Scrap Happiness

April showers bring May eggs!

2016-05-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

After having our chickens for exactly six weeks, one has finally laid an egg!

For some reason, I thought it would only take two weeks to get eggs from them, so I have been disappointed for a while. I was most disappointed when we discovered that two of our purported hens are actually roosters! I swear, we couldn't tell when we first got them!

Now, of course, it is 100% crystal clear, as is evidenced by this video I took this morning:

These city slickers don't know much about chickens, that is evident. But this afternoon, I finally felt like I was a semi-successful chicken farmer--we got our first egg!

It's tiny, it's fragile, but it's an egg from our own organically-fed hen. My husband and I will be sharing it tomorrow for breakfast.

Merci, ma poule! You rock!

One of these Buff Orpingtons was responsible for laying our first egg. :)

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PEACE.

LOVE.

CHICKENS.

May Day, May Day!

2016-05-01T08:10:00.000-05:00

Why has it been taking me so long to update my blog?

We have been super busy lately. We are transitioning over to a farmstead website and blog, but I wanted to let my readers know I have not fallen off the face of the earth.

It is chilly and rainy here, nowhere near what the first of May should be, in my mind. But that's OK. Our new trees and plants are getting plenty of water and the temperatures have remained above freezing, knock on wood. Here are some pictures of the last several weeks on our Spotted Dog Farmstead.

Yes, this is a picture of bark!

I could post 50,000 more photos, but I think I'll stop here. Just looking at that last photo of my daughter makes me want to go hug her!

Thanks for reading.

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PEACE.

LOVE.

FARMSTEADING.

Another year older...

2016-02-26T05:00:00.000-06:00

...another year wiser? That certainly remains to be seen, but I hope I'm getting wiser as the years move on.

Along with my own birthday this week, my first baby turned 17 the day me. I am just astonished by how someone as seemingly young as I could be his mother. Eh bien, je l'aime.

He'll clobber me for posting these pics, but he loves cookie cakes. Unfortunately, the kind they had at the store were covered in frosting, which he detests. So he ended up scraping off the macaroni colored icing on this beauty. Believe it or not, this was the best cookie cake we could find. It put me in a sugar coma for hours.

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I can't believe March is just around the corner and this is my first blog post since New Year's. Oh la la. I am just too dang busy.

Here are a few things that have been happening in my life:

work
more work
being swamped at work
being overwhelmed at work

{NO PHOTOS AVAILABLE}

my baby girl turning 13

driving 7 hours to Chicago to see EXO with said 13-year-old daughter

climbing to the top of the Willis Tower in Chicago with son and daughter

turning 21

crocheting many things and finishing basically nothing

having Mark McKinney like my Tweet!
I'm crushing your head! :)

==========================
I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but maybe I'll get around to blogging about it in June.

Thank you for reading. I must go to bed now before my eyelids drag my body to the ground.

Love,

--J

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PEACE.

LOVE.

EXO.

Happy 2016!

2015-12-31T14:44:00.002-06:00

Hello, dear readers!

Sitting here looking out at my snow-covered lavender field and happy to be on winter vacation, I am in a reflective mood. 2015 was a year of ups and downs for me, as I'm sure it was for lots of people, but I am very much looking forward to what 2016 has to offer.

One creative project I am looking forward to making is a Temperature Blanket. This is an unfortunate name, in my opinion, so I will likely end up calling it something else. The basic concept is every day, I will crochet a row according to what the high temperature of the day is. I may end up adding a color or two, but here is a quick chart I made:

So, for the next 10 days, the high temperature here will be in the 30's. That means my first 10 rows of 2016 will be Lavender Blue. I have joined a Facebook group to crochet along with others, and many people are using lots more colors. I think I will stick with just these. I intentionally chose more purples and greens because those are my favorite hues. I hope to not have too many rows of red, but I guess we will see next summer what will happen.

One problem is going to be making sure this baby doesn't get too big, but with 366 rows, how can it not? Perhaps I will make two afghans, one from January 1-June 30 and the other from July 1-December 31. This might be a good way to tell just how quickly climate change is taking place. ;)

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I'd like to wish health, happiness, good fortune, and joy to you and your family! Happy 2016!

Ozzie wants you to have an excellent 2016!

*********************************************************************************

PEACE.

LOVE.

KINDNESS.

COMPASSION.

CREATIVITY.

COLOR.

