Love makes the world go round.....

Faith

Hope

  and

Love

and the greatest

of these is

Love

Later this evening I will draw the winner of
my Giveaway for
Vicki's
Grow Your Blog Party.

Bonne chance everyone!

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

My Favourite Tea Cups

If you are visiting from Vicki's Grow Your Blog party
my post and giveaway are here
My giveaway (see the side bar) is open to everyone
even if you aren't involved in the party
you are very welcome to enter - no strings attached!
Please click on the link above and leave your comment
on that post, thank you!

Today I'm sharing my beautiful blue

Spode Camille tea set 

handed down to me by my mother

you can see a previous post here

I'm joining Sandi's tea party at

Rose Chintz Cottage

to celebrate her five years of

Tea Time Tuesday!

I'm also joining my dear friend Stephanie
for her Tuesday party
Roses of Inspiration

and Jes for
The Art of Home Making Mondays

This is my favourite tea cup
because it holds so many

precious family memories of

time spent when friends popped in...

to enjoy a good old chin wag (chat)

catching up on each family's news

while sipping tea.

What could be nicer?!

Mother used these sweet cups every day

for both tea and coffee.

I've always loved the simple little flowers

that make up the pattern.

I can't remember what they are called...

maybe you can remind me!

A tea party wouldn't be any fun

without some friends to share

now would it?

I baked a gingerbread cake

and added crystallised ginger to the icing

which the bears love!

Do please pop over to
Sandi, Stephanie and Jes's blogs
and see what everyone is posting

it's fun!

 Thank you for visiting and I so

appreciate your kind comments!

Welcome

to my new followers.

Take care and

 be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

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

Beatrix Potter's Art

Wishing all my dear friends a 

Happy New Year

2015

I found this sweet 'New Year' card 

drawn by one of my favourite artists and writers

Beatrix Potter.

We had a wonderful Christmas

with my son and his partner who live in the country.

They cooked a turkey with all the trimmings!

My contribution was to make our starter

of smoked salmon with a cucumber salad 

and a trifle with all the berries...

yes raspberries, strawberries and loganberries!

Remember it is summer on my side of the world

so it was a beautifully warm day.

Many New Zealand families have now opted

to have a barbecue with salads as their Christmas meal.

However for me Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas

without the traditional fare of roast turkey

cranberry sauce and all the trimmings!

I created this collage from the images

in one of my favourite books

Beatrix Potter A Journal.

Speaking of rabbits
Suzy of Rustic Vintage Country
is having a delightful rabbit
Giveaway here

I'm joining Karen of My Little Home and Garden

for Sunlit Sunday

it's so nice to be joining you for Season 4 Karen - thank you!

and

Judith of Lavender Cottage

for

Mosaic Monday
and
Stephanie of The Enchanting Rose
for
Roses of Inspiration
a new weekly party each Tuesday.
Do come over and join us!

I've enjoyed a break and had a much needed rest.

Today was my first day back at work -

so here we go again!

I'm looking forward to catching up with you all.

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

Giveaway Winner and Pierre de Ronsard Rose

My new rose

Pierre de Ronsard

is giving me so much pleasure.

I planted it at the end of last summer

and it has now reached to the top of the archway!

It's just as I anticipated it would be

only better!

I'll show you more photos soon.

Now to the winner of my 

French Market Sac

Giveaway

          Random number generation / Random Numbers

Generate a random number between and  = 25 CONGRATULATIONS Pamela of the lovely blog http://playingwithmycamera.blogspot.com/ Pamela, please email me with your details! Thank you to everyone who entered. Take care and be kind to one another Merci à bientôt Shane