Devonport

Today I'm taking you on another visit

to one of my favorite little shops,

Cosi Fan Tutte.

My previous post is here

For me it's a little trip over

our harbor bridge 

to the very

pretty seaside suburb of

Devonport.

I'm usually on the lookout for

gifts for friends - birthdays etc

and yes there is a french influence

you know me!

At Cosi Fan Tutte there is a gift
for every occasion.

I often buy fragrant soaps
lavender, fig and rose
as hostess gifts when
going to friends for dinner.

Carla Coulson's books are available here
she is an amazing photographer
if you don't already know of her
you can visit her blog here

I love her books, they are filled
with magical images and
inspiration. 

She has amazing photography workshops
here

Carla is Australian but now lives in
Paris
where she is pursuing her dream.

Just letting you all know
my friend Lorrie of
"Fabric Paper Thread" 
is having a beautiful
GIVEAWAY
until 3 May - don't miss it!

Today I'm joining
Claudia for A Favorite Thing

and
Mary for Mosaic Monday


Thank you all for your visits
I appreciate your comments.

À bientôt

and be kind to one another
hugs

Shane ♥

Coastline Trees....

Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.....

                                                                                      Rabindranath Tagor

A blustery day on the North coast.

I took these photos during an early
morning walk along the ridge,
about two hundred feet
above the sea. 

The trees are called Manuka
our native version of
tea tree.

They are quite shallow rooted
but somehow they hang there
as if by one thread
connected to the soil.


Today I'm joining Mary
for Thursday Inspiration
where the prompt is
Tree


Thank you for your kind comments

À bientôt

Be kind to one another

hugs


Shane ♥

A Sweet Bouquet

We had friends for dinner

on Saturday.

Dawn brought me a beautiful

bouquet of Autumn roses

from her garden.

The red one is

General Gallieni a tea rose

introduced in 1899.

Dawn doesn't know the name of

the creamy yellow one.

It had a lovely subtle fragrance,

 I'm doing some research

as I would love to order one.

I'm linking to Mary for

Mosaic Monday

Don't forget Terri's Giveaway
see my side bar for details!

Wishing you all a very happy week.

À bientôt

be kind to one another

hugs

Shane ♥

MY BLUE TEA SET

I've loved this tea set forever

as it was part of every

family gathering as I grew up.

My darling mother treasured it

and she wouldn't trust anyone else

to bring it down safely from the

top shelf of the kitchen dresser.

It holds such happy memories

of many lovely coffee mornings

and afternoon tea parties.

Mother had several lovely

china tea sets

but this 'Spode Camilla' set

she loved the most.

This is the one she brought out

for special family occasions!

Being the only daughter in our family,

most of her lovely china

was passed on to me.

I in turn will pass it on

to my daughter.

It is used every day now and

I treasure it dearly - it never

goes in the dishwasher

but is carefully washed by hand!

Today I'm joining

 Mary for Thursday's Inspiration

Bernideen's Open House Thursday

Claudia's A Favorite Thing

Terri's Teacup Tuesday 

Martha's Tea Cup Tuesday

Sandi's  Tea Time Tuesday

Kathy's A Delightsome Life

Please make a cup of tea
and pop in to say hello!

Terri of Artful Affirmations blog
is having a beautiful Giveaway to
celebrate her new class
Soulful Adornments here
the winner will be chosen on 1st May!

À bientôt

be kind to one another

hugs

Shane ♥

...his mother put him to bed and made some chamomile tea.

AND she gave a dose of it to Peter!

'One table-spoon to be taken at bed-time'.

French Canal Trip: Vee's Note Card Party

About three years ago six of us embarked

on a canal trip starting in the pretty

village of Chatel Censoir in Burgundy.

We chose Canal de Nivernais,

it was recommended to us as the

 jewel of the French waterway network.

We loved it and we would happily

recommend it to you - 
for us it ticked all the boxes!

