when I grow up - my garden

One day, when I grow up, I will have a perfect garden, where everything is so incredibly perfect and beautiful that I will never muddy my shoes or dirty my fingernails.

 

I will float around, effortlessly finding the time to make ecologically friendly pots for my seedlings

 

My 'nécessaire de jardin' will be kept to hand in a beautiful belt of various sized pockets

My tools will never get rusty, or bent, and they will never ever  -perish the thought -  accidentally land on the compost heap.

My tomatoes will not know the meaning of the words  blight,  undersized, flavourless or ordinary

my pots will be coordinated to the shades of flowers in season which will in turn be coordinated to current fashion

and I will carry a secateur in a perfect gardening bag in case the worst happens and  I come across a stray branch

One day!

photos  garden, potting tool, garden equipment

Our Friend Alberto

We have had a lot of fun things happen in our garden,  children's tea parties, grown-up's dinner parties, treasure hunts, Easter egg hunts, pony races, three legged races, three-legged pony races (no I'm kidding) charity lunches, Christmas fairs .....   but of them all, I hold a very special place in my heart for the days when our friend Alberto came to paint.

When Alberto came to paint I would pull weeds, fix garden furniture, brush the dog .... anything that meant I could spend as much time as possible in the garden watching his pictures grow, and listening to him chat about everything and nothing in particular in his delicious rolling Brazilian accent.

Watching any artist paint is  hypnotic, and Alberto's colourful, busy, Brazilian style is particularly fascinating.

He'd turn up on his bike with easel, huge canvases, and a lot more stacked into an old cart  attached to the back of the bike.  When he left at the end of the day, we'd creep into the barn and look again at the canvases he'd left to dry.

He painted all along the valley, often besides the river, and today there are pictures of the vallée de l'Eure, by Alberto, hung in houses all over the world.

For the moment he's back in Brazil, where he's done some fantastic urban scenes, and has also returned to one of his favourite themes - pianos.   Recently he created a huge mosaic for an underground station.

We are looking forward to him coming back to stay one day,  there's an easel waiting here for him.

If you'd like to see more of his work, visit his website here.

I love etsy

I am so excited, I made my first sale on etsy today, and I need to celebrate!  What better way than to feature a couple of other etsy sellers whose stuff I like.  I know it's stating the obvious but etsy is an amazing tool.  It enables so many people, particularly women, to sell from home to a world wide market.  I love it!

I adore this painting, it is fresh and happy.  What's more  

we need to protect our bees, they're good for our planet.

I've always loved pincushions, they make mending more 

fun and this one is particularly pretty.

Some people are very clever at wrapping gifts with ribbons and 

fancy paper,these labels are so sweet, they'd look

great even against a plain paper wrapping.

Voila, some retail therapy for your weekend, have a great one!

photos.  bees,  pincushion,  tags

a table to work at

Do you prefer to work at a small desk with a place for everything and everything in its place, or  are you more at ease behind a broad table where you can spread yourself out?

Is a desk like a handbag?  The bigger it is the more you cram in, (sorry,  maybe you're not like that).  

 

Are you organised, you start something and see it through, or do you have several things on at once?

These two are both beautiful but I know which table I would choose, how about you?

photos  Homes and Gardens, Cabbages and Roses

turner for breakfast

Today, through no merit of my own, I was invited to a "private viewing" of the Turner exhibition in Paris.   You will not be impressed to know that I unceremoniously dumped all the Wednesday school runs into my husband's lap (he is the best of men) and accepted an invitation to have breakfast!!!  at Le Grand Palais, and then walk around the show before the crowds arrive.

How will I ever be able to do a normal museum visit again?!!  This has spoilt me for life!

Here I'm showing you my favourites from the show, but it was all
great.  The theme is Turner and the painters who influenced him.

Nobody does light like Turner, disappearing horizons either.  Hard
to believe we're looking at an 19th century painter here, it's so modern.

The exhibition has already been to London, and will move to
Madrid after Paris.  Hope you get the chance to see it.

