Thursday, May 25, 2017

I am on overdrive~














You know..from the time the crabapples came to bloom..to today..it's really been  less than 2 weeks?

10 days?

It seems like soooo long ago because everything happens at once here now..

I have seen the lilacs come..and almost go..the LOTV almost come and go..

Why so fast?  Relax..take your time these blooms of mine..

I am finding that I have a revived thrive:)  If that is a word for our gardens..

do I see the end coming sooner than later for me because of our ages?

Health?

I don't know.

But I am primping more..than the last 6 yrs.

I have always loved making small bouquets..this yr is no exception..~

With each early bouquet..even if I do not remember my mom as a gardener..it's her everywhere I look♥

Have I told you that I love my chickens?
My 2 girls?
Bécassine and Caramelle?
They follow me in the gardens and I LOVE that..
I pick them up..they hunker down as Alain said so well..and I bring them back in their pretty coop..
And one day I just CALLED them in..

but today?

Oh lala..they meandered into a bed and DUG..I do like that action of theirs..but not when they dig up..my DAHLIA tubers..oh no girls..!!
They got picked up and brought in for time outs LOL:)

I have an easy cake recipe for you at the end..that uses the same weight in EGGS..don't tell the girls  ;)as the other ings..

good! and plain and simple and fun to dress up w/ home made rhubarb jam etc..

OK..now..do you see the yarn? And the hooks?
IHAVETOLEARNNOW.
Susan and Linda.. and Diane at the beach..and Mary Pat at the beach..they make these FANTASTIC dishcloths..

I have to..
So you see the stuff?
Now what lol..

And the shoes..

my fake Toms..

I went to Michaels twice this week..

NOT a good idea;)

On one visit..I spotted $7.00 white canvas shoes..and I had a coupon..

I cannot leave anything alone;)

Now for some reason I want more blank shoes.:)

And for the recipe..of the cake..:)

It is so easy..all ings are weighed..according to the weight of the eggs!

Weigh the eggs..4

add the same amount of sugar and butter that has been melted and cooled..and flour and the sachet of 11 g of LEVURE CHIMIQUE..which he says is facultatif..optional.

I had such envelopes..from here..

it means baking powder..and I wonder..

look here...

anyway it worked here..


So what do  my expert bakers think?


OMG Max turns ten in the next  imminent time..

How on earth did that happen?

Have a great weekend..

Rain in the forecast here..



P.S.  Did you watch the Finale of CTM?
Tears.

My next shoes will be macarons;)















63 comments:

  1. All the bouquets are so pretty .. and the silver vase is stunning..

    ReplyDelete
  2. I so wish I was your neighbor! I can just imagine how much fun it would be to share time in a garden or a trip to Michaels. Ha! I adore your shoes. White canvas shoes at Michaels. I'm going to go see tomorrow. Perhaps I will ask one of my friends here who paint. What a fun idea! I'm going to share it with them. Wish I had a slice of cake now. My sweet tooth is kicking in just looking at your photo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be lovely!
      Sarah don't expect quality shoes☺️And no half sizes..I am a 7.5. So..8 too big 7 snug bought 7.
      I can see CCs for you!You could do them!.
      Idid have a pair of very cheap canvas slip ons that were snug..they stretched and I literally wore them to the bone.
      Have a perfect weekend Sarah!

      Delete
  3. Oh, my goodness, your shoes are WONDERFUL! Your spring bouquets are delightful... I especially love the one in the beautiful silver teapot. I have a weakness for old silver. ha! Sweet photograph of Max! Cake looks delicious! And, I love that your "girls" follow you around (except when they are in time out for the dahlia incident. lol.). So excited you are giving crochet a try! Have fun!! blessings ~ tanna

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tanna .. I stayed up till past 11 in bed..I know that must be an oxymoron..trying to get the knack of enabling some sort of tension with my non dominant hand..what a failure..s..my fingers even reassign positions lol..I get the chain..it's the manipulation that seems to escape me..I have looked at many videos of how to hold your yarn and none have worked😔I will keep at it like a bulldog with a pant leg.
      I don't even aspire to crochet pedestalhood I just want piles of cute dishcloths lol for here and my girls..which I am not even sure they will obsess with like I am doing!
      My kind of treasures.
      My mom's silver of course..and I am with you..love the old.
      I can just imagine the shoes you could make!
      Have a nice weekend!

