A week in pictures...

We got back last Sunday from a short trip in the Lot department, or le Quercy as they also call this part of France. We went back to the same region as last year because we loved it so much back then and that feeling hasn't changed. It's a beautiful region - quaint, lush, a bit dramatic, too, on a cloudy day (and we had more than a few of those, unfortunately). This year, we stayed at the lovely Domaine Lapèze in Montcuq, a 200 year old farm turned into gite and run by Caroline and Knud Kristoffersen where we had a very nice, little cottage at our disposal. The view from the domaine, which is located on a hill, was simply stunning, with its sunflower fields, plum orchards, vineyards, and little winding roads, the Montcuq tower... The girls fell in love with the owners' two dogs, three horses, and two cats living on the premises, and the - very loud at some times - donkey a bit further down the road. The weather wasn't great - the sun was a no-show until the second part of the week - but we've enjoyed every minute of our little break...
Our week in pictures...


the stunning view from our cottage







I fell in love with these delicate queen anne's lace (thanks, Ana!) - did you see the cute little red heart?!


apples for the horses...


This young lady turned 8 during our stay!





The girls' creativity at its best - they made a very nice summer garland with plenty of summer goodness found around the yard...



... we called him the asthmatic donkey because of the weird noise he made - the girls were convinced he felt lonely which made them sad so they would bring him carrots and apples too


Montcuq market on Sunday morning





Undoubtedly, the most adventurous part of our stay - it took us forever to get to the Accro-Liane site in Figeac (thanks to our ever-outperforming GPS), but it sure was worth the long ride...

Fall colors

We just got back from a short trip to the Ardennes, in Belgium. We had lovely Fall weather, including morning frost and fog, which resulted in the most beautiful scenery with Fall colors at their best now. It felt so good to be able to spend some time outside - we made long walks, the girls had fun walking in a real forest. They also fell in love with the two pony's next doors and fed them with carrots and other root vegetables. Unfortunately, one of the animals wasn't doing so well, limping with one of its legs - at some point we even thought the poor animal had died which resulted in big tears with little H. Turned out it was fine, just old and tired.
The girls have a couple more days before heading back to school. We have no special plans yet, except that I need to go through lots of laundry. But before doing so, however, I might do something creative this afternoon. Reading all of your sweet comments last night, on the anniversary giveaway actually made my heart jump and made me feel like getting started on something new right away! For those of you who haven't entered the giveaway yet, you have a couple more hours left - so, hurry up, before it's too late!!

SEVEN

She's turning seven today. Little H.
Our wild child. Our strong willed but sweet all the same child.

She's always been on the fast track.
Intelligent and very sensitive too.
A chatterbox.
I so much love the way she giggles.

Seven!
She's seven!!

Happy birthday my sweet little H.!!


xo, P.

// La douce France // - the country side

We exchanged the big city for the country side with it's winding roads, poppies, hay stacks and bugs we can't name. The girls enjoy having their hair blown in their faces when we drive our car with open windows through the green and still lush landscape.

It's good to be outside...

Single...

...child for a week.
Big Sister M. left on Saturday, with her class to the Camargue for a week.
We had to deal with some tears last night. Little H. missed her big sister's company when playing in the courtyard. She stayed up late, and made portraits of us, which she'll send to M. ...
It fills my heart to know they love each other this much...

TEN!

That was then...




and this is now...



The same sweetest girl on the planet,
only much, much taller...

She's turning 10 today.

Happy birthday, my sweet baby girl M.!

A short trip...

Some of the apple blossoms that colored the garden of our hotel...

We just got back from a short trip we took. Very last minute (very last minute should have been my last name) but so much fun. It was little H. who gave us the idea. She learned about it in school and decided she wanted to go see for herself. We were lucky to still find a hotel less than 48 hours before leaving - what would one do without the internet? If you ever travel to the area, I highly recommend le Gué de Beauvoir - an absolutely great hotel especially when traveling with children. Not the classic touristy kind of hotel typical for an area like this, but a family-run, charming little hotel with additional little "cabanes" in a big garden, landscaped to look like it's not landscaped, in which they very well succeeded. We were lucky to have one of those little cabins. So, in between the sightseeing - and we did quite some as we explored a bit of both Brittany and Normandy - you'd find us relaxing in the garden. We didn't even bother to go out for dinner in the evenings. Instead we had our little picnic outside in the yard. The girls played outside until late at night - M. tried to tame the unicycle she found there, much at the expense of her shins. And since there was no TV (so nice for a change!) we all read in bed instead.

Our little getaway was totally improvised but so totally cool and fun!


The Mont Saint-Michel as seen from the Couesnon river banks, just behind our hotel.














