An evening in Caen

The little local village had plenty of little places to eat for our first night. We walked up and down the streets deciding which one we would try....they were open but none of them were serving dinner! we wondered if we were too early - it was 7:30 or that if there was something about Mondays we didn't know about. We had to drive to the nearest city, 25 k away was Caen. (The city getting ready for D Day and the arrival of Obama)

three photos taken from the car as we drove thru the city looking for the centre - all three looked worth visiting.

our quest for the perfect french meal was rewarded with delicious wood oven pizza. I ordered cream, smoked salmon and caviar - now our new favourite pizza topping.

Getting lost and finding our way in France

The trip started with a five hour drive to Atlanta, several airport hours and then the nine hour night flight. Arriving in Paris early afternoon, we collected the rental car and then headed on our way.

you know you are in Paris when you see this....I think I know of two people who rode on theConcorde....our friend Sultan and my auntie Barb.

a little tiki tour took us to the outskirts of the city

after what seemed like 3 or 4 false starts we were finally headed in the direction of Normandy... wide empty roads, wild flowers, and small rolling hills.

then onto the smaller roads and the villages of Normandy.

along narrow hedge lined roads (our hotel hosts loaned us a GPS for the next three days -we didn't have time for a lot of tiki tours-

although these little roads offered up a lot of unexpected delights)

like this:

we wondered if this little house belonged to a garden gnome?

finally our destination: Manoir de la Riviere near the village of Saint Louret sur Suelles.

an old fortified farm dating back to medieval times -owned and operated as a hotel by a lovely British couple.

rooms waiting to be renovated

a small detail in the garden, wouldn't you loveto water your flowers from such a tap!


and sleeping nearby were little hedgehog babies.

Breakfast in Denmark

Is there something wrong with this picture?

healthy rye bread packed with goodness!!! topped with milk chocolate slices!!!

...even breakfast is good in Denmark.

we have returned from our short holiday in Paris, Normandy and Copenhagen.

so please look forward to holiday photos....coming soon.

We will Never Forget

I took these photos on June 1st, just days before the crowds, the US president, and other dignitaries arrived in Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D Day.

American cemetery - Omaha Beach

One of the several graphics on the memorial wall

Detail on a large urn

Behind the low sand dunes was this area of trees

Looking up to the cemetery from the beach

Omaha Beach, Normandy France

The notebook

As promised: the surprise gift for Mandy on her 50th birthday.

Pretty papers, photos, beads etc..

Here is Mandy riding her tricycle, it's the same photo I used for her birthday card. This one I printed on fabric, added glitter and crystals

The notebook - front cover

each page was stitched

A pocket for photos of any quilts she makes this year

A few thoughts can be added here

a page with forgotten memories - a pocket with an old letter, some swaps and a few other childhood mementos

The mid-life crisis - a Goldwing bike and a map of a trip around New Zealand

some free space

pockets for photos

A charm added to the binding

and the finished book

and she loves it!

Spring fury

The creek

The common spring storm: the wind whips up, the sky turns dark, thunder and lightening put on a good show. Then the rain arrives! Fast and heavy by the bucket loads. It is all over quickly. Every other day one or two storms pass our way. The tornado watches and warnings are common too. A quick look at the TV to check the live radar and hear that a cell produced 1200 flashes of lightening an hour. Yes it is impressive! After one recent storm, when all was calm and the roads are wrapped in steam, I went to check on the creek at the end of our street.

I could hear the creek roaring, well out of it's banks.

Our once level walkway has suffered piling damage

You can see the wide part, it is a "passing lane" for golf carts and ATVs

Getting the walkway repaired is a lot more complicated than just fixing the problem. The walkway belongs to the neigbourhood, but the creek was given to the city and the city recently spent $2million restoring the creek bed after it was widened without the proper permits. the restoration failed and the end result just damaged the walkway, so the city is now responsible for fixing the walkway and creek bed again.....need I say more!

Lunch time stroll

Today I headed to downtown Mobile to meet Frank for lunch

A little background music

On the way to the square

Historic Bienville Square

From where I parked the car, walking one block down Dauphin street to Bienville square I spotted these ever present Stars and Stripes.

small details making a big impact

oak pollen

Everyday life has it's small details, some details are expected, others are not.

In the spring we expect pollen, enough tiny grains of pollen in 24 hours to cause your day to spiral into an endless battle to keep the house pollen free.

And if you own a PC you also expect the occasional freeze or crash, most of the time this detail is solved with the pushing of a few buttons or a phone call for help. Some households have clever people living in them, they fix the problems themselves. I wish! In our case drastic steps were needed, and we had to pack it all up and visit the "Geek Squad" - the computer repair men. Suddenly, the simple daily habit of turning on the computer is taken away, certain parts of your day are totally disrupted! The impact is huge! Those days turn into weeks, then two months, with many frustrating twists to the saga and again you are in a spiral which seems to never end. Will I ever catch up with all that reading, sorting of photos and keeping up with mail etc...

But eventually all is well, we are back up and running - and I am here catching up! just another detail in my day.