      Delete
  4. Everything is so pretty in your world. You have a true artist's eye. Love the shoes and the antique silver.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not pretty today!!
      Rain..chilly..gloomy..but I will watch Bloodline tonight:)Season Premeiere Netflix..have you watched that show?:)Thanks Penny!!

      Delete
  5. You are a busy bee Monique. Has to be the season or, in fact, it is just you being you. All great. What a beautiful gold bow vase. Storms here this weekend too. Every Memorial Day. I just hope no baseball sized hail like they predict. I can't get my truck in the garage. Have a fun weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you don't get hail!!

      Happy MD weekend Donna:)

      Delete
  6. Morning!!
    Your story about your girls is too funny...naughty Hens!!
    Your bouquets are inspiring...so lovely...and with the purpose of remembering your Mom ♥️
    Those shoes are adorable...will you wear them at the beach??? I would never have thought of painting them!! I think i need a white pair...
    You will get the crochet...as I said...the cotton is not as smooth as yarn...perhaps try practising with some yarn...might help with the tension.
    Very cloudy and gloomy here this morning...must get organized and get on the road...
    Bonne weekend..
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)
    ps...those dishcloths make a wonderful prop...just as you thought!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use it ALL the time now!
      Seems I am always cleaning something in the kitchen..was up late last night..yawn:)

      Have fun Linda.. not sure what the weather will do here..

      so funny I just visited you:)
      I am sure I'll wear them out to the beach..or do I need shore birds LOL?

      Delete
    2. OH yes... Paint a pair with Shorebirds! How fun....

      Delete
  7. I know EXACTLY how you feel. Some of my favorite blooms are gone too quickly. Scilla, LOTV, Peonies (usually from the rain right after they are full and beautiful), flowering trees such as our magnolia. Gone TOO FAST! You should frame some of those lovely photos and put them on your baker's rack to enjoy them longer :) I think I would really enjoy that cake with the rhubarb jam. I need to make rhubarb jam when I don't know what to do with the rest of my rhubarb :) Oh my, you are going to learn to crochet? I can help! My mother taught me ♥ I have to get through this weekend first. Boys are coming for a sleepover and swimming Saturday. The whole family on Sunday. Keep sunny thoughts for us and I'll return the favor :-) If only The Girls would know enough to peck out the weeds and not your dahlias! Time out - LOL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wish I could help with the baking powder question. Clueless. Hopefully, one of your French followers will help!

      Delete
    2. Have FUN!!!
      I wish we still had a pool..just for the Littles!
      So I made yet another French recipe w/ self-raising flour..it worked..:)

      LOL..it rained today.when I went to gather my eggs(I love when I write that)..they bickered to come out..

      Hello..? Time out..no way José.:)

      Delete
  8. You have enjoyed some gorgeous flowers this spring - and your bouquets are perfection. You have a gift, well many gifts, but arranging flowers is one! I love that your girls follow you around. One of our neighbors has chickens and started a blog about them. They love their little hens too. LOVE the shoes - and I can see many more in your future. Have a lovely weekend Monique!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your blossoms are beautiful and I love your painted shoes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want to make a pair for everyone but not everyone would love!

      Delete
  10. What a beautiful post .....love it all ...love Ria x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ♥ You are always so considerate and thoughtful and sweet.

      Delete
  11. I didn't know you had chickens how fun! and your lilac and LOTV are just so pretty it is such a shame that they are gone too soon, but it looks like you are really enjoying your spring :)
    Have a great weekend

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do have chickens!Very misbehaved yesterday lol..will let them out tomorrow..too rainy today😩

      Delete
  12. I just looked through your pics again and realized that I missed that you painted your shoes, so much fun, they're great

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michael's shoes so much fun to do!
      Spring has been better..like last yr..but I take hat I can get..just seeing everything grow is such a miracle..

      Hope..all around..hope❤️

      Delete
  13. Your photos are their own work of art. Your painted shoes...you are one of a kind. Get a patent on these.

    I am so wanting to learn to crochet. Let me know how you do. I'm up to my neck in this and that, maybe I should wait until fall!

    The 'girls' are so fun! I'd love to live on a farm. Of course I'd have help. Lots of it...

    Jane xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jane..Hapy MD weekend..well I am dragging my ball and hook everywhere in the house..to try and make time.
      I have restaerted at least 50 times..I ca't get the tension thing going..so the stitches are too loose ..to tight and that makes continuing difficult..it messes it all up..I have not gone pastt row 2.I was going to go to a Michaels Open House but I am babysitting..maybe Noah can show me how:)

      I am trying to follow Jayda In Stitches..the easy dishcloth lol;)

      Not sure about the patent..maybe leather:) :):)

      Delete
  14. I am not sure what happens with time, but it melts away and disappears with the snap of a finger it seems! Your blooms so beautiful. Love the Frida pillow. Your lovenote to your mum. If I could wave a magic wand it would be to give you one more day, hug, kiss, conversation . . . your hens so sweet! I love that you give them times out. I would love hens too, have always wanted them, but I don't think we could cope with the work at the moment. Your shoes. Sooooo cute! Can't wait to see the macarons and that cake. It's right up my alley! (Oh and with that rhubarb jam, c'est tres tres bon! I can almost taste it. with a dollop of clotted cream. Summer in a dish. Love and hugs and bon weekend! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Bon Weekend! I am just about to go see your pull apart cinnamon swirl bread:)

      The girls..lol troublemakers..they will be out today..I do love having them..and as you know they are Snowbirds:)

      Delete
    2. And the pillow is from WISH..you have to wait 3 months ..but I was super impressed w/ this cover.Her face:)

      Delete
    3. I have never heard of Wish. I will have to check it out! I am always learning something new from you! xo

      Delete
    4. My hairdresser told me..she had the cutest boots..she is like a little elf she's so adorable..:)
      Takes so long to get here..but look how cute that linene pillow cover is.. w/ zipper too!

      Delete
  15. CTM -- Call the Midwife? Oh, if that's what you mean, yes, tears. Barbara's wedding dress so beautiful, the whole story line, the family with the kids...I was worried Vi had something going on apart from her menopause (that was a relief). I heard they started the next season filming -- can't wait.

    I love your arrangements. I do the same and probably will this weekend. And I'll arrange in anything from a drinking glass to a regular vessel and if I don't have handy flowers, bushes and ground cover come into play! Funny, the teapot because I did similar with my lilies of the valley this week!

    Adore your cute shoes and dÓrsay sign. Michael's has all sorts of sales and coupons this week. Maybe I'm due for a visit. Like I need another art supply like a hole in the head.

    Replied to your email and also to your blog comment. Did you get either one?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NOthing!!! Nothing came:(

      What's the prob here?
      Oyoyoy..

      yes coupons galore..

      I am going to go..I think..lol

      I succumbed to Jane Davenport this week..Blush

      I am like you..I need nothing..but they are toys for me.
      And if it keeps me inspired..and joyfyful inside..I guess I won't stop..then can have a hen house sale when I am gone..;)
      This time of yr is the summit for hope no?

      The d'Orsay sing was at my brocante last Sat..$5.00..of course I had to tell the man about my Paris trip..lol..

      ADORE the show..and J does too!

      Delete
    2. I am so frustrated about the email thing. First of all, I love replying to comments so I'm not sure why that isn't coming through. Will you add my address -- jeanie@wkar.org to your address book and see if that helps?

      Also, I will be picking up Rick in Quebec City August 9 and we'll stay a day or two. I'm looking at B&B's for while we are there but didn't know if you had any recommendations. We'll need to be somewhere close to bus or mass transportation lines, since I'll fly in and we'll take the train back to London where my friend lives and I'm leaving my car. I've just started doing research on things happening then or must-do things and would love any recommendations. We'll keep trying!

      Delete
    3. Added!

      Let's see if that worked..

      I will email you w/ some info:)

      Delete
  16. So much to love here.
    Love on overdrive!, especoally the hen house!!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow! Spring, such a time of movement and activity! Cool temperatures too... Love your experiences with your "girls"...your garden...yarn...painted shoes...apple blossoms (just beautiful here, it's as if I never saw them before!) Your Lilies of the Valleys, so pretty in that pot!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spring..is overdrive..ovehope..over humble.
      What miracles popping up everywhere.
      Mother Nature..at it's best w/ fall:)

      Delete
  18. I also love that you feel your mother's presence...I understand that. Lovely...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My son-in-law lost his mom last week..

      he mentioned to me that it felt so strange that she is nowhere..on this visual planet..I get it I said..since I am 19.
      How lucky people are to have their moms in their 40's and 50and 60's..all those yrs of having their presence known:)
      I quite like the way he put it..so naturally and simply..

      Delete
  19. Dear Nana, what lovely pictures!
    My favourite is ... the fake Tom shoes!
    I just love them.
    Thank you gor the cske receipt.
    Wish you a great weekend!
    Ah! I almost forgot to say crocheting is a very easy, cheap pleasure. You must learn.
    Hugs
    Nina

    ReplyDelete
  20. Spring has certainly arrived at your neck of the woods and you are making such beautiful bouquets from what you have in the garden. Most everything you have is gone here and I'm waiting for the peonies to bloom (and hoping it does not pour and flatten them o the ground). I love your shoes! So talented you are. The cake looks great too. Even some berries and whipped cream would go nicely with it. What size pan did you use and how long did you bake it? Hope you are enjoying the weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am gardening non stop..yesterday J said it looks like we have a paid gardener❤️☺️😘
      I must admit...I am non stopping it.If I sit down..it hurts to get up.
      You know..I put some calendula seeds in pots and they were up in like 2 days so I did more today..except I thought I would remember what I put where..😕So I have been thinking of u!
      I made a very easy cake yesterday..similar in a smaller springform and used self raising flour..instead of the levure from France and that's the answer.I sliced it in half..put jam..topped then icing sugar..no butter in the recipe though..3 tbsp of oil so drier.
      Will post..
      Right now I would have to say I love my gardens.Nothing formal..but I love them.
      Sounds bad I know..but I have been putting my heart and soul into them.Lost many huge bleeding hearts..first time ever though..empty spots..
      Peonies are in buds..the sun after the rain makes everything sparkle!!!I hope you are loving your beautiful gardens too!And the weekend!

      Delete
  21. I love all your pictures Monique but those Lilies of the Valley just have me smitten. I grew up loving them but it's too hot here in NC. I miss them! Looks like a fantastic, beautiful spring you're having!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually spring has been crappy lol..forgive the word..but give me a sunny day after the rai when everything sparkles and everything is primped and you would think I lived in Eden.
      NC has soooo much!A beautiful climate for one!Hope you are having a nice MD weekend!

      Delete
  22. The lilacs are beautiful! Love your chicken coop too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Busy as a bee. How special to have your Mom's silver. The fresh flowers look fabulous! Love your. Love your canvas shoes. What a gift you have, in more ways than one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure about a gift;) But very very nice of you to say..makes a dreary day..nicer:)Thanks Linda!

      Delete
  24. I love, love, love the shoes…they are so you. Everyone is going to want to know where you got them and wait till they find that you did them yourself. :D And those blossoms, just lovely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We were doing errands yesterday and I was able to get two more size 7's:)
      I have worn them and they stretch just right..so my 7.5..is ok in a 7:)
      Thank you Karen..

      Delete
  25. I just adore your ramblings M. And the chicken amid the flower bed. Too precious! Can't recall if it was this episode or the one prior but it did give me a giggle as did the image of the little cluckers following you around. My Lily of the Valley are long finished but next year please remind me to not only cut the tiny flowers but the foliage as well. It makes all the difference in how they look in a vase or container.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But not all the foliage or you can't see the forest for the trees..I hope that is the expression!I make sure there are way more fowers:)

      Well my girls have a life of their own now and turned into teenagers w/an attitude..they wander..into bushes too eat bugs and such..still..I hope to have chickens all my life..well snowbird chickens;)

      Take care A!

      Delete
  26. I'm so glad I switched on my my laptop this morning, what a wonderful post, the best ever. Full of beauty flowers & fun. Just adore your cute canvas painted shoes & now your adding another string to your bow, learning to crochet. I was lucky I had my mum to teach me when I was a little girl. I remember the tension thing was my downfall, you will get the hang of it soon, says me , who hasn't attempted to crochet for years & years. Along with other followers, I wish you were my neighbour, we could share so much. Not too long now & I will be in my new home, I can't wait.

    ReplyDelete
  27. LOL at your 'girls' digging up the dahlia! They do like to get in the dirt and take dirt baths, you'll need to find them a spot for it.... Love those painted shoes. Have you had a chance to wear them yet?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Sorry I deleted a comment. I try not to get political on the blog community and got carried away. We are traveling in the near future to France through Madrid. Sorry for the attacks in Barcelona. In spite of everything that is crazy in our country, we are still hopeful that most of the world is sane. Love visiting your peaceful place in the world Monique.

    ดูหนังออนไลน์

    ReplyDelete