16 February 2015

The Winner of my Give away gift is........

What a time to have Gremlins in my Laptop !!!!

That's why I'm late announcing the winner of my gift.



Everyone who left a comment on my
post
Grow Your Blog 2015
2 Bags Full

were all numbered  1 to 53
put into a hat



and Mr France



who is hobbling at the moment due to surgery on his knee 
kindly offered to pull out the winner.  I couldn't be sending this to a nicer friend.
I am so happy

We met way back in my early days of blogging.
I love reading her posts.

We have such a lot in common.
She loves the wild life and shows photographs of some of her wildlife visitors.
She also does the most wonderful watercolour paintings of them.

Has anyone guessed yet who she is?
Well it's Debbie Nolan
of 
View from Harmony Hills.
If you are new to blogging please pop over to visit her.
You won't be disappointed.

So congratulations Debbie
 please send me your address
and 
 I will get my gift posted off to you 
' tout de suite '

I would like to thank all of you who took the time
to leave a comment on my blog.
I hope you will continue to read and enjoy my posts.

 I'll leave you all with a sincere thank you.
and look forward to your next visit.




à bientôt


Barbara Lilian

14 February 2015

From Me to You

Wishing you all a lovely day for this St Valentines Day.

Someone could be receiving this heart filled with Lavender from my garden
along with a few other extra surprises offered as my gift
from joining the 'Grow Your Blog Party'
So please come back again on Monday when I'll be showing the name
of the winner of my gift, it could be YOU


My Mr France has never been one to give me flowers
but what could be nicer than seeing this pretty little flower 
growing on his miniature Orange tree, which he looks after with tender care.


Also this beautiful rose which he chose and planted in our garden.


So I have Valentines day all year round.

I know it's not a rose but I'm showing this poppy I painted
they grow in my daughters garden. 
So it reminds me of her.




Have a lovely weekend whatever you are doing.
Take care
and
Keep warm if you are living in those cold snowy parts of the world.


à bientôt
Barbara Lilian




06 February 2015

Rustic houses in rural France.

I frequently pass through this hamlet, how it's changed from the way it looked 25 yrs ago.
Most of the houses were ruins, the roofs had fallen in and very few people still lived here.
Then we began to see scaffolding being erected and the sound of cement mixers whirring.
some years later it was alive again. We met an English couple who had bought a ruin and 
 renovated it for their holiday home, but they helped to bring life back into the hamlet.


25 years ago, I have memories of a little old man sitting on a stool 
outside the front door of this little cottage making baskets.




Mr France was driving and I had remembered to put my camera in the car
so I was able to capture the roof tops with my pocket Panasonic DMC TZ 4

How different the roofs looked today, as if they had been painted white.


The houses are surrounded by forest of mainly Pine, Chestnut. and Oak.
Here the famous Bolets de Cèpes - Champignons grow
These mushrooms grow in abundance in this region. 
However I still find it hard to find them.


 The hamlet now has street lighting.which is still rare in most rural places. 




This is France of bygone years brought back to life.
I hope you enjoyed seeing the rural region of France where I live.
 I can show you lots more.
Let me know.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

05 February 2015

Nature has been Painting the leaves.

 
A sprinkling of snow has covered the ground
and a visit from Jack Frost has painted the leaves.
A good reason to wander around the garden with my camera.


The shrubs have started to show new green
But the leaves are frozen after the sprinkling of snow.

 
The gate is open waiting for visitors,
 but our only visitors are the birds


The birds are our regular visitors.flitting from feeder to feeder 
then fluffing up their feathers to keep warm.



Their water is frozen.
and they seem to be leaving the coconut in preference for the grease seed balls.



I love to see the ornamental grass covered in frost.


The vintage wash stand full of sprouting Saxifrages
looking like a cake that's been dusted with icing sugar.


The moss is showing a beautiful bright green, nice for the moment
 until the spring when Mr France comes with the jet-wash machine !

 
I hope these new pale green leaves will not turn brown.
It's still early, so they could withstand a trim if they do.


 Come back soon and take a wander around my garden with me
when hopefully we have some warmer weather and we have some flowers in bloom.

So until then keep warm where ever you are
and I look forward to your visit.


à bientôt

Barbara Lilian




31 January 2015

What do you do when it rains everyday.?


Thank you to all the bloggers new to me,who took time to visit me and leave such nice comments.
And especially to those of you who have become a follower. 

After I'd visited lots & lots of blogs
who had joined in the ''Grow Your Blog 2015 Party ''
hosted by Vicki-2bagsfull
I needed to do something else, so decided to get my paints out and do some sketches,
 Some that I can use for cards.

As you can imagine living in France I've taken lots of photographs
for future watercolour paintings.
 However it wasn't one of my own photos I chose.
I saw this on Dianne's blog


which I admired and asked her if she would mind if I painted it.
I hope you like my impression of the lovely view in Normandy, 
which Dianne captured with her camera.
If you love France and have never visited her blog
take a look, it's full of wonderful photos taken in France
along with other charming photos. 


I used 15x10 cm. post card size 230 gr and ripped the edges off.
All paints are Winsor & Newton artists aquarelle.

Now from my Christmas visit to Denmark.

If you missed my post or need reminding take a look here

Our walk at the cold snowy harbour on the North west coast of Denmark.
Looking for pebbles with holes.





Used as a warning there's a step.

Where the fishing boats are  pulled out of the sea.



My first attempt of painting boats. -  I think I have a lot to learn.

Spending time re looking at it here, I can already see where I've gone wrong
I should have given more depth to the bottom of the boats
to show they were out of the water .
I also found it difficult to paint the snow on the sand .
So I'll put that down to a lesson learnt.






A happy reminder of our winter picnic.

 I've painted this in a different style in my Moleskin journal which is different paper.
Apologies for the bad photo. it's not showing the colours as they really are. 
  
The view from the vintage caravan in the woods.
which the family call ''The Shed''


This was painted on 100gr paper, which I'm not used to using,
but thought I'd try it for sticking onto cards.

One of the many summer houses near to the one we stayed in.
I think the golden yellow looks charming against the snow
 and the dark contrast of the pine trees.


I enjoyed painting this.-  I used 300gr. Arches cold pressed 100% cotton .


This was the summerhouse we stayed in.


Would you like a peep inside?


I'm hoping we can manage to get another trip in before our busy summer.

To my new followers, I hope you've enjoyed your visit
Thank you for taking the time to view the things I share.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian