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

Reflecting on the year that was...

JANUARY
We travelled down country to visit my 96y old Aunt.
Passing Mt Ruapehu on the Central Plateau and
Lake Taupo.

FEBRUARY

I made Miss Maggie Rabbit for Miss Jessie's 3rd birthday!

MARCH
Sunshine on my kitchen window sill, a visit to the
countryside to see our son and sweet Snowball in the garden.

APRIL
A card from my bloggy friend Joanna, Anzac Day and
Magazines from my Swap partner Deborah.

MAY
A visit to Nancy Steen Rose Garden to meet another bloggy friend
Patricia who gave me a gorgeous red wooden bird necklace.

JUNE
Off on the huge Emirates bird to Ireland and France! 

Blarney Castle - yes we managed to kiss the stone!

JULY
The ancient village of Nemours.

AUGUST
My three granddaughters out walking. The school fair and Jessie
always skipping or running!

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER
My visit to the Laduree shop in Paris - delicious!

NOVEMBER
Horrific bombings in Paris.

DECEMBER
Christmas in Australia with our son.


I wonder what's ahead for all of us this year?

Take care dear friends and
be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

Hyacinths on my window sill

I walked into my kitchen this morning

and found the sunshine spilling on to my window sill!

I grabbed my camera and snapped a couple of quick photos

as the weather has been dull and rainy the last few days.

My dear friend Jennie popped in for a cup of tea on Friday

and she had her lovely spoodle Annie with her.

We heard a noise and Annie had been sick on the carpet...

Jennie was very upset - I wasn't worried as our carpet has

seen better days and we will be replacing it later this year.

( Two days later the stain is still on the carpet, I remember hearing somewhere to put 

a couple of drops of glycerine on a stain and then polish it off

using a cloth with a little white vinegar on it)

If anyone has a good remedy I would be grateful 

it's a fairly large brown mark with an orange tinge - from her food presumably)

Jen rang me on Saturday to say she was popping in!

When she arrived she gave me this heavenly pink Hyacinth...

She said Annie had asked her to pop into the garden centre

and buy it for me, to make up for her oopsie on Friday!!!

Snowball Update

Dear Snowball has arrived safely in Australia.
As you know I was very anxious about her travelling
so far on her own.
My friends told me about an iPhone app called Flight Radar.
I typed in her flight number and miraculously
her aeroplane appeared on the screen,
she was flying across Bass Strait at the bottom of Australia.
Now I felt she was no longer on her own!

At the same time my son was driving to Melbourne
from the country area where he lives.
I was able to keep him informed as to her progress!

He arrived at the airport moments after Snowball's
plane touched down. Customs took a couple of hours
to process everything and once she was released
she was on the back seat of the car
purring her little heart out!

He has sent me photos via Whatsapp
but I'm having difficulty transferring them to my PC.
All's well that ends well!

   !!!

I'm joining Karen for Sunlit Sunday

Thank you Karen - I've enjoyed taking part over the

last three months and I'm sorry this is the last for a while!

I'm also joining Judith for Mosaic Monday

and 

Jess for The Art of Homemaking Monday

Stephanie for Roses of Inspiration

Eileen for Saturday Critters

Thank you ladies for hosting your interesting parties.

Thank you for your sweet comments on my Snowball posts!

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

Sunny Days with Snowball

I told you about little "Snowball" in a recent post

She is our son's cat and she has been our

VIP guest for a few weeks.

On Thursday she will fly to Melbourne and join him

and start her new life there.

Needless to say, I will miss her enormously. 

I have warned her about the snakes in Australia

I am worried in that regard, however she is a very intelligent

little girl and I'm sure she will work things out.

As you can see my garden has the first signs of Autumn tones

the gorgeous greeny/pink hydrangeas are turning darker

and becoming quite papery.

I've picked armfuls over summer and given bunches

to everyone who pop in.

My Pierre de Ronsard rose no longer has the beautiful

fat tight buds she had in early summer,

the flowers are softer and more blowsy

even so they are

exquisite

and still take my breath away

what do you think?

Little rays of sunshine to be found in my garden, so

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

Snowball - our gorgeous feline visitor...

In the last post I told you all about my best friend visiting

we've had another VIP staying for the last three weeks

her name is Snowball - Snow for short.

As you can see she is a beauty with jet black fur

and emerald green eyes! 

She has been confined to the house until this weekend

when we let her roam outside for short stints

she was in 'cat heaven', sniffing and looking at everything,

not a single leaf went unnoticed!

Karen, I thought you would appreciate seeing

some photos of Snow - you can show them to Cameo!

Snow belongs to our son and has been living in the

maize paddock, hunting day and night.

She isn't the friendliest girl in the world, however

she is gradually learning to trust us.

Sadly Snow and our son are moving to Melbourne soon

and we will miss them both dearly.

I've enjoyed Snow's company and antics 

while she has been with us...

she waits on the stairs for me every morning, and

YES

she has wormed her way into my heart.

c'est la vie!

This morning I had a little wander around the garden

and took some photos - it was sunny but it's quite hard

to see in these photos - apart from the pansies!

I'm joining Karen for Sunlit Sunday

and

Judith for Mosaic Monday

Thank you both for hosting these parties!

Welcome to my new followers and

thank you all for your comments,

I'll be catching up on your blogs this week!

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

June Note Cards & Vicki's Giveaway

The 3rd Wednesday of the month is

traditionally

Vee's Note Card Party.

So in due fashion I prepared my little post

with a cat and bird theme - a little weird I know...

but my grandies will love these note cards!

So tonight I popped over to Vee's blog

to check that I have the right date

only to find that the next

Note Card Party isn't happening

until September......

Oh well I decided to go ahead and share mine anyway!

Vee probably told us about her plan

and I just wasn't listening that day!

Vee, I don't blame you for taking time out over Summer

and I hope you enjoy your break!

Well dear friends pop over to Vee's blog anyway

and see what she is up to.

She has an awesome sense of humour

and is always a fun person to catch up with!

Just a little reminder about Vicki's amazing

Giveaway

you only have a few days left to join in

here is the link

the draw is on Saturday 21st June!

Take care and 

be kind to one another

  Merci à bientôt

Shane x

Grey furry visitors.....

Hello dear friends

we've got new neighbours

and recently they jumped over the fence

to say hello!

Isn't he just so handsome

sadly he hasn't got a collar

 so I don't know what his name is.

We haven't replaced our last cat

as we are bird lovers.

I still like cats but decided I would like to encourage

birds into my garden.

I feed them daily and enjoy their company.

It's fascinating watching their antics

especially when they are playing

in the bird bath!

Each time I'm weeding the garden

a little Blackbird visits

waiting for me to unearth a worm or two!

He/she is very tame and obviously

feels safe around me.

I don't want to lose my feathered friend.

So here's my dilemma

I think all cats should have a collar with

their name and their owners phone number

and most importantly

a bell attached

 to alert the local birds of their presence.

What are your thoughts?

I'm linking to Michelle for Grey Dey Thursdey 

and

Kim for Little Things Thursday

Thank you everyone for your visits and comments

and welcome to my new followers

it's lovely to meet you!

À bientôt 

be kind to one another

Shane ♥