Wednesday, October 21, 2009

First and last days



This is our first day with the swans that shared our breakfast, and the last morning at Lutzelberg, before we started the return journey.

Field of Flowers



It was a perfect summer's day ! We rode to Xouaxange about 20 minutes away from the canal, and found this Elvira Madiganesque files of wild flowers - Queen Anne's Lace, cornflowers, erigynon... heaven couldn't be better !

A great part of the pleasure was being totally unaware of any Dangerous Critters that might lurk in the long grass. I would never have done this at home in Australia - far too many snakes.

I was really intrigued by the strange (read: very un-French) names of some of the towns in this area: Gonrexange, Xouaxange etc. Haven't been able to find out their provenance as yet.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Holiday Snaps: The Canal Boat


We're just putting the photos from our holiday into an album, and enjoying the memories...

In France, we hired a DIY boat on the Marne to Rhine Canal for 4 days. We (the two of us) started our voyage at Lavarde, in the Lorraine, went east to Lutzelburg, then returned.

We could cook, sleep and shower on board, and we could moor anywhere that took our fancy. We also hired bikes so that we could ride inland to forage for food. The bikes proved to be vital, because it was August, and most of the shops in the little villages were closed for the summer holidays. We discovered this on our first morning, when we walked 2km to find a 'boulangerie'. It was closed ! Went back to the boat to pick up the bikes and ride 2 km in the other direction to the next village. This boulangerie was also closed !

Fortunately, we spotted a travelling food sales van and virtually threw ourselves under the wheels to stop her driving off. We had worked up quite an appetite at this stage, and bought up big ! We took our croissants, 'dejeunette' and cheese to a lake that we had passed en route and sat in the glorious sunshine, counting our lucky stars, and the lucky swans who insisted on sharing our breakfast. And that was the first morning !

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Apple Orchard



I pass this house on my way to work in the mornings. I've always been intrigued by the little mounds in the 'lawn', and by the fact that they have planted a veritable apple orchard, and not much else, in the front garden in a very residential area.

This week, it looks absolutely gorgeous because all the trees are in full blossom, and there were some bright tangerine coloured flags - I think they're called 'Balinese flags' - flapping in the wind.

Completing the scene is a small flock of wooden ducks. Such an eclectic mix ! I wonder who lives there ?

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Kate's Window




Last week, I was approached by a woman studying Visual Merchandising, who asked if she could design and install a window display, which would then form part of her assessment, in the shop. I was wildly excited at this prospect, as it is hard to find inspiration - or rather, hard to find the time to MAKE the inspirations - week after week.

She came up with 4 designs, but we both preferred the one that had been inspired by a huge basket that I have.

She covered 4 polystyrene balls with silvery soft Cineraria "Dusty Miller ' leaves (would have taken her all day !), climbed death-defyingly up ladder to hang them, and then together we filled the basket with yellow iris, concealing the container within with moss and with olive branches which I had trimmed from my tree last weekend.

Looks pretty good ! I was most pleased that it was in keeping with the Calypso Flowers style, yet it was something that I would never have had the time to do. Thanks, Kate !!