Normandy Life

Sunday, 6 January 2013

Sunday Walk - at the beach

Firstly, I would like to start by thanking everyone for their kind comments & emails of support following my last post.
We are trying to get back to la vie quotidienne, but it isn't easy.
To lessen the pain a little we decided to take our Sunday walk in a different location than the one that I have shared with you (and Ben) many times before.

So, we drove the short distance to Saint Laurent sur Mer, also known as Omaha beach, to join other dog walkers and some horseback riders there.

We stopped to admire the stunning sculpture "Les Braves" by Anilore Banon which she created to honour the courage of those men who's lives were lost on the 6th June 1944.

Happy New Year from me, the SP & Fleur,

things can only get better from now on.

Linking this post to Mary's Mosaic Monday

@ the little red house.

Click on the link to see who else is participating in the first MM of 2013

Thursday, 3 January 2013

au revoir my sweet Ben

My best pal, dear sweet Ben

went to sleep for the very last time today,

life in Normandy will never be the same without him.

Sunday, 23 December 2012

A Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Joining Floss @ Troc, Broc & Recup for a Pause in Advent
and
Mary @ the little red house for Mosaic Monday

Celebrating 100,000 Normandy Life page views with some images and collages of Christmas past.

Wishing all my friends and followers a

very Merry Christmas

and

a Peaceful, Prosperous & Healthy New Year.

See you in 2013!

Thursday, 20 December 2012

The easiest way to make a live wreath - Stone Gable

When I saw the "easiest way to make a live wreath" tutorial that Yvonne @ Stone Gable posted on Tuesday I immediately pinned it to my "stuff I want to make" board on Pinterest.
Click here to see the tutorial for yourself.

Following Yvonne's instructions I took an old faux wreath, pretty baubles and some plaid ribbon from my Christmas stash.
I don't have a stand like the one Yvonne used whilst creating her wreath so to make working on the wreath as easy as possible I hung it on a window handle inside.
As you can see through the window there's no snow in Normandy, yet!

Armed with a pair of secateurs I went foraging in the back garden where I cut several small branches of ivy, cypress and box.

As my wreath wasn't as "snarly" as the one in the tutorial is, it was very quick and easy to simply thread the branches through the wreath, no hot glue gun needed!

Then using small wire hangers I simply attached the baubles to the wreath, tied a bow at the top and voila!

The easiest live wreath ever!

Linking this post to Mrs Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday

where our class assignment this week is the letter E.

BREAKING NEWS..........................

literally!!

Since I posted the above photos this has happened.....

I honestly only snipped a few small branches for my wreath, sometime since yesterday afternoon

this stately evergreen was torn asunder and fell to earth without us being aware

that anything was amiss.

If you need some foliage, for your own wreath, you're all welcome to come and help yourselves!!

Sunday, 16 December 2012

A Pause in Advent

My beautiful handmade Christmas nest created by
the very talented & gracious Vicki Boster.
Click hereto visit the blog of a woman I am honored to call my friend.

I’m sure that I am only one among many on this third Sunday in Advent to be pausing, for more than just a minute or two, to think about the heartbroken, devastated families of the women and children murdered inside Sandy Hook Elementary school, Connecticut on Friday morning.

The media is full of reports of the tragedy; I read in the Sunday Times this morning some incredible stories of bravery shown by the teachers whilst shielding their charges from the gunman.

They hid them in cupboards, closets and bathrooms.

Over the coming days more details will emerge about what happened to those beautiful six and seven year olds.

First graders who were expecting their parents to arrive at the classroom door very soon, to build gingerbread houses together.

But the only question on my mind right now is why, in the name of everything that is holy did the mother of murderer Adam Lanza who also died by his hand, feel the need to possess a semi-automatic assault rifle and keep it in her home?