If you want to see more click here

mademoiselle's room

Some of you  have been kind enough to ask me how 

mademoiselle's room is coming on.

Actually we finished last week, but she is reluctant to share her chambre with the rest of the planet so I am just allowed to give you this one little snippet.

And that is the way things should be.

daffodils and sissinghurst

 I'm back from a delicious few days en Angleterre where the daffodils are blooming and as a surprise bonus to an already lovely weekend, I discovered that Sissinghurst had opened its gates.

Never refuse an opportunity to visit Sissingurst.  Few places achieve l'état de grace enjoyed here.  The small but perfect gardens were created in-between wars by the vibrant and intelligent Vita Sackville-West.  You may know her fiction or her poetry.

Vita wrote regularly about creating her garden, and had she lived today, would most certainly have been the kind of girl to have a blog.  She and her husband, a writer and politician, planned and sculpted a garden which combines a formal side that suited his classical tastes, and an informal air to match her romanticism.

This weekend the gardeners had left a helpful message explaining what to look out for.

But if you were to visit in the summer you would see the famous white garden

and admire the view from the top of the tower

Moment like these are too precious not to be savoured.

photos  Sissinghurst,  Vita

A sure sign of spring

Things are looking up!    Yesterday evening for the first time in months, it was warm enough for the girls to ride when they got home from school.  Forget homework, grab an apple, throw on a pair of jodhpurs, catch and saddle a horse or two et voilà!  Life's simple pleasures.

I'll be in England for a couple of days, so I wish you all a good weekend and look forward to catching up with your news on Monday!

Thank you

These are for you! 

I am coming up to the 2 month birthday of my first blog posting.  I would look ridiculous popping open the champagne for such a modest mile post, when many of you  have been nurturing your babies for years, but I did just want to say

I have to admit that I had hit a lull; the long winter didn't help.  Blogging has woken me up!  My blog  has introduced me to amazing people whose company inspires, stimulates, amuses and interests me.  I feel like I have been dusted off.  I have extra energy and punch, I have even had a spontaneous job offer!

From my desk I am crossing continents.  I am allowed to peek into your homes, and admire your style.  I am impressed by your many talents      -     as stylists, photographers, writers, humorists, mothers, wives, collectors and business women, sorry and men of course too!

The downside is that my children now call me The Geek, but actually Geek is pretty cool, and they do manage to show a glimmer of excitement each time I announce a new follower.

So there it is, my big Thank You for letting me in to join in the fun.  I look forward to celebrating a proper milestone with you.

PS.  I have to add a special word for Millie at The Laurel Hedge, since she was the first one to open the door to me.  Thank you Millie!


photos  Country living, soucherayart, papygeek. slowtrav

But where do I put the soap?

If there is one room we like to go to for comforting, cocooning and luxury it's the bathroom.  The roll top bath has always been popular, and right now there are some great ones around.  But one thing has always mystified me -  OK so my life turns around small ideas - when you're sitting in one of these designer made free-standing affairs,  shoulder deep in bath foam, enjoying a good long soak,  where exactly are you meant to put the soap, good book, glass of wine, shopping list, reading glasses, telephone ....?

Before refitting our  bathroom I looked at loads of beautiful photos such as these.

Here they've gone for the bath rack, I've tried it - things fall off!

This imposing tub has its matching industrial look stool, a bit low to my mind

This table would appear to be holding the towels ready as you emerge, dripping, but while in the tub all you can do is contemplate the, admittedly beautiful, flowers and curtain

Back to the bath rack, believe me a wine glass cannot balance here.

this table is great but definitely too far for my arms to reach

and this little table is well positioned, good height but unfortunately already busy with flowers and statue!

The way our bath room turned out,  with new wall depth needed for piping, we ended up with a
ledge built into the wall behind the bath.

Here I can balance soap, candles, and a whole load of stuff that is of interest only to me.
What do you need beside your bath?

photos Homes & Gardens