Autumn Cottage Diarist

Longing for Warmth and Colour on a Cold, Grey Day

Miradouro de Santa Luzia swathed in bougainvillea - one of the viewpoints in Lisbon looking out over the River Tagus

Lisboa is on my mind and on the menu again. I need to be distracted from certain issues right now...I need an injection of colour and joie de vivre; So for me - and for others out there who would sit with me at the Miradouro Santa Caterina with a a glass of wine, here are a few pictures taken four years ago in the sunlight, sensuality and mystery that I have glimpsed of life in Portugal. (Forgive me if you have seen some of them before...)

The view from the apartment we rent, down into Rossio, the main square in Lisbon

Folkdance in Rossio on May Day

Exquisite carving on the monastery at Belem (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos)

Physical and spiritual shelter in the shade of the monastery cloister.

  The Carmelite Church - collapsed in the earthquake of 1755

Always - surrounded by blue and white...

Miradouro Santa Caterina....

...where the writers (and readers) hang out...

On Litha's Eve

Velvety, royal purple bearded iris

Just a brief visit tonight after a summer cough causing an unscheduled absence. Normal service is now resumed - with a few photographs to celebrate the Solstice. Flowers from France - to savour now, and remember as the days grow shorter - posted as the half moon shines in through my window, inhaling midsummers breeze.

Blue and bougainvillea in Royan

Memories of childhood - a cornflower-filled field

Does anything speak more of Midsummer than the rose?

How do you celebrate Midsummer?

Closer to the Cottage...

Sunlight through bearded irises

Just a few more images today from the visit to France - this time just to show you what we did when we hung out at the cottage, rather than out-and-about, looking at interesting stuff. For myself, 'at home-from-home' time was some of the most enjoyable time of all. Time to just sit and stare at the beauty all around - the flowers and the wildlife - to listen to the non-stop song of the birds in the daytime and cicadas at night...to read, to write, to sip wine and break bread - just to be away from everything that busies me at home. I'll share more flowers with you another day - but for now, just enjoy a quiet place on the patio with me...

The Garden room leading directly onto the patio - my bedroom for the week. Several 'little  visitors' (of the lizardy and toady variety) found their way through the door :-)

The view from my room

A glass of wine, a garden and a journal - recipe for a perfect afternoon

On other days, a light lunch before venturing forth

A constant 'I-Spy' of things to look at......house-leeks

Lizards

Shutters

Terracotta tiles

And on a couple of evenings...a fish barbecue treat...

From 'the cooks'

To 'the customers' - who just sat back and enjoyed the feast!

Can you see why I already long to return??

Village Vide-Grenier on a Sunday Morning

As I type this, I still have delicious memories of what I was doing 14 days ago, when I was able to stroll around this street bric-a-brac market - a 'vide-grenier' ('clear your barn') in Janzac. Somehow, the setting is a distinct improvement on some of the windy fields and race-courses I have more usually experienced when I venture to car boot sales here in the UK. Hard to beat a Romanesque church and a blue, blue sky as a backdrop, isn't it?

   

  Romanesque capitals and window arch on the church

I had great fun conducting bargaining sessions in my schoolgirl French. (Ha - bargaining? They knew exactly how far they would drop - and I knew exactly how much I would pay!). As always - 95% rubbish - but the 5% held one or two treasures for me...including this instructional reading book for children published around 1860.

As you can see, the front cover is shot to pieces - but I recognise damaged items like this enough (I was a dealer in antiquarian books and prints in another life) to know to look inside - and when I did, I found the delight of these hand-tinted engravings. I find the last one of these examples particularly amusing - I think it would make a charming addition to a nursery. (Anyone who would like a higher resolution copy of this to print out and frame is more than welcome to email me for the .jpg).

 

 

So - for today's walk - would you like to accompany around the village? Shall we stop off at the patissier for a mouthwatering tarte or two?

A Hidden Garden in Angouleme

The 12th century front of Angouleme cathedral

We made the journey to Angouleme principally to visit the Cathedral there, which is high on the list of impressive Romanesque architecture in France. Unfortunately for us, though the Cathedral front lived up to its reputation, the interior was something of a disappointment - the choir, chancel, apse and transepts were all cordoned off, filled with scaffolding to do what seemed like a little over-enthusiastic cleaning, and also a film crew, recording who knows what.

The Ascenscion, Christ surrounded by symbols of SS Matthew, Mark, Luke & John

St George, doing his thing with the dragon...damsel in distress to the left!

St George, lending his cloak to the beggar

A charming statue in a quiet corner... St Antony of Padua. Can you see the prayer notes tucked under the plinth?
Scaffolding everywhere..the stonework rather harshly over-cleaned, I think

So our visit to the actual Cathedral was brief...but we had also noticed a sign to "Museum" on our way there. Taking the road on the south side, instead of retracing our steps approaching from the north, we arrived in the back-streets of the cathedral...and look at what we found - in the former Bishop's palace, attached to the back of the cathedral...

