I Want to Dress Like a Flower

In the garden this morning and, in between letting out the chickens, shovelling up the dogs’ business (lovely) and making sure there were no toads or lizards drowning in the pool skimmer, I took time to appreciate this lovely bloom and it really, really made me fancy having something to wear in these colours.

Bizarre really but there you go.

I’ve just heard that my French lesson is cancelled this afternoon.  I say’ lesson’ but I go along to my French friend’s house, I mangle the language for 40 minutes or so as I tell her about what I’ve been up to and, with a slightly strained expression on her face, she makes what she can of it.  Then we speak in English for a while as she wants to practice her accent which is as appalling as my French one.   What to do instead?  I could go shopping and replenish the fridge so that the girls have something to devour when they come in from school like teenagers with more diligent mothers can do.  I could finish my project for the sewing group.  I could do some housework – but, I jest of course.  I could do some more of  the quilt I started making for my daughter over a year ago.  I could do some ironing  – another jest.

Speaking of lessons – which I sort of was – my daughter is taking driving lessons here in France.  I can’t help feeling I’m throwing my money down the drain.  Last week, the driving instructor told her that she reminded her of some woman driver who had carried out a parking manoeuvre so badly, somebody had filmed her and put it on YouTube.  If that were all, it wouldn’t be so bad but, the week before, the instructor took anti-stress pills during the lesson.  I know when I first learnt to drive, I found it quite difficult and failed my test, then I went back to live in London for a while where it’s not really worth having a car in my opinion.  A couple of years later, I resumed driving lessons and it came to me much more easily and I passed first time (well, if you don’t count the first first time).  In any case, as I keep telling Madamoiselle T., some of the most stupid people you could ever hope to meet manage to drive a car and a lot of it is down to having confidence which, unless I’m mistaken, the instructor she’s got at the moment isn’t doing much to instil.

This ‘so true’ card (well, of me anyway) is from Goodgosh on Etsy who makes very funny and sometimes slightly ‘rude’ cards.

Off to find an outfit in purple and gold!

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The Stylish Photographer

For today’s Saturday Selection I am featuring another item that I have bought from Etsy and have been chuffed to bits with. (You see, already bought and paid for, no biased reportage here!)

If you have a camera and lenses and don’t like taking them out in a boring, plain camera bag, these padded purses from XcessRise Designs  are for you.   As their tagline says – ‘Life is too short to carry an ugly bag’.

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/xcessrize

You can choose your own fabric from a very wide range – it took me ages to decide as there was so much choice. (This one isn’t the fabric I went for, incidentally, but I haven’t got round to photographing mine yet!)

The best thing about these bags is that there is room inside for a point & shoot camera, your wallet, cell phone (or mobile as us Brits call them) and keys so you don’t even need to take another bag out with you at all.  Great for those times when you know you are going to want to take photos but are perhaps going out to dinner too and don’t want to be carrying more than one bag around or your husband has started to refuse to hold on to your handbag while you wrestle with your camera bag (mentioning no names).

I chose this hobo style as I try to pretend I’m not a tourist when I’m out and about  – but that’s just me – which, incidentally led to an experience the other day where an English tourist followed me around the supermarket and, believing me to be French(as she hadn’t heard my mangling of the language), decided to trust my judgement on wine-buying and put the exact same wines I bought into her own basket.  The fact that the red was Spanish and the white a Chilean seemed to have escaped her notice.   However, I digress, XcessRize also does the boxy shaped ones if you prefer and you could get one for a man with funky or more subdued fabric of your choice so great for a pressie for the photographer of either gender in your life.

Have a great weekend!!

Marco La Grenouille

When I was looking through my favourite things on Etsy for my Saturday Selection this week, I remembered this photograph and it occurred to me that I haven’t yet featured a male artist, a photograph, nor a French artist.  So here, to remedy all those omissions, is this brilliant and atmospheric photograph by Marco La Grenouille (love that name!).

Plus it was European week on Etsy so it seemed even more relevant.  

If you to to his shop, Marc Loret Photography on Etsy, you will see lots more great images.

Anthropomorphism in Art

I’m glad I’m writing that word and not saying it – it’s one of those words it’s a bit hard to get your tongue round even before you’ve had a glass of wine.

Anyway, I just came across this shop on Etsy called frighten run by photographer and artist Mari Lowery and thought I’d feature a couple of  her mixed media images as my ‘Saturday Selection’ today.

I like them because they avoid being twee or cute and actually verge on the nightmarish and odd which I mean in a good way.

Who knew that there is actually a team called Anthropormorphic on Etsy, of which Mari is the captain.  Great fun!

I find dolls really scary so I haven’t used any of her images where she’s used them rather than animals but take a look! http://www.etsy.com/listing/65161178/dollface-8×10-fine-art-print

Blackheart

Just in time – one hour to go until Sunday, well in France anyway – here is my Saturday selection.

Great piece of jewellery, great photo, great shop, great lady!  What more can I say?  Lots more of this amazing stuff here.

A Rubber Chicken and a Sunset

Two photographs I took yesterday apropos of nothing at all.

When a lump of wood isn’t enough!

 

 

The sun setting over Pyrennean rooftops and mountains

I Thought I Saw A Hummingbird!

One of the lovely things I’ve seen since living in France  are these gorgeous moths.  When we first saw them we almost thought they were actual humming birds as they hover in the same way and you can even hear the hum as their wings beat like mad.  They feed from the plants in the same way too.  However, they are actually Hummingbird Moths and, apparently are getting more common now in the U.K. as the climate warms up.     I managed to capture this one as he was dining from the geraniums on my balcony.

If you click twice on the photo you can see the moth quite close up.

Rainbow Morning

I know it’s not the best photo in the world but, when I went to let the chickens out this morning, it was there.  So I ran back in to get my camera and just snapped it.  I was still in my nightie and slippers and I could feel the rain starting so apologies for the quality.  By the time I’d decided I needed a different lens, it had disappeared.