This year’s Christmas wreath is made of holly gathered in the woods (with red berries), boxwood and variegated holly from our garden. Happy Christmas ! Notre couronne de noël cette année est fabriquée à partir du houx (avec les baies rouges) qu’on a cherché dans la forêt, du buis et houx à feuilles panachées de notre jardin. …
Author Archives: avril
Happy Christmas from Sunny Blois – Joyeux noël depuis Blois ensoleillé
Garden Centre Santa – Le père noël des jardins
I think there’s a whole story going on here in our local garden centre. Not quite sure what Mother Christmas’ role is. Je pense qu’il y a toute une histoire ici dans notre centre de jardinage. Je ne suis pas tout à fait sûre du rôle de Mère Noël.
First Snow Drop – Premier perce-neige
Today is the first official day of winter and we already have snowdrops – but no snow! Last year, the first snowdrops were on 13th January. Aujourd’hui c’est le premier jour d’hiver et nous avons déjà des perce-neige – mais pas de neige ! L’année dernière, les premiers perce-neige sont sortis le 13 janvier.
A Little Lopsided – Un petit peu disproportionné
Let’s play “spot the difference”! Jouons à “cherchez l’erreur” !
Holiday Holly – Houx des fêtes
Not everyone has time to go and gather their own holly in the forest so the gypsies sell ilt at the market. In Australia, it’s flown in! Comme tout le monde n’a pas le temps d’aller chercher son houx dans la forêt les gitans le vendent sur le marché. En Australie, il arrive par avion …
Christmas Hankies – Mouchoirs de noël
I don’t know if many people still use handkerchiefs in France (or anywhere else in fact), but when they do, these Cholet handkerchiefs seen on the market in Blois just before Christmas, are considered to be the best choice.The history of the Cholet handkerchief goes back to the Vendée wars on the Atlantic coast of …
Joan of Arc in Blois – Jeanne d'arc à Blois
Yesterday, I mentioned the statue of Joan of Arc in Blois by American sculptress Anna Hyatt Huntingdon. I remembered having taken a photo two years ago (in better weather – it was August) in the bishop’s garden next to the town hall. It was very sunny so you can’t see her clearly but I know I …
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Diane in Blois
We found a new park in Blois on Sunday. I can’t wait to go back when the sun’s out. In the meantime, here is Diane of the Chase by Anna Hyatt Huntingdon. An article in our local paper, La Nouvelle République tells the story of how the Salon de Paris exhibition in 1910 refused to give first prize …
Santa at the Window – Père noël à la fenêtre
chirst I don’t remember seeing all these Santa Clauses climbing up the window when I was a child. The only Santa I ever saw was in David Jones department store in my home town of Townsville. Note the pun on the Krys Optician’s window! Je n’ai pas le souvenir d’avoir vu un tas de pères …
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