French wine and comfort food

Does the weather effect how you feel.?

A while ago on my post I've been tagged, I mentioned I was a sunshine girl, so as our weather has been awful, with grey skies & rain for weeks, I'm feeling at my lowest. Even if the sky was blue, I'm sure I would  feel better, I need some sun.

As we can't do very much about changing the weather, my other half took over today and did the next best thing for me.

                                                  First some warmth  from our wood burner.

Maybe some Glogg / mulled wine

                                         The wine was  Beaune  from the Bourgogne region

 He  said he would cook dinner and open a nice bottle of wine to drink with it.

Our friends from the Bourgogne ( our daughters mother in law ) brought us some wine from Beaune which we usually save for a special occasion  and seeing me so miserable he opened our gift.

This was how it came gift wrapped with a sommeliers apron on it
Only the French could gift wrap like this.

I bet your wondering what our comfort food was ?

Nothing fancy but just good comfort food  'Toulouse sausages & mashed potatoes.'
 for a cold wet miserable day.

served with a very nice glass of Bourgogne wine. 

And do you know what ?

It did the trick.

What's your comfort food.?

A bientot

Barbara Lilian

New Year and New Thoughts.

How have you started off the new year 2013 ?
I'm full of new thoughts and new ideas for making changes for this year.

A few years ago we put our property up for sale, and then house prices dropped, so we forgot about selling. Now after a family get together and listening to the thoughts from our son and daughter, we feel now is the time  to try selling again  and move on to pastures new.

My mind is working overtime thinking about painting everywhere white and to 'declutter'  as the TV house  programme advise.

Hubby was away yesterday and I spent the afternoon browsing through some of my favourite magazines to give me some ideas and inspiration.

Whenever we bought property we didn't bother about the decor, it could easily be changed. We looked at the size of the rooms & how that could be changed if needed, then the view. Now however the agents  seem to want it all spic & span. 

Have a peep at some ideas I found which would certainly fit into the style of our home as it is and we already have lots of pieces similar to some of these, which if given a coat of paint could give the room a whole new look.

Pictures from

Deco de Charme / Maisons a Vivre Campagne.

Country Homes & Interiors.

What do you look for in a property when you are wanting to buy another house ? 

I'd love to hear some of your points of view, it might save us repainting everywhere !

A bientot.

Barbara Lilian

Advent wreath.

The 1st of December is the beginning of  advent leading up to Christmas. This is a centuries old religious tradition, which originally started in Germany and over the centuries as with most things has greatly changed through the different religions.
The wreath was originally made from pine sprigs on which were placed three purple candles and the fourth and final one was white which symbolised Christ.
The first candle is lit on the 1st Sunday of December and each following Sunday another candle is lit, finally the last candle is lit on Christmas eve.

Now in modern times it has become a Christmas decoration of  personal taste, style and choice. but I love the idea of still keeping a tradition, even though the religious part seems to have been forgotten.

Here are a few ideas which I like and  have taken from my favourite magazine.

Have a peep, it might give you an idea and inspiration to make your own.

Something simple and rustic.

Made with pine cones and winter nuts glued to a raffia base.

This one has the candles placed on a plate

with pine cones sprinkled with glitter & scattered around 

and a few specially chosen decorations tucked in between the cones.

Shabby chic.

 A little bit of purple crept in.

( I'm still not sure about purple for Christmas !)

 This one is has a romantic feel to it.

Hope you liked the ones I have chosen and it has inspired you to make your own.

If it hadn't been raining today I would have been out foraging in the woods for all the bits of greenery needed to make my advent wreath, Oh well I still have tomorrow, at least  I've got my candles.

So fingers crossed it's not raining and come back tomorrow 

to see how my advent wreath looks.

A bientot.

Barbara Lilian

Thinking about Christmas decorations.

At the moment I'm still at the thinking stage, nothing done yet. For me it's too soon.
It started  off yesterday morning after a visit to our new out of town shopping area, which opened last year and is called   Family Village - Limoges  I find it quite strange to have an English title in rural France.
All the shops were full of beautiful Christmas decorations, with areas set out in different coloured themes.
I thought back to 23 yrs ago to our first Christmas here in France. The house was still in it's very early stage of renovation and our only thoughts were of buying building materials and making bedrooms up in the grenier. When we first arrived we stored most of our furniture in the large barn, plus everything that was not immediately needed, only unpacking the essentials and everything else stayed packed in boxes. So even the thought of looking for the box labelled Christmas decorations was not on my priority list of things to do.
Then our daughter returned back home after a not so successful trip around Germany and plans to spend the winter in the ski resorts. This was like a gift from heaven to have her back home with the family and for me to share some  feminine things in life, away from sand and cement, especially for the Christmas holiday.
The week before the fete my daughter and I went with our two Labrador dogs  for a walk into our woods searching for all the seasonal greenery associated with this festive period. Our first find was a small spruce pine tree just the thing for our tree to decorate and  we were able to dig it  up and take it home. For me it was like something  out of a children's story book. being able to find all we needed to make our Christmas, all there on our own land. Then we found the Mistletoe high up at the top of an old Cherry tree. This was like the icing on the cake to end our forage in our woods. We arrived back to the house with arms full of greenery ready to make a building site look like a home ready for the Christmas celebrations.

