Just another drop in the Ocean?

If each drop of water were to say: 

one drop does not make an ocean, 

there would be no sea.

If each note of music were to say: 

one note does not make a symphony, 

there would be no melody

If each word were to say: 

one word does not make a library, 

there would be no book

If each brick were to say: 

one brick does not make a wall, 

there would be no house

If each seed were to say: 

one seed does not make a field, 

there would be no harvest

Zambian saying found here, at one of the most harmonious places on Earth...

Mmmm
Thought you'd like this as much as I do 
Fitting for a 40 year old state of mind :-)

I wanted to add lots of photos... but my attempts have been thwarted twice.

So I hope you'll just enjoy this one, 
taken from a wee boat off L'Ile Rousse in Corsica 

May your oceans be full 

Your symphony be melodious

Your library be verbose

Your crops be plentiful

xx


Laura, thank you so much for your amazing post 
about my fair trade project over at Kim Klassen's 
'The Inspiration Studio'
I am very honoured
and truly blessed.

I dare you, whoever you are...

... I dare you to share with others the fruits of your daring. Catch a passion for helping others and a richer life will come back to you.

William H Danforth

Thanks to my darling friend Kimberly's very kind, and VERY SURPRISE birthday post, you are all aware by now that I've just hit the big FOUR O! I have to admit, I kinda like it! In fact I love it. I wouldn't be 20 again for anything. It's got something to do more with growing up than growing old. It's all about embodying who you are. 

Stand back! I can feel a Helen Reddy song coming on.  "I am Woman hear me roar ..." (sighs of relief that there is no sound embedded in this post) 

Yup, now my opinions finally have some weight behind them, although we won't go into exactly how much weight of course, and even my MiL listens to me from time to time. At last! It's not unpleasant to be taken seriously, at least some of the time!!

Oh dear, those nine days in Wales, coupled with all the culinary, logistical and decorative preparations for the birthday bash of the year, not to mention the start of the homeschooling Mum role, have obviously had a profound effect on me. But I digress.

Now where was I? That's right! We were being strong,  and daring... That's what you do when you're 40 n'est ce pas?! The wee book shown above was one my dear dad gave me when I was a rather less daring 11 year old and we had just moved to Australia from New Zealand. I've written a little more about it for Gigi's "Legacy" series. If you don't know Gigi already, I suggest you pop over and visit here for she is one of the most sensitive, delicate, articulate poets/writers of our time and I feel very privileged to be included as one of her guests. 

Summer is gradually winding down here at La Rivière. A more reasonable schedule is finally settling in: my new studio is practically finished (if you don't count the calligraphy paraphernalia littering my bedroom floor that hasn't been sorted into shelves out there yet), the messmonsters are feeling ripped off that homeschooling still means reading, writing and doing a bit of maths while we're at it getting used to their homeschooling routine, and I am looking forward to spending a few evenings whiling away the hours visiting you with a glass of wine and a friendly comment instead of painting ceilings, laying concrete, limewashing walls and cooking party tucker. I feel a bit like Dorothy after the Tornado and all that excitement in Oz ... I shall now click my ruby slippers and say, "There's no place like home Bloglandia" 

I definitely have so much to share with you all. In particular, I feel touched to the point of tears for all your kind words and birthday wishes. I've been thoroughly spoilt! Merci. Merci. Merci. :)

So this Thursday night, I shall snuggle down, fluffy slippers on tootsies and glass of wine in hand to spin you a yarn. One I've been promising to tell for a while now. A story of Paris, Bereavement, Fear, Wales, Daring, Strength and Joy. I'm also a wee bit excited to announce that I'm soon going to be interviewed by Laura from the very chic blog 52 Flea for one of her upcoming contributions to Kim Klassen's 'The Inspiration Studio.' But you'll hear about that in due time.

