Raindrops on Roses

Wishing you all a very happy Sunday
XXX

A Few Days in Town

The view from the hotel bedroom window, the rooftops, zinc guttering and cooing pigeons reminded me of my time living in Paris.

We have been away for a few days, staying in the beautiful south western town of Pau.  It's only an hour from us but the reason we went was so that the menfolk could enjoy the Grand Prix de Pau Historique.  Pau and Monaco are the only street racing circuits still in existence in France.

A change is as good as a rest and it was lovely to wake up in the centre of a town, walk down the road and enjoy coffee and croissants at a pavement café however the weather was extremely fickle, I think we experienced everything bar snow! I forwent the races and concentrated on the shops and Pau has beautiful shops!  I tend to buy most things on-line these days but nothing beats browsing round a beautiful town, I walked round clad in high heeled ankle boots, that somehow feel wrong in May but ... with the weather. My feet were almost dropping off by the time I had finished. 

 My purchases included a new tote bag and these plimsolls, every Summer I invest in a pair, normally classic navy blue, this year I was thinking about Converse, all the well heeled ladies in Pau seemed to be wearing them, but I wore Converse when I was a teenager with drainpipe jeans and mohair jumpers, as soon as I clapped my eyes on these lavender Pataugas, I was sold, with a Summer holiday in Provence and Corsica looming, I just know they will get a lot of wear!

My new plimsolls

We are back home again now and typically the weather is beautiful, whilst we have been away things have been stirring in the garden.

White Clematis Montana clambering into the Neflier tree

White Bleeding Heart

Crusoe happy to be back home in his garden, taking a break before the next round of ball chasing and tackling anybody willing enough to run with his ball...Johnny Wilkinson, you have serious competition, Crusoe is available on most days to assist Rugby training, you kick he will bring the ball back every time...he is happy to do this for hours!

A quick stretch before the off!

The haze of White Wisteria on our balcony is coming into bloom

This creature is a Carpenter Bee, they are huge but harmless, you can't see here but their wings are iridescent and they are really rather beautiful, a friend of ours nicknamed it 'The Prada Bee'

 Prada Bee, photo from the internet

Because everything cannot be White... the First Rose in bloom, from the garden and yes the scent is sublime.

Something for the Weekend

Afternoon Tea in the Garden 1957

Henrietta Tiarks, Debutante, Model and The Duchess of Bedford...

Richard Avedon 1959

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend

XXX

Messing about with Flowers

What is it about new cameras and flowers?  We just can't seem to help ourselves. I have been mucking about with my new camera, keen eyed photographers will see I have been experimenting with depth of field. I still have so much to learn with the new camera, I think it will be an endless and ongoing learning curve but I am loving it! Experimentation is the best way, I have already gone on from all the automatic settings and am trying to get my head round F stops, light metering and ISO speeds!  Not to mention experimenting with different light, textures and composition.

Flowers are always such a pleasure, Belle Mere is visiting us at the moment and she arrived with an armful of Ranunculus in pink and white, she brought them all the way from Provence! 

Then yesterday whilst walking with Crusoe I spied some pretty wild flowers growing in a field, I hopped in and picked them before the local cows ate them, better in my house than in the cows tummies!

The weather here at the moment is pretty dire, very mixed and cold, I keep forgetting it is only April, March was beautiful and warm and confused everything, mostly me, I was working in the garden in a T shirt and shorts, now I am huddled up in wool, I am impatient for Summer and I am dying to get outside and experiment with some lovely spring shots, I have a photographic project in mind that I am keen to get started, it is on hold until the weather improves, I will keep you posted.

Could Have Been Yesterday

Lee Miller, Man Ray Paris 1929

Jacques Tati

 

 Cannes Film Festival 1958, Jacques Tati and Alain Bercourt walk towards the Carlton Hotel, Henri Cartier-Bresson

I have a crush on the late Jacques Tati, MG first told me about him years ago but I had never seen one of his films.  Fast forward to today and a chat to the Post Master at my local village post office, the conversation was sparked off by all the gorgeous retro film posters advertising Jacques Tati films, which decorate the walls of the tiny post office, the Post Master is a fan.