Our son & daughter, so young.

************************

The wood burner had just been installed, not completely finished
 but just the place to hang our Christmas stockings.

This was our Labrador Della's favourite place.

She was also decorated with a bit of red Christmas ribbon.

Looking back at our first Christmas in France.

*************************************

Now I  need to think about decorations for this Christmas. 

Do I stay with my usual theme, of red, white and gold, or do I change.?

This is one of  my styles and sometimes I do  a country style,

 that's when I put every decoration I possess on the tree.

This was Christmas 2006 

when we were fortunate to have all the family together.

I've just been looking at my favourite Danish magazine Isabellas

There seems to be a lot of purple for Christmas his year.

I love these cones made out of corrugated cardboard and trimmed with fancy ribbon.

These would be nice as a table decoration with a little gift tucked inside for each person.

Or with a ribbon attached so that it could  hang from somewhere.

I think this weekend I'll have to get my box of decorations out and think about the colour theme.

 I'm beginning to like the purple, and Carol from Parisbreakfasts told me that purple is 

THE colour in Paris at the moment, & if you read her blog you will know !

 although she didn't mention it being used for Christmas decorations !! 

What about you, do you have a favourite colour theme or do you  like to change?

I'd love to hear about your preferences.

A bientot.

Barbara Lilian

I've been tagged.

Now this is a very new experience for me.  So please excuse me if I stumble and make a few mistakes.

I have received an invitation from Daphne at ivyphyllisandme.blogspot.co.uk     telling me I've been tagged and would I like to join in and have a bit of fun, I thought why not, I have nothing to loose and perhaps you will get to know me a little better.

I would never  have thought that 8 months after I started my blog I'd have been tagged by any one.
If I remember without looking back my words on my very first post were 'I don't know if anyone will ever read this blog, but I'm writing this for ME and if no one ever reads it, at least it will be something my grand children can read and find out things they never knew about their 'Nana', or words similar to that.


As with most things there are a few rules.
Every tagged person will be asked to tell 11 things about themselves.
The person who tagged you will ask 11 questions which you answer.
Then you ask 11 questions to the 11 blogs you are going to tag. You should choose to tag those with less than 200 followers.
Mention the blog which tagged you but do not tag back.

11 Things about ME.

1. Home to me is where I'm living at that time.
2. I love to have the house full of family and friends.
3. I'm good at making a house into a home as soon as I move in.
4. I can make a meal out of whats in the fridge & feed any amount of unexpected visitors.
5. I'm not a materialistic person.
6. I am always going on a diet.
7. I don't need to have somewhere to go to put on my favourite outfit.I wear it anytime. 
8. I love my garden.
9. What ever I am drinking I like it to be in the correct glass or cup.
10. I'm small in stature, but true to my birth sign I can be feisty  so my other half says. 
11. I love surprises.

These are the answers to the 11 things I was asked.

Who is your favourite author?

I don't one favourite. but for humerous light reading I like Miriam Keyes.

Because she can always make me laugh.

What is your favourite food?

I have lots, but I prefer FISH to MEAT.

Are you an outdoor or indoor person ?

Out door any day.

Which do you prefer, sunshine or snow ?

I'm definitely a sunshine girl.

What do you dislike?

Bad manners.

What is your favourite colour ?

I like red to brighten up my black outfits.

Do you enjoy comedy or drama ?

Comedy programmes, especially the old ones.

If you could choose anyone past or present to dine with 
who would you choose ?

Ooh! that's a hard one !! I'll choose George Clooney, then I would be able to find out if he's as interesting as he's good looking

If you had to live on a desert island for a year

what would you take ?

If I had an IPad I'd take that,
but I haven't  so it would be my camera, to capture  everything I saw.

What is the name of your pet ?

I don't have one now, but  my favourite was Suzie my black Labrador,

who was always by my side.

What was the name of your first teacher ?

Miss Biddolf. I remember  her so well, she had hairs on her chin

and  I told my mother she had a beard.

These are my 11 questions to the ones  I've tagged.

1. What do you prefer to wear, skirts or trousers ?
2. Who is your favourite male singer ?
3. Which do you prefer cats or dogs ?
4. What is your favourite flower ?
5. Which season do you prefer, winter or summer ?
6. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be ?
7. Which chocolate do you prefer, dark or milk flavour ?
8. For a holiday which do you prefer town or country ?
9. Which wine is your favourite red or white ?
10. What is your favourite sport ?
11. Are you a night or day person ?

I have tagged these blogs. I hope you will join in the fun.

Everyday artist

Sketchbook Wandering

Shabby for sure

Me and My Diy

Traveling Food Lady

Lavender and Linen

gustia

All Around the Palette

Talking Story in Provence

Laura Moore Water colour art

I'll catch up with you later.

Barbara-Lilian-in-France