I think I started this post off with a dare. I still dare you. But it's now 23.30am and I'm using my new found woman's wisdom to suggest that a richer life is much more easily accessible to those who get a minimum amount of sleep.  Promptly, on that note, I shall now bid you 

Bonne nuit 

PS - I haven't forgotten my giveaway idea from a month or so back to celebrate my 200th follower and now I can join that to one WHOLE year of blogging and a whopping great birthday celebration!! Some fine French vintage ware is in preparation for a post next week. Stay tuned...

Happy Birthday to you~

Hello there!

My name is Kimberly today I am visiting from across the sea, OVER HERE.  I am so excited to be here, although, truly, I would rather *really* be there, with Ange and her beautiful family (which, as some of you may know, have been my second family for some time now...).

smiling while cutting herbs...

So, as you know, Ange is away this week, and I am quite certain that you have been missing her because, to be honest, she hasn't been posting as much as all of us would like lately.  She has been so incredibly busy - what with summer holidays, and putting in her fabulous new atelier (studio) where she will be creating more of her absolutely stunning work.  (I have seen it first hand and trust me - divine.)

laughing while removing confit~

Now, what some of you may not know is that today is actually Ange's BIRTHDAY!!!  Yes indeed, today, right now, Ange is celebrating a milestone.  I won't say which milestone - I will let her share that with you herself, but let's just say that I will be celebrating that same milestone in November...

she dances while cooking...

So today, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite photos of Ange from when we spent a week together this past April.  You can read about the first day of that trip HERE.  That very first day really solidified our friendship and showed me how incredibly blessed I was to have met her, and in turn, her family.  The second post is HERE - more to come, I promise!

laughing hysterically - maybe next time we will leave a bit more room to get out when we park....

One thing about Ange that you should know is that she is nearly ALWAYS smiling or laughing.  Really, she is quite honestly one of the happiest people I know!  I don't know if I have laughed as much in one week as I did with her, ever.  She has a wicked sense of humor, she laughs easily at herself, and she sings and dances all. of. the. time!  Being with Ange (and her family) is like a constant state of celebration.  It is what I wanted most to bring back home with me when I left.  (okay, that and her entire family, and her linen collection, and have I mentioned French Husband?!?)

always gorgeous~

As you can see, I miss her terribly, I wish every single day that she was closer, and I am already looking forward to my trip back next summer.   Ange - I wish you a marvelous birthday today (yes, I know you are already half-way through it as I am just beginning), and that the year ahead is an absolutely magical one.  I love you with all of my heart my friend, and I can't wait to see you again~

xx

Patience ...

is a virtue.

Now who was the wise saint that came up with that one??

Abandoned in Cyber Limbo by Orange (the new name for France Telecom but never-the-less still my favourite colour), I have been stranded for over a week with no home telephone or internet connection. Just in case you were wondering why I haven't dropped by...  Of course if I was a non-patient homeschooling mother, I could be driven round the bend with no internet connection (read: no blogging). But today's theme is patience isn't it? So we shall continue to focus on that ;-) with a glass of wine.

And here we are on the eve of my next trip to Wales. Yes - I do leave tomorrow again for 9 days, during which I will once again be deprived of all internet access. This time, however, it's for a good purpose. So there you all are, on the edge of your seats waiting for me to FINALLY give you the low down on the last Wales trip - and here I am off again on the next one. There you all are... You are still there aren't you?

Sigh. I still can't give you the story tonight. You see, it's all a question of breath - and trying to find the time to stop and catch it. Something along the lines of Peter Pan's shadow, my breath has taken off without me and taken on a mind of its own. If you see it, would you mind snaring it, calming it down and keeping it safe until I catch up? 

In the mean time, I do have some news. While all external links to La Rivière were on the blink, this is what has been going on: 

With the help of Beaker, we finished clearing EVERY SINGLE ITEM out of the garage.

(Photo of the garage NEARLY cleared) 

Seeing my new studio (be still my palpitating heart) was built into the right hand half of the garage, we had to fit everything that had been on both sides of the garage into the remaining left hand side. A big hurray to Beaker for the mammoth effort used to efficiently transform a truck load of 'bazarre' as we say in French, into some resemblance of purposeful arrangement within a significantly reduced garage space so he could still get his golf clubs out easily. APPLAUSE!!

