comments, from blogger friends who had visited Paris and would love to return, and from others who still had a trip to the City of Lights on their wishlist.
If you didn't see those posts first time around then click here & here to read all about the wonderful time we had.
Here is a little peek into one of the Marais' best kept secrets, "Le Loir dans la theiere", a cosy and charming tea room in the rue des Rosiers.
If you ever find yourself in the Marais I highly recommend this quirky place with it's eclectic furnishings and decor.

I have never in my life seen a lemon tart with a Meringue as high as this! Historic! It was delicious and too much, even for two of us to finish.
Time to segue into My giveaway.
To celebrate two years of blogging, all the wonderful friends that I have made and all the interesting things I have learned along the way, I have gathered together some gifts that may bring Paris a little closer for one of you.

To start your day off beautifully, a large porcelain cup and saucer, transfer printed with black and white scenes of Paris perfect for any petit dejeuner.
A slim volume entitled "Verrines" - 30 recettes faciles", crammed with wonderful appetizer recipes and illustrated with great photographs, it is sure to awaken the "Julia" in you.

From my visit to the Orangerie in the Tuileries Gardens a Book of Postcards of Monet's Garden at Giverny by Elizabeth Murray and finally a small notebook, featuring Renoir's painting of "Gabrielle et Jean" on the cover.
If there's space in the Colissimo box I may well be able to squeeze in a few more little souvenirs, who knows?
To enter the drawing for this cadeau français just leave a comment on this post only before the drawing takes place on my blog's 2nd anniversary: 24th April.
Bonne chance tout le monde

12th April.

A taste of Spring in Normandy for Mary's Mosaic Monday @ the little red house and in memory of my Dad, can it really be two years now since we said goodbye, a mosaic featuring his favourite flowers, daffodils.
I'm also linking to Tracey's Weekly Words to Live By meme @ Notes From A Cottage Industry.

If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.

Maya Angelou.

Do try and visit Mary & Tracey if you get the chance, I know you'll enjoy visiting both of these great blogs.

Hope you all have a great week.

Sunday Favourites, more news from the potager.

I had so many nice comments on my Alphabe-Thursday "K is for Kitchen Garden" post last week that for Chari's Sunday Favourites Rerun @Happy to Design today I thought I'd show some more of what goes on around the potager during the year.
Below is a post that originally went up last June and if you'd like to see even more home grown veggies click here for a post from the year before!

Some of you may remember from a post last year that a few years ago a pair of moorhens decided to make their home on the small pond next to the potager.
This year they produced just the one chick but it is growing well thanks to non stop feeding from the doting parent.
I feed them stale bread every morning, papa moorhen comes to the door & squawks until I go out.
Today I watched as he & the chick walked along the top of the garden wall, a first for the youngster.
6 times papa brought bread to the chick and 6 times the little beggar dropped it over the side into the field.
What a patient parent!

The vegetable garden is coming along well this year, the potatoes are great and may well take over the plot!
Thanks Sean!


We should be having blueberries with everything quite soon and the haricot beans are just beginning to flower which bodes well for later next month.

Courgettes are looking sickly (no idea why) but the bettraves (beets) are doing well after a shaky start.
We need rain!Please do go over and join Chari for her Sunday Favourites rerun meme, there's always a lot of fun going on there.

Alphabe-Thursday L is for........La Métairie

I'm so excited to be joining in with Mrs Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday today, where the letter under the spotlight this week is "L", because the wonderful Julie Schuler @ My Good Babushka , a very talented artist and fellow A-T contributor, is offering a signed copy of her book "Ludmilla the Clown Went Missing" to one lucky participant.
Head over to Jenny's to find out more about how to win this great prize but first I must tell you about a wonderful shop that I recently discovered, La Métairie.

"La Métairie"specializes in "Decoration et Art de la Table" and is a place where I can easily lose track of time, admiring the displays and discovering one more "must have" item after another.

Will it be that beautiful hand embroidered linen cushion (pillow) sitting so prettily on the couch by the door, a set of stylish verrines to use for the mushroom appetizers I've been wanting to try, some mercury glass votive candle holders or a pretty "chemin a table" (table runner) for the dining room?

But wait, just look at this gorgeous white painted, wooden tray perfect for serving "DP's" outside on a warm summer's evening.

Well, dear reader none of these delicious items came home with me yesterday, because I wasn't shopping for myself.

I was searching for my upcoming 2nd Blog Anniversary Giveaway prize, I was shopping for you!

Now, head over to Jenny's and check out all those great L posts, but come back to Normandy soon to see the pretty cadeau that I got for you at La Métairie...................................

Weekly Words To Live By.

I discovered a new (to me) blog last week, Tracey's "Notes from a Cottage Industry" and her Weekly Words To Live By meme which I thought I'd join in with #162, today.

"What a pity flowers can utter no sound! A singing rose, a whispering violet, a murmuring honeysuckle, - oh, what a rare and exquisite miracle that would be!

Henry Ward Beecher.

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Alphabe-Thursday....K is for Kitchen Garden.

Is it me or is Thursday coming around quicker every week for you too? I almost forgot to prepare my homework for Mrs Matlock's Alphabet Thursday "K" assignment but luckily I didn't have too far to look for inspiration.

One of my very favourite things to do is to grow organic vegetables in a small patch of ground outside my back door, my very own Kitchen garden or potager as we call it here in France.

It was in a very sorry state when I inherited it from the previous owners and for the first few years that we lived here it was rather neglected by me also since there was so much work to be done on the house first.

Almost two years ago I decided to completely rehaul the design and wrote about it in my very first blog. (Note to self: NL 2nd Blog Anniversary coming soon!).

You can read about it here and over the following months I blogged regularly about my progress.

With the onset of fine weather a few weeks ago (I say that tongue in cheek as today we have had hail & rain interspersed with blue skies & sunshine) the weed suppressing covers came off. S the G (Sean the Gardener) rotivated and composted the raised beds and it was time to plant!

Last weekend I planted 4 sorts of "pick and come again" lettuce, and scallion/salad onions. In this bed I already have some early and maincrop potatoes, with the blueberry bushes at the end.

I also love to cook, a pastime that goes hand in hand with growing my own produce. Two excellent books which have inspired me with both of these interests are The Ornamental Kitchen Garden by Janet Macdonald for planting plans and gorgeous photography and The Gardeners' Community Cookbook which was a gift from a dear friend, Fayne, several years ago.
These words from Victoria Wise, author of the cookbook, say it all:

Good cooking comes from good growing

Good growing comes from loving the earth

Good dishes come from tending your pot

as you do your plot.

Happy Gardening.