My Sunday Photo - April 17th 2106

England ...
Cornwall ...
Boscastle ...
A village nearly destroyed by terrible floods in 2004.
A village once again thriving on tourism and the lobster trade.
Small industry keeping a small village alive in 2016.

My Sunday Photo - March 27th 2016

For Moo's story please click here - Meet Moo - The Cat who Came to Stay.

My Sunday Photo - 28th February 2016

I recently visited the nearby Medieval city of Domfront and delighted in beautiful old buildings, ancient and more modern churches, a fantastic ruined castle ... and the best drain covers I've seen in a long while.  If you are going to have a drain cover why not make it a bit more attractive which is just what Domfront as done adding their coat of arms and city name. There are more Domfront pictures here.

My Sunday Photo - Feb 21st 2016

Synchronised sleeping :)

My Sunday Photo - Feb 14th 2016

This week I have been playing with black and white photos:

Silent Sunday - January 31st 2016

It seems it is not jut small children who like making bubbles.  Allow your teenage son loose with the washing up liquid and you might not see clean plates but he will be adept at making hand-help bubbles.  That might explain why my washing up liquid went down so quickly this week!

Silent Sunday - January 24th 2016

Camera Skills - January 17th 2016

As I mentioned on Thursday I am not good at sticking to New Year Resolutions so I tend not to set any.  However I have set myself a goal for 2016 (which is different) and that is a goal to improve my photography skills.  I have a pretty good (if slightly old) digital SLR camera with all the knobs and buttons you would expect but I don't really use them, relying on point and shoot and sometimes getting the image I want!  So I have bought myself this photography book and plan to find out how to get the photos I want by using those knobs and buttons rather than relying on chancet.  Once I have worked out what I am doing I might even treat myself to a new camera with better macro and zoom.

Have you got any tips for me to improve my photography?  

Bananagrams! January 10th 2016

We are a family who enjoy a good game and this is one we have not played for a while until Simon and the boys rediscovered it recently.  It's Banangrams and is probably best described as Scrabble on speed!  There is no scoring but each player makes their own grid with the available tiles taking more tiles at various times through the game.  The winner is the first person to use all their letters on a completed grid with no errors when all the central tiles have been taken.  If that doesn't make sense it all becomes very clear when you play ... and it's addictive.

It is also very good for the boys where English is not their first written language which can result in some interesting spellings at times.  However even just playing it a few times of late has helped them with some of the many difficult spellings the English language throws up.

But one small query remains, how do you pronounce the game? We always called it Banana Grams until Ben looked at it and said Ban Anangrams.  So which do you think it is?

Nepalese Prayer Flags - January 3rd 2016

Today I give you something that would probably be more at home half way round the world ... in Nepal.  We were given some Nepalese prayer flags from Simon's sister who travelled there earlier in the year.  We have some in the house as part of our Christmas decorations and these ones are fluttering outside in the wind.

The flags come in sets of five, one each of the following colours from left to right: blue, white, red, green, and yellow and the colours each represent something. Blue for the sky and space, white  for air and wind, red for fire, green for water and yellow for earth.  Prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom with these positive feelings being blown by the wind from the flags across the world.  Ideally the flags should be left to fly as high as possible and whilst I am not sure our washing line in Normandy can compete with the Himalayas in altitude I am hoping they are doing well spreading good feelings far and wide.

Happy New Year everyone and I hope our Nepalese Prayer Flags send some of their good wishes in your direction.

Beach Walk - December 27th 2105

Boxing Day Beach Walk in Normandy. 

How did you spend your Boxing Day?

Sunrise in Normandy - Dec 20th 2105

In Normandy, the later part of 2015 has seen some fabulous sunsets to the point that with another fantastic evening light show the boys may just have yelled "Not MORE photos, Mum?!"

The mornings have not been without their moments too,  but often I have been in the car or feeding animals and I have not been able to snap the dawn glory.  Yesterday, however I was both up early (on a Saturday!) and had my camera to hand - there was no school run and the animals could wait as this sunset that was brightening up the sky needed photographing.

More orange and purple than red I am hoping it is not a portent to bad weather ... the forecast would seem to think not with the mild and dry spell set to continue and shepherds need not worry.

How is your December weather and have you had some sunrises worth getting up for?  Do tell.

I'm glad we don't live in ... Sunday 13th December 2015

In France, a commune is the equivalent in England of a parish so we are in the parish of Lenault.  For addresses, most houses actually in the village will just carry the name "le bourg" (the village).  We are, however, situated 2 kms outside of le bourg and for outlying houses the French give hamlet names.  Ours is La Causserie which just covers our house, although others may include several houses.  In the commune of Lenault, hamlet names include Le Hamelet, Le Jardin, La Saulnerie and La Fosse etc.  All I can say, though, is that I am glad we didn't find a house in Crapouville!

Silent Sunday - November 29th 2015

Silent Sunday - November 22nd 2015

Silent Sunday - November 15th 2015

Silent Sunday - November 1st 2015

Silent Sunday - October 18th 2105

Silent Sunday - October 11th 2015

Silent Sunday - October 4th 2015