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Kitty rolling around in the grass

2015-12-12T13:54:00.001-06:00

This is completely senseless and silly, but my kitty cat Storm was pretty adorable today. :)

#SmallBizSaturday

2015-11-28T08:37:00.004-06:00

Greetings!

#SmallBusinessSaturday was started a few years ago in response to the insanity of Black Friday here in the States. The day after Thanksgiving is a huge shopping day with great deals, but some people want to support small businesses more than the big box stores.

Well, I can think of one small business that would appreciate your patronage: Prairie Sunshine Soaps!

Prairie Sunshine Soaps was started by my husband and me in 2012 in our kitchen. Although Chris supports me in my endeavors, I'm the one who runs it now. I currently have 79 items in my Etsy shop: 45 different soaps and 34 different crocheted washcloths/soap savers.

Making soap came as a response to my Aunt Sara's question about all the lavender we were harvesting in our front yard flower bed: "What are you going to do with all that lavender?" Chris had seen an article on The Art of Manliness about making your own cold process soap and so we decided to give it a shot.

We have five types of lavender soap and so many more, such as Pink Lemonade, Sandalwood, Orange Clove & Cinnamon, White Tea & Ginger, Crisp Anjou Pear, and Lime Mint, just to name a few. It is always wonderful to mix colors and fragrances and see what the soap will look like when it's taken out of the mold.

And here are some of my crocheted items:

Right now, I am running a special for #SmallBizSaturday: Spend $15 or more and get 15% off if you use coupon code SMALLBIZ2015. This offer is good through Monday, November 30.

#shopsmall #smallbusinesssaturday

Thank you so much!

**************************************************************

PEACE.

LOVE.

SMALL BIZ SATURDAY.

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Je pleure avec vous, Paris.

2015-11-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

I was saddened to hear about the deadly attacks on Paris yesterday. Deadly attacks anywhere are clearly horrible, but I have a special connection to the country of France. I am a French teacher and I have been to France several times, my most recent visit being just this past summer. I have only ever encountered friendliness and wonder in my travels to this beautiful land.

My heart is with the victims and their families, as well as all my French friends.

I am crying with you, mes amis. Paris, je t'aime!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PAIX.

AMOUR.

PARIS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oui, je l'aime.

2015-11-09T15:00:00.000-06:00

Oui, c'est vrai. Je l'aime. Apres tout ce temps, je l'aime toujours. Et la chose la plus incoyable, c'est qu'il m'aime aussi! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PEACE.

LOVE.

AMOUR.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GO, ROYALS!

2015-10-28T18:41:00.002-05:00

I'm still rooting for the Kansas City Royals, my hometown team. I know I'm a Jenny Come Lately to this Royals team and I know I don't attend (m)any games, but I hope to change that next season. My brother and his wife are huge fans, as well as many of my Facebook friends. I love seeing pictures of them enjoying Royals' games at Kauffman Stadium.

My fair weather fandom doesn't matter during the next several days because our boys in blue have made it into the World Series yet again, and they even won the first game in 14 innings very early this morning. During that game, I couldn't stand how close the score was and I needed something to do with my hands. So I went in search of blue yarn and I decided to make a crocheted cowl. I used Lion Brand's 45-minute cowl pattern, but I used Homespun yarn instead of Amazing. The reason for that is I already have cowls with nearly every color of Amazing, and I had some seriously gorgeous Homespun yarn just calling out my name to be made into something #Royal blue. I used Montana Sky and Windsor held together and crocheted with a Q-size hook (16 mm). One way to ensure your crochet project whips up nicely is to use a huge hook.

I really like how it turned out. How about you? I wore it at school today because the heat in our 53 year-old building is having a hard time finding the rooms in my hallway, but that just makes for an exciting day.

If tonight's game is close, I will most likely make some fingerless gloves to go along with my Royal blue cowl.

**

I remember when the Royals won the World Series in 1985. Thirty years ago, I was in high school, um, I mean Kindergarten--LOL! It was a surreal experience then and it is electrifying living through it again. I'd say thirty years is enough time to go without a World Series win. Let's bring it back home again, lads!

**

Go, Royals! You are the scrappiest team in the major league. Your hearts are in the right place and you make us Kansas Citians proud!

#ForeverRoyal #TaketheCrown #World Series #KansasCityRoyals

***

PEACE.

LOVE.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS!

***

Go, Royals!

2015-10-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

We love our hometown Kansas City Royals! We've got Royal Fever.

Go, Royals! Allez, les Bleus! Beat the Astros! #TakeTheCrown

The longest lasting crochet project I've ever done (but now it's finished!)