 "Oh Madame, but you must see his films, I know you are a lady of taste, you will love them". With that kind of flattery from the handsome Post Master, who could resist? Once home I googled him straight away and now I am hooked. I see inspiration from Charlie Chaplin and I see where Peter Sellers got his inspiration from. Below is a clip, but you can see the whole of part one of Mon Oncle here and that will bounce you onto the whole film, if you feel so inclined and get hooked as I did, in fact I whiled away an hour or so watching the entire film on u tube when I was supposed to be working! It's a great comedic insight into post war France. 

Underneath The Arbour

The arbour a few Springs ago

'Underneath the arbour', it should read 'all change in the arbour' but the latter sounded less romantic.  We are very fortunate to have a large garden with plenty of al fresco dining areas.  The arbour comes into it's own during July and August when we decamp there, usually for long lazy summer lunches, with good company, good food and copious amounts of wine, these lunches often last well into the night.  The shade of the Campsis which winds around the latticework, the light, Summer westerly wind which breezes through the arbour, its gentle touch cooling hot skin, make dining outside in our humid Summers a very pleasurable experience.     

MG has been itching to do something to the arbour for ages, he already started a couple of years ago when he replaced the lattice work, carefully propping up the ancient branches of the Campsis with Acro props. Last week the surface was re skimmed with concrete and with a fall this time, so the damp will no longer seep into the garage (which will one day be a sitting room) which lies behind the wall of this gable end.

MG (who is a natural, gifted designer and craftsman, amongst other things) has plans, I must admit, they are quite radical and quite modern, my eyebrows were raised when he first told me as I struggled to see his vision but now I have come round to the idea and am in fact quite excited about it. We have a deadline, May 12th, so this is all going to happen rather quickly, (weather permitting!) I will keep you posted and show you the final result.

The arbour the other day, don't worry even though the ivy has been removed, the Roses, Peonies, Scabiosa and Fleabane are still there (and are staying there) they just have not come up yet.

Something for the Weekend

BBC Panorama, broadcast April 1st 1957

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, try not to get caught out on Sunday Morning!

Still Mad For Mad Men

Just watched the first two episodes of Mad Men, It's as good as ever and I am simply mad for Megans wardrobe, especially this coral zig zag coat. I could not even go to to the loo or make a cup of tea during the ad breaks as on Sky Atlantic most of the adverts were original ads from the sixties, don't know whose idea this was but what a stroke of genius...roll on next Tuesday.

A Little Bird Story II

Indignant (and with all reason to be) Mrs Dove

I came home from grocery shopping the other week, I plonked my shopping basket on the kitchen table and MG shouted from the terrace "be careful of the eggs" I looked at the kitchen table and saw two perfect, off white, smooth, opaque and still warm perfect little eggs, Dove eggs to be precise, only narrowly missed from being splattered by my shopping basket.

 Spring is well and truly here in the Pyrenees and our resident Ring Collared Doves have been busy.  That is until MG wielded his chainsaw and lopped a few branches off a giant Bay tree, a squawking, very cross Dove flew out and a nest dropped into MG's hands with the two eggs inside. We tried to save the eggs, I made a new nest, out of a cardboard box, packing material and cotton wool, placed them on a bookshelf and directed the office desk lamp onto them... to no avail I am afraid.

  After this our Doves have once again been very busy flying about with twigs, they have now made a new nest, that just happens to be in the Neflier tree, which shades the terrace and is overlooked by our balcony, (I think they have figured, those stupid humans ain't going to be messing with this tree) they have laid new eggs and are now in the process of incubating them, they even let me peer into the tree and let me photograph the process, under the circumstances I think they have been very forgiving, I will keep you posted of all new developments...

To see past sagas of the Doves that live in our garden go here