Wish You Were Here... Weeks 3 & 4

A cold, grey day in early January is probably the only time you could hope to get a photograph of the front of the Château de Versailles with no one else around except your own friends. The relatively small number of visitors inside, made for a great tour and certainly made me appreciate being a local.



Gallettes des Rois are our favourite French tradition. This year we had four - one of them baked by India. Florence was almost able to carry out her role, designated by her status as the youngest in the family, to call out who should get each slice. However, having crowned herself Queen before the cake was even cut into, she lost interest and it was left to Savannah to do the honours.


Don't forget to check out all the other virtual postcards in the Wish You Were Here... project. Each week they get better and better!

My Wild Berries. Ten

Weekly portraits of my children inspired by You Are My Wild


Florence
She was helping me tidy up after the birthday party wearing her sister's ballet leotard.
I spotted the pretty light shining through the trees and asked if I could take her picture.
Unexpectedly, she said yes.
Five minutes later this is what we got!

My Wild Berries. Nine

Weekly portraits of my children inspired by You Are My Wild


Oldest and Youngest
India has been away for ten days on an Outward Bound school trip in the Lake District. We really missed her. When she got home tonight Florence flew into her arms, overjoyed! This photo was taken last week before she left. India isn't always thrilled to have a baby sister around but she loves her really!

My Wild Berries. Two

Weekly portraits of my children inspired by You Are My Wild

Sunshine at Bedtime*
We have had the most amazing weather in Paris for the last three weeks. The best we have ever seen. We've spent as much time outside as possible, eating on the terrace and playing in the garden. It stays light so long at this time of year that bedtimes have been getting later and later. No point in worrying about it when there's no pressing need to get up early the next morning. This photo was taken after dinner one evening last week when Florence insisted on going back out to do 'jumpoling'. She bounced on the trampoline non stop for half an hour while I took photos and the light faded. Eventually she admitted she was tired and went to bed without a fuss even though it wasn't dark outside!

*From a poem in one of Florence's favourite books by Shirley Hughes that perfectly describes her summer; "Sunshine at bedtime, why isn't it dark?"

Summer

We're back from a wonderful two week vacation in warm and sunny Crete. The plan was to relax and read, swim and build sandcastles. We did all that with a lot of good meals and a bit of culture thrown in. There's plenty more to share about our trip, but while I sort through all the photos, here's my favourite to keep you going.

Les cousines

The Berry girls had to wait a long time for a cousin, but my sister found out she was pregnant the same month that she came to help us look for a house in France and it is one of the greatest joys of living here that we have been able to visit with each other far more often than if we had been thousands of miles away in California. Now we are just a car ride and a short ferry sailing apart. All my girls love baby Eva, but Florence has adored her from the first time they met when Eva was just six weeks old. So much younger than everyone else in our family, when Florence is with Eva she gets to be the big sister. Someone to play with, someone to look out for and someone to boss around. Now that Eva is walking they had more fun together than ever before. If Florence was in charge here we would be getting in the car every day to go and play with 'Baby', never mind the five hour journey there!

A photograph with all five cousins together in it still doesn't exist despite our best efforts, but one sunny afternoon during our week in Jersey I did manage a spontaneous portrait session with Florence and Eva. They both know what to do in front of a camera and Eva's daddy brought out the smiles from both girls (although I think Eva's cheeky grin steals the show!). These are the sweet results of seizing that moment. It wasn't planned, it wasn't styled, but Eva is even wearing a hand me down from Florence that was one of my favourite outfits for her and the first thing I bought when we moved to France two years ago!

It is Mother's Day in France this Sunday so this post is for my sister Pip and the girls' grandmothers, Nana, Grandma and Nanny my most faithful readers!

Happy Mother's Day - again! Or as they say in France, Bonne Fête des Mamans!

Quoi de neuf ?*

* What's new?


This week, I met another blogger friend for real. Virginia and her friend Mary came to visit and we spent the afternoon in picturesque Marly le Roi where we found this vieille maison. Watch out for lots more photographs from the charming streets of Marly on Virginia's blog Paris Through my Lens.


I signed Florence up for Maternelle (French Kindergarten) which she will start in September. I had expected to have to deal with a mile of French red tape, especially as we don't have some of the required documents on the registration form - no Carnet de Santé or Livret de Famille, but my substitutions were deemed perfectly acceptable and the whole registration process took me less time than it took to buy our evening baguette. I can't help feeling that was too easy - we will see when I attend the compulsory parents meeting in June! I hope she likes it. She could do with a break from looking after her family of seven!