As much as we liked the Mont Saint-Michel, I believe our favorite part of the trip was our hike towards la Pointe du Grouin and its breathtaking views...

Back!!

She's back!! She's back and had a wonderful week! No need to tell we're all happy she's back!
But we oh so messed up at pick-up! I still feel horrible about it. I still feel like I could cry...

They were supposed to be back at 4:00pm today. Because I didn't want M. having to wait at school for too long in case little sister's bus would be late, I arranged with her teacher that I would pick her up a bit earlier this afternoon. I was at school way too early, had to wait for M. as she was still at her P.E. class, but she showed up at said time and we left school perfectly on schedule. We even had time to pick up a flower for little sister. All was going well.
M. and I, ended up being 15 minutes early at the pick-up location and so did daddy. And there, we ran into another mom who told us she just got a text message letting us know the kids were stuck in traffic and hence would be 15 to 30 minutes later. 'That would leave us enough time to go for a quick coffee'. And so we did with a couple of other parents. The rest of the story you can of course guess... The bus caught up on its delay and got there at the scheduled time. Only, we weren't there...
Can you believe this!? I could cry when I got a text message telling 'the kids are back', while we were still sipping our coffees...
Anyway, M. and I jumped up and started running like crazy - I guess K. was running too, I can't tell, because all I wanted was get there as fast as I could.
I'm not sure little H. actually noticed we weren't there yet. But it ruined everything for me - I wanted to see that bus pull up the parking area, I wanted to see those little faces behind the windows, I wanted to see that door open, I wanted to see my little girl and let her know we had been waiting for her to come back.

- instead, however, we had been sipping coffee...

And all is quiet...

Today was the big day - little H. left this morning with her class on "classe verte". She woke up cheerfully and all excited. She finished breakfast in no time, got dressed in even less time, all while chatting and talking and rattling. Because we couldn't keep it any longer, we left too early to the bus station, and hence got there way too early - just like many other parents of evenly nervous kids. She pulled her suit case for quite a bit on our way there, 'as she needed to practice...', she said. When we got there the teaching assistants took over the luggage and put it in the trunk and then the waiting for the actual countdown began. We met her room mates and plenty of other kids and parents, some of them a bit more quiet than usual or quite the contrary. Let's say our little H. belonged to the latter group. Yes, she shed a few tears because "she would miss her big sister so much", but the sadness lasted only a few minutes. She was one of the first ones to get on the bus, sat down at the window and waved us goodbye with a big, big smile, holding up her little bear so he could see.
And then, they were all gone...
And next thing were my tears - only a couple.
Because I was proud of her,
because I was happy to see her this way,
because I would miss her,
because this day had finally come.
She'd been waiting for it for so long...

Have fun, my little girl!
... et "Bonne nuit!!"


xo, Mommy



Note: We made a couple of surprises which we hid in her suitcase. The instructions for the Sarubobo puppet I found at Mairuru's and I added a little sleeping bag for it. And then there's "la boîte à bisous" - she announced many times herself she wanted one of those too... so we couldn't let her go without one. We wrote sweet messages on tiny strips of paper and rolled them up, glued a family picture on the inside of the box and further decorated the box with flowery wrapping paper.

Shifting to a lower gear

...maybe. In terms of posting here. The kids have their winter break. Two weeks. We didn't plan on anything really yet. But, my guess is that we'll be busy. So, I'll be posting whenever it works out.
However, I can tell you already that I'm working on another little leather pouch. It also has ric-rac, but it is slightly different from the other one. Not sure when I'll be able to finish it, but I'll post pictures as soon as I'm done.
I need to get the granny squares crochet basket out again. I haven't done any squares in a long time and I don't want this project to end up in the closet like so many other knitting and crocheting projects. So, maybe, hopefully, this break?
M. would like to do some sewing as well, she said. And there are a couple of movies we'd like to see, and books to be read for school. That looks like plenty - not sure two weeks will be enough...
Anyway, the weather doesn't look too bad here today - it's actually quite sunny - so I think we should be heading out.

Enjoy your weekend! I hope you'll get some sun too!

10 years ago

The two of us, this day, ten years ago.
It was freezing cold, hence the big coats.
And there was a farmers' protest that day - angry farmers dumped half a ton of white feathers on the steps of the city hall...

65

Today is my mom's birthday - she'll be 65.
We've been making fun of her lately - of the senior bus pass she's getting now...

Happy traveling, mom!
And a happy birthday, too!

xo, P.

42

I shot this window a couple of times in the past already - and again last Friday. My camera didn't seem to bother this elderly lady who just continued her way and colored my day.

I'm turning 42 today.

