Autumn Randomness...

Hi everyone, hope you had a happy Halloween (if you celebrate it - sadly it's not really France's thing). Have you emerged from your sugar comas yet?

I also hope that anyone who had to face Superstorm Sandy's wrath is okay and life is getting back to normal.

After several storms and low temperatures, I can't deny it any longer. France is in the grip of autumn.

I have mixed feelings about this change of season. On the one hand it's beautiful, on the other it means we're even closer to leaving. I'm using cheese to get myself through the pain.

I was nominated for the Top 25 European Moms blogger award for 2012, which is a lovely compliment. At the moment I'm languishing at number 43, but if you've got a moment you could click the button below and vote for me. Apparently you can vote every day (if you're really feeling frisky) until 21 November, when the poll closes.

Speaking of polls - good luck USA with your election on Tuesday! The fate of the free world is in your hands, no pressure.

I know it's a really important event, but can I be honest and say I'll be glad when it's over? Is America done with hearing about it too?

Although the election lead up did produce this Bad Lip Reading video (no political statement being made here - I just think it's hilarious):



And on that note, thanks for dropping by and I hope you're having a great weekend!

A bientôt!

Whataya mean it's almost been a month...

Hi Everyone!

Wow, there's a few cobwebs around here.

The late summer/back to school combo got the best of me, but I promise I haven't been idle.

Neither has the mister - he finished his epic, 7 day biking event in the Alps. After 780km, 19 cols (biiiiiig hills) and 21,000m of ascent he was mighty tired when he crossed the finish line in Nice, right in front of the Mediterranean.

He was a little gaunt too, as they tend to be after an endurance event. I set to work fattening him up again.

It helps that the figs are in season:

And we have easy access to lots of double cream soft cheeses:

We managed to squeeze in two date nights - including one in lovely Ansouis:

Then there was the whole back to school routine. Two in primary school, one spending mornings at the  maternelle school (preschool) and the baby with two afternoons of garderie (creche). The routine took some getting used to but now we've got it down pat.

Lots of admin for our move home to Australia in January as well. House renovations, new schools, finding daycare, part-time work, inventories and flights. Feeling better now we've broken the back of it.

We've booked an autumn holiday for Malta! I'm really excited we're going.

Of course there's been some sewing:

And just to give myself a big kick into action I joined up for the Travellin' Pic-Stitch Blog Hop (details on Katy and Laura's blogs). Did you know that EPP stands for English Paper Piecing? I've got a lot to learn before October!


Hope you've all been good this past month. I've got lots more to show you but until then I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

A bientôt!

Potty Training Sucks

We're in the throes of it now and it's not going so well. I've had some traumatic experiences today.

We're doing this a little earlier than I'd like to because he has to be trained if he wants to go to school in September (and he really wants to go to school). He's got just under 4 weeks to get himself sorted.

Some boxers for the mister. Nothing to do with potty training an almost 3 yr old. 

If you want to see what Aidan, Sara Louise and I got up to the other weekend, you can read Sara's post here. All I'll say is there was a naked man in my kitchen.

I found this critter up in our mulberry tree:

He has a long tail. Is it a rat? Please tell me it's not a rat.

I won a little giveaway over at Krista's blog Poppyprint and some Liberty scraps are winging their way over the ocean to me. Once I receive them I will whip up a tutorial to contribute to the Liberty Scrap Challenge. Thanks Krista!

I've made a few new pages for the blog, attempting to make it more useful - you'll see them up along the top there. There are single pages that collate all my travel, craft and quilting posts so you (and I!) don't have to sift through the archives to find them. There is also a Resources page that has links to anything I have found really helpful in my travel and sewing adventures.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We're set for another warm one down here in Provence.

Off to tackle the potty training again - more vodka required. (For me, not him. Although...)

Summer starts today (and handmade teacher gifts).

Technically it's been summer for a few weeks now.

We've been having lots of lovely hot weather.

And the garden certainly knows it's summer.

But mentally, for me, summer doesn't begin until the kids are on school holidays. Given today is their last day of school, summer starts tonight!

Like last year, I made covered journals for the kids' teachers (adapting Ros at Bloom's très formidable tutorial).

Again, I thought I was really clever to choose the pens first and then match the fabric to the pens, rather than vice versa. (The elastic is actually lingerie elastic - they have it in such lovely colours.)

Once I got my journals home from the shops and took off their plastic wraps I found a new challenge: coloured inner covers. Eep, they didn't have those last year.

A more thorough stash hunt was required to find fabric that would match both the pens and the inner covers. (I won't complain too much though, any excuse to fondle my stash...)

Here's (one of) my summer vices: Hoegaarden has just released a new beer - rosée.

