In a French Market

Viens avec moi!

Tournesols

Les Fleurs

Melons

Fraises

fruits et légumes

poisson frais

les oignons et échalotes

fruits de mer

fruits et légumes soigneusement arrangés

du pain

moules

les huîtres

paniers colorés

I hope you enjoyed this visit to market
Revenez bientôt !
Love Maffy x

Still recovering!...Fruits de Mer, Puppies,and Friends

Should have posted this at the weekend but...was still recovering!
Had a fantastic evening with friends at their French manor house...Oh 'tis a lovely house!
We were greeted by the two new members of the family Rosie and Vincent.

Rosie and Vincent

Vincent (look at those paws)

These gorgeous little pups are Jack Russel Terriers (well Vincent is of questionable parentage!)
Aw! they are so cute!


Although July, the evening was a little chilly so the wood burner was put to use...with the soft lighting in this lovely French kitchen the atmosphere was set for a great repose.


The meal this evening...Fruits de Mer, an enticing basket of fresh crab and king prawns for dipping in garlic mayonnaise...mmm!
This was a relaxing, get your fingers dirty kind of meal, informal and full of laughter.
What more could you want? 
A perfect evening,nice food, nice wine, nice people and puppies.

It's July...really?

Fruits de Mer

bonne apetite!

un bon repas!

un joli gâteau

tired puppies

Nouveau bientôt !

Love Maffy x

Les Vide Grenier ...In The Rain Part 1

When I woke on Saturday morning it was...yes you've guessed it...Il pleuvait!

But as dedication to the cause dictates I duly set of for a local Vide Grenier (empty attic) which is the French equivalent to a Brtish car boot sale.

The weather was pretty awful and I was not expecting much of a turn out of sellers but surprisingly they were there in force, battling the elements. Give the French their due they are nothing if not resilient.

Lets go have a look around shall we?

On y va!

loved this old barrow

...and this little wooden piano

I have a thing about boxes

I particularly liked this stall

a deer in the corner!

lovely little wrought iron thingy!

I also have a thing for old suitcases

ancient coffee grinders

...and old coffee pots

loved the light catching these glass decanter stoppers

...and loved the textures in the box of door knobs

aqua blue soda syphons 

...and another wooden wheelbarrow

kitsch!

don't look if you are a vegetarian

spit roast chicken

Hope you enjoyed your little excursion around this Vide Grenier ...Come back tomorrow for part 2

love Maffy x

My Wild Flower Garden...and Missing Special People

I have just returned to 8 La Commune having spent a week in the UK with all my special people.
It is always one of the hardest parts of living here in France...when you have to say goodbye, again, to the people most cherished.





Back here though the summer has finally arrived and my little wild flower patch has truly bloomed!This small area of the garden was only planted this spring and already it is filled with colour and doing its job attracting wildlife.
At the edge of this patch is my vegetable plot, or potager. It has been partially successful but, on reflection, is in the wrong place. Next season I am going to let the wild flower area take over this space and plant a two or three fruit trees as well.
I may put a series of small raised beds down one side of the grassed area but due to circumstances beyond my control these will have to be narrow and pretty uniform, not really my style, but hey!
As we have a constant supply of vegetables, salad and eggs from our lovely neighbour Jean Claude it will suffice my need to grow to keep just a small area for fresh herbs and salads.

The little meadow

bees are loving it!

wild Sweetpea

The potager

looking back at the house

WEEDS!

S'amuser au soleil!

Revenez bientôt

Love Maffy x