To the Dorset Sea

We drove in a very nice 'my colour electric blue' Lotus Elan (1991 I think!.. well it was J reg) without great suspension, but suspended I was.  It could do a ton whilst I kept extremely relaxed with regular breathing, heart not quite in my mouth!  I even had a test drive! Safe! Told it was 'school rules' and if I crashed it, I would have to pay. Fair do's. 

After a walk through sheep downs showing the vestiges of Roman vineyards (!!! yes, in England!!!)  we came upon Dancing Ledge.  The historical and geographical information on my return with the assistance of 'the fount of all knowledge' is fascinating!In the old quarry, evidently one of the Dr Who films was taken.  The notice on other grilled and barred entrances said that Greater Horseshoe Bats were in the caves. It was a fascinating place to be with what appeared to be its own micro-climate. I would love to return and do the coastal walk! Such a beautiful experience assisted by a half pint and a Pinot Noir in an English inn!

Captured with my zoom...Maybe a Meadow Pipit?

Dancing Ledge, Dorset

A Native Bluebell Wood

This was a first for me and oh, oh, oh so magical. We were trespassing (perhaps) in an ancient Dorset pheasant shooting woodland but who could resist treading amongst native bluebells, celandines, wood anemones with their six or seven petals, amongst gnarled and twisted trees dead or in leaf, amongst sunlight streaming between shadows on probably the warmest UK April day! Scents crushed underfoot arise with a  hint of wild garlic mixed with a luscious aroma of canola / oil seed rape from the surrounding fields.  Transported, transfixed heavenwards,  I wished to lay me down with bluebells 'round my hair listening to birdsong in woodland.  A long strip of ancient land left alongside a lane was wide enough to feel concealed within that habitat.  Oh to be lost in a bluebell wood whilst they are in bloom.

bluebells in a blur

On my way home

...being extremely tired after a night on a floor on a six hour ferry I needed to stretch my legs. It was eight in the morning when I deviated to a town called Falaise, which was just waking up.  On the ferry I had read that William the Conqueror had been born here, so I set off with my camera to the castle on a crisp and sunny morning.
A falaise is a steep rocky escarpment caused by erosion. With no time available I didn't view the chateau on the falaise at FALAISE from different angles.
In 2011, it was the 1100th anniversary of the town celebrating the birth and history of Guillaume le Conquerant...it is worth going to that link to remind us of a slightly different version of history than that which for example I was taught at school! It would be exciting to be at the planned events.

I saw the unfurled Bayeux Tapestry about 15 years ago.. stunning... I was in awe... at that time there were few people and so one could walk back and forth checking the images. Probably in my attic are photos and prints!!!
The Chateau Falaise is evidently similarly built to that of Corfe Castle, which I drove past on my recent travels and would dearly have loved to stop and be a tourist but we were on a see-the-sea mission! Shades of Chateau Angles sur L'Anglin.

It is also similar to the well-preserved Norwich Castle, which I know well, as my daughter lives in the city and it was my nearest city when I was occupationally resident in UK - an ancestral home... um... not the castle but an East Anglian seaside town!

Waste paper basket trespasser

This wee beastie rather spooked me when I emptied the waste paper basket on return from being on the road.  Obviously a type of Longhorn Beetle... I didn't wait to fully identify it!!!

In the Gods with the Chickens

At the meeting of the dissolution of the association of Les Amis du Théâtre Blossac, it was agreed to offer members a ticket to the theatre.  I haven't ever attended a French Play in a French theatre, so with a free ticket as gratitude for the very little support I gave in the last ten years to the restoration of this ancient theatre, I watched a performance of 'Public or not Public' by La Compagnie Théâtrale de l'Esquisse - if you wish you can read about them at this link.

In February 2014, I produced six postings about this Theatre.  The first is here for those who wish to read about it.

I hadn't ever been up to 'the Gods' in France before, so I was delighted to be near Paradise for two hours. I could almost touch the painted ceiling depicting mythological characters.
In France this uppermost part of the theatre is called 'le poulailler'.  Chickens roost up high.
I am not chicken, nor a chicken, and far from being a God or Goddess.

I didn't understand most of the vocabulary in the drama but could understand some words and phrases. I could enjoy most of the humour, the mime, the action, the audience participation, the music, the singing. It was fun.  It was lovely to laugh.  It was amazing to look down upon a stage and its actors.  Within the play there were sketches about Roman Gladiators and Caesar, the Globe Theatre and Shakespeare's plays, plus Carmen mimed to operatic song.  At the end, Strauss's 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' resounded loudly, whilst the four actors returned to prehistory, acting as apes as in the beginning of the Performance. One expected to see Lucie.  It was a fantastic French 'comedie'.  

A stage view

of the uppermost levels.

Four actors present and represent

 in mask and mime,

with fun, light, sound and action.

whilst THIS POSITION  is the nearest to YE GODS and the furthest from the stage. I climbed up higher when every other chicken had left its roost!

