Tiny Lessons

It's a tiny bird, the Carolina Wren. If you followed the story of my front porch wrens last Spring, and the window box wrens of the previous year, you will not be surprised to know they are back. They really never left, sleeping each Winter night in the hanging ferns on the porch, which we didn't have the heart to remove although shrivelled, brown and quite dead. As the warmer days appeared they left the baskets to sleep elsewhere, but they were always singing at the top of their minuscule lungs.......some place in the garden.

These pictures with the trees dressed in Spring green were taken in the garden last year.

Above is one of the same pair taken in my kitchen window box a few days ago (through the window screen so a bit blurry). Together with its mate, the pair spent several hours flying back and forth, twig, skeleton oak leaf, fine twirly dried root, each held tightly and placed securely into a tiny space nestled between a mini conifer and yellow pansies. By mid-afternoon, the nest looked almost complete. What busy and brave little birds. To build a safe home to raise their family took planning and a lot of work. They didn't need a mansion, nothing fancy to show off to the neighbors, just a small warm house to nest in, safe and sound.

If all works according to plan, I'll be telling you about tiny eggs, loving parents, the amazing cleanliness of a wren's nest, and that thrilling, but somewhat sad, sunny Spring morning when fledglings leave.

Village Life

Early morning in the French village is anything but bland and colorless. Once you've started your walk through the narrow streets and headed out towards the vineyards and farmland, your senses are overwhelmed by the colors of the landscape. Besides the vines changing from green to red and gold, the old buildings, painted doors and shutters, stony roads, the everyday things, all appear to have soaked up the sunshine, even in the shorter days of Autumn.

Join me on another stroll through the village of Caunes-Minervois in Southwestern France where my brother and his family live.

Looking back toward the village.

One villager must have a penchant for the tropics - a palm tree in the land of vines!

Beautiful home in a converted barn.

Would love to peek behind the blue door.

French pumpkins are gorgeous.

Vegetable garden near the 9th century abbey - amazing amounts of veggies were still being harvested even in October.

The village laundry, now closed and may re-open as a bar!

One of many Caunes pink marble village fountains.

Texture ~ stone, wood and of course lace.

Which way now?

Will I ever run out of photos taken in France last October? If you're wondering I can assure you I still have more to share.

Paper Dreams

New quick project just completed.
A makeover inside the living room armoire. Lined previously with Italian inspired wallpaper - golden yellow background with trailing vines and bunches of purple grapes ~ quite lovely and enjoyed for many years. I'm now wanting a more neutral look. Used more pages from the antique French journals ~ perfect, inexpensive, only took an hour or so. Attached pages with double- sided archival scrapbooking tape.

Here's the finished project ~ now have to decide what to display. Perhaps a mix of old folded linens, books, china, these vintage jars. Don't you just love armoires? They have so much potential for storage and display ~ much more interesting than closets cut into walls.

Yes, I removed the dust jackets - too many conflicting colors - but I've saved them!

At last, a place where I can display all this beautiful English bone china - a few pieces belonged to my grandmother, the remainder a fabulous find at such a reasonable price at SuzAnna's Antiques...........................the place to treasure hunt in Raleigh, North Carolina.

French Finery

How exciting to see the mail carrier trotting up my driveway with a parcel in hand recently. Even more thrilling was seeing foreign stamps and knowing it had flown across the pond!
I had prior notice from the kind and generous sender so knew something French was on its way from Brittany. I was definitely not ready for such a delightful and beautiful gift.

I've being enjoying interesting posts by blog friend Elizabethd at French Village Life for some time. Being fellow Westcountry (she Cornwall, me Devon) natives who both live in adopted countries, we now lead different lives but still hold our English roots close to our hearts. I love learning about her life in a lovely village in Brittany, and her visits to the coastal towns of Northern France. When I wrote a post about bringing back hand written letters some time back, we started writing, enjoying the thought of our notes winging back and forth across the pond.

My new farm style table now has this grey linen serviette holder with a beautiful M monogrammed in the center. It's perfect alongside the French dough bowl.

Elizabethd included the prettiest paper serviettes with grey hearts and the beautiful card depicts a woman in traditional Breton costume on the coast of Brittany.

This gift was a wonderful surprise from this growing friendship. As Elizabethd followed my French style dining room makeover, her kind words were enough when she said I had done a good job..........a beautiful accessory for the room was the icing on the cake!

Thank you so much dear friend. Some day soon I hope to return to France and visit Brittany and Northern France and meet up with you in your lovely village...........cup of English tea or glass of French wine, whatever, it will be enjoyed in your company that's for certain.

Minerve

During our month in France last Autumn, an interesting day trip in the Languedoc area of Southwestern France took us to another Cathar village, MINERVE.
The road winds up the valley from the Carcassonne highway, heading toward Minerve, an isolated historic village perched on an island of rock over the meeting of two rivers, the Briant and the Cesse, which tunnel through deep gorges.

The village turned Cathar at the beginning of the thirteenth century, which made it a target for Simon de Montfort's crusade. On July 22, 1210, after a seven week siege, he took the castle and 140 "parfaits" (purified souls) were burnt at the stake because they refused to deny their faith. Little is left of the fortress, except for the candela, a single slender octagonal tower. The village is a hodge-podge of narrow alleys, topped by a simple 12th century church.

