Vintage Tractor run Caussade France

What a great finale to the kids weekend, as we arrived at Caussaude and were faced with  a  road diversion, there was obviously something going on in the town!!! And of course I had to find out, well it would be rude not to!
After following the  diversion signs to  get to Auty which is the  other side of Caussade, arrived at a junction quick look left and whoo hoo saw what the diversion was all about, vintage tractors and cars were  on parade. By sheer luck a parking space was available and so I grabbed the kids and headed off to watch them all pass.

Poppy was almost asleep and was pretty grouchy by this stage, and as we all ran up to the roundabout (where we were diverted from in the first place). Nothing more to say  except what a great finish to the day,  vintage tractors, cars etc....   Should have heard the squeals the kids were coming out with!!!Wonder what's next on the agenda.....

If you wan to see more  look here where they have a restoration museum  http://www.vieillesmecanique.com/

The Saving of Owlexander Dumas

Once upon a time, well six weeks ago approximately my daughter Terri, found on the second day in her new home two tiny little owls that had fallen from the roof  of her apartment  and by some miracle they survived the fall.  On much googling for any information on how to look after them a box was found and lined with sticks and leaves, and the task of feeding began. They were both weighed and came in at 120g and 80g.

Only one of the owls though was tempted into eating and sadly the other one died a few days later, still the remaining one feasted on hearts, liver and steak and as you can see from above picture how well he is doing. Almost all of his downy has gone and he has now such a beautiful face.

He is fed every four hours and everything he has eaten has been recorded must check what his weight is now and let you know later.
He has two names and nobody can decide which one to go for. He is known at the moment as Owly D or Owlexander Dumas (named after the Chateau) which one do you prefer?

Terri and Pete are now taking turns in trying to get him to fly by putting his meat onto string and getting him to chase it.
I took  some shots of him yesterday and we all think he will be flying very soon, Pete has built him a fabulous box that he has put in a tree and I forgot to take a shot of that but will next time. I am hoping to get a few more shots and if lucky in flight. Would be wonderful if he continued to live at the Chateau but time will tell....

Meanwhile Furbie the house cat is so sick of Owly D, in her opinion he gets much better fed and far to much attention, so here she lies in the huff and will be very pleased to see the back of Owly D.....

The Day I Dyed and Went To Heaven

On arriving at  Chateau Dumas late Sunday evening turning into the drive I was met with the most spectacular scene of the Chateau ablaze with lights. I was so excited to be finally here and couldn’t wait for the morning to arrive and get started.

The rest of the group were settled and having dinner and I could hear that they were already having a good time. Lizzie (the owner of the Chateau) is such a warm and welcoming person you were instantly made to feel at home.

Last year I did the woad-dyeing course at the chateau and this was an experience that I want to do again and again. When I saw that Lizzie was running a course combining Reinventing French textiles run by Ros Badger and a day woad -dyeing well I just had to go. The course runs for a week but other commitments would only allow me three days, but they were filled to capacity.

9am Monday morning finally came, we all gathered in the studio which is large room with soft greys and white walls and a beautiful hand painted design on the floor, large skylights and the although the day was overcast (the rest of the week was glorious) the room was so light and airy.

A spectacular sight met us with piles of vintage textiles, trimmings, templates, embroidery threads, vintage craft books, a table full of samples made by Ros, and Lizzie, bags made from vintage linen tea towels, covered coat hangers, patchwork hearts to name a few and we all immediately pounced on the table where we could use anything we wanted as Lizzie had provided us with a massive range of vintage pieces to choose from.

I had a rough Idea of what I wanted to do but then my brain went into overdrive and I found my self hopping from one thing to the other, bliss pure bliss. Tuesday, hang on what happened to Monday? The group was producing lots of wonderful items and Ros seemed to flit with ease from person to person offering help and advice if needed, she has an amazing eye for colour combinations. I loved the fact that everyone in the group were also genuinely interested in what other people were making and hints and tips were flying through the room and made the atmosphere really special.

I wanted to make a bag from an old linen skirt and added a beautiful fabric trim to the bottom and decided to line it with the same fabric, I was fiddling about with it and Ros came over and said “ love this bag” I told her this was to be the lining, and with a flash off she went and came back with the most sumptuous piece of green silk and this was added to the top. Ok now I have two bags, but you can never have enough bags, right!!!

Ok Wednesday is here and Denise and Annette are setting up the vats for the woad-dyeing and we are all scurrying about sorting out what we wanted to dip first. She then gave us an interesting talk on the history of woad, which although I heard it last year it was delivered with humour and fascinating facts.

I had a bag at home with lace trimmings, shells, and a few other bits and was furious with myself, yes I had forgotten to bring it with me (well there is always next year) if I am lucky enough!!! So after beating myself up decided just to enjoy watching what everyone else was dyeing, between that and popping back into the studio to make up one or two other things that took my fancy. 6pm came far to fast in my opinion, which meant that my lift back home was due any minute. I bade farewell to my new friends who were still up in the fairy park dyeing with pleasure. I have selected a few pictures and I personally can’t wait to hear what they got up to for their last two days………

I for one had the most fabulous three days, met some lovely people, made a few things that I never knew I could and if your looking for a crafty holiday in the South West of France then I can’t recommend it enough.

http://www.chateaudumas.net/

http://www.bleu-de-lectoure.com/

http://rosbadger.blogspot.com/

And finally Ros will be offering one lucky person the chance to win her handmade book which will be personalised by her own fair hand coming soon on my blog in the next few weeks.

Beware Of Greek God Fitness Instructors:)

Wish I could say that I wrote this. Alas not, but I did add a few pics to  it and if it makes one person smile that's just fine by me.

Dear Diary,

For my birthday this year, my husband purchased a week of personal training at the local health club. Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.

I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Christo, who identified himself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear.

Friends seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.



MONDAY:
Started my day at 6:00 am. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Christo waiting for me. He is something of a Greek god - with blond hair, dancing eyes, and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!!

Christo gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which he conducted his aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring!

Christo was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time he was around.

This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!!


TUESDAY:
I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Christo made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then he put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. His rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT! It's a whole new life for me.

WEDNESDAY:
The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop.

Christo was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. His voice is a little too perky for that early in the morning and when he scolds, he gets this nasal whine that is VERY annoying.

My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Christo put me on the stair monster. Why the hell would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Christo told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. He said some other shit too.

THURSDAY:
Asshole was waiting for me with his vampire-like teeth exposed as his thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late - it took me that long to tie my shoes.

He took me to work out with dumbbells. When he was not looking, I ran and hid in the toilet. He sent some skinny bitch to find me.

Then, as punishment, he put me on the rowing machine - which I sank.

FRIDAY:

I hate that bastard Christo more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic, little aerobic instructor. If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat him with it.

Christo wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the damn barbells or anything that weighs more than a Mars Bar.
The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

SATURDAY:
Satan left a message on my answering machine in his grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing his voice made me want to smash the machine with my planner; however, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel..

SUNDAY
I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my husband will choose a gift for me that is fun - like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!