Sacré Coeur seen from the fifth floor of Le Marché Saint-Pierre
I had a wonderful day out all by myself shopping in the fabric markets of Montmartre and somehow managed to stumble into an excellent French bistro for lunch in a sea of tourist traps at the foot of Sacré Coeur.

I needed fabric for a dress I'm making for my niece's christening. Whilst searching the web for design inspiration I stumbled across this film at Baby Dior. Le sigh...

Not sure how long that link will last so here's another film for the Paris lovers. Check out the girl in black. Her dress. Her hair. Turns out India wasn't so far from a Dior outfit at THAT Bar Mitzvah after all!



And last but not least, I am thrilled that Jillian over at Jillian in Italy interviewed me for her A Kid's Life series. I found her gorgeous blog one time when we both linked up to Love the Place you Live at Design Mom. It turns out that as well as loving where we live, we also have a love of sewing, photography and twin girls in common! It was such a pleasure and very thought provoking to answer her questions so hop on over to see what I had to say about our life in France. You might find out something you didn't already know.

Bon Weekend!

Citrouilles

Last week, Florence and I headed over to Les Fermes de Gally to pick out some pumpkins for our neighbourhood's early Halloween Celebrations. It was a foggy, damp morning and we had the place to ourselves. When we discovered that Paris had it's very own Pumpkin Patch last year, Florence still wasn't walking and had to be carried around in the baby carrier. What a difference a year makes! This year she revelled in the chance to pick out her own pumpkin and stomp around in the mud.

I'm not sure when the next Love the Place you Live link up will be over at Design Mom, but Les Fermes des Gally is a definite contender in the Berry household. It really is just a ten minute drive from our house and only half an hour from Paris, yet it's such a wonderful country experience. You can pick your own produce year round. Apples are in season right now if you don't need a giant pumpkin and the farm also runs fun classes for kids and has a wonderful café and shop complete with live laying chickens that Florence loves to visit. It's one of those places we don't always remember is on our doorstep, but this year I am going to try and get there as often as possible. Without doubt we will be back in time to pick out a Christmas tree.

P.S. My photographs of Florence (and the big girls) are getting better thanks to another photography class I've been taking over at Nicole's Classes this month. Babies, Toddlers & Kids. I am so thrilled that one of my homework submissions made it onto their blog this week. Florence enjoying ice cream for breakfast. One of my most treasured photos that I could not have captured before I started taking the classes. (She was in the shade, I had to adjust the exposure big time. Photography geeks reading this blog will get it!!)

French Laundry 101

Turn this...
into this...

with this!

I'm not sure it will be much help with this though. Florence did not vanish she was busy decorating our sheets with a permanent marker. Sigh. Luckily it's an easily replaceable white sheet and not India's much loved handmade quilt which was also on the bed and avoided being turned into toddler artwork by millimeters. There would have been tears. I think it's time for what's left of this sheet to be put away for upcycling. In fact I might just have had an idea for a Halloween costume...

If you want to see Florence in more angelic times she's making a guest appearance over at Paris and Beyond this week.

Bon Weekend!

Out of the mouths of babes...

I think its fair to say that anyone lucky enough to have spent time in France will miss having daily access to a real baguette more than anything once they have to leave. Of course you can get baguettes in other countries but they'll never be quite the same. I picked up this one while we were in Whole Foods to have with our dinner on Sunday night. Florence was with me and as is her habit insisted on being given le quignon (the tip) to munch on while we went through the checkout line.

Sadly it was a huge disappointment for her. She had to use all her might to bite off a mouthful of the crust and after a few chews turned up her nose and spat it out on the floor in disgust! Her face was a picture but unfortunately I wasn't quick enough with the camera to capture it for you so you'll have to take my word for it.

I started an online photography course today and for the first time my camera dial is firmly set to manual. I suspect there will be quite a few more misses as I faff about with exposure whilst my subject runs away, but I'm hoping that taking control of the camera will ultimately make for more satisfying photos. We shall see..

Month by Month Birthday Mobile

Thank you so much for all the compliments on Florence's birthday party. Ever since India's first birthday I've enjoyed coming up with decorating ideas and making handmade party favours to fit a theme that most suits the birthday girl at the time. Last year I hit upon the idea of making a mobile featuring a photo of Florence from each month of her first year to hang as a centrepiece. It worked so well, I made another one this year and I thought you might like to try it next time you have a birthday to celebrate.