We stopped off along the way to visit

many beautiful villages with great

markets, shops, and restaurants.

The photo above is the entrance to 
Vermenton

a delightful village on a side canal.

Our trip ended here at Auxerre

an historic Burgundy town.

This was a prominant 
town even in the 1st century AD.

 At that time the main road

Via Agrippa passed through Auxerre!
I'm imagining legions of Roman
soldiers making their way across France
- on foot.

How amazing is that! 

Today is Vee's

NOTE CARD PARTY

so please come over and have a look

at everyone's cards.

If you would like to join in, go here

for Vee's info on how it all works.

On a very sad note...
My heart goes out to everyone
affected by the terrorist attack
at the end of the Boston marathon.
(there were 45 New Zealanders
taking part in it).
What should have been
a sense of fulfillment
with happy memories
has been shattered by this tragic event.
What has happened to our world?
Sending love and prayers
to all my US friends.

À bientôt

be kind to one another

hugs

Shane ♥

Maison St Francis where we stayed the night
before setting off on our big adventure.

Little and Friday

One of my favorite cafes is
Little and Friday
they bake the most divine
tarts - both sweet and savoury.

So, when my friend Carol
was visiting from the UK
I couldn't wait to take her there!
I told her she had to try
one of their famous
to die for
cream donuts.
We shared one between us, as we also
had a piece of their
Caramelised Onion Tart.

Everything is served on pretty
china plates.
They have large old kitchen tables
which you share with others.
It's a convivial atmosphere.

Beautiful baking
in the Little and Friday
cookbook - I would love a copy
but do I really need
another cookbook?!!!

Speaking of cook books
there is a new cookbook out by
The Mennonite Girls called
"Mennonite Girls Can Cook Celebrations"
and they are giving away a copy
so head over to their blog now
to enter!

It's Monday so I'm joining
Mary for Mosaic Monday!

and
Bernideen on Friend's Sharing Tea Tuesday

Do pop over and say hello!

À bientôt
and be kind to one another
hugs

Shane ♥

Beautiful mossy garland on the wall
at Little & Friday, Belmont.

Simplicity

A weekend at Tairua on the Coromandel Peninsula

New Zealand. February 2013.

I've been popping into my favorite

blogs this morning to say hello.

I found that many of them had

'stand-out' photos as part of a

challenge set by Donna of

A Personal Photo Challenge 

titled

Simplicity.

Evidence that seagulls were milling about here
for a morning chat!

This challenge is not as easy as it sounds!

Anyway, in for a penny - in for a pound.
As I searched through

my albums, it took a while

before I found some images

that I thought might meet the challenge.

I would appreciate your

comments Donna!

Tas the golden labrador was taking us for a walk!

I have a very basic 'point and shoot'

digital Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3

with a Leica lens.

I take most photos on 'normal picture'
mode unless it's children or animals.
I haven't got Photoshop although
I would love to have a play with it!!

Please visit Debbie's blog to see some

magical photos and why not show us
your photos too!


À bientôt
and be kind to one another
hugs

Shane ♥

Sky...

'I must go down to the sea again
to the lonely sea and the sky'...
- John Masefield   

A Skywatch post

During the Summer months
we spend a lot of time 
on the water and I'm always
in awe of the beauty
of the sky.

The sky in these last two photos

was translucent

and the colors were quite magical.

Today I'm joining

Mary for "Thursday's Inspiration" 

and Bernideen's "Open House Thursday" 

and Skywatch Friday

and Claudia for Favorite Thing Saturday

I would love you to visit

both these parties

to meet other like minded bloggers.

Why not join in - it's fun!

I meant to tell you

that down under in the

Southern Hemisphere

daylight saving ended last weekend

when we put our clocks back one hour

... sad to say goodbye to

2012/13 Summer!

Thank you for your lovely comments

and welcome to my new followers.

À bientôt
and be kind to one another
hugs

Shane ♥