Soar-Dream-France

Angel Sam

This shot is very uncharacteristic of my Sam. She rarely sprawls out on the bannister upstairs. Her paws say "hanging on for dear life", but her eyes tell you she's just as relaxed as ever.

Butterflies Abound

When I posed the question a while back: "Is it possible to have too  much fun?"- the consensus was we'll take as much fun as we can get! I stood in the garden the other day trying to count the butterflies. I finally surrendered. Let's face it-it doesn't really matter how many butterflies there are, especially when there are too many to count and they are having such a good time. As in "too much fun", there can never be "too many butterflies"!

 

Walnuts R Us

 

Walnut trees abound in our region of France. I now have a couple of my own and some are popping up wild along the traintracks. I don't know how many nuts I have left from last season, but quite a few remain even though I use walnuts as my "nut of choice" in just about everything whether it calls for walnuts or not...salads, cookies, Christmas candy, cold soups...you get the picture. Most of my nut experiences involve walnuts that look like those in the first photo-sitting with my Christmas Mouse in a walnut bowl made by Phil. For the last couple of seasons, Jean has asked for some of the green ones. I don't know why, but we didn't get around to gathering any till this season. They are so pretty, and looked even prettier by the time I got them in the only empty baskets in the Chatette. Last visit, Jean brought me a jar of "Pickled Walnuts". This is something new to me, but they won't be ready to eat till Christmas so I'm going to have to be patient. Don't worry, there's more than enough to replenish the walnut coffers during the fall. Evelyn should be getting back just in time to help with the gathering again this season!

Pumpkin Passion

As if you didn't get enough of our guys posed in every environ of the Chatette last Halloween, they're back. Our three seed sources here, must have been pretty fertile fellas. We got the seeds out as I was carving to put on the ancient evier in the piano room to dry. Evelyn graciously put them (lots of them) in an envelope for me to plant in spring. Instead of spring, I made it out with them in June. I used half-gave Jean the other half-even though she told me she'd seen most of the farmers with blooming plants already. I love having my own pumpkins for Halloween. And-We are sprouting!

Room for Communication

There's something about an empty house. I often return to early photos of the Chatette and remember what it felt like being here in the beginning when we were "empty". You have: a clean slate, an empty page, an untouched canvas; that gives you the freedom to feel and to create. I labored back and forth about many things here in the beginning: do I rent it, do I share it, do I come for long or short periods of time, do I fill it up...do I, do I, do I? But I ended up listening to my Mom who said: "Don't do anything right away. Live in it. Enjoy it. Feel it and then see what it is you want to do." I loved us so much in the beginning...sparse, open, clear, free, with necessities only. All that space in emptiness leaves room for surprises when you're in it alone-a communication in space with place. These days, we are not as "empty" but the communication remains.

 

Windows on the Lot

When I would come to stay at Wendy's, I'd often sit at just this window. I'd look out at the valley and oggle St. Cirq Lapopie. Back in 1996, I called it my Window on the Lot. It wasn't MINE, of course, but it was as close as I ever thought I'd get to having one...even if just on loan.

I'm not quite sure where the 15 years between then and now have gone. So much has happened for all of us. But me; I remember that on the train, over-committed, blinders on, workaholic who came to the Lot for 5 weeks worrying if she'd survive. Not only did she survive-she THRIVED! Not

Not long after purchasing the Chatette it hit me, I now have many windows on the Lot. Like Wendy's, I look out on the valley, but from my windows on the Lot I could practically tumble into the Lot River. From one "on loan" to "five at home", we've come a long way! Tomorrow I'll share a couple shots of my favorite window on the Lot of my five. Happy Weekend!

Garden Sacrifices

You might think this is just any buddleia shrub. What you wouldn't know from this view out my window to the lower terrace, is that it is almost two stories tall. I love them. They are so happy here. But now: I am unable to see the rest of the garden from the terrace; and, when I have a late night and I'm coming home in the dark, they cover one of the lights that leads me home. Oh, I'm not complaining. We'll make do. There are alternatives. But why is it that so much of good things always come with a sacrifice or two!

The Wandering Wine Glass

Whether it's from the base of the walnut tree, the floor of the barn, or a window upstairs; my wandering wine glass captures the mood, history, romance, and magic of this amazing place. And, you don't even have to drink it unless you really want to!

Wagon, Wheels and Wine-Overalls Required

Moving on to cleaning the wheels, I was reminded of all those spindles on the manger that I cleaned up last summer. The difference was, they were straight, closer together and not rotted. These wheels are huge, damaged in some places and sitting in the dirt...that of course becomes big muddy puddles the wetter it gets. I'd turned into a big mud ball by the time I was done-thank God for Overalls and a nice Cahors to celebrate!

Luxury in a Different Kind of List

As our "we" has grown with the barn, tiny spread out parcels of land and all the goodies inside the barn; I've had the urge to make one of those awful to do lists that I hate so much.Then it hit me, why not make a list of all the things I felt like doing that day that got done? I've begun putting this list in my journal each day. I love it. I have the luxury of wandering through my day, guided by the natural flow of: the weather, my feelings and moods, energy levels, unexpected events and other opportunities that present themselves. So what if the blade on the lawn mower flew off before I even cut one strip of grass? It wasn't on my "to do list", so I just set it aside and moved on to something that I could accomplish. There is: no external pressure to get things done; no outside forces that may not fit into the natural flow of what's going on around me here; and no sense of anything on the list that is left "undone". Everything on my new list is DONE. I feel quite SUCCESSFUL! I'm not thinking about all the things I should do, I'm doing things that are getting done. Now, I'm not so much of a Pollyanna to think that this can work everywhere for everyone. This is one of the luxuries of living this life. I don't have anyone but myself to guide what I DO. But these days, I'm recognizing what I DO that gets DONE and that feels good. Maybe you should try it sometime.