GIFTS FROM FRANCE

Good Afternoon to you,

I do love the pictures I have hung on the walls around my home. They make me happy and they certainly make me smile. Do you know, I can remember where I bought each and every picture.

I do not have a specific genre, I tend to be open to anything, it just needs  to catch my eye, and I am smitten. 

When a new picture appears, George always asks the question "and where will we hang this picture, we have no more space" to which I reply "we can shimmy the pictures around and have a change about". To which he normally raises his eyes and goes to the garage to find his hammer.

The pictures around my home tend to be an eclectic mix. Whenever we visit a new country, I love to find a print which will remind me of our time in that country.

..... but,

I have never owned an original..... that is until now.  Let me explain.

Just before Christmas, a package arrived through my letterbox and when I opened the package it contained,

the most lovely, Autumnal water colour.  I was so thrilled to receive it.  The artist, is  the lovely Barbara who writes the blog Barbara Lilian in France.   I love it so much that I have not placed it on the wall, it sits on a table, across from where I sit, so that when I  enjoy my morning cup of coffee, I can see the picture at a glance, and it never fails to put a smile on my face.

Doesn't it sit well, alongside some of my other treasures which I love.... and of course a vase of roses never goes amiss. I think maybe the roses should have had autumnal tones, but I do love pink roses.

Now you would think, that this beautiful watercolour, would be sufficient, but no, look what else I received,

not one,

no,

not two,

but

three 

of these beautiful lavender posies,

braided with such pretty ribbons.

They are so lovely.

I adore them.

The third posy,

Barbara had kindly sent for Phyllis,

because she remembered that I had mentioned

that Phyllis loved lavender.

Wasn't that a kind thing to do.

Barbara had shared how to make a posy, 

on one of her blog posts.

I had always meant to make some posies

with the lavender stems from my garden,

but you know how it is, we don't always manage

 to get around to doing the list of things

 we would like to do.

So it was a wonderful surprise to receive

these pretty posies which Barbara had made.

The posies were wrapped very carefully

and were inside this gorgeous bag.

Isn't it cute.

A note had been popped inside

the bag

and the note was written on beautiful paper.

I have to tell you, I just adore

lovely note paper.

.... and if you thought that was the end of

my treasure trove, you would be wrong,

because

Barbara had written me a lovely note on the back of this

'Four Seasons in Limousin' postcard.

...... and what could be nicer, on a cold, winter's day,

than a field of sunflowers.

A nice reminder on this very cold day,

of warmer days to come.

I am overwhelmed by Barbara's kindness, I love, love, love my watercolour and lavender posies.  At the moment the watercolour does look lovely in the frame I placed it in, but I have decided to re-frame it, using a larger gold frame.  I think the larger frame will set the picture off nicely and then I will hang it on the wall.

The lavender posies are also placed where I can enjoy them each day.  Sometimes I place them in a little cut glass vase and other times I lay them on my coffee table.

It was so very kind of Barbara to be so thoughtful as each gift took so much time to create.

Thank you again Barbara, for your kindness, you have made me a very happy lady.

Oh and Barbara, I can honestly tell you, that when I told George that I was going to buy a larger frame and hang the watercolour on the wall, George did not raise his eyes at all, as he loves your watercolour as much as I do.

Just before I go, I wanted to say, I feel sure you will have noticed that I have not been answering your comments, as I usually do.  I am so sorry, I really have not had the time to visit you or leave comments, but I am going to do my best  to visit you this week, as I know I have missed so much that has been going on in your lives. It is just that life has been so very busy here for George and I.  I know you will understand, as we all experience times like this at one point or another in our lives.

So take care and I will see you next Thursday.