2015-09-27T12:37:00.001-05:00

I am a slow crocheter. I will admit that. I also run out of time to work on crochet projects because of pesky things like work and family obligations (just kidding!). It usually takes me quite a bit of time to finish crochet projects, especially afghans. But the crocheted afghan I have just finished takes the cake.

It is the Americana Afghan, and the pattern can be found here. I bookmarked the pattern on June 25, 2014, in the midst of World Cup fever. I was feeling patriotic due to the USA soccer team's victories and it was summer vacation, so I started making the afghan. Besides, the yarn colors are gorgeous (it is made with Heartland yarn in Acadia, Olympic, and Redwood), and I wanted to make something impressive. Little did I know it would take me as long as it has.

The length of this project is not caused at all by a bad pattern; the pattern is great and pretty straight forward. I made quite a few mistakes in the beginning and ended up having to start again from scratch just a few months ago. The main problem I had at the beginning was that I was not vigilant in counting my rows. The pattern says to make each square around 12 inches, which I did, but I realized what I thought was 12 inches after one square was not exactly the same as another square. So instead, when I restarted the afghan from scratch, I decided to make each square 60 rows tall. Each square was supposed to end up being identical to one another in width and length.

Of course, that isn't always the case, as you can see by comparing each square. That meant when I went to put them all together, I had a hard time lining up the seams. I had to take the seams out a few times because they were too wonky, but I finally made peace with the quirky nature of imperfection.

If you make things by hand yourself, you might think like I do and see all the mistakes you've made and where you could have done a better job. But I hope that when people see my afghan, they will see all the hard work that I put into it and find any irregularities charming. :)

I will say the stars were a blast to make, although weaving in the ends was a bit of a pain.

I still have to sew in the loose ends that I've hidden behind the afghan in the photos. That will take about an hour. But I have my lovely Netflix to keep me company, particularly the kiwi show The Almighty Johnsons. I have fallen in love with New Zealand accents and each of the Johnson brothers. Check it out at the Almighty Johnsons website.

I had Storm and Ozzie keep me company as well this morning.

***

PEACE.

LOVE.

AMERICANA.

and a bonus:

***
PEACE.

LOVE.

DEAN O'GORMAN.

***

Ta.

Happy Labor Day

2015-09-08T05:30:00.000-05:00

It is the end of Labor Day Monday here in the U.S., a well-deserved day off work and one last chance to enjoy summer.

It rained this morning, which made my heart sing. It has been hot and dry here for days and even though we experienced nothing like the drought they've experienced in the western states, our plants desperately needed a nice, tall drink. Our rain gauge shows two inches, but I don't know what the official count was. That is two inches of lovely nourishment my poor recent lavender transplants surely enjoyed.

**
I tried a new recipe today, one I found on Pinterest. They are taco pizza rolls from the Old El Paso website. Here is what the original looks like:

And here is what mine looked like:

Not quite the same, but not entirely too bad. I should have used thin pizza crust because the thick stuff was a bit too doughy, and this is coming from a girl who LOVES bread.

**
On the positive side, I cut my new soaps today. Frankincense & Myrrh smells like a gift made for a god (ha ha, get it?). And Orange Clove & Cinnamon smells like fall, which is right around the corner. Seriously, they smell great and they will be available on my Etsy site on October 5, 2015.

**
And the last thing on my agenda today was to work on what is perhaps the longest-lasting crocheted afghan project ever undertaken, my Americana afghan. When (If) I finally finish it, I will write an entire blog entry about it, but here is a sneak peek. I would say I am now 90% finished. That could be wishful thinking, but I am definitely more finished with it now than I ever have been.

***
Oh, and the best news of the day is that season 2 of Poldark has begun shooting in Cornwall, England! I imagine I won't get to see the broadcast until next summer at the earliest. But I won't think about that. Here is my beloved (LOL) Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark. Oh la la! I wish he were holding a scythe! ;)

***
Thank you yet again for reading. You're a star!

PEACE

LOVE

POLDARK! POLDARK! POLDARK!

Last weekend of "summer": Lavender, roses, sunflowers, new soaps, and more

2015-09-06T18:23:00.003-05:00

The kids and I have been back to school for a month now, but Labor Day weekend is the traditional "end of summer" here in the States. It's been a lovely Labor Day Sunday. It was made even better knowing I have tomorrow off, which is indescribably wonderful. Chris had to work today (no fun), so this is how I spent my day:

I watered the Phenomenal lavender because it was looking pretty weak a couple of days ago. We haven't had rain in a very long time and the temperatures have been in the 90's all week long. We recently transplanted a whole bunch of lavender from our vegetable garden to the lavender field, something we should have done earlier or later, but the transplants needed watering all week. There is a 60% chance of rain tomorrow and I am hoping beyond all hope that it will indeed rain and give my plants the water they need.

