Soar-Dream-France

That Was Then...

 

...this is NOW!

Feeling like it's a first Christmas at the Chatette in France all over again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys gave me a great start to fun and frolicking!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday the ornaments went on and the big tree was shaped up.

 

 

 

Last year's tiny GIFI artificial 3 euro tree got it's lights and turned out to be the biggest surprise yet!

I think it looks like a million bucks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have some more ideas today for a rainy Sunday.

 

 

It looks like we may even be MORE Christmas this year than ever before!

 

 

Happy Sunday!

 

Hidden Hearts

 

 

Scrolling through the photo file that I'd used for yesterday's post, I saw a big black heart on one of the photos. I knew it was taken from the Belgian Cross last year right before the fire.

The photo was small, so I assumed that I'd captured some unusual turn in the Lot River from on high. I was wrong.

Opening the photo, there was Lucie and her shadow that together, formed the heart that I saw.

Evelyn's Lucie was a heart-a huge love and really part of our family as it evolved over our time here. She was a blessing in all of our lives.

I miss her.

 

 

 

 

Her visit here today is a true message of love for me at a time when I'm missing my Sammie Cat and the little silly "O" Boys-Ollie and Opie-Les Deux Freres...for very different reasons!

Lucie's heart reminds me of the richness she brought to me, Dali, and Sam AND the richness of having sweet, funny, entertaining, unconditional loving, 4-legged children in my life.

 

 

I miss that richness, but the realities of my transient life loom larger now. Even so, I don't think this is the end of the story.

Happy Saturday!

 

Remembering Last Christmas

 

As you already know, last Christmas was a very different Christmas for me. After the fire, I was living in an apartment in Cajarc. I still managed to celebrate and have a tree. I thought I did relatively well under the shock and totally new circumstances.

I've written a lot about what it has taken to get some of my meaningful stuff back to some semblance of "normal!"

I teased about the many bleach "spa baths" that almost everyone and everything experienced to some degree.

 

 

This top photo says it all. The bears kept floating to the top of their bowl, so they were anchored with another. This was when it looked most like a bleach hot tub to me.

Looking back at these photos from last Christmas through this last year makes me really grateful. But, there's something else. I realized that often times my body was there, but I wasn't. I sometimes have a difficult time really pulling up how I felt and how much I did or didn't participate in all that was going on. I was clearly going through the motions.

 

 

Looking back is always interesting.

I'm back. I may still be moving a little slow and taking progress as it comes...but it's coming and I'm back and plugged in again.

Happy Friday!

 

Little Angels

 

From this photo and others, one might think that Opie and Ollie are little angels. They are certainly, sweet, gorgeous, and photogenic. Angels may be debatable! I have so enjoyed capturing their sweet little spirits in photos. I will miss them terribly.

They never cease to amaze me. One minute they're snoozing away. The next minute they're scampering up the ladder or hanging from a branch on the Christmas Tree.

 

Yesterday held another surprise. Look at the base of the Christmas Tree. Ollie was jumping around like a little madman, so I went over to see if he was okay. I thought maybe he'd hurt himself. What do I find? 

There under the tree is a big meatloaf-sized lump. It took me a minute. Opie was under the red sheet I'd used for a tree skirt.

I'm just glad they're getting to have so much Christmas fun.

Friday afternoon, Jane and I will be taking them to the Refuge in Figeac.

 

 

I will be a puddle by the time we leave, but I'm hoping that they will have a better chance of being adopted from there where people can see them. They came to me babies. I've watched them grow from little boys to little men. I took them on as foster boys when the Refuge was full, with the understanding that I'd be leaving for the states at the end of December for 2-3 months.

I have to believe that their time with me has given them a good start. I'd love to see the two of them become someone's wonderful Christmas gifts under their tree. Except this time they'd be on top of the tree-skirt, NOT under it!

Happy Thursday!

 

YES! There is Life After...

 

...hurricanes, floods and fires!