And of the right hand side??? 

 Thought I'd try my hand at laying a very liquid concrete floor. I know there's a technical term for this in English but pfffed if I can remember it ;-)

Then painted the ceiling ... Over ceilings for this year! Très passé!

Then rendered (I think. That's what you do with a mix of extra fine sand, lime and acetate isn't it?) and varnished the walls in one day with the extensive help and expertise of one of my very dearest friends.  Needless to say, there was no possibility of reading up on homeschooling curriculum that evening. The zzzzzz stacked up before the head hit the pillow.

  

Below is just an early photo. The render is now finished, dry - as in WHITE, not sand colour - and varnished. I've also coated the floor in resin to waterproof it and allow it to be cleaned. Housework, did I mention housework? 

Where was I? Oh yes. So the studio/atelier is now finished except for the small task of putting in two doors. One of them was promised to me by the end of July (this year). I think we've already touched on the fact that French artisans don't have quite the same concept of time that I do. When my 'door' artisan passed by the other day and promised that I would have said door installed soon, I asked with a facetious friendly smile, "Soon, as in before the end of the year?" Quite seriously he responded, "Ouaaaaiiii, I think that should be possible." Sigh. Sigh again. Patience I tell you! Patience.

Ok - apart from said door this is the current state of affairs at La Rivière:

Atelier/Studio painted and ready to inhabit, decorate, OWN: Check. 

Homeschooling started: Check. 

Kitchen and dining room ceilings painted: Check

Two new kittens: check

Shelves built for all homeschooling folders: still waiting for the wood. Artisan only two weeks late on promise so far. This is probably a blessing as a minimum of sleep has actually come in handy during the GIC (Great Internet Crash).

So finally dear friends, this afternoon, I wanted to write to you about Wales. I duly sat at my desk, rubbing my little hands together in glee at the thought of telling my tale. But it was not to be as to get to Wales I have to take you through Paris, and that takes time. Patience 

This afternoon we had a minor disaster that was revealed to me when I picked up my newly operational telephone on its very first ring for more than a week. Sad news. My poor little Libellule had managed to slam her thumb in the door at the neighbours so we ended up spending some unplanned time at A&E reassuring her that she was neither going to die, nor lose her arm, in spite of the immense pain. Love. And Patience.

Beaker now has a mixture of vertigo and lumbago, Libellule is miserable with a thumb the size of a house and my bags aren't packed... Not entirely optimal circumstances for a serene trip. Patience. 

Like I said, if you find my breath, keep hold of it for me. In the mean time, I think I'll just pack a big case of patience to take on board.

When I return, all I have to do is cook for 60 people and finish organising the GBB (Great Birthday Bash!!). Then all can go back to a normal routine of homeschooling, sport, calligraphy projects, BLOGGING and housework.

I do hope you'll all still be here when I get back so I can finally grab that whisky, wine cuppa and enjoy a good visit.

It really is you who I must thank for your eternal patience!!

Much love to all.

xxx

 

The Paris Episodes: Only those who will risk going too far...

... can possibly find out how far one can go.

T.S. Elliot

How long has it been that I have been promising you the story of my travels to Wales and why I went there? Actually, don't tell me. Guilt and remorse are pushing me down, down, down into the depths of my paint tin for not having approached my blog since almost August 2nd. Tsk Tsk! Shame on moi!! 

You'll be pleased to know that I can't sink too far into my paint tin as I've painted 4 coats each on the CFH (ceilings from hell) and have very little of the 26 litres of paint left enough to drown in ;-)

En plus, it's nearly time to return to Wales again for my September retreat. Honestly though, first things first. You can't start a story in the middle. Let's go back to where it all began. Once upon a time in France...

Sharon, very talented author from My French Country Home (Yes! Yes! She writes great French/English books for bilingual children that are available here), has asked a few of us to reveal what brought us to the very poised yet paradoxical France as part of her French Settler Week theme. Aside from the trip down memory lane and the kick up the butt I needed to get writing again, I'm hoping that by joining in, I might actually be able to reveal to myself exactly what made a small Kiwi girl say to her young mother back in some obscure year in the 1970's, "When I grow up I'm going to live in France." 