Here is what the field looks like now:

We will have to see how everything performs over the winter. I have read somewhere that the Farmer's Almanac predicts a colder than normal winter, which is not ideal for lavender. We will see...

More pics from the garden today:

We have six knockout rose bushes growing behind our white picket fence in the front yard. They looked quite pretty this morning.

When I came back inside, I decided to make soap. I made two types, Frankincense and Myrrh and Orange Clove & Cinnamon. It smells positively delightful in our home.

Check back in a couple of days after the soaps are ready to be cut to see what they look like. They will be available for purchase in our Etsy shop around October 6. I may decide to sell my soaps and crocheted goods at a local craft show this fall. We have a few scheduling conflicts this month, so I'm not sure when that will be, but I will let you know.

Thanks as always for reading.

Enjoy the rest of your Labor Day weekend. If you're not American, cheerio and have a brilliant week. ;)

***

PEACE

LOVE

HANDMADE SOAPS

***

I Love Sunflowers

2015-08-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

The sunflower seeds that have fallen from my bird feeders have finally grown up and matured. Here is pictorial proof of it. J'adore les tournesols!

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PEACE

LOVE

SUNFLOWERS

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After the Storm

2015-08-18T20:05:00.001-05:00

Budding Lavender Farm

2015-08-16T13:33:00.002-05:00

We have a small patch of land where we have planted so far four varieties of lavender. We have begun calling it "our lavender farm" even though it is far from what an established lavender farm is really like. Yet we are on our way to cultivating our own small patch of purple heaven.

Some pics from today:

A basket of Sweet Romance. It's my favorite at the moment.

I can't wait to see how this looks next year. I am a bit apprehensive because we lost most of our lavender at our other place last winter due to extreme cold temperatures. All of these varieties are supposed to be cold hardy, but so were the other plants. Time will tell. Please wish us luck.

As I was cutting the Sweet Romance blooms, cicadas were singing and a breeze was blowing. My mind immediately went back to my experience in lavender fields in Provence this past summer. I won't pretend that I will have anything that looks like that here, but our lavender farm will be my little corner of Provence here in the States.

As always, thank you for reading!

~~~

PEACE.

LOVE.

SWEET ROMANCE.

~~~

End of Summer and Back to School

2015-08-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

Summer vacation is now over. I am sad because I now I have to wake up at 5:00 a.m. every day and I will lose the unstructured time that I relish so much during the summer. Yet, I get to teach new classes this coming school year, namely the upper level French classes at my school. I am so pumped to do this, although it will be a challenge to have to plan for 5 different classes. I can't wait to speak French all day long with kids. I can't wait to see their eyes light up when I introduce them to Le Petit Prince, Stromae, Jean de Florette, Le Petit Nicolas, and le subjonctif (MDR=LOL!).

This year will rock! I hope your school year does too, whether you are a student, teacher, parent, or a concerned citizen.

Here are some pics from this summer to help me remember the good times.

Thank you for reading!

~~~

PEACE.

LOVE.

SCHOOL RULES!

~~~

Aidan Turner and One Direction

2015-07-28T06:30:00.000-05:00

This is my last full week of vacation before going back to work for the new school year next week. So I am going to post about two seemingly silly topics: Aidan Turner and One Direction.

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Aidan Turner is an Dublin-born actor who has been in Being Human, The Hobbit trilogy, and most recently, Poldark, among many others.

Poldark is a BBC production shown on PBS here in the States. It tells the story of Ross Poldark, a complicated hero who returns home from fighting for the losing side in the American War of Independence to Cornwall. There, he finds the woman that he loves is engaged to be married to his cousin, his father is deceased, and his inheritance is in tatters. There is a lot more to the story, especially lovely scenes of Ross cutting weeds and bathing in the sea.

No, really, there is a lot to the story--Cornwall, romance, balls, dancing, horseback riding, fighting, gambling, mining, jealousy, greed, class struggles, and tricorns. Don't you love a man in a tricorn hat? I am also loving watching Aidan Turner play the multiple facets of Ross's personality.