How to make a Birthday Mobile

To make your own Birthday Mobile, you will need:

Photo paper

Coloured card stock

A circle cutter or scissors

Photosafe glue

Invisible thread

Your sewing machine and a printer well stocked with ink!

First comes the hard part - choosing the twelve photos you want to use! If you're more organized than me, you might want to start doing this before the morning of the party. Just sayin'! This year I used a mixture of close ups and, because Florence's appearance hasn't changed as much this year as it did from birth to twelve months, I also used photos of some of her milestones like first steps and walking the dog!



Once you have selected and edited your 12 photos print them out onto your photo paper and you will be ready to start constructing your mobile. I used the mask feature on my computer's layout program to enlarge each image to the exact size I wanted (circle with a diameter of 9cm) but if you don't have that capability you can crop the part of the image you want after you print out the photo.


Cut each of your photos into a circle and cut 12 circles of card stock to the same dimensions. You can use all the same colour or a mixture as I did. Whatever suits the party's colour scheme. I used my trusty circle cutter from my scrapbooking days to cut out each circle, but scissors and a drafting compass would work just as well!


Once you have your set of 12 photos and 12 coloured circles it's time to get stitching. Thread your invisible thread into your machine and sew through the centre of each card circle until all 12 circles are linked in a long string. Just like chain piecing if you're a quilter! Run a couple of stitches between each circle so that the mobile spins when it's hung and be sure to pull out enough thread before you start stitching to use as hanging loop.


After you have made your chain of coloured circles use the glue to attach each photo to the back of a circle in chronological order.

Your mobile is now complete. Find a handy chandelier or other suitable receptacle and hang your mobile masterpiece.


Just in time for the party to start!

This Moment. Fresh evening baguette

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Joining in with Amanda and friends at SouleMama

Turning Two

Well we now have a two year old in the house. Not too terrible so far!

For someone who wouldn't have noticed what day it was, Florence had quite the birthday extravaganza. We spent her big day at Disneyland. Not my first choice of birthday venue for a two year old, but we were there for another friend's birthday party and Florence loved it. She is now a big fan of the It's a Small World ride, popcorn and coke. Sigh!

On Sunday we had a family tea party for the birthday girl.

Exactly one week after I was in New York buying fabric for her birthday outfit she was wearing it. Yeah!


Jet lag got the better of me before I could attempt the matching trousers but I did have time to whip up some 'Bonjour' bunting from the scraps. Inspired by Kirsty's tutorial I cut a bunch of four inch equilateral triangles from the Liberty fabric and shot cottons that I bought at Purl Soho and then stitched them to five yards of colourful twill tape which was another Purl purchase. Easy!


Knowing we'd be out until late the night before the party, I let the local boulangerie take most of the baking strain. These macarons were delicious and matched the colour scheme perfectly!


My Mum also made her cheese scones which were a huge hit. So much so that our guests asked her to write down the recipe. I'm so glad because now I have it and she says I can share it with you:

8oz plain flour sifted
2oz butter
2oz cheddar cheese grated
pinch of salt
7tbsp (approx) milk
dessert spoon of mustard

Pre-heat oven to 220ºC (425ºF).
Rub the sifted flour and butter together until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
Add other dry ingredients.
Combine mustard and milk then add to the dry ingredients to make a dough mix.
Roll out the dough to about one and a half inches thick and cut into rounds.
Place on non-stick baking tray and leave in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes.
Brush tops with milk and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.


When I was growing up, my birthday cakes were the talk of the town. It was usually my Dad who designed and decorated them. He even made drawings! This is the design for the cake for my second birthday. I found it recently tucked in the back of my baby book.


I've made my share of elaborate birthday cakes over the past eleven years, but this being the 21st (!) birthday party I have organized for one of my children, I chose to keep it simple with our favourite lemon poppy seed cake and a marzipan ladybird from the boulangerie.


Florence was much more interested in blowing out the candles than eating it anyway. And singing Happy Birthday ten times accompanied by Georgia who figured out all by herself how to play it on the piano.


I made play dough as party favours, packaged in my vast collection of empty Bonne Maman jars and tied up with more Liberty scraps.


I've been wanting to make my own play dough for Florence ever since seeing this post at Sew Liberated, but I've been put off by my inability to find cream of tartar in France. In the end I made it without and it was ridiculously easy although a bit sticky the next day. The need to add extra flour made it all the more fun though!


Just as much of a hit with the big kids as the two year old.

So there you have it. Florence turns two in style. Rather a long post but being a fourth child she doesn't have a baby book for me to tuck memories into so this is the virtual version.