To this day it's still anyone's guess where that idea came from. Fate? A home decorating magazine left open at a random page for an impressionable 6 year old to see? Did New Zealand have home decorating magazines in the 70's? Whatever the motivation, living in France in some distant future remained fixed in my mind as I grew and left NZ for a new life in Australia where five year's of high school French taught me little other than how to make hot chocolate, nutella crêpes ...

 ... and the French lyrics to Stevie Wonder's, "I just called to say I love you." Oui! Oui! There are French Lyrics to this song. Look them up!  "Je t'appelle pour dire je t'aime."

Mind you, as I'm sure you can imagine, they were of little help in making a good impression to the selection committee at TNT Transport when I had to explain why I wanted to be an exchange student to France. Never-the-less, Fate and Stevie must've both been on my side that day for they later gave me a 1 year scholarship to Belgium as few families in France were hosting AFS students that year.  But that's another story... 

A year in a French/Belgian family as an exchange student was just the tip of the iceberg and only kindled the flame rather than dousing the fire and I vowed to finish my degree and return to France indefinitely. Was it a calling? (Oh please don't say that ... I want to leave one day - really I do!!) In any case, it was certainly a fixation with me - in spite of choosing a degree in Chinese and international trade and finance. Yes, I know. She does Chinese - but wants to move to France. Can anyone else help me on that one??? No comment!!  OK - bear with me. Regardless of appearances, it's all linked. Sort of. N'est ce pas?

Fixation. Fixation. Fixation. You know, I have never seen myself as single minded or stubborn. Dam-ned! (as we say in French) But for whatever reason, I just couldn't get that country out of my head. Why not Italy? Why not China? What was it about France, and Paris in particular? Chanel, Avenue Montaigne, l'Arc de Triomphe, Le Louvre, Père Lachaise, the artists on the Left Bank...

One thing it definitely had going for it was UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.  Of course, I wasn't aware of UNESCO way back when I was 6, but it started popping up here and there as I looked (unsuccessfully) for a position, any position, in international aid work. With none forthcoming for a young woman of my enthusiasm and glaring lack of experience, I decided it was time to give fate a bit of a nudge and find a way of getting back to France. For surely that was where it was all happening.

Have you noticed that about life? Things don't always go in a straight line. Oh I got to France alright, but not doing international aid work. My life-saving job after telemarketing, sales rep for copy and print services, statistical analyst and market researcher for International Medical Statistics was as a conference organiser. Yup! The job that makes you the ideal dinner party companion and allows you to travel the world. At least in as far as  you can organise conferences in a language other than your own. 

After two years locally with the conference organising company, 6 months of socialising at Alliance Française Auckland, practising my new French conversation - you definitely heard right, conversation - with fabulous now EX (see previous Paris Episodes) and two 1 hour interviews by telephone with the Paris office, I was told I had the job, nearly fainted exhaled and promptly sold most of my possessions in the space of one weekend. My birthday weekend, 16 years ago.

16 years ago. I'll be 40 this year! Six months later I arrived in Paris, ready to write my first two-day conference and interview more than 40 potential speakers IN FRENCH on the exceptionally exciting topic of "The corrosion of industrial chemical storage tanks." Yes, well it's getting late and really, the topic is as just as exciting as it sounds. 

Several weeks later, through a chance introduction, I walked through the doors of UNESCO on La Place de Fontenoy and into the start of my lifelong passion for women's and girls' literacy and education.

The person who changed my life in that 'chance meeting' just celebrated her wedding in Sissinghurst gardens, Kent, last week which gave me the chance to reflect fondly on the days when we were so broke that we could only afford a bottle of wine together on the Pont des Arts, or sit up on the roof of her 9m sq bedsit in Avenue du Président Kennedy and watch the lights of the Eiffel Tower twinkle into forever as we made our dreams for the future.