This series is a remake of the 1970's version, but from what I understand it follows the books, written by Winston Graham, more closely. I haven't bought the books yet because I made the mistake of buying Outlander before the first season was over, and it lessened my enjoyment of the TV show.

Here is the BBC promo video for the show. It's definitely worth watching for one minute if you can't decide whether to watch the show or not.

I belong to several Poldark groups on Facebook, and believe me when I say that Aidan Turner is a much admired man! I have decided to write a part for him in the book I am writing that is set in Ireland. I hope he'll agree to play the part, but I suppose I really should finish the book first, eh?

Here is a link to the PBS site where you can find some episodes of Poldark if you reside in the U.S. The DVD is now available in stores as well, so don't miss out. :)

Oh, and if you would like to see more Aidan, check out my Pinterest board here. You'll be glad you did!

~~~

The next topic I am writing about today is One Direction. Yes, you read that correctly. The British Isles boy band. Yes, I do realize I am a "mature" woman who hasn't been a teenager in many moons. Yes, I know that I run the risk of ridicule if I go ahead with my plan to write about this band.

But you see, I am going to their concert in Kansas City tonight with my daughter. And we are very excited. I actually like their music. I am not kidding. Really, I'm not.

Listen to this song and tell me it's not delightful.

If that didn't do it for you, try this one:

True, Zayn Malik left the band several months ago, and he is truly missed. However, my daughter and I will take the remaining four members and be OK with just them. Her favorite is Niall, the sole Irishman in the band. My favorite is either Niall or Harry, but I am not a big fan of Harry's long hair.
Yes, I still remember that I am not 12 anymore. But I like the fact that I can bond with my daughter by listening to the some of the same music. I hope the concert doesn't disappoint. I'm sure it won't.

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Thanks for reading. You're a star.

~~~

PEACE.

LOVE.

SCYTHING.

Blue Jays

2015-07-24T11:08:00.002-05:00

It's been a long time since I've seen a blue jay up close and personal. I know they are mean and bossy birds, but they certainly are gorgeous. Here are a few pictures from this morning's breakfast.

We also have dazzling cardinals enjoying our sunflower seeds, but no other birds dare eat at the same time as the blue jays. I would love to get a shot of both colorful birds together someday.

~~~

Paix.

Amour.

Geai bleu.

Freshly cut Pink Lemonade Handmade Soap

2015-07-22T09:47:00.000-05:00

It has been quite a while since I've made a batch of soap. Recently, I received a special order in my Etsy shop for Pink Lemonade Handmade Soap. I didn't have enough on hand to send my customer, so I had to make a brand new batch.

It has been around 36 hours since I made this gorgeous soap, and it's so it's cutting time! I put it in the freezer for 15 minutes first to ensure that none of the soap gets stuck to the mold.

I held a piece of cardboard down the middle of the mold as I poured first the pink side, then the yellow. Out of the mold, this is what the bottom looks like. It is definitely not perfect, but that is the beauty of handmade items--every item is unique.

Time to bring out the soap cutter made in Missouri by Bud Haffner. We bought this several years ago and it has not disappointed us at all. His Etsy shop is here.

What a typical freshly cut bar looks like.

Now it's time to cure for the next four weeks. The fragrance of this is very light and summery! Such a lovely scent!

There will be a few bars of this left once I fill the special order. If you're interested in purchasing a bar, visit my shop around August 20 to get your own.

