Welcome to the month of May.

The garden is full of birds singing and flitting about feeding their young.

The Robins nest we found in the shed. How long must it have taken

 these birds to build this nest, tucked in the hanging hosepipe 

We thought it had been abandoned.

Last week we saw a little head and two bright eyes staring at us 

it is the female sitting on her eggs, they have been very discreet.

We can't wait to see the feeding activity. 

After a lot if hard work, the Rose garden is now finished.

 Lots of flower buds are showing on the Clematis.

Here we used some of the willow frames, to replace the rotten ones.

This small area was planted up last year, and is now looking well established.

The small lavender plants have now doubled their size. so I'm looking forward 

to some nice perfume wafting my way when I'm relaxing near by.

 When the plants are in bloom, it will be a nice show of pink and blue

with a white climbing rose against the stone wall.

I'm glad the hard work is finished, now I can taking it a bit easy for a few days.

Hoping the warm sun we had yesterday,

 enabling Mr France and I to have lunch on the terrace will continue.

This seems like a good time for me to get my sketch books and Ink-tense pencils out.

Yesterday I saw this post from Quinn on her blog about getting back into painting.

Quinn is an incredible lady who has so many talents at her finger tips.

She lives and works looking after her goats in severe winter weather conditions.

She keeps her family of goats for their wool which she processes and 

then knits into the most lovely items, especially the lacy shawls.

Tell her I suggested you pop over to share her blog.

 My back is telling me I've done too much.

I will need  to just potter in the garden for awhile

So I'm hoping the sunny weather is here for awhile, then I will relax.

I'll be back soon.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Pretty Pansy Faces

Pansies are one of my favourite winter flowers, 

I plant some every autumn.

I love their flowers heads they remind me of smiley faces

 This year I put two troughs on the south side of the house 

and they were safely sheltered from our storm last week. 

Troughs of pansies in full bloom.

Early morning photo taken from the window.

these are dwarf pansies

 and we've been enjoying seeing them in flower for some time.

Then after a view days of warm sunshine 

  the tête à tête daffodils quickly came into bloom.

These tête à tête  daffodils are from a few years ago,

 I planted them a little later, than the others.

Last year I planted them in hanging baskets.

after they've finished flowering, I store them in a plant pot in the shed.  

I found a few more that had been forgotten,they'd already started to shoot .

so while the sun was shining I quickly shoved them into a trough.

Can't really call that gardening.can I ? at the moment.

I'm sorry to say it, but I'm not very enthusiastic .
Do you ever get like that ?
 please tell me it's not just me.

Thought I'd show you a few my pansy paintings

that I've made into cards.

they were painted a few years ago. 

I thought if I looked at some of my paintings
it might give me some encouragement, to start again.
I've set up a trestle table, found my sketch books and paper !
So ... until my next post, when ever that will be, I might surprise you.
Might be paintings or progress in the garden.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Good Bye to our Summer visitors.

Now I have to say goodbye to Summer as our last guests  have just left.

Officially Autumn started on 21st September,

 but while we still had visitors staying in La Petite Maison

and we're still enjoying lovely warm sunny days, I cling on to Summer as long as I can.

 

 





Mr France and I are off to the coast

 to spend a few days enjoying the sound of the waves.

I do love where we live, but I miss the sea.

 

 

 

 

I've thrown a few mix & match outfits in a small case, nothing fancy

as we're hoping to do some walking, nothing energetic.



So hopefully if Mr France wants to take a snooze after lunch

I'll get the chance to try out the new Inktense pencils with the waterbrushes.

and have some sketches to show  you

 

 

I've recently treated myself to a box of 24 Derwent Inktense pencils.

.

 



and a pack of 3 waterbrushes. Which I haven't yet tried, so that could be interesting

 I hope I'll like using them on this trip.

 

 

 

I'm also taking my Moleskin landscape sketch journal

which I bought months ago

and it's still waiting for my 1st sketch.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know why I'm hesitating to sketch in it.

I feel like I'm back at school starting a new term

and not wanting to make a mess on the first page.

 

 

 

I'll be taking loads of photos

so I'll show you where I've been when I get back.

 

 

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around the world blog hop.

Last week I received an email from Daphne  inviting me to join the 'Around the world blog hop' 

Me ! who never links up with other bloggers, mainly because I don't know how !

I needed to think about it. It wasn't easy for me to say yes. This is going to be a big challenge, as me
and links are strangers, so please forgive me if the links don't work... here goes....







I met  Daphne in 2012 not long after we both started our blogs and that was through   I've been tagged  even then Daphne guided me through the technical bits, but I still didn't get the hang of links.
Daphnes blog has grown so much since then. She shares her delightful detailed recipes, and tells such humorous tales of her everyday happenings. I feel I know her although we've never met.
In April 2014 Daphnes blog   was featured in  'Woman's Weekly' an English magazine , I mentioned that I would love to see it, but wasn't able to get it here in France, so she sent me a copy, how thoughtful is that. She has continually  kept in contact with me through out my back problem, and I  still receive emails from her asking how I am.
I'm sure if you haven't already come across her lively blog you will be drawn in by her charm. She writes as if she is talking to you.
For those who already follow my blog, you will know that I'm not someone who posts on a regular
day, or has a certain theme for my posts. I just have to be in the right mood.