I got spoiled with the most precious gifts made by my girls, including the cutest tutorial ever for a finger puppet (I'll post it later this week). However, the sound of early morning whispering, them rummaging through my crafts supplies and sneaking around secretly with stuff is the best part of all - I just love it!

And I got two magnificent photography books from K. Inspiration galore!

Plus a book on crocheting my mom sent me in the mail.

I might take the day off and go on a hunt with my camera...

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Just stopping by to say...

...hi!
I hope you all had a very nice and relaxing weekend! We certainly did. We even made it to the movies yesterday afternoon. Daddy - who's feeling much much better - took M. to see Avatar. And since we didn't think it wise to take little H. to see that one, little H. and I went to see La princesse et la grenouille (The Princess and the Frog) instead. I'm not at all into princess movies, but to be honest I really enjoyed this one and I even shed some tears at the end (so embarrassing - H. who's super-sensitive didn't even cry a single tear...).

Today, I worked on a little craft with one of the hearts I crocheted. I just had to try something new. I hope I'll be able to finish it soon (tomorrow?) so I can show you. Well if it works out ok, that is.

Hmm?! And that's all there is for now, I believe, or did I forget something?

Oh, in case you can't get enough of crocheted hearts, I found some really tiny cute ones through Whip Up. You can check them out here.

So much better!

He's back home from the hospital! This was by far the scariest week ever. I've never seen him this sick and I hope I won't have to ever again. But he's doing much better now, tired still, but so much better. No flu, not even a seasonal one it turned out, but pneumonia. A really, really bad one.
I'm so glad he's back home - and the girls too will be thrilled to find their dad back home when they'll return from school.

Thank you to everyone for your support and get-well wishes. They meant a lot to me, to us. And thank you, mommy, for coming all the way to Paris, to take care of the girls and me. You made the difference this week!! Thank you so much!

xo, P.

Break

I'm dropping a quick line, just to tell you I'm taking a little blog break until further notice. K. ended up at the hospital last Saturday, and I don't feel like blogging at all at the moment. My mom is coming in today to help me out which is quite a relief. The girls have been wonderful but are worried just like me. The doctors are no longer sure that what looked like the flu actually was a flu to start with... We're still waiting for further test results.

Needless needles?

I stripped our Christmas tree on Tuesday from all its ornaments and yesterday morning we escorted it to the park, where it will get mulched.
At home, just a couple of needles left here and there reminding us of the holidays. It must be January...

In the same post where I mentioned I was still debating whether to get a tree or not, I also mentioned we weren't sure whether we should get the flu-vaccine. Even though we eventually decided we would go get one, we still didn't do so, due to circumstances. And now, I'm afraid we might be too late. K. came down with what looks like a severe flu. I'm worried. I've never seen him this sick. I hope it's not the Mexican flu, not that this matters right now - I just want him to feel better soon...

Spinning around

The above picture has nothing to do with today's post. Or maybe it has.

I shot it last weekend while I was heading back to the metro to pick-up little H. from a play date. I had walked all afternoon, from Boulevard Saint-Germain all the way down to Place de la Concorde, which is quite a stretch, since I made a detour to the Bon Marché as well, thinking I could do some Christmas shopping in between the play date's drop-off and pick-up. What was I thinking?! Christmas shopping on an early December Saturday afternoon!? Unless you really have to, you stay out of the shops on an early December Saturday afternoon. It didn't take me too long to figure that out. And the Bon Marché is not exactly my store either, if you get what I mean. So, I decided to walk instead. And to take some pictures, maybe. But the camera nor me were in the mood for pictures. Too crowded.

I ended up at a bookstore on rue de Rivoli - Galignani - instead. W.H. Smith is our regular store when we want to buy English books, but I wanted to pick up a book K. mentioned he'd like to have, one in French. The sales clerk helped me finding it and then I made my way to the English section, where my eye caught Julie Powell's book Julie and Julia. Since I didn't see the movie (and it's not very likely I will see it any time soon unless I get it on DVD, as it's no longer playing here) but I heard so many of you raving about it, I decided to go with the book instead. And also: isn't the book usually better than the movie? Anyway, for the last couple of days I've been reading. No late night computer and blogging sessions, but reading. And I so much enjoy the book - to the extent I start feeling sad already now the end is nearing.

The thing is that, besides it being a fun and relaxing read, I recognize myself to a certain extent in what Julie writes. I'm not a particular good cook (not too bad either, if I may say so), I don't even have the MtAoFC, I don't drink alcohol at all, I don't use the F-word in my writing, nor do I write about sex. But I do recognize myself in what she writes about blogging. The (sometimes almost) obsessive-compulsive behavior. The search for recognition. The happiness when seeing the comment counter no longer is at zero. The feeling of letting the readers down when not posting. Blogging has given my life a different turn too. It's an outlet, a way to share my creativity (or the lack thereof). It's given a boost to my creativity, also.

