Birthday celebration in Denmark.

In my sons home, their family day starts early.
The school bus arrives at precisely 7:16 am
to take our grandsons to school.

This morning was my 75th birthday.
I was woken by my two grandsons, my son and his wife
 singing happy birthday and waving flags.

 The Danish are very proud of their national flag,
so on celebration days, there is a lot of flag waving.

My day started with a beautiful bouquet of flowers
waiting for me on the breakfast table.
Evidently sneaked in the day before.

My son gave his day for me, to be spent how I wanted.
As it was such a lovely sunny day, I chose to go for a walk .
We needed to take a short drive to where he had chosen for us to walk.
On the way we pass this Châteaux. Dronninglund-slot.
 please take a look at this  It's well worth it.

I always love seeing this château,
so different from the ones i see in France.
 We didn't go inside this time, we just drove down the avenue
lined with huge Oak trees and lots of Beach trees.

We were heading to the woods, full of Beach trees
for me to see Autumn at it's best in Denmark.

We walked all around this lake
and were able to take in all the aspects.
Such beautiful rich shades of rusts to red.

then beneath the trees a carpet of leaves.

At the end of the walk, we saw these two lonely timber houses.

Ready for the drive back home.

Early evening we all went to a lovely restaurant.
Such a special time together with our son and his family.


At the weekend another birthday celebration for me, in Danish family style.

Champagne aperitif

I thought those of you who love porcelain 

would enjoy seeing this coffee pot and coffee cup and saucer.

Here is one I found for sale on ebay.

Royal-Copenhagen-Blue-Fluted-Half-Lace-615-Coffee-pot

I don't know how long this set has been in her family.

I knew it was a valuable heirloom but didn't realise it was so valuable.

I'll be terrified to wash it next time it's used, in case I break it.

Now for a Sunday walk through the woods .

Always somewhere to picnic, lots of wooden tables with benches.
The Danes love to stop and drink coffee outdoors.

Last days walk through the woods and ending on the beach.

I wonder if this tree will be chosen as some ones tree for Christmas ?



These tiny Pine cones ended up in my pocket,
brought back to France for winter decorating.
During my stay I ordered a special candle tray from
Corfixen for winter or any time decoration.



When it arrives I'll show you how I choose to decorate it.
Until then, keep well and stay safe.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Château Montbrun

These days when I open my post box

It's usually full of publicity or bills that need to be paid
so it was nice to receive an invitation to have a guided tour
inside one of the many Chateaux near to where I live.





As a holiday home owner the tour was gratuit/free and friendly.
I had to be very discreet taking photos inside as it's not really allowed.
However I did have the advantage of knowing the guide.

So follow me as we take a peep around and inside,
Chateau Montbrun in the Haute-Vienne. Limousin region.

This Château is privately owned by a Dutch man who lives there.
  Over the past 25 years the Château has had three owners
If you have euros to spare you could be the proud new owner
 of this Château as it's for sale for the sum of €20,000,000

We were told that Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt flew in by helicopter
 to view, take a look here  but apparently it was too near to the road.
Not secluded enough from the Paparazzi.

From the road you are not able to see these steps.

 We were told by the guide they led to a room that in days gone

 by was kept for the Château owners secret lover.

The rear view.

The original gateway into the Château grounds.
Too dangerous now to be used, as the tower is crumbling.

I could just imagine 'Richard the Lion-heart '
and his army of men on horse-back riding in through those gates.

 The pathway leading to the rear entrance

This would have been the servants entrance,
 where they would get their water from the well.

As it's privately owned and photos are not really allowed to be taken inside

I was only able to sneak a few quick clicks with my pocket camera.

This bedroom and the toilet.

If you would like to see more photos of the Chateaux
look here   For Sale
all the information of inside is given by the Immobilier/ estate Agent.

I hope you enjoyed stepping back in time.

with me at Château Montbrun.

If you missed my previous post of many other Châteaux

where I live  ...Take a look Here

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

My trip to Denmark.

I feel like I don't know what season we are in ! It will be June in a few days and I'm still wearing winter clothes. I've told you before I love my garden, but when it's cold and raining everyday I would rather be indoors doing something else.

Which means  I've made  very little progress in the garden. Usually by this time of the year all my hanging baskets and balcony troughs have filled out and everywhere is looking colourful, ready for the summer.

I have to tell you I had most of my plants hardening off ready to go in the baskets and we had a severe frost overnight and it nipped the tops of most of the plants, , the weeds are growing like mad, they don't mind the frost.

Although I've been busy planting my baskets ready to hang when we get some warmer weather, I thought I'd wait awhile  until  they are worth showing you. So how would you like to see some of the things I saw on my trip to Denmark at the beginning of May.

If you've ever visited Denmark it would probably be Copenhagen , which is a beautiful city, however my son and his family live in the North of Denmark, so it was a family visit, with some sight seeing.

Here's a taste of some of the things I loved seeing

and a few of my favourite places we went to.

After looking through the window on a rainy day, I could see that the Forsythia needed pruning.
and I know they don't have the time for jobs like this, so I went out with secatures. 



This is what I did with all the pieces I had pruned.

I just pushed the cuttings into the ground. I can't say planted as their ground is so soft. I hope they take.

I have a very good friend, who just shoves bits off plants in the ground and they always grow.
If she reads this she'll know who I'm writing about !

Where I live it's very stony ground, so I'm not always successful.

Bikes can be seen everywhere.
I think even I would ride around on a bike if I lived there as it's so flat.
I loved this pink/white one I saw outside a super market with a wooden box on the front
 for those small things we always forget when we do our weekly shopping.

This one looked so pretty with a large basket decorated with silk flowers.



Bicycles in the nearby city of Aalborg.

 Some of the flowers at the supermarket.

Which I thought were a better selection than I have here in France.

Our son lives near the Fjord/sea and 
we always like to take a walk at the harbour.                       

Half timber modern houses at the harbour.

We spent a lovely weekend at our daughter in laws parents
 summerhouse on the North west coast.

There was a special reason that this piece of architecture was hung here.

 it was to warn you there was a step.

I loved this idea.

 Each time everyone goes for a walk on the beach they collect pebbles with holes in

 so they have been threaded onto a cable.

A sheltered corner.

Our walk on the beach.

I just love the coast, even when it's windy

and as you can see so do my grandchildren.

we walked on to the cliffs and saw lots of birds.

 Some of the Kittiwakes.

They  build their nests on the very narrow ledges of the cliff.

I always love to visit this chateau, as it's so different from the ones I see in France.

These colourful houses are in the northern tip of Denmark

This  circular maze was amazing.

It was designed by a Dane and built from planks of wood.

It was an echo maze, the echo came back 4 minutes after the sound.

A familiar sight over Denmark.

Now we're back to where we started
nearby the local church.

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of Denmark from my visit.

and you'll join me again soon on my next trip .

.Until next time

à bientôt
Barbara Lilian.