Cottage in the Loire Region of France

 

 

Six years ago we went on holidays to the Loire Valley.  We rented a gite (cottage) in a small hamlet called Neons-sur-Creuse.  A sleepy little place, surrounded by countryside and fields upon fields of sunflowers!  The gite was just gorgeous, exactly how I had imagined it would be!  Beautiful beams, old floors and a gorgeous fireplace in the sitting room.

We spent most of the time in the old kitchen at the farmhouse table.  Eating, drinking and relaxing. 

The kitchen was like something out of a film.  A lovely old sink with a little skirt, old terracotta  tiles and wonderful casement windows we would throw open every morning.  We always get into a routine quickly on holiday.  I would get the coffee going while Niall nipped to the local boulangerie for a baguette, croissants and our some warm pain au chocolat mmmmmm.   Then we would carry our petit dejeuner outside to the little iron table and chairs and munch are breakfast contentedly.

Our bedroom was so cute with it's pink and white stripes and look at those beams!

The bathroom was very quaint with a freestanding bath - very romantic . . .

A second bathroom . ..

I wish I has some photos of the garden to show you but I couldn't find any.   It was a very pretty garden with roses and cottagey flowers.  To to the side of the garden was a little gate and archway leading to the heated swimming pool - bliss!

All images above from this source - Click Here!

I would love to get back to France in the next year for a holiday.  We had a short break last Summer but I'm really starting to crave France (if it's possible to crave a country!?).  I would gladly go back to the Loire , but there are so many other areas to explore in France that I think we'll try somewhere different.  One day I would like to go back to this cute cottage though as it was one of those holidays where you really relax and go home refreshed instead of those frantic holidays where you need a holiday to recover from your holiday!  It depends where you\re going of course but if I'm going for at least a week I like to rent a self-catering cottage.  I enjoy the trips to the markets and buying fresh food and baguettes, it's fun and feels like you're living there for a while.   If you are interested in renting this gite Click Here!  It's six years since I was there so I don't know if it's changed - I hope not - it was a special little place.  

Sharon

xxxx

A Woodland Walk

Today was a glorious day!  A perfect Spring morning with clear blue skies, warm sunshine and birdsong.  I walked by the church . . . 

 

. . .and then went across the road and took the path into the woods.  One of the reasons we bought our house is that just across the road is a forest.  I have a 'thing' about trees!!  

My childhood home looked onto a woods and it was my playground growing up.   We used to walk through the woods to school every morning and I always loved how everything changed with the seasons, there was always something new to enjoy.  We made camps out of any old junk, we had an old tyre on a swing and best of all there was a wishing well by a stream that long ago had been a proper drinking well where people collected their water, was now covered in moss and used for wishing.  Just up from the stream there was a very small pond with overhanging trees, quite dark which we called the 'Frogspond' and we collected many empty jam jars of water and frogspawn in the hope of growing our own frogs!  Happy days!  I love those woods, they're very special to me - so much so, that my husband proposed to me there on a warm Spring day underneath my beloved green beech trees surrounded by bluebells.

So when hunting for our current home my with list read thus:
1.  House with view of woods/near woods for walks.
2.  Near beach.

I couldn't believe our luck when this house ticked both those boxes.  So this morning I set off in to the woods for my walk. . .

The trees are just about to come into leaf so still bare but there were lots of pretty wildflowers to enjoy. . .  like these common dog violets . . .

the humble and daisy and dandelion looked so cheery . . .

 

Poor ole dandelion - it gets such bad press and it really is so pretty.  I'm not up early enough to see much wildlife around, although one day I did see a bank vole!  But I did admire these little homes, I wonder who lives there?  Fox, badger??

So many pretty petals to admire. 

Greater Stitchwort . . .

 Primroses. . .

 Herb Robert . . .

Yellow wort. . .

