Grow Your Blog Party & My Giveaway 2015

Welcome to the third
Grow your Blog Party
hosted by Vicki of 2 Bags Full.

Thank you dear Vicki for hosting
this amazing annual event
to bring together bloggers
from around the world!

For first time visitors to my blog
let me introduce myself!
My name is Shane and I live in
Auckland, New Zealand.

Yes I live in Auckland but....
my heart is in a little village in France
where my family and grandchildren live!
If you love France too
then we will have much in common
as many of my blog posts have
a french flavour... a certain

Je

ne

sais

quoi

I have been travelling to France for years,
and I love everything about it

who doesn't dream of a weekend in

Paris

but it's rural France I love the most.

Photography

has become one of my favourite
pastimes since starting my blog.
French villages are known for 
their beautiful old houses and barns,
windows, doors, gates, fences
and little country lanes to photograph!

My family are now used to me lagging behind
when we're out and about!
I simply can't pass up a
photo opportunity!

I have a very basic 'point and shoot'

Panasonic lumix camera.

I have learnt so much through Donna

thank you my dear friend for

passing on your wealth of knowledge.

I join several weekly and monthly blog parties
including these ones
Mosaic Monday
Tea Time Tuesday
Tuesday Cuppa Tea
Friends Sharing Tea
Roses of Inspiration
Wednesday Good Fences
Sunlit Sunday

We would love you to join us!
People post about all sorts of things
recipes, crafts, books worth reading and so on.
If you are a new blogger
this is a great way of making new friends
and increasing your followers.

I’m a gardener

My time spent in my garden
is one of the things I love most of all,
whether it's weeding and nurturing plants
or simply doing my garden walk each morning
with a cup of tea in hand
to see what's new each day!
It grounds me and prepares me for 
my work day ahead.

Swaps

I also enjoy taking part in swaps!

I've been part of groups

that swapped lace and buttons

tea cups, magazines!~

...and then I love to

Create

I enjoy making little books, cards
and bags for my grandies
using fabric, lace and paper.

I work three days a week and when time permits
I also enjoy making collage pieces 
such as the one below which I created for my

Giveaway

for

Grow Your Blog 2015.

I will draw the winners name on
February 15th 2015 and post on my blog
Bonne chance everyone!

You don't need to be a follower
there are no restrictions
and I am happy to post world wide!

If you write a comment on this post
you will be included in the draw!

I hope you've enjoyed learning a little about me
I'm sorry it has become such a lengthy post
I do ramble on and love to chat!
have you noticed that already?!

Now I'm off to visit your blogs
Enjoy the party and have fun!

Dearest Vicki
thank you
for being the generous, giving and loving soul
that you are!
The world needs more people like you.


Thank you everyone for visiting my blog

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt




Shane

Sunshine makes me happy

I captured these photos
of sunshine on my windowsill.
Recently I bought some new
bathroom things so I wanted to show you those too!
I thought the sun shining through the window
would make a good background!

When I visited my Aunt at New Year
I was very taken with one of her
Christmas gifts.

A light room fragrance of
Frangipani and Lime
which is perfect for our Summer days
and it is Made in New Zealand.
I decided to treat myself to one too!

As I'm reading your blog posts
and seeing the snow lying on the ground
I wanted to share a little of our
New Zealand sunshine with you!

We are having the most wonderful

Summer

Then I found myself humming
'Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy'
as I wrote this post,
so... I popped over to YouTube
and downloaded the video for you.

It's not compulsory listening if you're
not a John Denver fan!

I couldn't resist giving you a few more photos
of my Pierre de Ronsard rose.
I'm 'over the moon' with everything about this rose
it is a prolific bloomer

A Star

and that's after just one year in the garden.
I recommend it to anyone looking for a
new pink rose.


I'm joining Karen for Sunlit Sunday
and
Judith for Mosaic Monday
and
Stephanie for Roses of Inspiration

Thank you for your comments

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

Beauty to lift the Spirits

Another beautiful cup that belonged to my

darling mother

sadly this one is an orphan

I don't know what happened to the saucer!

I won the beautiful decorated burlap sac

in a giveaway by

Marie of Lost Bird Studio

Merci mon ami!

By pairing the sweet cup with my

Spode Camille saucer and plate

I think I have a match made in Heaven

what do you think?

Our family still feels anxious with 

the recent happenings in Paris

so I felt the need for some beauty

to lift my heart and spirits today

I am focusing on the beauty in the world

....my beautiful family and my love for them

....focusing too on our amazing planet

made for us by our Creator

Who has an unending abundance of love for

each and every one of us.

Focus

On

The

Beauty

Thank you all for your recent encouraging comments

Welcome

to my lovely new followers

it is so good  to have you here

thank you for being part of my blog

I'm linking to 

Stephanie for Roses of Inspiration

Ruth for Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Bernideen for Friends Sharing Tea

Sandi for Tea Time Tuesday

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

Oh Paris.....

I've no doubt you are all as alarmed as I am 

at the horrific and tragic happenings in Paris last week.

It is very sad to see French soldiers on patrol

at Paris monuments

protecting both french citizens and tourists.

On Friday evening at 8pm

the lights of the Tour Eiffel

 were turned off for six minutes

in respect for the citizens who died

in the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

Please pray for the families of those who

lost their lives in this atrocious attack.

My regular followers will know how anxious I feel

having members of my family living so close to Paris.

Please keep them in your prayers

asking God to protect them and keep them safe.

Merci.

I am joining Karen for Sunlit Sunday

Karen, I know this isn't a "sunny" post as such

but I would like to share it here as a reminder to us all

of how lucky we are to live simple lives

in our little necks of the woods

far away from the "hot spots" of today's unfathomable world.

I'm also joining Judith for Mosaic Monday.

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

I  love Paris

Five on Friday...

I popped in to say hello to Amy at 

Love Made my Home

and discovered she hosts a Friday party called

Five on Friday

It seems to me like a good way to look back on

what has happened and where I've been over the past week.

It is a weekly photo journal that I can

email to my family in France as well.

Two weeks ago we did a little road trip

from Auckland to Palmerston North...

1000km in total... not so little!

I wanted to visit my elderly Aunt and my cousin.

The weather that day was dull and overcast

not good for taking photographs

but great for travelling - not too hot.

We passed by Lake Taupo which is a mecca

for trout fishermen and women.

In fact people come from all over the world

to fish here!

We stopped at the southern end of the lake

for a picnic lunch.

There are beautiful streams and fishing pools

just a short walk through the bush.

Driving through the central plateau

there are three mountains

Ruapehu, Ngaruahoe and Tongariro.

I took this photo of Mt Ruapehu out of the car window

(flying along at 100kph!)

I was hoping the cloud would lift

so I could get a better photo for you - sorry, no such luck!

The day after our journey

we took my Aunt for a drive through the

beautiful Botanic Gardens.

Palmerston North is well known for it's rose gardens.

I was impressed, the garden was immaculate

all the roses are named.

I was back at work this week...

it's always hard starting back after a holiday!

If you would like to join Amy's

Five on Friday

the link is at the top of this post.

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane