Month: May 2015

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. May wonderful things bloom for you…

PS. I hope that those of you who left comments on my previous post will pardon my not responding individually as I usually do. The Mistral winds finally stopped after 16 days straight – sixteen days of howling winds! In May! Unheard of! – and so I have been lured away from the computer screen to play outside once again. My head still feels as though it is comprised of a big bag of rolling marbles!

Apparently, quite slowly. But surely too – of that I am certain. For already, these photos that were taken last week are sadly outdated. I am now waiting for the fireworks, holding my breath for the first boom.

For you see we first were able to rent our little plot of land – I would say that it is roughly four to five yards wide and maybe ten deep – last November. Yes, that is a long time to wait. But it will be worth it.

There is an association in our tiny village that is something of a gardener’s club. For only 20€ a year (or $22 USD, my that is a good exchange rate), we are able to grow…what we like. 

The previous renters squatted on their rights for too long. The land hadn’t been tilled in years and so they were given the boot. But oh, what work that meant for us…

First, we had to see if there was anything to save, such as these wild strawberries…

…which we were told would produce nothing this year as we had moved them (let’s hear a hooray for our few tiny survivors)…

…along with what is a heart-shaped beating red carnation now that it has been weeded…

…as well as various mystery plants that we have no clue what they are but have left as they are pretty.

Because here is the thing: we have no idea what we are doing. None.

And yet…and yet, already there are beginnings of something promising…

Now, we can’t take credit as Remi and I have been utterly taken under the wings of all of the most experienced gardeners. I suppose they give us something like sweet pity as former city-folk, one of whom is an americaine to boot!

And in meeting them, I have found such generosity that it makes my heart bloom every single time with  gratitude. I will tell you more about these characters (for they really are) in time.

So what have we planted? I know that some of you are already tapping your feet with impatience by this point. Oh – and I should add that after prepping the earth and covering it with a healthy dose of horse manure (which has to be at least six months old, we were told and that makes sense – fortunately, there are plenty of horses in these parts), we let it sleep the winter out. Now, it is ready to welcome…

…22 tomato plants (most of which are heirloom varietals and were a welcome gift, including the delicious “black” tomato from Crimea), a massive amount of potatoes (put in the back plot as suggested to “clean out the earth and keep the moles away”), purple and white eggplants, three kinds of salad, cucumbers (that we mistakenly planted near the tomatoes, our one big mistake, so we shall see), red peppers, zucchini (currently in flower!) as well as the afore-mentioned transplanted fraises. 

There were also already in place both thyme and rosemary bushes as well as two gigantic lavender plants that are oh-so-thankful that I pruned them back. Each night, I hold one of the blooms in my hand to see how the parfum is progressing. A bit of sweet nonsense that is everything. 

It is our little world, one where our outside thoughts can’t reach us as if the cane fences (that we cut down and Remi built) block out the non-essential. Right now I am going everyday to water and weed, especially as those Mistral winds are still blowing (it is all the talk in the local superette as to when they will cease, Thursday is the current prediction, fingers crossed) which dries out the land enormously. Growing in Provence has particular challenges into itself as I am learning. So at the end of the day after everyone else has already passed by, we head over and I begin by taking stock. “How does our garden grow?” I wonder. And filled with hope, I see. 

*Life is so funny. I knew that I have photographed peonies before for the blog but couldn’t remember when, so did a quick search in the “archives”. And yes, I had, in one of my favorite posts too – albeit a simple one – about my struggles with memory. Eh oui, the irony…and no, I cannot always blame it on the wind!

It is Memorial Day weekend in the States and I am sending out my deepest gratitude to all of those that have served for their country. As it is also the unofficial beginning of Summer (and can someone please, please tell me how we arrived at this point in the year already?), I want to share with you a very cool playlist that would make a perfect soundtrack! I actually had been thinking of doing a similar post myself but when I saw this article by one of my favorite Parisienne freelance writers, Lisa Czarina Michaud, I knew that her choices, so spot on and including artists that I had never heard of had to take precedence! Turn up the music and enjoy. To give you a taste, here is one of my favorites from the batch. This artist has gone on to achieve a lot of popularity in France right now which makes it all the more interesting that Lisa chose a track from a few years back. I can’t stop singing the chorus…so come on, “Soyons les plus beaux”…let’s be the most beautiful…

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend wherever you may be and as always, thank you for being here,

Heather

Today, I am absolutely delighted to share with you the continuation of “Paris-Chien” as its delightful hero, Hudson, comes to my ‘hood…La Belle Provence! 