Ivy Leaved Toadflax - isn't that a great name!  I didn't know a lot of these names so I had a great time looking them up in my book when I got home.  It was hard to see some of the pictures so I went online and found a wonderful website,  Wild Flowers of Ireland Click Here

One of joys of living in the countryside is enjoying the changing of the seasons and harvesting some of Mother Nature's crops.  There are a lot of these tasty berries springing up all over the woods. . .

Wild Strawberry. . .



and this beautiful white bell flower, the three cornered garlic - it's a member of the garlic family and as far as I know you can eat it - I haven't tried it yet but it smells very strongly of garlic as you walk past it in the hedgerows.  If anyone is reading and knows anything about eating this wild garlic, please let me know!!

Three Cornered Garlic

Aren't they beautiful? White bell flowers with a green line down the petals . . .

It's hard to pick a favourite wildflower but I think mine is the bluebell . . .  they are only starting to come out so I'm looking forward to lots of lovely walks among these beauties over the next few weeks.   I love the woods at any time of year but when there is a haze of bluebells carpeting the ground it really is quite breathtaking.  Bluebells en masse have a lovely sweet Spring scent as well.

I hope you enjoyed our walk through the woods.  Sorry most of the photos aren't great - I'm only learning how to use my new camera and to take photos for this blog!! but I wanted to show you  what's out at the moment in the woods - it's so pretty!

Time

This last week has been amazing - a trio of celebrations - St. Patrick's Day, Mother's Day and, on Thursday, my birthday.  Yes, it was a big one - the BIG 40!!  So now you know a bit more about me - I'm an Aries, so I'm passionate, fiery and optimistic.  It also means that I can be impulsive, selfish and impatient but like a true Aries I gloss over the not so nice bits and focus on the positive ones!  I didn't mind turning 40.  I also love birthdays and I've thought for ages that I would enjoy it and have a mad party to celebrate and embrace the next chapter of my life!  However, the last few weeks have been a bit hectic so now I'm thinking of doing something in the Summer instead.  So Niall took me for a romantic meal, which was gorgeous, and gave me a beautiful present, something I have wanted for years . . .

An antique pocket watch . . .

Between my birthday and the clocks going forward today, Time has definitely been on my mind and so I thought today would be a good day to show you her . . .



Isn't she a beauty?  It was made in 1890 by Elgin, a U.S. watchmaking company, who made a lot of clocks for train stations across the U.S.  The case is solid silver and can be opened at the front, back and inside so that you can see the movement.

The craftsmanship in these watches is amazing.  Imagine this was made back in 1890!








 

It's actually much larger and heavier than the standard pocket watches and is known as a desk - pocket watch.  This one is way too heavy to carry around so it is definitely going on my desk.




The watch is engraved so prettily. . .

It is in pristine condition and works perfectly.  I adore the numerals and the font of the watchmakers name on the face . . . It's very vintagey, very me.  I love it! Thank you Niall!



I always feel Spring has truly arrived once the clocks go forward and you can see the light stretching into the evenings.  Enjoy your Spring Time!

Cottage Garden

 

The morning mist is clearing now and it looks like today is going to be one of those perfect Spring days.  So, I will spend as much time as I can in my garden weeding!  I don't have any photos to show you of my own garden yet as there's not much to see at the moment - unless you like weeds! - so I thought I would show you some beautiful cottage gardens from my Pinterest boards.  Before I start weeding I like to look at these pictures to inspire and remind me that one day my garden will mature and will (hopefully!!) look something like these!

A cottage garden wouldn't be complete without some roses tumbling over archways.

 

I really must get me some chickens and ducks, imagine the fresh eggs . . .

Typical cottage garden flowers - foxgoves and delphiniums . . .

. . . and of course Lupins, these are so easy to grow from seed . . .

Hollyhocks. . .

A cottage garden usually has either a rustic or painted picket fence . . .

My favourite cottage garden colours are shades of white, pink, lavender and purple. . .

I also love doorways and gates that lead to a secret garden . . .

and of course a little seating area and resting place to sit and enjoy the scents and sounds of nature. . . 

Ah, la vie en rose. . .

All Images sources from my Pinterest board - Click Here