Seasonal Sunday with the Tablescaper

I'm joining in with a new (to me) meme The Tablescaper's: Seasonal Sunday as we leave summer behind and welcome cooler autumn days and nights.
I imagine that there will be plenty of posts this week about the Labor day weekend but here in Normandy, Saturday was just a normal day of la vie quotidienne (daily life).
Yesterday was warm and sunny with bright blue skies, so we decided to head towards the coast for an impromptu picnic.


We loaded up the car with folding chairs, a small table and a basket packed with pate de forestiere, cheese and tomato sandwiches, a flask of tea & the remains of the Pear Crumble cake that I made last weekend. (Yes, we did make it last all week!) A truly eclectic mix of French and English gourmet treats!
Not forgetting a big bottle of water for Mr Ben and a bag of biscuit bones.
A magazine or two and a couple of books to read and off we went.
La Rentrée (when French children return to school) was 1st September and so the roads were very peaceful as we motored down the country lanes.
Sand yachting (Le char à voile) is a very popular pastime in the region and I managed to snap these two as they sped along. We spent a very pleasant afternoon sitting, reading and watching the world go by before heading back inland for a spot of gardening.
How did you spend your weekend?

Summer's last Hurrah!

For Claudia's Friday Finding Beauty meme @ Dipity Road and Laurie's A Few of My Favourite Things Saturday meme, some of the last blooms from my garden, cut this morning, simply arranged in my favourite Desvres faience jardiniere.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Around and about le Presbytère

For Outdoor Wednesday this week graciously hosted as always by Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer, some snaps taken around and about during the last few days.
One of our wild/tame moorhens finishing off Ben's breakfast this morning.

A perfect looking mushroom growing at the side of the lane, didn't pick it though as I'm unsure which ones are safe to eat. Possibly this one was o.k. but didn't want to risk food poisoning, or worse.
We saw these white cows relaxing in a field, safe behind barbed wire fencing, whilst on our Sunday walk last weekend.

Imagine our surprise as we rounded the bend to find this escapee, who definately knew that the grass was greener on the other side. After snapping him quickly, I beat a hasty retreat.

After many weeks of waiting, finally, red tomatoes! These robust heirloom tomatoes are rich, juicy and full of flavour. Ben, as usual, is never far away.

Now, head over to A Southern Daydreamer to follow Hurricane Earl's progress along the Eastern US coast.

Is there anything better than home made cake?

Have you been to visit Barbara at her wonderful gourmet food blog "Moveable Feasts"?
I have been a follower for some time and I always feel as if I've discovered a really great cook book, written by a talented chef and author, when I read Barbara's recipes.
She has an excellent way with words and I always come away from her blog determined to try to recreate the delicious foodie delight which she shared with us that day.
Well, yesterday I did just that and so I would like to say thank you to Barbara for sharing the recipe for Pear Amaretto Crumble Cake.
Mr B loves what he calls "plain cake", no cream, no icing/frosting and no chocolate! Barb's cake had his name all over it.
It's so rare that I have all the ingredients necessary to bake a" spur of the moment cake".
I did have apples, pears (home grown), walnuts, lemons, almost all the store cupboard dry ingredients but no almond flour.

Tucked away at the back of the shelf I found a packet of ground almonds, fine and silky, so I used that instead.
Raided the cocktail cabinet but no Amaretto was to be found, instead I used Benedictine Liqueur made by monks at the Benedictine Abbey in Fécamp, Normandy.

Nous habitons en Normandie n'est pas?

Although the recipe is very easy to follow, it required an enormous amount of kit!


Not just the KitchenAid mixer but also the Kenwood food processer, several bowls, Dualit electric hand whisk, kitchen scales, measuring spoons and cups and jugs and pans.
Oh, but it was worth the great big pile of washing up that I had to do. whilst the cake was baking.


I can tell you that the cake is delicious, perfect for Sunday afternoon tea and this morning's elevenses, we enjoyed both. I think the mixture would also eat well as a muffin too.
Merci Beaucoup Barb!
P.S. DH just wandered by and asked "Will I be having a piece of that lovely cake with my tea this afternoon?" Say no more..............................

The Old Vicarage for SSS

During our trip back home to UK in June we spent some time at The Old Vicarage situated in the small village of Old Clehonger, Herefordshire.

For Hey Harriet's SSS #119 today I am sharing some photographs of the garden at The Old Vicarage, a delightful place to stay with welcoming hosts, Dinah and Julian, who made Mr B, Mr Ben & myself feel right at home.
Bon dimanche.

Normandy delights: Calvados and Cows

Today my friend and fellow Quimper faience collector Cerelle, has blogged about her love of cows on the QCI Blog.
Followers of my blog will already know that I too love cows.
Well, as cows spend a great part of the year in the fields surrounding our home here in the Calvados region of Normandy, I guess I have to love 'em!

"Bossy" Cerelle's favourite cow has six little cups hanging from her sides and a spigot beneath.

If she were a souvenir of Normandy and not Auvergne, Cerelle supposes that she might be dispensing some of Normandy's famous apple based liquer, Calvados.

One of the sweetest Quimper faience services, designed for serving our special "eau de vie de cidre", that I ever came across, is the one shown here.

In the very popular Ivoire Corbeille decor a pomme shaped jug/decanter complete with apple shaped stopper and six small cups sit nicely on a round serving tray, parfait!
à votre santé

Growing and going green.

It's Outdoor Wednesday where all things green are often celebrated, the Rainbow Summer School is going green too this week.

After the torrential rain we have experienced this past week (ever since I wrote about the Hazy Lazy days, actually) everything in my garden is refreshed, luscious and green, indeed.

How about these gorgeous espaliered apples and pears growing against a usually sunny, ancient stone wall?

In the potager along with the organic fruits and vegetables, some of which I blogged about in last week's Summer School project, I cultivate a few culinary herbs. Tasty green chives, and leaves from my Bay tree enhanced by nature's tears above, and below flat leaf parsley growing right alongside a new crop of dwarf haricot beans.

The Scarlet runner bean crop had been excellent this year, they love the rain it seems, but once again I think there'll be plenty of green tomatoes for frying and making chutney this autumn.

Many thanks to Susan & Jenny for graciously hosting these excellent meme's. Click on the links on my sidebar to see who else is going green this week.