Thursday, December 1, 2016

Ready for the Christmas Fair

Getting ready for the Christmas fair on the 10th December along with my girfriend Suzanne from Lavande de Combenegre, thought I  would show you a few things we have been busy making, lots more to see so if you find yourself close to the Salle de Fete in Castelnau, do pop in and say hello. Everything is handmade and with oodles of love. Wish us luck.

Little coin purses
Suzanne's gorgeous birdie lavender sachets
Mini Christmas stockings
Fabulous lavender manniquins

Insect hotels (how cute are they)
Vintage Dolly peg bundles
Heat packs with lavender and flax mix
Suzanne distills her own lavender along with soap and massage bars
Tissue holders
Lavender heart  sewing kits
Christmas wooden angels

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Cecilia Ekback - Book Giveaway - Win Two signed Copies

This is the perfect read for winter, so turn up the central heating, wear a thick woolly jumper and fall under the magical spell of both  ‘Wolf Winter' & 'In The Month of the Midnight Sun'.  This giveaway is open worldwide and the winner will receive a copy of each book signed by the author herself. Keep them both for yourself or give to a friend with a personalised inscription. I have read both books and enjoyed both of them immensley and I am not kidding about the wolly jumper either, oh and a bar of chocolate would not go amiss. Good luck everyone and a huge thank you Cecilia for this fabulous giveaway.


There are six homesteads on Blackåsen Mountain.
A day's journey away lies the empty town. It comes to life just once, in winter, when the Church summons her people through the snows. Then, even the oldest enemies will gather.
But now it is summer, and new settlers are come.
It is their two young daughters who find the dead man, not half an hour's walk from their cottage.
The father is away. And whether stubborn, or stupid, or scared for her girls, the mother will not let it rest.
To the wife who is not concerned when her husband does not come home for three days; to the man who laughs when he hears his brother is dead; to the priest who doesn't care; she asks and asks her questions,digging at the secrets of the mountain.
They say a wolf made those wounds. But what wild animal cuts a body so clean?



An orphaned boy brought up to serve the state as a man. A rich young woman incapable of living by the conventions of society. Neither is prepared for the journey into the heat, mystery, violence and disorienting perpetual daylight of the far North.
Stockholm 1856.
Magnus is a geologist. When the Minister sends him to survey the distant but strategically vital Lapland region around Blackasen Mountain, it is a perfect cover for another mission: Magnus must investigate why one of the nomadic Sami people, native to the region, has apparently slaughtered in cold blood a priest, a law officer and a settler in their rectory.
Is there some bigger threat afoot? Blackasen seems to be a place of many secrets.
But the Minister has more than a professional tie to Magnus, and at the last moment, he adds another responsibility. Disgusted by the wayward behaviour of his daughter Lovisa - Magnus's sister-in law - the Minister demands that Magnus take her with him on his arduous journey.
Thus the two unlikely companions must venture out of the sophisticated city, up the coast and across country, to the rough-hewn religion and politics of the settler communities, the mystical, pre-Christian ways of the people who have always lived on this land, and the strange, compelling light of the midnight sun.
For Lovisa and Magnus, nothing can ever be the same again.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Great day out playing hunt the Murals in Angouleme

Having moved on from our trip to La Creuse we then headed for Angouleme and found a fabulous campsite 6klm out of town (Camping du Plan d'eau), and as a bonus we found a cycle route that took us through a park and alongside the Charente river right into town. The whole cycle ride was infused with the gorgeous fragrance of the Elaeagnus hedging.

Armed with a town plan which had all the wall murals numbered think there were about 20 in all. We never found them all despite spending 6 hours walking the streets, but it did make the day more interesting to say the least. My feet were less impressed.









Stock photo of  Hergé & TinTin

The International Comic Strip Festival d'Angoulême did nothing but grow with the help of great geniuses as the great Moebius, Hugo Pratt (creator of Corto Maltese), Hergé (The Adventures of Tintin), Will Eisner (The Spirit ), Enki Bilal or grand prize winners like Albert Uderzo (Asterix), Bill Waterson (Calvin and Hobbes) or Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball). 




Hugo Eugenio Pratt was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2005. 


Saturday, October 8, 2016

A trip to see a fellow Crafter

 I have spoken with Lynne for a few years now on Face Book and a few weeks ago said  we must meet. A date was set and hubby and I set of and decided to make a holiday of it, first stop La Creuse.
Spent two days with Lynne and we had great fun, why does time fly when you are having so much fun 
 The amount of creations in Lynne's workshop is real eye candy
She creates fabulous cushions using her Embroidery machine

 Lynne is a true lover of owls which becomes obvious when you start looking on the shelves
Stunning door hangers for any occasion
 The machine that does what it's told, and when, a real treat to watch it in action
 
Just a few of her lavender sachets all so beautifully finished and the smell is intoxicating 
A variety of lace bracelets, love the Ying & Yang
Wine Bottle Holders in French & English
Lynne's latest Chucks
 And lets not forget Shades who  has to know everything that's going on. All in all a fabulous trip and if it wasn't for face book we would never have met. Thank you Lynne for sharing your home and showing me your beautiful workmanship and atelier. Lynne is on Etsy and her Face Book page if you want to pop over and say hello and see what else she has been making.
xxxxx

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Pootling Along the Canal Du Midi

Less than 2 hours from home is the Canal Du Midi,so we put the bikes on the back of the camper and arrived late morning, light lunch and then headed off on the bikes along the canal which is perfect for cycling as the path is flat with long straight stretches with just enough corner turns that make you want to see what is round the next corner. There are 91 working locks  along it's 240klm course and Louis XIV ordered work to begin on the canal in 1667 and has been hailed as "Most remarkable feats of Civil Engineering"

Sadly the 42,000 beautiful plane trees that were planted in the 1830s have developed a fungus and so far over 13,850 trees have been felled and burnt on the spot, trees are being replanted but will take many years for them to look as spectacular as they do today. All in all a great little break.


 Not a selfie I might add
 you could cycle along the paths for a long as your butt didn't object, did about 12klms  and had a gel seat to stop any aches, worked a treat too.


Cassoulet is great but not in the summer

 Boat entering lock
Gates close and it's fascinating watching the boat rise
Up she comes
 and away she goes



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