Food For The Soul

Readers, get your paniers! Mornings like this call for some serious retail therapy. When its wet and grey, when an unexpected school run forces a very unpleasant contretemps with a rude and surly man in a van, when you've already drunk your daily quota of tea and feel like your never going to feel warm and dry again, a touch of shopping is just what's required.



No, we're not talking ordinary trundle round the supermarket, trolley, purse and reward card at the ready -



we're talking a gentle stroll through the Provencal streets that are so hot that you're grateful of all the dappled shade you can find. Reader, on a day like this, can you imagine that?



Against the sunbleached ochre walls of shuttered buildings underneath an azure sky, let's take some time choosing our meals today...



no need to hurry, time is on our side and there's always tomorrow as there's a market every day here in Aix.
A kilo of this and a kilo of that, a bunch of basil, multi coloured tomatoes,



baby aubergines, zingy zesty fresh mint.



How about some olives?



Spices?



Even the peppercorns are colourful today...



Some crockery to brighten the kitchen table.




Sunflowers against Provencal tablecloths, carrier bags echoing their golden hue.
The summer sunshine increases as the morning progresses so we shall wander slowly, breath in the scents and sounds and savour the delights.




A gentle nod to Autumn as we discover the stalls of mushrooms, fresh and dried.
Nothing pressing to do, just wander and taste ... some goats cheese and figs for lunch perhaps?

Ratatouille and salad for supper maybe?







Definitely an ice cream on the way home...



But don't worry, we can do it all again tomorrow (and believe me reader we did! A morning didn't pass without a trip to the market) - now wouldn't that be nice ....

Three trains, one underground & a whole lot of scenery...

We had to wait right until the end of the summer for our holiday this year, but it was worth the wait. Amidst much excitement, anticipation and adrenalin which covered how very tired we were at starting the day so very early, we set off to catch our first train. Up to London via train and underground (never a good experience with luggage) at the crack of dawn to catch Eurostar. Laden with luggage, books, magazines and croissants we boarded the train at St Pancras and before we really had time to adjust to French time we were in Lille.



Just enough time for us to decipher where we were to board our TGV southwards (we had forgotten just how stressful this bit can be). Searching desperately for your coach number, locating the boarding point along the very long platform, negotiating the stairs, lift and escalators with 100s of other passengers and somehow managing to watch aghast as our youngest daughter disappeared with her luggage in one hand down an escalator whilst we stood waiting for the lift. I will never forget the look of horror on her face as we set off as fast as our luggage allowed in hot pursuit of her!



Excitement over, we somehow managed to hurl ourselves and half of the girls' wardrobes onto the train and sat back ... and relaxed... and smiled ... and ate ... and smiled ... and read... and smiled ... and played cards ... and smiled.




And all the while the everchanging beauty of the French countryside surrounded us. Through flat green fields, lush green pasture lands, through rain showers, clouds and brilliant sunshine we headed south. The alps to one side the Massif Central on the other as the landscape grew more dramatic, the temperature rose. Medieval hilltop villages, olive trees, meandering streams, majestic rivers flowing through Provencal cities. Plane trees, poplar trees, cypress trees and olive trees.



When i was at University I spent summers driving up and down the length of France and had vowed to do the journey this way ... I think the other passengers could gauge by the squeals of delight coming from our table just how happy we were.



Five hours and hundreds of kilometres later we found ourselves on a blisteringly hot Provencal train platform, negotiating once more the stairs, lifts and escalators ... a quick bus trip took us to our final destination and after the obligatory "I think it's this way, no that way, no, this way" walk to our new home which took a good half an hour longer than necessary, we arrived at a huge 19th century wooden door that would be our front door whilst we were there.



We arrived to half locked shutters, with tantalising glimpses of the view beyond



Views to the left of an already setting sun from our terrace against the bluest sky I had seen in a very long time



And just looking to the right stood the most beautiful 13th century church that would waken us each morning and frame our glorious view across centuries old chimneys, balconies, shutters and weather worn and sun bleached terracotta tiles.

