In reverse

She isn't quite riding a bike, far from it but she did crawl across the bathroom backwards - well sort of tummy shuffled, but it's a start! Anyway, Bella - when you're older and reading this, I can say that you were extremely pleased with yourself. You wobbled your head like you do when you're all excited.

La rentrée

I can't believe Sam will be starting his 2nd year at the "maternelle" next week. His 1st year went so well. He loves it and it has done wonders for his French vocab. They start at 2 in France if you want them to. He goes to a lovely, small village school and all the small ones do is play really, eat and sleep! He says he is looking forward to starting again next week and seeing all his little French friends. I have a million and one things to catch up on with my spare time (and one baby) but I know I'll feel lost without him.

These are photos of market day in Montmorillon where we met family for coffee and went for lunch at the creperie :)

Flowers from my boy

It was the sweetest gesture from my 3 year old. Picking flowers on the way back from his nana's house for me. I was waiting for him at the front door...I could hear him giggling down the road and then he appeared at the gate with one arm behind his back...and then presented me with a little bouquet..."for you maman". I don't think it gets any better than that :)

This moment

Who's a big girl?, originally uploaded by andrea hornbuckle.

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
Wishing you a lovely weekend!

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The beach

I just love the way a 5 minute drive to the lake provides so much happiness. (This week the added bonus of Auntie Saranne visiting).

Sam knows this place now and automatically runs to the slide (the "wee" as he calls it), then the swing followed by a play in the sand and a paddle.

And I love the way I can put Bella anywhere and she immediately gets busy with her close surroundings. In this instance sand.

Harvest Time Part One

We've been busy the last couple of weeks picking fruit, tomatoes, potatoes, chillies etc and also busy freezing them and storing them. The potato harvest was particulary successful and will hopefully see us through well into next year. The tomatoes are happily growing in abundance in the green house and the freezer is getting full.

Unfortunately, there are no walnuts to be seen or plums for that matter. Possibly due to a late frost. I was looking forward to making cookies and brownies with the walnuts. There are still many mirabelles on the trees which the wasps and hornets are feasting on - if I wasn't so scared of them (a hornet landed on Bella the other day - naturally I freaked out and Scott ran to the rescue!) I would have picked many more...never mind.

Anyway, we are getting better at this year by year - our 4th year now. If I was more prepared I would research preserving things a bit better than just freezing them. Definately next year!

Spiderman

Spiderman, you have a lot to answer for!

Sam is having a huge spiderman obession. He can sing the theme tune from the old cartoon series, he does all the hand-web actions and now he has started wearing him too. Even though it is summer, he will not take his spiderman woolly hat off (thank you grandparents!), but joking aside Spiderman has actually helped us.

Sam is scared of water (probably originates from us shouting "careful" too many times). Usually, when we visit the pool he prefers to walk around the perimeter without getting his feet so much as wet. However, we thought it was time to try out arm bands what would you know - we found Spiderman ones and swimming pants to boot! The transformation was remarkable. He is now jumping in the pool and trying his hardest to swim. Even getting his hair wet!

Thank you Spiderman :))

Posting day

Twice a week I do the journey to town to post the items I've sold. Occasionally, I have no other errands to do so I take a walk around the town - a path which takes you by the river Creuse. It is so peaceful and so many old crumbly houses to admire.

It seems a shame to drive all this way and not spend a little time taking in some fresh air and the views.

This moment

Gotcha!, originally uploaded by andrea hornbuckle.

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.


Following SouleMama.

Horses on the run

Horses on the run, originally uploaded by andrea hornbuckle.

Today, I was sitting quietly working at my computer when I heard galloping outside. This isn't unusual, but there was something random about the noise.

I ran outside to see 3 of the neighbours horses running past the house unattended and then into another neighbours garden!

They did seem happy to be free for probably not too long.

Fun in the Orchard

Keeping on top of the gardening is a job I don't do well. Keeping on top of the flower beds, the veg plots, grass cutting with 2 children and a bunch of other weekly jobs is just about impossible.

We forget about the poor orchard. It is across the road, through a little wooden gate and up a teeny path. When we bought our house 4 years ago, we weren't told it came with an orchard until we signed on the dotted line. It was a nice surprise - full of fruit trees such as pear, quince, cherries, plums, figs, grapes etc

We spent some time over in the orchard at the weekend, picking fruit and tidying up and made time for a little play too. Sam running through the 'long' grass and Bella - well, Bella trying to eat the grass as usual! Must go over there more often. x

2 CV Races

The 2 CV races are advertised every year in our village and we have never been until this year. This year we decided to go mainly because we wanted to take Sam to see "racing cars". It was at a track which I never knew existed until today - 5 minutes away!

It was great fun and Sam, of course wanted to go in one of the 2 CVs immediately. 2 tantrums ensued; 1) when he couldn't race around the track and 2) when we had to leave....embarrasing!

It was fun however and we'll definately be back next year, now we know the race track is there :)

Brocanting

Antique watering can, originally uploaded by andrea hornbuckle.

It's all been about brocanting today. I'll be sad when summer is over and the brocante season is over.

This moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Following SouleMama.

He's only gone and got it....

At last!

We bought Sam a bike for his birthday in May. Pedalling was proving difficult and he just didn't want to try...until today. It finally clicked and off he sped around the village looking very pleased with himself.

Well done Sam!

Messiness and Creativeness

Just a bit of messiness today. Sam doesn't like just to paint and draw - he prefers to get all his cars and run them through the paint. In addition, several bowls of water are requested and tinged various colours from the paint - which are then all mixed up and inevitably spilled and spread everywhere. A little play doh is mixed in too somewhere along the line. Hence, why I ask him to do all this on the picnic bench.

And a couple of new things Bella has started to do today. She has started waving back at people (i.e. me!) and we have been practising passing the spoon - I ask her to pass me the spoon and she passes it over to me. Nothing major, but all these little advances are special and I love them :)

Cash card, check, chequebook, check...

What a rubbish day! I drove 40 minutes to my mum's house to drop the children off and then another 30 minutes to the supermarket only to realise I didn't have the cash card. I could've screamed but luckily however I did have the chequebook.......but no ID! In France, most shops ask for photo ID if you pay by cheque.

It was just one of those days.

Anyway, I found 10 euros at the bottom of my bag and spend it in the brocante :)