The entrance to the museum, yes...

But also the most beautiful, unexpected garden - perfectly suited to the hot, dry, environment of a city in South-western France

A well-head in the courtyard...limited colour palette of greys, whites and blues - and, of course, green.

Pathways transecting the courtyard

A tiny fountain amongst the greenery - how delicious is the sound of running water in a hot country

What would you give to have that wall and those capitals as a backdrop in your own garden?

A vine in a box - showing just what is possible in a small space

Never liked artificial blue - or any other colour - chips in the garden before...but I am converted - they looked fabulous here

Even the colour palette of the surrounding streets was subtle and inspiring.

In my next post, I'll take you on a tour around the museum - another hidden gem. but for now, take another stroll through the hidden garden :-)

A Little French Village Stroll

Back again from a week in rural France, with more than an average share of hitches and events to make the holiday a memorable one! But at last I can share with you some of the places which I visited during a blissful few days of sun, sea, good wine and food, street markets, museums, churches and graveyards  (yes, I know - not everyone's idea of fun...but you know me by now!)

I enjoy taking you on walks with me - so I thought for my first sharing of photographs with you, I would take you today around the streets of Talmont, on the Gironde estuary...a charming little village filled with flowers. As it was a holiday weekend in France, it was, on this occasion, also filled with other visitors...but by pointing the camera in the right direction, one would hardly know that they were there!

Ready for flowers and blue, blue skies? Then come with me.....

The approach to Talmont

Roses, roses everywhere - the hollyhocks for which Talmont is famous were not quite flowering

The North side of the church of St Radegonde, on the sea-wall, with - most unusually - the graveyard in close proximity - and filled with growing flowers, which seem to be self-seeded rather than planted deliberately

Hollyhocks everywhere - notice the unusual grave-slabs held in a stone hammock at each end

A clearer view of the grave slabs

Oh, those blues!

  Humming-bird moth - about 5 cm (2") wingspan - see the proboscis penetrating deep into the florets?

Potentilla and bearded iris
Early evening sky over the estuary - more blue, just for good measure...

Fifty Memories of Six Days in France

11-16^th June 2009

 

Chez Russell

The first view, the first steps, into the Magic Garden

The beating sun on the patio

The swish of the pool filter

The “chuk-chuk-chuk-chuckAH!” of the hens next door when they laid an egg

The incessant birdsong with no break for lunch

 

The skitter of the lizards from beneath-the-bergenia-and-up-the-wall

The humming bird moths in the lavender bushes

The red squirrel – dropping his nuts!

The walnut tree, the walnut tree, the spreading, verdant walnut tree

The soft patter of rain on the terracotta tiles

 

Ancient churches on a route to Santiago

Wall paintings discovered – and washed away

Cross-legs, fork-beards, musician-figures... on the western arch at Avy – who are they?

Ceramic flowers on marble tombs

The bedroom in a cupboard!

 

Poterie de Baignes on windowsill and wall

Baby hedgehog on an evening ramble

Elaine and her sister on a wineglass perambulation of Bran

Crumbling old buildings - dreams and fantasies – buyable for 10,000 Euros?

The dog, the sun, a ramshackle shelter and more than one tear in my eye

 

Sweltering lunch in the shadow of the Donjon in Pons

Precarious descent to the Lower Square in St Emilion

The tiny-train tour of the Vineyards and Chateaux

Roses planted at the end of vine rows- “to give warning of diseases”

Downloading David by his desk at dawn!

 

 Vin rouge Lestac in a box

Fine wines in many bottles

Accordion music floating through the garden on Sunday morning

Croustade - Gascon filo and apple pudding splashed with Armagnac

Eroding limestone everywhere

 

Chateau de Clerbise

A chateau lost in time

Sunlight filtering through muslin-hung windows

Leather embossed walls

A huge ceramic stove

A ruined chapel still hiding many mysteries

 

Sarcophagi and graffiti

Lavender and Roses

Oleander and Wisteria

A swan gliding beneath us as we dined at the Moulin de Sorgues

Glassy surfaced, lily-studded river, reflecting golden lamps on the walls above

 

A goat being chased by a pony, a bunny and a goose – all on the other bank!

Naughty Elaine, Camp Christophe and far too much XO Cognac!

Rain coming down, a pile of books and my journal – another sort of bliss.

