Bye bye August

August was a good month - the last 4 weeks of the school holidays. We saw Beya (as she has started to call herself) walking more and more and Sam patiently teaching her. And Sam is quite the pro on his super sporty scooter. We haven't done a lot these holidays with Scott working non-stop but it's been nice and relaxing spending the holidays at home seeing friends and family. 

p.s the wood added to the bottom of the barn door was put there to stop Bella from crawling into the workshop to see Scott :)

Flower girl

Bella picks most of the flowers in the garden. I wish she would pick the dead heads instead. Yesterday, she picked pansy flowers and said "give to daddy" and practically ran in the house to find Scott. She loves to pick  unripe strawberries too. Never mind :)

Lately...

Rain, sun and even hail. We seem to have had all kinds of weather this summer. I think Sam is going to have shock when he goes back to school next week. He seems to think he is his daddy's assistant. The other day when we were off to the lake, I told him to get in the car and he replied "mummy, I have to work!"....oh, ok then!

Summer bunting

We were treated to dinner by Scott's mum the night before Saranne went back home. The village was decorated in bunting giving it a great 'fete' atmosphere. Lovely evening :)

Lunch in Limoges

Lunch in Limoges yesterday with nana and auntie Saranne before we visited the aquarium. Sam and Bella were a little overexcited watching the pigeons. They don't get out much : )They loved the aquarium. Sam watched the sharks in awe, while Bella squealed a high pitched "fish!" despite the 'please by quiet' signs.

Dinosaurs

And a few other animals mixed in there too. Poor Thomas got ambushed as well.

Sam is on his way to the airport with Scott to pick up Auntie Saranne and Nana on the plane*. Auntie Saranne is here for 5 days and Nana on the plane for 10 days :)

* About a year ago Sam decided to distinguish his two Nana's  (my mum and Scott's mum) by calling Scott's mum 'Nana on the plane' as she lives in the UK and sometimes comes by plane and my mum is 'Nana on the boat' because she used to have a boat. She no longer has a boat but I think these names will always stick!

Steak and frites night

We took steak and frites over to Lisa and Laurent's last night. They'd just driven back from the south of France so we offered to cook for them. The children were happy to see each other and within minutes were either in the pool or wet through from being splashed by whoever was in the pool. I should learn to take extra 

clothes!

Fog and blackberries

We woke to a thick fog yesterday. I could just see the sun trying to peek through the fog over the old bread oven.

In the afternoon I picked blackberries, risking getting run over on the corner in the road. It was waste of time as the pie I made for friends over for dinner last night was truly awful. Thanks Delia - maybe French blackberries are different from English ones!

Best friends

This is honestly how they are most of the time. Sam is such a sweet natured big brother. He has alot of patience and time for Bella and she repays him with cuddles. He introduces her to others as "my baby". I hope this loving behaviour lasts! They do have their 'spats' too, especially when Sam and Scott are trying to play a game of chess!

Beach happy

A lovely afternoon with a friend on the beach at our nearby lake. It's packed in August with a holiday resort atmosphere. Sam is so confident in the water now and Bella has no fear whatsoever. At one point she discreetly shuffled over to another patch to knock over someone else's sandcastles.

On another note, earlier this evening Sam out of the blue demanded to know "where does skin come from?" I had no idea how to answer this sudden question and he got very cross when I explained it started "in mummy's tummy" and that he was born with skin . But he wasn't satisfied with that. He liked the idea of asking Mr Google, but still I couldn't find a satisfactory answer. So if anyone out there would like to offer a 4 year old an explanation of where skin comes from, I'd be so grateful :)

Photos from our garden

Lots of photos from our garden. It's been a difficult year in the garden, what with the weather and a clingy baby who doesn't like to walk. It's more like a jungle, so I've come to the conclusion that I'll try harder next year. The silver lining is plants are flowering and re-flowering everywhere giving a wild feel to the garden, which does hide the weeds a little :)

The last photo are the mushrooms Scott and Sam found on a recent mushroom hunt. They came home with Cep de Bordeaux, Girolles and Birch Roughstalk. Scott cooked a lovely rice dish with them.