Now I'm meant to write something about me,
but if you take a look at my post I've been tagged
  you'll find out a lot about me.


I thought it was about time I introduced you to my husband who is usually in the background
and referred to as Mr France. This year in August we celebrated our 52yrs. wedding anniversary.

This year due to my back problem we haven't been out and about very much, but
  now I'm feeling much better, and last week my niece came to visit us and we
went to one of my favourite places Brantome in the Dordogne.
 

 Now I need to answer some questions.


1  ...   HOW DOES MY WRITING/CREATIVE PROCESS WORK.

Now this is easy for me to answer, as I don't have a writing process...
I just write what ever comes into my head, or make a post about something I might recently have seen or done. I never plan ahead, or have a special time or day to write my post.
I try to have my camera with me or in the glove compartment in the car.
That way, if I see something that might make an interesting post, I can take photos to work around.
However that doesn't always happen, my camera has often been left on the table in the kitchen.
 I could never class myself as a writer. When I was at school, in one end of year report my English teacher wrote 'Barbara seems to have a gift for writing, if only she would concentrate in class'
I still seem to lack concentration even now.


2  ...  WHY DO I WRITE/CREATE WHAT I DO.

I wrote about this in April 2012 in my first post.
Welcome to the 1st page of my new blog


I used to walk a lot, but that went on hold for a while.
But I'm back to walking along the lanes
near my house.

Picking wild flowers on a walk.

I find writing about the things I see and sharing the photos I take in my blog
 a good way to have a record of the area and see it in a different way.
Since I've started to paint much more frequently than I used to
I now have the courage to show my paintings,
which otherwise would only ever be seen by me & Mr France.
I know I'll never be a writer or an artist.
but blogging has given me the confidence to be much more adventurous.


3  ...  HOW DOES MY WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS IN ITS GENRE.

I think we all have our own way of writing for our blogs.
Some write very little and show lots of photos.
I don't have a particular style, so maybe that's what makes my work different.
I think it's for the reader to be the judge of that question.

As I have said before, although I live in France,  Paris is not my favourite place,
I know lots of people have Paris on their wish list to visit and that's fine by me , but you won't find me writing about it. However I do love reading blogs about Paris.

4  ...  WHAT AM I WORKING ON NOW.

I'm working on a painting at the moment.
 Not just any painting, this is to be a gift for some friends.
It's the first time I've ever painted something for someone.
It's been very challenging, at one point I was ready to give up, and go out and buy a present.
But Mr France has encouraged me all the way through.
I always feel they are not good enough, but it's just come back from being framed
and I feel very pleased with myself.
I'm not able to show you yet, in case they read this post.



Now it's time to introduce you to three very talented ladies who I have invited to take part in the 'Around the world blog hop.'
They will be showing their post next Monday the 15th September
so don't forget to pop over and see what they write about.

First is Debbie from Ohio.
http://wwwviewfromharmonyhills.blogspot.com

I have been following Debbie
enjoying her lovely paintings here for quite a long time.

We both love spending our time outdoors pottering about in our gardens.
She is a fantastic Watercolour Artist, and shows some beautiful  sketches
 she  paints in her journal, in such a lovely delicate style of painting.
If like me you enjoy gardening and /or watercolour painting
you will really enjoy reading and seeing her blog.

 
 

Next is  Sharon Chapman from  Washington.

 







                                      Wildflowerhouse By Sharon Chapman

 

 

Sharon paints wonderful cards which she sells through her 'Wildflowerhouse Shoppe' 

She also shares her beautiful journals which she makes herself,

 full of such a varied array of subjects she sketches and paints.

Quite recently she became the proud owner of two adorable puppies, Max & Cooper.

She has shown a few lovely short video clips of the progress

they have made  since they first arrived at her home a few months ago.

Sharons love for the flowers she has in her beautiful garden

 can be seen here through her cards & journals.

 

 

My 3rd invitee is Shane who lives in New Zealand.

 

I met Shane early this year when we both joined Grow your blog party. 

and she was the winner of  my Give away gift.
 

Since then she has continued to correspond with me by email.

 

I'm sure you will really enjoy seeing her lovely blog & sharing her posts.

 

Shane is a self confessed Francophile and loves France, especially when she can get  to see her grandchildren, who live in France. I've yet to find out if its anywhere near where I live. She collects pretty china, loves embroidery & old lace and makes beautiful collage cards from antique lace and vintage photo cards. Shane shares the same interests in flowers and gardening as my  two other guests. Shane shows fantastic photos of flowers which she has taken herself.





 

 

So Thank you to Daphne for inviting me.

and also

Debbie Nolan 

 Sharon Chapman

and Shane

 

for being my guests.

I hope I've done my linking correctly ( you've no idea how long it took me ) !!!
if I got it right it's thanks to  Daphne for giving me the link to Karen  showing me what to do.
I'm a late developer and just like Daphne I need to see how to do things
especially in the world of internet jargon.


 

I do hope you enjoyed your 'Around the world blog hop'

from my little corner of France.

 

 

 

à bientôt

 

Barbara Lilian