In each of Jackie’s paintings the details ring true and the vibrancy of the colors used perfectly reflect Le Midi. And yet is not all la vie en rose for Hudson as he discovers this new and very different region of France. Oh la! C’est ne pas Paris ici! No, no, the rules of the game are quite different from the city for all – whether on quatre pattes or two of the humankind.

And so the question is posed: “Will Hudson find his way? Will he fit in or will he strike his own path?” It is a question that many of us *cough cough* can respond to no matter what our age. 

That the storyline unspools amidst “Le Best Of” de Provence is a sheer delight. I caught myself guessing as to exactly which ice cream parlor might have been Jackie’s inspiration (St. Marie de la Mer?) or on which place the men played pétanque in (Cucuron?) but finally it doesn’t really matter, for the essence of all that is presented is absolutely perfect.

Jackie Clark Mancuso is a native of Los Angeles and so knows a thing or five about the beauty of light. That she spends quite a bit of time in Provence is also evident…as her love for the region shines through this story as strongly as her affection for her main character, dear Hudson. He is a champ who might just be capable of making me love a “little dog” (one albeit with a big heart)…for once!

Yes, this is, I suppose, a children’s book. But I found le dictionnaire of the forty or so words used in the illustrations quite helpful for any beginning Francophone. So either alone or with a Grandchild, why not do like Hudson and curl up and get lost within a good book? “Hudson in Provence” is exactly that.

And for the extremely hard-heart of you that are still not convinced:

And guess what? The most recent and most ambitious Love Flash Mob yet was…yessssterrrrday. But wait, wait, don’t go! Yes, I know I am late to the party (I often am) but not too late, that is the kicker. This particular party is still going on. Because, in the past 24 hours over a quarter of a MILLION dollars was raised to help each and every one of the 176 folks that were nominated by loved ones. The stories are so beautiful…If you click here you can read about how sweet four year old Ellie will now have the prosthetic legs she needs so that she can run as she wants to, how several families with special needs children can finally have the proper transport that they need instead of continually struggling and how ten year old Hailey will have enough funds to build (and she builds them herself) ten more homeless shelters. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, you will most certainly cry in reading this but they will be happy tears.

I was kicking myself about not sharing all of this with you when I read these words in Glennon’s post to launch this Love Flash Mob: “Friends, pity is feeling without acting. COMPASSION IS FEELING AND ACTING. Let’s ACT.” So the good news is that it is still not too late to donate if you wish and the part that I find so awesome is that the maximum donation is $25. Everything is welcome. I donated five bucks! Five! And as that is what I can do right now, it is still five dollars that will go to helping out (as all of the Together Rising team are volunteers, there is no overhead and so 100% of donations go directly to those in need). These are not corporations hedging to look good, it is just about everyday people like us helping other everyday people like us…15,250 such people so far with an average donation of just $17.

So, I am just putting it out there:

http://momastery.com/blog/2015/05/15/we-did-it-lfm/

Now, one thing that I AM on time for? Today is Food Revolution Day. I kind of like how those two words go together anyway but this is an important movement created by the chef Jamie Oliver as a means of bringing awareness about the importance of food education being placed on school curriculum’s world-wide. I was stunned to read that 42 million children who are UNDER THE AGE OF FIVE are overweight or obese. And no, this is not exactly “a First World problem.” What this means is that today’s children are expected to have a shorter lifespan than we do…for the first time ever. The diseases linked with obesity, the cultural problems, the economic and environmental costs…this issue extends in all directions. Plus, don’t we at least want our youth to know what their options are in terms of food? I do. That is why I signed Jamie Oliver’s petition that will hopefully have enough success so that it can be presented at the next G20 summit. 

If you are interested, you can join over a million others here:

http://www.foodrevolutionday.com/campaign/#LDydRxQoZQCvCL06.97

And finally? Well, let’s get back to the eye candy. For you see, my beautiful friend Ellie is coming down to Provence this weekend, finally. She has been dreaming of it for weeks. As I have mentioned before, despite being in her fifth year of ALS, this woman is a canon of Goodwill and makes me laugh until I snort (I am a little bit embarrassed to admit that one, it is true). Originally, it seemed like we were going to meet again, hopefully here at the house with the hopes that Kipling the rascal wouldn’t bite her Husband or caregivers and honestly? I did a little dance (yes, again literally) when I thought that was the case. Bon, it didn’t work out which lead me to sing her over the phone a Provençal version of “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.” Don’t worry Ellie, I will remember that you only told me that I was on speaker-phone in a car packed with the men mentioned above for a looong time. I’ll get you back. Until then, these photos represent a part of Provence that I really want to show to you and will, one of these days.

Sending much Love and Gratitude to you all. 

As with the post about Anthony’s house, feel free to spread the word about this one at will!

Bon Weekend…