Flowers from my garden.

This past week we have had very hot days.

The garden is looking colourful 

so I thought I'd cut some flowers .

A vintage pitcher full of poppy seed head stems from last summer.

A selection of flowers put in a jam jar then placed in a hessian bag.

I added some wild flowers picked from the edge of the lane 

along with a few blooms from my new climbing rose  'Pierre de Ronsard'

A corner of the terrace which I'm always changing.

I very rarely buy flowers,
However I couldn't resist these Rose buds found at a supermarket.

I bought some awhile ago and hung then in a walk in cupboard

and they've dried a lovely faded pink and kept their beautiful scent.

So I plan to do the same again.

are you picking flowers from your garden ?
if you are I'd love to see what how you display them.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Summer is always a busy time.

As always Summertime keeps us busy.

The garden and our summer cottage keeps Mr France and I occupied.

After my surgery last year the garden suffered considerably.

A few weeks ago we had a visit from the person in charge of the committee

for 'Le Concours des Fleurs'/ The Floral competition.
 persuading us to enter le concour  again.

Apparently last year we had been greatly missed by the judges.
Although we always have an abundance of flowers
 in pots and hanging baskets, we agreed to enter the competition again.



I love this corner, as I can change the pots when they look a bit sad
or add some of my collected items found at the brocante  sale.
Which Mr France describes as junk !

So after returning from our short 5 day visit to the U.K.
visiting friends and family, we were frantically putting
together baskets and troughs, to adorn the terrace and windowsills,
which is the category we are entered in.

Here's a few we have done and now hanging from the terrace.

These geraniums I managed to over winter from last summer.
and just added a few other plants to fill in the gaps.

Window troughs or boxes as they are known as in England
are always a pretty way to brighten up the front of the cottage.

Our new roses planted in the Spring are flowering nicely.
If you'd like to wander around my garden with me,
come back soon and enjoy seeing what's growing
 where I live in rural France.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

La Petite Maison

It's been awhile since my last post.

Summer is always a busy time for us.

Our summer letting started earlier this year, so as soon as we returned

home from our visit to Denmark, we were preparing

La Petite Maison 

Our first visitors were on their honey moon, a couple from Belgium.

So I wanted to make it special for them.

  Our pink climbing rose is in full bloom


Naturally I picked some rose buds

and put them in a small glass vase, to pretty up the bedroom.

 and rose petals to sprinkle on the bed was a must.

Also a few extra little touches here & there.

in my style of country chic decorating to welcome them.

A little teddy resting on a selection of vintage French books.

A straw sun hat waiting to be used

A bouquet of pink roses.

I'm trying my best to catch up on all your posts, although
 I haven't had time to leave a comment, I've been reading them,

Even after a rushed quick visit of a few days to see family in the UK
everywhere in the garden is looking good.
So I'll be sharing the progress with you soon.

Hope you are all enjoying summertime in your garden.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

A Taste of Denmark

I've just been to Denmark to visit our son and his family.

As you can see it's very flat.

 A few wind-machines among the Rapeseed fields.

We went for a drive up to the North west coast.
Where the landscape is totally different
Look at the trees all bent over due to the wind.

On our walk to see the old lighthouse 

I came across this beautiful wild flower , some type of Anemone'

I propped this one up with a small stick so that you could see inside.

The coast line is eroding

so now this once needed lighthouse is no longer in use.

  This past winter there has been more erosion of the coast,

and now these houses have been boarded up.

There seems to be more hills along the coast than inland.

With my lovely son, on a beautiful sunny but windy day.

A few fisher-mans cottages, probably used as summer houses now.

We took a walk around the nearby small town.

Very popular in the summer months.

Some tasty Danish snacks.

Take a closer look at the chairs outside, the restaurant owners 

leave soft blankets  to put over your legs, when the wind is chilly.

I saw this schooner sailing along the Fjord which is opposite our sons house.

I grabbed my camera and took this photo from the bedroom window. 

As I had only taken my aim and shoot camera I had to zoom in 

for this shot, so it's lost a bit of the clarity.

A mornings visit to the local harbour.

It was too early for the ice-cream shop to be open.

 An evening of culture  at the newly built music theatre.

Three generations aged from 7 to 75 years together.

to listen to the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra

playing Vivaldi 'The Four Seasons '  

Our grandsons gave the thumbs up 

and said 'It was cool '

A day window shopping.

I loved this old building I saw in Aalborg town

which is now divided into small boutique shops.

The original cobble stones in front of the building have been left.

Lots of bicycles everywhere.

Not sure what was happening, but they were doing some filming here. 

Lots of pink flowers.

I Loved these designer watering pots

 We sat here for coffee and people watched. 

and were tempted to buy some freshly ground coffee from this shop.

The end of another wonderful family visit to Denmark.

 Sunset over the Fjord.

 Now it's time for the drive back to the airport.

for our flight back home to France.

Back home to all the plants that have grown so much in such a short time 

 and need to be planted or potted on into bigger pots.

But that's for another time.

So I'll leave you for now and catch up with the garden progress next time.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian