Provence♥ Watercolors etc..

Provence..

Has proved to be such an affair of the heart for me.

We went in 2008..briefly..went back almost 10 yrs later ,last yr..

And it only reinforced what I had felt in 2008.

If I could have picked one place to live 45 yrs ago..

..With what I know now...

It would have been Provence.

Peter Mayle ...
.Julia..
Van Gogh..  and here ..  there is such a feeling of peace and serenity there..hard to explain..

Cézanne..Frédéric Mistral..Ernest Hemingway..James Joyce..


The list goes on and on..they chose Provence at one point.

I have not been to many places..but out of all of my places..
This is it.





Here..in my Enchanted Cottage..only because we like to be on our own..and live a bit away from the madding crowd...this is my enchanted cottage.


If we were to build a house..this would be it.
If I was to start my gardens..(NO MAINTENANCE)
these would be them.
Of course finding an ancient quarry may be hard;)
And we are not moving God willing..and not building..
Also..

I love my Canada.I have great neighbours here.
Friendly people..cosmopolitan..the seasons..
First and foremost my family is here.


We came home to many many tomatoes..yay!!
Lots of zinnias..will cut shortly..
overgrown beds and long grass.

I have a load of laundry done..one to go..
I loved hand washing my linen there and hanging it up to dry:)
Even lots of other things;)

Jacques liked the washing machine..hang to dry .
Things just feel so nice and fresh.

For this trip..I started packing .. my art supplies..priorities:)
And they changed..the first pic is what I had decided upon..

And then..I switched up the the 2 ready made  journals and went with my own.
And then switched it again.

We left Sept 6th and returned yesterday.

Our home base was St-Rémy..
St-Rémy is a great town to call home base..
Lively enough for lively people and quiet enough for quiter people.
I have to tell you..the last 5 days..it was une Fete Foraine..!
The town takes on a whole different look..arcades and rides..Coney Island!
But more..Belmont Park..lol..

The old world charm  of that town is denaturalized in a heartbeat.
And streets have bars and cordons for bulls!

I filled my two journals ..when we would come home in the aft.I would make a small painting.
LOVED that.
I know I am a terrible plein air painter.Maybe if I sat somehwre for a long time..it would be different..but..
With a photo..I am happy sitting at home..painting that way:)

Some turned out a bit better than others..this is not my fave..but it's in the book ..the book that fell apart..I had glue gunned the spine..I may leave it loose..Or I may Zutter it;)

Our trees are still green!Fall is not full on at all here yet!

So..the markets, in Provence..♥And the baking has begun.

I am elated to write that although Jacques never comes to local brocante/tag sales ..he actually scopes them out for us and I get to see so many!
It's the life..the color..the variety..the joie de vivre..the care..attention and devotion that I adore.
And I guess he does too.
This is St-Rémy..♥

It is just right..
Just right gorgeous.

I admit to LOVING the Aix-En-Provence one too;)

But getting back to markets..and St-Rémy..

After EVERY market..almost..that we went to..and we went to many..the towns are town proud..♥ and the streets are washed to within an inch of their lives.
When vendors leave..they leave gracefully and respectfully..not a thing is amiss..but then the town steps in and completely Hoovers ..and car washes the streets to utter perfection.

After every market we had lunch on a terrasse..me who never eats out:) Well this made up for all the years lol..
lunch.. ate out..

dinner ..I nibbled olives at home;)

Homefront..in QC..  we start our Christmas Cakes early..

I rely on this one..it is different..it's Pierrette's recipe..a girl from work..I loved her baking..I loved her home..oh her home..you would not believe it....and she was always nice w/me...to me..very colorful..married to a physician in our small town..and she lost him a few years ago..:(
I must write to her this Christmas and tell her I made it again..

Her recipe makes enough for a 3 tier wedding cake..I half it and it makes 2 6 inch I think springform pans..
her recipe can be a tad confusing..it could be just me..yet it works every year:)
Still..I'll let you peruse your own Christmas Cake recipe as everyone's tastes are different.
The morning I made it..we had no electricity..the winds were howling..
so we went out in search of all my ings apart from te staples I always have on hand..
you need mixed fruit(I used dates,cranberries pineapple ,apricots  ..chopped and dry of course)..mixed peel..currants,golden raisins,sliced almonds,those cherries..  etc..as you can see in perusing recipes..they are all different.
I may try Mary Berry's next year.
Brandy.. pineapple juice....etc..
Personally..I HATE fruit cake..lol.Hohoho.
These are for Jacques.

We were also out looking for a new FAKE Christmas tree.

So we have had a few kinds over 45 yrs..

Real..not real..ugly..Charlie Brownish..Gaudy..and not.

I loved the real ones but there was no HOHOHO in putting it up..
or taking it out.
For the last 13 yrs..I have loved our pre-lit full and tall and actually magazine worthy tree,fake albeit..fake.

But it's huge..
the lights don't work anymore..
it weighs a ton even in sections..
and so the Hohoho had gone up and left.
I saw it coming..
We came home w/ a new pre-lit fake tree.

Apparently skinny is more in ..? 

I'll let you know in December if the hohoho is back.
I LOVED that tree.

I LOVE those tiny topiary olive trees too..you can never find one here.
I have one..but it is a bush ..I am very fond of it..but it is getting big..it used to fit on the ledge of my window..now it's a corner of the sunroom;)


I just keep rethinking Provence..;)


PS..
Jeanie  ..the author of the blog The Marmalade Gypsy..

suggested a book to me..

Lisette's List..
I am halfway through..and have sent Nancy an email suggesting she read it..and told Penny who just came back from Provence that this is a good read..
Thank you Jeanie..
It is bringing back so many memories..some things don't change..and some of  my friend Nancy's favorite artists are mentioned..Chagall in particular.