It's very delicately flavoured with raspberry and is as refreshing as an ice cube down the back of your shirt.

Isn't it the most lovely colour?

Enjoy your summer! (Sending lots of summery vibes to everyone back home in Australia and everyone else in the southern hemisphere, too.)

Provence Poppies

Man, I love poppies.

Vibrant, happy, but so very delicate. They don't last more than a few weeks before they start to fade or shrivel from the sun - but while they're here they sure know how to live it up.

The mister spotted a gorgeous field full of poppies near Rognes in the Luberon Valley but I haven't been able to get out there. Now I fear they will be well past their prime.

These pictures were taken last night in a field just around the corner from us.

They look so cute popping up between the ears of wheat, although a field of nothing but poppies would look better. Bloody farmers, so inconsiderate (she says, munching on a wheat-filled baguette).

One of my oldest and dearest friends is here visiting - she arrived this morning. It was a sort of late notice trip and she's such a busy girl that sometimes these things don't come off, so I'm really excited to have her all to myself for 2 whole weeks. Yippee!

I have a whirlwind of activities designed to show off the beauty of this little corner of France. And we're going to have a girls' weekend in Monaco next week! Yay!! More exclamation marks!!!

I wish you all a wonderful weekend with someone you love,
A bientôt! 

Friday, Friday, Gettin' Down on Friday

Mister to eldest: So, how's that sore tooth going? Is it starting to wiggle yet?
Son: No, but I think it's getting ready to wiggle.

You can see why I've been a bit slack on the Tooth Fairy sewing front, we're still only in the pre-wiggle phase. I'm wondering if this has all been a bit of a false alarm... time will tell.

Meanwhile, Salley forwarded me another cute tooth holding device option here. I like this as it means no fishing around under the pillow, which a few of you have kindly warned me about.

Annick reminded me that the Tooth Fairy doesn't even come to France - they have La Petite Souris, a little mouse instead. She also sent me a link with lots of interesting global info on the Young and the Toothless.

What else is going on this fine Friday?

The cold snap has left Provence - I think all the snow in our yard will be gone by the end of today.

No more snow olives

Or berries

Or swimming pool.

Well, I'm still chugging away on photo edits, like this one:

I have finally, finally, finally sewed my Chasing Chevrons quilt top together. Boy did I make that harder than it should've been.

Except my chevrons are no longer chasing, they're flocking. Flocking Chevrons. That might become my new swear word.

Tomorrow, all going well, I'll be heading in to the Tendances Créatives Craft Fair in Marseille. My third year visiting, I feel like a local! My write up of last year is here, and I just found a good 5 min video of it on their site here.

I wish you all sunny skies and lots of time to craft this weekend. Need some inspiration?

Here's some colourful goodness from the latest issue of Marie Claire Idées. If this doesn't get you going you're officially dead.

Friday, Friday,  gettin' down on Friday. 

Flocking Chevrons, now I'll never get that out of my head.

Dopey Daffodils

Two posts in one day, what is going on?

Well, I have a question for any green thumbs (mains vertes) out there.

We've been having some unseasonal weather in our part of Provence: 18 ℃ (65℉) on New Year's Day, for instance. It hasn't been quite that warm since, but it's still pretty steamy for the middle of winter.

The mornings are still quite frosty though.

These pictures were taken in the field just across from our house.

I think I've mentioned we live kindof in the country. We are on the outskirts of a village, but outskirty enough that we have a septic system and drink canal water (filtered and deeelicious).

Driving back from taking the kids to school the frosty morning in question, I looked out the window and saw this stunning creature in the field.

Stock photo I had to buy - you'll see why below. 

Phuck, it's a pheasant, I thought. Look at all that beautiful iridescent green and red - gorgeous. Must rush inside and get the camera.  

We regularly hear gunshots from our house - hunters out and about looking for pheasants and other tasty winged creatures, not to mention the odd sanglier (wild boar). After I'd taken this guy's photo I was going to sit him down and have a long chat about camouflage and concealment and how he was doing it wrong. 

I parked the car, grabbed the camera and raced back to the field. 

And of course, I couldn't find that little bugger anywhere. Crafty pheasant: 1, Kirsty: 0.

So instead I took pictures of the foggy, frosty loveliness around me, until I couldn't feel my fingers properly.

This is the paving on our front doorstep. I have never seen frost patterns like this - it's incredible.

Don't they look like hand-painted feathery ferns?

So here's my question (that last one was just rhetorical). Our daffodils have been bamboozled by our higher temps and have already sprouted:

If the real cold weather finally hits, are they doomed? Can someone clever tell me what to do when your daffs jump the gun?