She has since been promoted to Head of Education for a renowned NGO, and here I am ready to leave for India in October on my quest to start a fair trade project with Tibetan refugee women's groups. My how time flies. 

Thanks Sharon, part of the fun of writing this was to see if I could decipher what really motivated me to come to France in the first place.  I still don't know what my original reasons were way back when. They may forever remain a mystery to all of us, both the little girl, her mother and the rest of her entourage (insert music from Ripley's 'Believe it or Not').

Whatever the reason, there seems to be an element of destiny lurking in there somewhere and enough to keep me in this country in the mean time in spite of, or maybe because of all the challenges it offers on a daily basis.  Now Wales and India have wiggled themselves into the equation... But those stories will have to wait until someone else can manage to pull me away from this bottomless paint tin.

Go well everybody. 

Love

Ange

PS. And what of LURVE? AMOOOOUUUUUR? Well, I  have three enigmatic things to say about it.

1/ French men seem to be attracted to foreign women. Accordingly, any attempts at passing unnoticed in a sport that you dare to try in your new country ONLY and I repeat ONLY because no-one knows you and you think you can slink off incognito if you're no good, will prove to be COMPLETELY futile.

 (photo from Corsicaraid.com)

2/Regardless of whether you think you look like a gasping lobster after your second 2 hour swim training session, the Frenchie who walks up to you as you get out of the pool is not likely to be wanting to collect your club fees.

3/I have a huge debt to the great French transport strikes of 1995 which, even as they shattered small businesses and ground the whole country to a screeching halt,  propelled me prematurely into the boyfriend's apartment which just happened to be conveniently located five minutes walk from my office. Needless to say, I never left. 

Three messmonsters later...

Any questions??

I love to sail forbidden seas...

... and land on barbarous coasts.

Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Talk about barbarous coasts! 

Cleaned out the garage. Painted the ceilingS. Painted the kitchen. Cleaned out the office and upstairs ready to place the new home-made shelves for homeschooling. 

Breathe IN. 

Breathe OUT. 

Breathe IN! 

Gasp!

These are just a few of the reasons I appear to have sailed off the end of the world. 

Mayday! Mayday!

Captain going down with ship!!!

 JUST got my last calligraphy assignment in by the skin of my teeth. 

The theme?

 

Le Voyage

Très apt! In one hour I'm leaving for 3 days at Cap Ferret on the Atlantic Coast. 

Better race off and quickly pack the car. Really, how hard can it be? 4 bikes, swimwear, 3 bottles of rosé and one of champagne. It'll be done in no time!

Happy 11th birthday today to my darling Chickpea! 

Nothing like a few waves to celebrate n'est-ce pas?

But wait!

There's more!

More on the travel theme that is on Thursday morning. 

In a rare display of uncharacteristic organisation I have answered Sharon's plea to explain how I sailed to French shores and even scheduled the post for 9am as at that precise time I hope to be half submerged in salt water by my 3 messmonsters (applause ;-). 

Surely I will make it firmly and resolutely back to the beaches of blogland soon. Help! SOS! Send me a lifeline and haul me back in. You all seem to be drifting off on the currents and disappearing over the horizon as I bob around like a piece of the driftwood I use so often as a canvas. 

I very much hope you are all well and enjoying yourselves on balmy shores.... 

Promise Promise I'll be popping by for a life-saving cuppa soon!

Much love

If you want to draw...

...you must shut your eyes and sing

Pablo Picasso

It's been kinda like that recently. I'm not sure if it's the sunshine that I was convinced had given up on Southern France and taken up permanent residence in Aussie, the messmonsters who gaily go about making more mess for me to clean up or the great friends who've been popping back into my life after long absences ... 

But sing I do! 

And Fling! 

I'm still  a bit overly resentful of my Mac and it's place of residence in our sinister rather dark office which is why my disappearing act has been extended for another season. Methinks a laptop out in the sun could be the solution to all my problems!!

Anyway, back to Picasso's wise words... There's been a lot of singing going on at La Rivière. 