It was enough to make one dizzy;  tread slowly, carefully in case of slipping on new wood.

yet, the angel was watching nakedly...

in the theatrical heavens of PARADISE....

Incognito

since the end of March.

Better to be Busy

and LIVING....
hence I have some good photos and nice tales from the past week and probably more to come. LIVING has to happen. POSTING has to wait ...
IT, the need to write and communicate with whoever wants to read such trivia, takes Time. IT is a real divergence from doing all that needs to be done...
So...  notwithstanding that comment here I am burbling, trying to keep calm, having a small meditational moment which is a small oasis before the flurries of movement which have to happen.
I love having people around me which helps me to appreciate being alone but given the choice I like the two in balance and with scheduled events so that I have to meet deadlines. I work better that way!
RIGHT!!!!  Back to doing... or else it will be even greater uncontrolled chaos in my life!

Acacia Trees

That tall tree, not in my garden sends out roots apx ten metres distance and up sprouts a new tree. I allowed four to grow in my garden for they were not there five years ago and by last summer they were wonderful with their shady foliage and hammock hanging strength.....but then I noticed their roots!
In the Autumn a friend pruned three and chainsawed through the trunk of one that was in my potager but then roots have been a different issue!
In September a friend sawed one, then in February, Italian helpers sawed down another two and recently a paid gardener took out the fourth.  He and I scraped back the earth until he could get at the narrower roots with his lopper and then with persistent rocking the evil roots came out. I can now plant the potatoes in the 4th part of my potager.
HOWEVER, that acacia tree used to have another tree section that fell into the neighbour's land about two years ago. Now, this main trunk is pushing over the single breeze-block wall which is being held in place mainly by the mound created by the previous occupant of my house. Also there is bedrock there.
The wall was not broken like this in the Autumn.  There has though been a hairline crack for five years. Last  Summer the wall was straight and fine!
The good news is that the neighbour will employ someone to remove the tree and its roots (I hope) and rebuild the dividing wall. She is very conscientious, responsible and caring and does not wish anyone to be injured.  She said "Je se mefier". 
Her garden is really wild and I love it like that and said so but she is remorseful for not paying attention... a kind of out of sight out of mind... and like me ... she has other things to do and cannot cope with so much land.

My gardener erected the new pergola. 

My veggie plot is now divided into four sections by a strip of lawn wide enough for the mower.

The garden beyond the acacia tree.

There are three of these to dig out!

Camelias

A Japanese element in my courtyard. I have three different camelias but two need blue frostproof pots to match the first. I love that the flowers fall whole and when laid on a dish indoors or laid on another plant still look delicious for days.

Through the blue of rosemary

This one has set up a lead branch ready to climb and has bloomed profusely in the last two months.

This is a darker pink one called Kumasaka but the photo doesn't demonstrate that!

This a different style of Camelia

Inherited Furniture

Unfortunately, at this stage in life with the Pension Fund as it is, I have to live with what I have from "The Previous Life"... so no IDEAL HOME style here ... only dreams!

This Coffee Table was left in the house for me as the new owner!
It is heavy and I have never liked it! However, it has been extremely serviceable.
It has been somewhere to sit on, something to climb onto, a garden / kitchen eating place, a child's eating / activity table, a place for fruit and other kitcheny things, a table at the book fair, a coffee table!  The idea to paint it arose at a time when I should be doing other things.

I turned it upside down. It has the feel of home-made about it and was surprised to find CHINON pencilled or penned onto one end. Maybe it had come from an Emmaus? 
I covered the BROWN shiny oak with  B.I.N. to hold  back the varnish / stain.  I needed to use whatever paints are in storage!  I wanted a kind of grey or cream. There were sample pots of paint, so various F&B including Stony Ground mixed with Laura Ashley Green.  These paints were about 5 years old and had been opened, some had been used. I created a very pale green.  Not liking the colour, I also realised that these were wall paints and not for wood.  I found 'Mouse's Back" F&B for wood and so several coats have created a look that I can live with for a while.  The tiles could be replaced but then THAT would be a more difficult project!

At the start in the kitchen... those are my blood spots. I hadn't noticed at the photo moment that the knuckle wound was dripping everywhere! woops!

Primered.. but forgot to take pic of the Pale Green stage. I scrubbed the grouting and you can see what a messy worker I am!

In new situ - with rug inherited with the house! No matching colours!

Prayer

Hearts of mourning sail to all those affected by the incident in a French alpine disaster zone.
May they find courage within the sorrow.
May they find healing through their friends, families.
May they find support and comfort from their communities.
Hearts full of care and sadness.
Bless those who mourn.

If media reports are true, (of course further facts will unfold), then there is no glory in selfishness and thoughtlessness to kill self and others, nor to physically and psychologically injure those who live.
The lives of those who live will be forever affected by this tragedy.
The work involved is phenomenal.
The grief is unquantifiable.
It is terrible yet people will continue to journey.
 I feel a sense of shame for my trivia expressing self-centred pride of small achievements when there is soulful mourning in the world.