I used to be an economist, who once considered writing a PhD, and eventually decided not to, and went working for a telecom operator, a furniture giant and a financial institution consecutively, instead. I liked every single one of my jobs. I was committed. Next, I became a working mom. And yet again, I was committed. At some point, K. got a very nice job offer in California. We decided to move and I quit my job. I became a stay-at-home mom and I really enjoyed it. I was happy to be able to be with my little girl. Next, came another baby and I had my hands full with the two of them. No way I was considering of taking a job at that time. But as the girls grew older, and started going to school, I all of a sudden got more time, no green card and hence no job. I decided to use that time to do the things that I always liked but for which I so far had lacked time. Being crafty. I went through phases of (compulsive) bread baking, jewelry making, painting on fabric and dying silk, sewing, knitting... I also got involved in community life, being on the playground designing team of our local community and volunteering at both my girls' schools. Next, we moved to France. Another great opportunity which we grabbed with both hands. Again, I decided to stay at home as I wanted to be there to help the kids transition, help make them feel comfortable at their new home. And they did wonderfully. I discovered new hobbies and I bought a camera. I literally dived into photography. Then, one day, I started a blog. At first it was intended as a way to stay in touch with friends and family abroad. But things took a different turn. I started to post my "creations", the little things I made. I used to take photographs of my little crafts before and I would typically send these to my mom (who also happens to be my very first reader). Now, I did the same but posted them on my blog. I wrote my first tutorial and it got featured at One Pretty Thing. Quite a few tutorials have followed since and made it to Whip Up, Craft Gossip, Sew, Mama, Sew! as well, not to mention the links on many other blogs. And that's what has been making me feel happy, what keeps me going. It may sound ridiculous or even pathetic and I do realize that what I do is tiny, really tiny, but it's been giving me the feeling that I'm out there, somewhere. That I belong. I'm in one of those tiny buckets on the Ferris wheel, spinning around, you see?
And this is what I came to realize through reading Julie Powell's book...

So, thank you, dear "bleaders", for visiting and participating to my little project...

Family pictures :: my mom

I'm still recovering from a bad cold, but feel so much better already. To the extent my fingers itch to do something creative. Not one or two things, but plenty of things. But first I need to get the other stuff done. Not feeling well made me skip chores and now I need to catch up on those, of course. The fridge needs a cleaning - I want to get rid of that nasty Camembert smell and there are some chocolate (?!) spills in it as well and plenty of expired things. I need to catch up on laundry and ironing also. And then there's the weekly returning cleaning cycle. And I don't feel like doing any of these. Instead I want to knit, to sew, to needle felt (haven't done that for the longest time), take pictures,... I want to do anything but the aforementioned chores...



However, before I dive into the work, I want to take a moment to share some very nice family pictures with you. Pictures of my mom this time. My mom as a little girl. And again this was an interesting exercise if only to see how much my youngest one, little H., looks like my mom as a kid. This of course didn't come as a complete surprise, since I look a lot like my mom - and even more so with aging - and people keep telling me little H. looks so much like me. So, there's the link. But it was striking still to see my little girl appear in those photographs (especially in the school picture): same mouth, same little nose, same jaw line, same flimsy hair, though I'm not exactly sure about the eyes.

Did you see the dresses in those pictures? Lovely, aren't they? My grandfather was a tailor - he made men suits. He had his own atelier at home, where he made suits for doctors, lawyers, or anyone who could afford a custom made suit - in those days men would typically have a suit made for the big events in their life which they would wear until it didn't fit anymore or got all worn out. He did pretty well until confection suits took over and incoming orders started to sluggish. He quit the sewing business and took another job at a factory. However, being a tailor he took pride in having his kids well-dressed. The dresses weren't made by him, my mom told me, but by his seamstress. I especially like the pleated one in the first picture, her first grade school picture (same age as little H. now, and in this one the resemblance is quite striking!).



My mom is the middle child of three, with one older brother and a younger sister. The second picture shows my mom with her sister in their courtyard. The dresses, the socks and shoes, the hair: the fifties that's for sure! The third picture is my mom at her Holy Communion. The dress here is simply amazing. And the tulle, plenty of it! She looks like a little angel in that one, though I can immediately add she wasn't (sorry mom!! - the truth needs to be said, LOL!). What I also like are the fancy hairdos in those shots, something my grandmother would take care of. She would use bows, curling tools, braids,... anything that would help to make my mom's hair look less flimsy. Too bad for my girls, but I'm really horrible at this. A pony tail or a braid is about as fancy it gets here...



So, mama, pretty girl, this post is dedicated to you ...
Wishing you a wonderful day!