Bonne année 2011 à tous

{photo from here}

Wishing you all lots of love and happiness in 2011, hope that is a fabulous year for you all.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you all for all your comments and support in 2010. This year has been an exciting and at the same time, a sad one for me as some of you may have guessed from my posts, Mr FF and I decided late in 2010 that it was better to separate and remain friends as we both wanted different things out of life.

For me 2011 represents a fresh chapter - a little like freshly washed and ironed antique sheets, I am looking forward to starting and am sure that it will be a fabulous one and no doubt very French.

I hope that all your dreams come true in 2011.....

Leeann x

Look what we got for Noel....

{photo taken by me @ Chateau de Monbazillac, late this afternoon}

....lot of magical snow. Spent today walking in lots of crunchy snow just like a "petit enfant".

Hope that you all are having a fabulous Christmas.

Bisous Leeann

Joyeux Noël a tous.....

{fabulous photo from here}

Wishing you and your loved ones a very "Joyeux Noel"..

Leeann x

This afternoon.....

{photo taken by moi in Bordeaux last week}

.......we had afternoon tea with my French amie preferee alias the lovely and always thinking about others - Christine.

We ate lots of lovely chocolate gateau and macarons - my favourite flavour is caramel au beurre salé which Christine had bought especially for moi. I also received a beautiful gift, which I will tell you about once I have had time to photograph it.

I spent this morning making gingerbread cookies whilst listening to French Christmas carols and even managed to deliver a few gifts so all in all it was a productive day.

How did you spend your day? Dites-moi.....

Leeann x

Festive flowers....

{photo taken by moi in Bordeaux, last Friday}

I cannot believe how quickly the days are passing amd every day my list of things to do grows longer. Is your list getting shorter or is it a bit like mine?

......bon courage a tous.....

Leeann x

Oh so festive...

{photo moi, taken in Bordeaux}

Another photo from our trip to Bordeaux - I hope that you are enjoying the countdown to Noel. I cannot believe that we only have 5 sleeps to go......

Leeann x

All I want for Christmas...

.....is a pair of these fabulous shoes made entirely of chocolate. Spotted them whilst shopping in the fabulous city of Bordeaux yesterday and knew that they were meant for moi.

I am sure they will come in a tres joli box.......

Bonne week-end a tous,

Leeann x

Christmas Window

I just had to share this fabulous "Vitrine" with you. I adore it and love how simple and yet effective this display is.

So magical, a winter wonderland........

I managed to get some Christmas shopping done but still have a few things to buy weather permitting as it is very cold here and the roads could be icy in the morning.

Bonne nuit from a very chilly SW France,

Leeann x

Noel in France

Today you will find me guest posting about Christmas in France here.....

A demain mes amies,

Leeann x

Fabulous bottles...

Yesterday we got up early and went to a local vide grenier, it was minus -1 so was a little chilly.

In my haste to get there, I forgot to take my camera. I mentioned to my very adorable friend Christine that I loved the display of old blue bottles and she very kindly got her charming husband to take a photo with his phone. Mille mercis Christine et Noel.

Douce soirée à tous..... bisous

Leeann x

samedi apres midi..

Yesterday was such a beautiful day here in SW France and a friend and I we managed to fit in a walk in the countryside before doing some shopping in Bergerac.

The light was magical.....

Love the walls that are carved into the stone, I bet they could tell many a tale....

A pigeonnier in a field across the road from the Chateau that is awaiting a new owner to restore her to her former glory...

Fabulous Chateau standing in all her glory despite requiring a lot of internal work.

Love the architecture of the Chateau, fabulous turrets, thick stone walls made from local stone, big wooden doors.....

A close up of the fabulous turret and windows....

Lovely dappled sun light bringing all in her touch to life (moi included)..

A fabulous afternoon, I am happier than I have been for a very long time.....fate moves in mysterious ways.

A tres bientot mes amies,

Leeann x

vendredi...

I apologise for the lack of posts this week but it has been a busy week for me. There always seems to be something to do and as Noel approaches it gets busier by the day.

Yesterday afternoon was spent at a wreath making class and it was a fabulous afternoon with lots of creativity.

Our teacher said that the wreaths that we each made were a reflection of our personalities so I am not sure what mine says about me....but I have an opportunity to go wild as I am attending another couronne making class organised by the local Tourist Office, next Saturday afternoon so may feel different on the day thus may produce something less tidy.

Hope that it was a good week for you all too and that you are enjoying the countdown to Christmas.....not many days to go now.

....Bon fin de semaine a tous....

Leeann x

Why I love living in France..

One of the reasons that I adore living in France is because you sometimes fabulous treasures like these chairs. There were 4 available and I purchased 2 for my new bedroom.

The plan is to clean and wax the wood and then cover the seat with antique linen. The other 2 are looking for a home but am sure that they will not be for sale for long.

.......a la prochaine....

Leeann x

p.s. it is a little crazy here at present as I found a lot of treasures at the weekend and I am about to start sorting and cleaning which could take some time!

Christmas is on the way...

{fountain in our lovely village}

Bonjour,

Hope that you are all having/had a fabulous weekend. Today we spent the day hunting for treasures and we found many tresors today despite the cold, there were many sellers and we were lucky enough to meet a local lady with many beautiful interesting curios which I will tell you about later in the week.

I took this photo last night and thought that it was worth sharing, so magical........

Bon semaine a tous,

Leeann x

vendredi fleurs....

Thought that I would share these fabulous Christmas arrangement ideas that I received from a friend - mille mercis Josette.

Love this idea the best and may just have to give it a go myself, just need to remember when I put the antique soupiere - somewhere so safe that now I can not find it!

.......a la prochaine........

Leeann x

A gift from heaven...

Yesterday morning was cold and wet, the kind of day that makes you want to curl up with a good book.

My post lady arrived mid morning bearing a fabulous package for me. Perhaps it is a belated birthday gift she remarked, the joys of living in a petite village where everyone knows your business and what arrives in your mail box.......no secrets here.

Inside the large package was a beautifully wrapped book, the beautiful book that I won from the very fabulous Vicki Archer.

It is indeed a gift from heaven, page after page of beautiful photos.........

this photo is my favourite..

all the photos are stunning, Vicki has truly captured the essence of life in the fabulous country that we proudly call our home.....

I am looking forward to curling up and reading all about Vicki's fabulous life.Merci beaucoup you are an inspiration to all of us antipodeans living in France.

A demain mes amies,

Leeann x