First of all Amelia Critchlow via her Experimental Art E- Course has suggested we take time to fling stuff at the page just to see what would happen. What a delight! HOW OFTEN DO YOU GET ORDERED TO DO THAT?!! Of course, the art course has just finished and I'm finally getting the time to work on it... but I'm hoping Amelia will forgive me for that too.

 Belting out 'I'm Yours' at the top of my lungs, obedient girl that I am, I let fly: Food colouring, ink,  water colour ... more ink ... I don't know why people call going back to childhood 'regressing.' To my mind, being a child is much more fun when you're a responsible adult.

Then there's been the practice for my 40th birthday party coming up in September. I'm forewarning those of you who are coming before it's too late that there's still time to pull out. The voice that hasn't been brought to the public ear since her last high school musical if you don't count the fiasco at my wedding is preparing to make its next appearance to an unsuspecting audience. This means lots of rehearsals as I fling, fling, fling! 11 year old Chickpea told me I was really cool and she was proud of me. She's too young to ask me to borrow the car yet so it must be sincere. If I'm not going to embarrass my 11 year old, I may not embarrass myself either!!

Have I forgotten something important? I was meant to tell you about Wales? You ask about Wales??? What's Wales got to do with singing? Through all the singing and doodling and time spent in my garden, I have finally come up with the most unboring way of telling you about my trip to Wales.  You just have to wait another couple of weeks days.

The messmonsters have just taken their father for two weeks holiday while I 'work.'  Since I started writing this post a week ago, I have painted the kitchen walls and ceiling, and am moving into the dining room. Wednesday (as in the day after tomorrow Wednesday) we start building a bona fide REAL studio for MOI in our garage. Praise the powers that be - my dining room will be set free of its identity crisis and the table will finally be used for presenting food once again!!  Of course, with  all this space and light, I am bound to find the time write more blog posts...

Well possums, I look a bit like a living Jackson Pollock painting (remind me not to answer video chat sessions when I've been painting the ceiling ... it's interesting the descriptions one's friends can come up with) and I can hear the call of my paint pots!

La la la la la la LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Picasso would be proud of me - I'm sure ;-) 

Filling up my Senses ...

You might have noticed I can't quite make it back to blogging.
This is just a glimpse of why ...
It's summertime and I'm completely overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude for life in general.



Well, there you have it! From time to time I have a soppy moment ;-) Make the most of it as the humour will be back next time. I know, I still have to tell you where I went and why in Wales. I still have to show you my latest artwork, and I'm pleased to say, I've been productive afterall ...
But in the mean time - I've been too busy just with the pure joy of being alive.

Hope you are too.

Love

PS - This song brings back childhood memories. There is an interesting string of exquisitely happy coincidences that are happening in my life at the moment which make me giddy with joy. As they continue, I will share them with you. Ever had that feeling like the whole universe is opening up before your eyes? It's a bit like that ...

9 minuti...

I would like to say I have writer's block. In fact - I almost passed it off that way ;-)

I will admit to spending an inordinate amount of time over the last week
playing in my own back yard, painting, and 

watching my youngest messmonster play with his little Italian best friend.

They talk and talk like two old dames.

It's fascinating enough for me to spend my whole day observing them from behind my paintbrush.

Natter. Natter. Natter.

But now I'm under stress.

I have 9 minuti only to make sure the pasta is perfect.

For this boy only eats what 'La Mama' cooks.

Thank Crikey I won 'The Silver Spoon Cookbook for Kids'
from Meredy or 'La Mama' may not leave me her son tomorrow ;-)

And then how would I occupy my Pokemon so I could paint?

9 minuti doesn't leave me much time for doodling or painting for Amelia's art course.

But I slipped a bit in.
These are the fun, playing around doodly bits that I just never allow myself to do. 

Yoiks!

The pasta's boiling over.

Beaker's away so my evening is free after the two 'old dames' are in bed for me to drop by later.  Expect a visit!
.

Ciao Ciao Bellas ;-)

9 minuti goes so fast ...