Mission Accomplished

As you know, the Roses' summer wasn't the best on record, it was a very up and down affair and by the end of it we all desperately needed a holiday. We hadn't actually been away together as a family for five years and were beginning to feel it... At the end of every week, M and I would have this long chat about whether we would/wouldn/t be able to manage a short break away and as my dad's health was so up and down we felt that the answer would inevitably be no...



So you can imagine my surprise when two days before M was due his annual leave, my father gave the thumbs up to us going away, our dream holiday destination had a last minute cancellation and it seemed that the "Holiday gods" (to coin a phrase from the incredibly funny book "The Tent The Bucket And Me" by Emma Kennedy) were smiling down on us.
So we set out on a wet, dreary Friday 13th on our summer adventure...

And I should have known as soon as I saw the front door everything would be alright. With its colours resembling our very own Emporium and a sign waiting to greet us, I knew it was meant to be...



To be continued ...

Sweet peas, honey bees & daisies

If I type this very quietly maybe nobody will notice that I'm not behind my sewing machine, beavering away. I promised myself a sewing day but I Just wanted to say that I hope you are all having some of this beautiful sunshine today. Sun shining from the moment I sprang out of bed (well 'sprang' not really the word, since I seem to have broken yet another toe!), all day long and I even managed to eat my lunch in the garden too.




You could almost be forgiven for thinking it was summer - the summer that never was... There is of course the whiff of Autumn in the air and we have woken up this week to seamists, the whiff of changing seasons in the air and holly trees bedecked in frosty jewelled cobwebs.



So when days like these come along, you have to seize them and enjoy. Almost as much as I am enjoying these lovely posters that we have recently added to our Emporium - let the sunshine in indeed!
Enjoy your week.
PS Holiday photos have been uploaded! And some time between now and Christmas at this rate I'm going to share them with you. Here's a clue - we went on a mission....

Petal Power

A few weeks ago amidst all the sunshine and flowers (before all the petals falling from the leaves in the rain) some friends came round for an evening, It was quite a last minute thing and it was such a hot day that we just couldn't bring ourselves to go to the supermarket. So Mr Roses trotted off to the local Turkish shop to buy all manner of things - olives, sun dried tomatoes, artichokes etc and popped into the offy for a bottle of Pimms. I set to work making some Greek salad and chopping up a melon we had in the fridge, I knew the kids would want something sweet and treaty so I made some cupcakes and, because it was such a perfect summer's evening and reminded me of summer's evenings when I was little. I decided to make some rose petal syrup to add to the icing. Oh how I love collecting the petals and filling the house with the gentle scent of rose, so so many memories for me. The cakes were a success, not too sweet and just rosy scented enough not to be too cloying, or maybe by then the Pimms had set in...



We have this year been making a concerted effort to grow more veg in the garden. I bought Mr Roses a raised bed and polytunnel and all the gubbins for his birthday and we have been feasting (or rather, sharing with the slugs and snails) on salads and chard and strawberries. The other week I caught sight of our first courgette flower which was just so beautiful. I was tempted to fry it in batter but couldn't bring myself to for fear of no others appearing and a complete lack of courgettes. I shouldn't have worried, the plant hasn't stopped flowering every since and we are looking forward to 101 ways to cook a courgette...



At the end of June, lovely Emma from Sew Recycled joined me on our second elderflower picking excursion. Following last year's adventures, who knew that picking elderflowers could be such fun, we decided to give it a go again.



This time we chose a swelteringly hot day to saunter up onto the Downs and whilst the scenery looked beautiful bathed in the sunshine, it did make us even slower than usual, or was that just all the nattering I wonder?


Emma, fully armed

Armed with our secateurs, bucket, walking sticks and gloves we braved the nettles and hills and set forth. It wasn't the heat that was worrying us as much as the thought of the grass snakes which explains why we were found every few minutes to be tapping the ground noisily with those walking sticks - Indiana joneses we are not!