This shot above was my front porch during Christmas of 2006 when I was shutting down Columbus Street so work could begin and decisions could continue to be made post-Katrina.

You'll notice the sign says: Free to a Good Home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost everyone found a new home, except that little Christmas Bear with the Santa Hat on the end.Last season, you got to see him and his friend the Santa Coca-Cola Polar Bear in their bleach spa as they came back to life after the fire at the Chatette. This year...

 

 

...well, see for yourself.

 

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

Morning Moon and...

 

 

...night!

 

Usually, I only take shots of the moon as it rises over the causse on the other side of the Lot River in the evenings.

The other morning when I was out getting wood, it hung so beautifully behind us that I had to dump the wood and go in and get my phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is always interesting to me how the winter moon rises above the causse on the other side of the river, arcs over us, and then sets below the cliff that is behind us.

 

 

Of course, I grabbed some of the moon that night too!

Happy Tuesday!

 

Just One

 

Standing alone, I would have probably never otherwise noticed this dandelion.

It sprouted fresh and yellow in the spot beside the stair case where the dead box wood used to be.

I thought about pulling it out along with a few other weeds that had found their way into that spot of rocks and soil.

 

I'm glad I didn't.

How beautiful it became in this stage.

 

 

Up and down the staircase to bring the wood in, I'd look at it every day...more than once a day.

Finally, it was immortalized. 

Happy Monday!

 

Sprouting J0Y!

 

Take a peek at the shots above and left. When I first began celebrating Christmas here at the Chatette and NOT returning to the states during the holidays, I chose to get live Christmas Trees and then plant them when I finished.

I really only managed to complete the plan in 2008 and 2009.

Other years I was working contracts and wasn't here.

The guy on the left was the first one. Number 2 was the guy on the right. Both grew over the last years to become almost as high as the Chatette.

 

When I arrived last year, there'd been a huge wind storm at some point that knocked number two in half and almost down. Willie cut it off for me, and I just kind of let it be. It wasn't dead, and pretty soon it was sprouting a little shoot. 

I noticed this year that the little shoot was getting taller. Coming home along the road one day it hit me...maybe I could get someone to cut the shoot off for me and it could be our Sapin de Noel this year! 

Yesterday was the day. I heard the neighbors outside cutting wood with their chainsaws.

 

 

 

All it took was a hello and a kiss-kiss et voila...the boys and I were ready to get to work (or play as the case may be)! That's some "little sprout," huh?

It almost reaches the top of the beam at the loft floor!

I knew I wanted to attach it to the vertical beam. I did and it looks beautiful. It isn't perfect. I'd say it's creative and artistic, and maybe even a little Charlie Brownish...BUT it's exactly PERFECT for us this year. WE love it.

 

I quickly realized that lights and ornaments will have to wait till the boys head to the Refuge at the end of next week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are having so much fun.

 

I'm having fun watching them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are: Sapin de Noel stage One!

Happy Sunday!

 

Looking Forward to...

 

...Christmas lights in Paris! Lights stir the season and holiday spirit for me more!

Over my years of travel for work and returns to the states, there have been more than a few opportunities to enjoy and "capture" the Paris holiday lights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm wondering what lights will be waiting for me in Paris.

 

 

I'm sure that the City of Light will not disappoint me!

 

 

Happy Saturday!

 

Celebrating Gratefulness

 

As painful as anniversaries of traumatic events can be, I try to find ways to focus on the positives that have presented themselves over the last year and be grateful.

Thinking about gratefulness, I continue to come back to the Sapeurs-Pompiers de Cajarc who saved our Chatette. In addition to Cajarc, there were also representatives from the Figeac and Limogne Units.

So yesterday, I sat down and wrote another thank you in French to each unit and put together a collage of "us!" WE are grateful!

Huge Merci to the Sapeurs-Pompiers du Lot-Cajarc, Figeac and Limogne!

 

 

Happy Thursday!