Post script:
There is no accounting for the mad man or mad woman who selfishly cannot think out of their own head and have compassion and care for others when suicide occurs. 
I know of two friends who selfishly took their own lives.

So Proud

This evening after a day of cleaning, clearing, walking around house and garden, putting stuff into its rightful place, I just walked at apx 4 km per hour or maybe slightly less... the fastest for this route along 'the vineyards of Remerle", down the ravine of "The American Way" along the water's edge, up the stony cobbled way of La Cueille, where once rain was allowed to cascade down the hill for women to wash the linen-o, to home without stopping for anything, nor passing a soul!  It was 45 minutes door to door! Quickly recuperating an easy breathing rate but sweating on account of so many wintry layers, the glass of red and a bath was heaven!
So proud knowing that I am not fit.
BUT WHAT I DO KNOW is that at 1. 50e per day for supplements I am beginning to be back in touch with that former dynamic self. Watch this space.

In My LIving Space

I try to have only things that I use and wish to keep.
I try to keep rooms minimalist and clutter free... but I like to have things to look at.
Once I lived in a tiny modern terrace house.
I moved there from the temporary council accommodation where I had to repaint the orange walls, the purple walls, the blue walls WHITE.  But it was the wrong WHITE. Too harsh. Cheap paint. I wasn;t there long enough to make t a home and I had no intention of making it a home. It was a temporary residence. I yearned to be out of that embarassment asap! Six months and then I owned my very own house not shared with anyone!  I was proud.
However, I was too poor at first, too busy working and caring for two kiddywinks to think about putting pictures on the wall. Although I had made my own curtains with Laura Ashley curtains - never considering at the time that flamingo red was a bit bright to such a sedate sedentary culdesac!!!!!!!!!!  I caused gossip in more ways than one! I did not fit in!

Retro Liberty: Fast forward!

I am very proud to own a Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell design from 1972.  I was poor and had just started or was about to start teaching.  My then husband worked in South Kensington making exotic items with silver, other metals, semi-precious stones, ivory, shells, (all banned now!) for a man with a million.  We were always well entertained at restaurants, eating little pigeons, pheasant breasts all nouveau cuisine!  He was so lovely : J.Anthony Redmile. Breathe deeply! Sigh for such missed opportunities!
Apart from delving into shops such as Biba and all the rest whilst I floated in a cloud of patchouli, long long hair, mini-dresses, crepe culottes, Indian sari, flower-power attire (not all at the same time)  I often was transported in delight in Liberty.  I JUST HAD to have this 'Bauhaus' design roller printed onto thick cotton, before unknowingly I became destitute and further impoverished.  It's a pity I didn't purchase enough to make the third repeat!
I AM SO EXCITED... whilst looking for bird wallpaper and fabric and finding the design I WANT.. I WANT .. I WANT .. (it's fabric only, though I haven't decided in what measure and what I would do with it, if I could ever locate it)  the lovely internet led me to a course... and CAN I BELIEVE THAT later this year, I shall be participating in  two day textile course with THE lovely Sarah Campbell!!! Sadly her sister died in 2011.
It's been a while since yearning to do something with textiles. I have no idea what I shall achieve. 

Egyptian Birds 1972

In My Attic

is a previous life.

Some of it wanted.
Some of it unwanted.
Some of it not mine.
Some belongs to previous partner now nomadic!
Some belongs to two offspring with no space even if they did want it!
Some of it has been assigned for car boot sales, ebay type sales, and after that if it is 'NOT GAWN' it can be assigned to the skip if not good enough for charity. These things take time, for me to do! 
It is a growing attic corner of boxes and stuff.


Some people have an attic, or garage, or room, or rooms, or sheds, or even heaven forbid whole buildings or EVEN, people hire space to house their unwanted or unused things!

The boxes in my attic go through various stages of being opened, sorted or not sorted.
I can't believe that I have suffered whilst LIVING IN  FRANCE without my stuff in my kitchen, without bookshelves, without shelves for my treasures.....

I have some simple yet pleasing treasures! 
I have things from the past not being used!
I have things that need to move on!
It's hard to go back and yet a joy to see it again!

There are three St Andrew crosses... and so we look up to the beauty and not down to the floor covered in STUFF!!!
I WILL ACCOMPLISH MY TASK ... one day  :-)

Book Review: Singing for Mrs Pettigrew

Michael Morpugo: Singing for Mrs Pettigrew : illustrated by Peter Bailey
Hard back copy 2006 first edition:  borrowed from my daughter

I was drawn to read this book by its design,  the look and the feel of the paper of the wrapped cover.  I love the red hard cover board with its dark green end-papers and I adored the b/w sketches.  I liked that the font size and spacing varied according to the short story of the long story of the journey that he was telling about himself and how he'd become a story maker.
The end story about Mrs Pettigrew is poignant!