It was hot and thirsty work and we had a lot of catching up to do, so as soon as our buckets were half full we sat in the shade with a bottle of ginger beer and some baklava that our friends had brought to our rose cupcakes and Pimms evening. It wasn't quite Enid Blyton with the baklava but the ginger beer made us giggle and it was good to be chewing the cud with my lovely friend again.



Once more the day ran away with us and we were up against it time wise to get the elderflowers steeping in the sugary syrup before we had to collect our children from school. Once more we grappled with the measurements and finer details but felt confident that all would be well.



The next day Emma came round for the grand bottling. Armed this time with doughnuts we were prepared. Perhaps we did not have enough mishaps as we did last time round but the one huge mistake was pouring the sweet sticky ambery liquid into the bottles whilst eldest daughter was in the shower. Under strict instructions from her, not to turn on the hot tap, we were left covered in sticky sugary syrup for what seemed an age, the taps were sticky the work surfaces too - so that's another thing we've learnt for next year.



However, the rewards were sweet, very sweet and lemony and flowery. We took the first two glasses with our doughnuts into the garden, sat on the bench and enjoyed the fruits of our labour. Mmmm, here's to next year!

Friday Smiling Faces

Thank you all so much for the jelly love! It's good to know that I'm not alone in enjoying a bit of a wobble every now and then!
I've just caught sight of the time and realised that I won't have time to write the blog post that I intended (nor indeed catch up on all your lovely blogs and news) - so I'll share with you some photos of my daughter's windowbox taken this morning.
A box full of brilliantly smiling floral faces greet her in the morning as she pulls back her bedroom curtains. A myriad of colours to dazzle and brighten her day. All the better for her having chosen the seed, planting them and tending them herself.
Too good to keep to yourself don''t you think? Please enjoy them and hope you find some smiling faces of your own this weekend.




(Sorry too that the photos may be out of focus, I'm not very good at dangling out of high windows, camera in hand!)

Why not?

There shouldn't really be any need to find an excuse to add some magic to your day, but just in case:

Because it's Monday
Because, for us, there's just one more exam to go...
Because when your garden is full of little sweet floral treasures, you need to make the most of them
Because our days could do with a bit of sparkle
Because 21st June just wouldn't be 21st June without a bit of this
Because Big Sister couldn't bear the thought of not
Because it's what Cassandra does...
Because what would be the point of having the longest day without celebrating it?
Hope you find some magic and mischief today, maybe we don't really need to find an excuse after all...

There and Back

One of my favourite old card games that we have is an old edition of "There and Back". The cards, resembling the size of railway tickets, and images are wonderful. Conjuring up railway journeys and holidays to various towns, seaside resorts and cities. We spent a lot of time these holidays travelling by train (perhaps my favourite way to travel in this country), days out exploring the new and revisiting the old.



Many happy memories gleaned from simple pursuits.
Days revisiting favourite old towns. A favourite train ride away...



Mapp and Lucia days, pretending that Rye was once again the imaginary Tilling of the stories (oh so easy to do).



Climibing church towers, turning green with dizziness, quickly admiring the beautiful view before quickly, very quickly, clambering down the stairs to terra firma.



But taking in time to spot the pink house from above



And admiring it face to face (this would be my house here I think!).



Days spent walking through enchanted forests..



Entering through gigantic doorways...



Spying magical cobwebs...



Admiring Romany caravans...



Having the distinct feeling you were being watched ...



Viewing the sky through fern patterned eyes...



Sitting on a bench and turning around to see this most handsome creature...



Composing myself and feeling blessed to have him walk round in front of me to say hello...



Pretending, yet again, to be Mrs Bennett, in front of the house filmed in Pride and Prejudice.



Days on the river,,,



Dabbling your toes...



Sunning your arms...



Wanting to take the plunge...



Loving the way the river mirrors the sky...



Seemingly never ending days on the beach. Rockpooling...



Finding beauty and treasure in the close up...



Imagining and daydreaming on the horizon...

Days enjoying things that have been enjoyed by families for decades past ...



Days that make your skin tingle, your freckles appear, your appetite double and your smile permanent...
And now with the summer over, the railway station I shall be visiting most often is Stopathome, but it's been a good journey...