Last-night -leftovers-supper – good bread, good wines, great cheese

Mist-covered vineyards, aquamarine sky at dawn departure

 

Strutting Norman soldiers along the Bayeux “tapestry”

Thomas a Becket being beheaded - again - in the cathedral

A heavy heart for the boys who landed on Sword Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach

Millpond calm English Channel crossing

The winking Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, to welcome us back home.

For Good food, Good wine and Good Company – Godde be Thanked!

The well is well and truly filled - for now.

(Each one of these lines holds a story - a List of Memories is a great way to capture your holiday if you don't have time to write much when travelling...I'll be expanding each of these, along with more of the 700 photographs, over the next few weeks).

 

Where has August gone?

Abernodwydd farmhouse at the Welsh Folk Museum, St Fagans

Hello again!
Here I am, my dear readers, showing up at the page again after far too long
away. The summer months are flying past - already the days shorten and
the shadows lengthen. I thank you all for your comments and enquiries,
even when I am not writing here regularly. Life has had its considerable ups
and downs recently, but my generous readers encourage me to put
fingertip to keyboard once more. Thank you - you know who you are.

Since I last put any contribution onto these pages, I have attended a life
enhancing conference on feminist theology, (of which more at a later date)
and spent a delightful, if wet, weekend in Wales with my friend Liz - the
other "Lady of a certain Age" with whom I travelled to Venice, nearly two
years ago now. Oh, yes - where does the time go?

At the moment, I am spending much of my free time sorting through and
throwing away clutter that has built up over twenty years.(Its been too wet
to do much gardening over the last five or six weeks).

De-cluttering is  a slow process, but it is happening - Charity shops and
recycling skips are already beneficiaries, and the house is looking
considerably clearer - but unearthing items from the backs of cupboards
brings back so many memories, so the clearing is bittersweet in so many
respects. Baby clothes, "Dragon" bookends, a hand-carved wooden
"merry-go-round" - all from when the boys were small - not the handsome
young six foot four men they are today. Where does the time go?

My committed time is allocated to preliminary reading  on "Death in World
Religions" and "Flowers and death" in preparation for return to college, to
cover the last two modules of my Master's degree (only the small matter of
a 20,000 word dissertation to write after that!), and finalising the content of
four new writing/spirituality/creativity workshops that I am running from
September.
And a pre-Christmas one in December.
Oh, and a training day for one of the counselling organisations that I work
for.
And contributions to two book chapters.

I'm also in the planning stages for a writing retreat weekend which I hope
to run  in Wales next year - here are some images of the location (Ty-Capten farm barn, below)
- now all I have to do is write the darned course! I'm trying to keep it low in cost, and
the most wonderful thing is that the most important factor - the inspiration
of the landscape and the surroundings to the main accommodation (set on
a 400 year old farm) comes absolutely free. (Any takers? if you are interested, please mail me)

The photographs on the page today are just a few from the weekend in
Wales - inspirational for putting pen to paper and journaling contentedly for
hours, is it not?

Liz contemplating the comfort of a Welsh box bed

Plain and simple on the outside - Llainfadyn Cottage from North Wales

Fancy on the inside - Welsh dresser, blue and white china and the door leading to a bedroom under the sleeping loft

The gardens surrounding St Fagan's Castle

St Fagan's Castle - fortified house

More gardens surrounding the house

Earthenware Wassail jug

Back at the farm - bubbly time!

Picnic supper on the old milk churn stands

Heavenly hydrangeas in the night garden

The extraordinarily ornately carved doorway of Kilpeck Church, Herefordshire

Green Man on the church door

Llanthony Priory

Ty-Capten farm barn - venue for writing retreat, 2009

Sam the Cat - barn sentinel and honorary scribe!

Carnivale Time In Venezia!

It’s that time of the year again – Lent approaches, but for the moment, Carnivale is here!

Each year, this wonderful site is updated daily with images from Venice, showing the glorious, magical colours of the modern Venetian carnival. The masks, the textiles, the exuberance of it all. Though I wonder how exuberant they are feeling at the moment – arctic winds are blowing down over the UK – is it the same in Venice? If so, I hope they are wearing their thermals under all their finery!

The image above is my own, of a puppet and mask makers shop from my visit in October 06, but click above to browse all the real people and costumes for this week – you have four more days offerings to savour!

Venetian Knobs and Knockers

My head deep in my books and glued to the computer screen, as I write my first module essay for college. Who would believe that I have already completed Module 1? It seems as if I only started a week or two ago! I have learned a tremendous amount - now all I need is another few months to assimilate that learning.

So as a mild form of avoidance tactic, I thought I would take a few minutes to share with you all some of the knobs and knockers that I spotted around Venice and the islands as I wandered through the backstreets.

Mostly visuals today – but I still hope that you enjoy their variety. I especially love the delicious textures - of bronze, peeling paint, weathered wood and rusting iron. How about you?