Château d'Ancy-le-Franc

Château d'Ancy-le-Franc

Burgundy, France.

I visited this beautifully restored chateau

in 2013

If you would like to know more of the history you can read about it

here

Two of my grandies playing on the path!

I'm joining Jeanne for Blue Monday

Judith for Mosaic Monday

and

Bernideen for BTTCG

Thank you ladies for hosting.

Take care and

be kind to one another

à bientôt

Shane

Moments in My Week

The winding country road with a few Autumn leaves.
In the weeks ahead our deciduous trees
will be shedding their leaves.

I've started filling the bird feeders
with wild bird seeds so they don't go hungry.
The weather is still mild but each morning
when I wake up and look out the window
there is a large flock of various birds
sitting on the brick wall
and in the trees waiting for me!

Toiletries make lovely birthday gifts!

A family of Pukeko at the garden centre.
Pukeko is the Maori name for them
you may know them as Swamp Hens.

All across New Zealand children are learning

about the life sycle of the Monarch butterfly.

They lay their eggs on Swan plants

then feed on their host until they form a

chrysalis and emerge as a butterfly.

Because of the high demand

garden centres often run out of Swan plants.

A collection of books on one of my bookshelves.

I'm joining 

Mimi for Five Star Frou Frou
Susanne for Friday's Fave Five

Amy for Five on Friday

Nancy for Random 5 Friday

Tanya for Willy Nilly Friday

Cath for Fun Friday Favourites

and

Bernideen for BTTCG


Take care and
be kind to one another

à bientôt



Shane

Moments in my Week

I think this must be Cotton Tail - don't you?!
Spotted through a fence on the way to
Sandspit at the weekend.

I'm at my happiest in the countryside
I'm not at all a city girl
in spite of living in the city
for my entire married life - 46 years
(on Monday 11th April)!

Our embroidery group met yesterday,

this is always a very relaxing day.

The picture above is a hint of Rose's next project

(Rose is the creative one in our little group).

These beautiful threads and silk ribbon will be used

to embroider a paisley design for a cushion!

I'll give you an update once she gets started!

We met at Thelma's
and she made us a delicious salmon salad for lunch with
fresh grainy bread - all very healthy.

For afternoon tea we had Madelines and
Apple Roses - both extremely yummy!
If you would like the recipe and 'easy peasy' technique
for making these Apple Roses
let me know and I'll email it to you
(don't forget your email address if I haven't got it already).

I subscribe to an email newsletter called
Bonjour Paris.
The latest issue arrived at my computer this week
One of the articles was about the
restoration of the Royal apartments at
Palace of Versailles.

Guerlain are taking orders for their
limited edition perfume called
Le Bouquet de la Reine.
The price will be... 550,00 € tax incl.
($921 in New Zealand dollars)
...just a tad over my budget
how about you?

I'm joining Mimi for Five Star Frou-Frou
Amy for Five on Friday
Nancy for Random 5 Friday
Tanya for Willy Nilly Friday
Cath for Fun Friday Favourites
and
Bernideen for BTTCG


Thank you everyone for popping in
I love reading your comments!

Take care and
be kind to one another

à bientôt




Shane

Thank you ladies for hosting your link-ups!

~Happy Easter~

Happy Easter

dear friends!

Easter Sunday has been

a beautiful early Autumn day of 26 degrees C here.

As most of you know both our children

are living overseas....

it's at special times like Easter and Christmas

that we miss them the most.

We've just had a long conversation on the phone

with our daughter and granddaughters in France, 

before they attend

the Easter service at the Cathedral.

We're hoping by this time next year they will

be with us for Easter in New Zealand!

I can hardly wait!

I hope you all enjoy your day with

Family

and

Friends

I'm joining Karen for her last

Sunlit Sunday

for this year

Thank you Karen

I'm also joining Judith for Mosaic Monday

and

Bernideen for her BTTCG party

Thank you both for hosting!

Take care and

be kind to one another

à bientôt

Shane

Moments in my Week

This is the pretty card my friend Rose
sent for my birthday.
A heart shaped garland of hydrangea flowers,
gypsophila and berries.

My new watch - a present to myself!

I'm relishing every bloom my rose gives me
as Autumn approaches.
In past years I've had roses until the end of May.

The April copy of New Zealand House and Garden
and
a packet of yummy salted caramels from 
France.

Early morning walk on Kohimaramara beach.


I'm joining 
Amy for Five on Friday
Karen for Sunlit Sunday
Judith for Mosaic Monday
Bernideen for BTTCG
and
Stephanie for Roses of Inspiration 


Thank you for your comments

Take care and
be kind to one another

à bientôt




Shane

Our delightful French Gîte and Garden

I found these photos in one of my 'France' folders.

I had forgotten about them

however they are perfect to tie in with the

parties I'm linking to this week!

I can't remember if I told you that I organised a gîte to rent

for our time in France last June/July.

The family have been doing major renovations

so we thought it best that we had our own retreat!

It was within walking distance of the family and as

you can imagine there was much excitement and 

toing and froing with the girls!


The house was built in the 1700's

it had two staircases inside

which indicates part of it was probably a barn

originally.

This photo is of another barn on the west side of

the house.

You can just see the ping pong table on the right,

this was our entertainment each afternoon!

The girls had wonderful fun exploring

every nook and cranny in the house.


It was a very comfortable house to stay in

 and well stocked with books and music CDs.

The elderly owners were originally from England

and lived there for several years.

Sadly they have both died but the house is still

in the family.

They befriended my daughter and kindly lent

her books to read in english.

I'm joining Karen for Sunlit Sunday
Judith for Mosaic Monday
Stephanie for Roses of Inspiration
Bernideen for BTTCG
and
Jess for The Art of Homemaking Monday

Thank you for your visits and comments

Take care and
be kind to one another.

à bientôt




Shane

Sunlit days France and Australia

My first two photos are especially for you Karen!
She is little Snowball my son's cat
whom I looked after before the 

great move across the Tasman Sea to
Australia!

Hard to tell in a photo but she has the

most amazingly silky black coat.

I felt so sorry for her in the heat

when we were there at Christmas.

She has adapted well to living in a foreign land

however, I've heard a rumour she might be coming

back to her real home one day in the future!

Another beautiful cafe at a crossroads in France

bathed in glorious sunshine!

What could be nicer than enjoying a cup of tea/coffee

surrounded by roses!

Evening Primrose.

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

Thank you ladies for hosting your fun parties!

I'm sorry this is a very hurried post
before I leave for work!

Do you remember I told you on Friday
that we were having friends for dinner on Saturday.

Yesterday I was too exhausted to
even spend time on my computer!
I languished between bed and couch
and nibbled little left overs from Saturdays dinner!

Thank you for your visits

Take care

and be kind to one another

à bientôt

Shane