Local ladies of the village enjoying Autumn sunshine.

Walking through the river tunnels is possible when the water is low.

Great restaurant where the Sunday luncheon was superb.

Sauntering through the ancient narrow streets. Little museums and shops were numerous.

Many French villages are steeped in history. Stone facades of the buildings, colorful wooden shutters, terra cotta tiles of the roofs, and the cobbled streets, have soaked up centuries of living.

Minerve, an ancient place which captures your heart immediately.

More to life....................

Ever feel torn and shattered because the little every day things of life come to a halt? I'm almost ready to give up computers, it has all become much too frustrating! But then I couldn't blog ~ and how I'd miss you all. If I haven't responded to an e-mail recently sent, apologies, it's gone, I've lost them all! If I don't comment on your blog for a while, more apologies. Meanwhile PC is at the doctor's office for surgery!

Spring brings a lot of work around the house and garden and I need to get it done prior to leaving for England in April.

I promise to make time to visit your blogs as soon as I can.

Hope to be back posting again soon ~ and of course I always appreciate you stopping by and leaving your kind comments dear friends.

Whose Garden?

I'm sure you have 'em too!! The acrobat of the suburban garden, the furry, tail balancing, glittery-eyed grey squirrel. Wire walking, cunning, quick as lightning, eat and chew on everything. If you watch closely you can almost see them thinking, smart little devils that they are! "Let's spend a few minutes getting the hang of this bird feeder; how about lifting the lid off the compost bin for a meal; bread for the birds, no way, it's my lunch and I plan to gobble it all."
"Squirrel-proof" is an unknown phrase in squirrel language.


Took these pics yesterday morning as the sun came up with the promise of a perfect day. Our run of pre-Spring hot days is over, we're now expecting several rainy days with cool temperatures.



This oak tree hangs over our deck and its lower branches have still to discard a few remaining dead leaves prior to new green ones bursting forth. The little broken branch always seems to have a squirrel perched on it munching an acorn or a hickory nut. In the early morning sun he almost looks like a red squirrel, which we don't have here. The surrounding trees are old and huge with dozens of squirrel nests visible high in the branches..............we just know they will be around for ever!

Who visits your garden these days? Do you enjoy watching wildlife?

Dining Room Update

Those who followed my month long visit to the South of France last October know that I fell in love with this apartment where I stayed in Provence. I was directed to La Madone by the words "the most beautiful place to stay in Provence" and was certainly not disappointed in any way. It was even lovelier than anticipated. The young owners have put heart and soul into restoring their home, and apartments, in a gorgeous old mansion in the town of Apt.

These images were taken in the apartment where DH and I stayed for a few days.

On my return, knowing I needed to get moving on the dining room renovation including ceiling and walls, I knew the direction I wanted to go. It had to remind me somehow of those restful colors and the simple elegance of La Madone.
Although Provence is known for vibrant colors, finding this gentle look which feels like stripped down French Country mixed with Swedish Gustavian, was a huge surprise. The mix of soft paint colors on the walls and old furniture, crystal chandeliers, natural linen upholstery and drapes, delicate old oil paintings without frames, old wood frames without paintings..........I fell for it all. Knowing I couldn't find, or afford, 18th century doors and precious paintings was OK. I knew I could mix paint colors and smoosh them on, sand them off, hopefully they would hold my dream. I could shop for little inexpensive treasures at local antiques and thrift shops, and I did!

This was my inspiration board ~ bits and pieces pulled together in the colors I wanted. I usually make a board before I head helter-skelter into a new project ~ it makes it easier to work this way. Below are the before and after pics of the dining room to date. Still have to recover the chair seats and make drapes.


The Welsh dresser with the colors and objects that gave it the UK Country Living look for many years. Loved it while it lasted.


Same dresser looking more sophisticated and French with blue-gray paint. Added old metal drawer pulls, white Mikasa French Countryside china which I already had, tarnished silver purchased at the Aix-en-Provence market, antique French books from a tiny back street used book store in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.


Bird homes, garden inspired items - still loved - but moved to new homes such as the front porch while new treasures take their place.


The sideboard I fell out of love with some time ago so painting it was easy. The old window with the tulips I will always love ~ the French journal pages are just taped over them in case I ever want to change again.

None of the lighting in this room has been changed as it works quite well all being cream colored. These buffet lamps are still nice with their unusual soft damask shades and look good on the dark painted top. Some day, when I find the perfect sized, affordable one, a crystal chandelier will definitely hang over the dining table.


The farm table I am delighted with. The lighter color suits the room and gives a more casual appearance. The chairs? Well you know by now that painting five chairs (yes, still one more arm chair to go but as it stays upstairs I'm not rushing to do it) was a lot of work. They required three coats, a lot of sanding and waxing to get the desired look - country and casual but still nicely finished, not just a 'whitewashed ' look. When the seats are recovered in a darker fabric they should look great.

Thanks for sticking with me while I did this room. Knowing you were also anxious to see it finished kept me going on the dark, dreary, shoulder aching days!
Upcoming projects will involve cleaning up the garden, revamping the front porch, and cleaning the back deck and gazebo now that Spring is just around the corner. I have some garden ideas using old bricks, shutters, a handmade log trellis, dishes and bric-a-brac galore.
See you in the garden.