~~~

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for a tall, cold glass of pink lemonade. Cheers!

~~~

Paix.

Amour.

Limonade rose.

Planting Calendula Seeds

2015-07-18T15:11:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to plant calendula for a while, so I decided to stop procrastinating and I did it today!

Calendula has got a host of wonderful benefits, such as being anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiseptic. I hope to use it in lotions, balms, and salves.

It is kind of late in the season to plant in the ground, but for 10 cents per seed pack, what do I have to lose? Calendula is an annual, but it seeds itself. Next spring, I will plant a lot more seeds directly into the ground, but I didn't want to wait that long so I planted them in containers today. I hope they grow big enough that I can then transplant them for the rest of the growing season.

Check back soon for updates. In the meantime, check out this slideshow:

...

Paix.

Amour.

Calendula officinalis.

My Trip to France 2015, part 6 (series finale)

2015-07-14T10:45:00.002-05:00

Bonne fête du 14 juillet! In honor of France's national holiday, I am writing the last post in my series My Trip to France.

If you are French or a francophile like me, I hope your day is as sparkly as the Eiffel Tower at night!

***
Days 12-14

During the brief last leg of our trip, the kids came back to us after their home stay with a French family. Most of them had rave reviews of their experience and I think it was an invaluable learning experience for them. After saying good-bye to their families at the train station in Aix, we boarded a chartered bus with a lively and super fun bus driver, Françoise.

***
le 27 juin

We visited the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, or le Palais des Papes. We also saw Le Pont d'Avignon from a distance, but unfortunately we didn't get to dance on it. Next time.

Then it was back into the bus and on to Le Pont du Gard, one bridge we were able to cross and dance on. This is an ancient Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon river. I really love seeing vestiges of Ancient Rome, and this day the odds were in my favor that I would see more.

Next stop: the ancient city of Nîmes. Our hotel was the Cheval Blanc, which was right across the street from this beauty.

The arena in Nîmes has one of the best preserved Roman arenas in existence. We weren't able to visit it when we arrived in town because it was Saturday evening and the arena is a concert venue in the summer. Upcoming shows included Sting and Nicki Minaj.

There is a statue of a famous bullfighter, Christian Montcouquiol ("Nimeño II") in front of the arena, which was our meeting point in Nîmes.

Nîmes is also home to the Maison Carrée, an ancient Roman temple. Très cool.

And of course, a delicious dinner to end our day. This time it was a galette jambon fromage oeuf. C’était tellement bon!

***
le 28 juin

The next day, we got to visit the arena and I was wowed. I never knew I would like Roman architecture as much as I do. Maybe I should go to Rome someday.

This is a vomitorium. Contrary to popular belief, a vomitorium has nothing to do with vomit.
Rather, it was an entrance or exit passage in a Roman arena or amphitheater.

***
Next, we got back into the bus and headed for Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

According to http://www.marymagdalenebooks.com/saintes-maries-de-la-mer,

The Provençal legend tells us that the year 40AD, a boat was launched from Jerusalem, without sails, oars or supplies, and drifted across the Mediterranean until it came ashore at this site. Some think the disciples were forced into a boat without facilities, and then cast adrift, so that they would perish at sea.

Their relics are supposed to be housed in the church here. I didn't get a good picture of the front of the church, but here is a side view.

The best part of this town was the beach view. And the beaches were sandy!

They happened to be having a barbecue festival the day we were there. One of my students bought a French magazine about barbecue, and here is one of the articles. Being from Kansas ourselves, we were very proud.

We weren't able to eat the barbecue, so we went for pizza at a nearby pizzeria. It was very hot that day, so we were underneath red umbrellas. That is why these two photos have a red hue. It also felt quite hellish in the heat, so the hue is quite à propos.

The main statue in town shows a famous white horse of the Camargue.

Les flamants roses; picture taken from bus window.

***
After a couple of hours, we finally arrived in Nice, where we would stay for two nights. I had a lovely hotel room.

I like the colors of some of the buildings down here.

This ice cream shop had 94 flavors to offer! Wow!

And we ended our evening at the beach.

Unfortunately, it was a rocky beach, which isn't my favorite type. Yet, I did manage to enjoy being there anyway. :)

And here is a statue of Apollo at the Place Masséna. He has an interesting history, which you can read about here. Before my trip, my daughter and I were looking around Google Maps at some of the places I was going to go in France. We "walked" down the street in Nice and spied this statue. My daughter asked me to take a picture of it when I got to Nice. While I took photo, but I made the mistake of telling my students this story, and they made fun of me because they thought I was weird for taking a picture of a naked man statue for my 12-year-old daughter. Hey, anything for art, right?

***
le 29 juin

Last full day.

***
We have arrived in Monaco. Our first stop--Le Musée Océanographique.

While waiting for our time to enter the museum, my kids had fun braiding each other's hair.

***
Next, the prince's palace.

Before leaving Monaco, Françoise took us to the starting point of the Formula 1 Grand Prix race. We went to pole position #1 and she counted down "Trois, deux, un! Allez!" Then she pretended that our bus was in the race. Of course, we had to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks. I took a video, but it is too big to upload here. I will post a picture of this wonderful woman later.

***
And then we went up to the hilltop town of Èze. The medieval town was almost too charming, and vistas were breathtaking.

***
Next, the perfume factory, Fragonard. It was cool to tour the place, but I wasn't able to take photos of the production room.

***
Our farewell dinner was at La Taverne Masséna.

The owners at Massena certainly know how to cater to American teenagers!

Le Coca-Cola, c'est notre vin américain!

***
le 30 juin

Traveling home...

Our fabulous bus driver, Françoise.

Flying over the Alps was stupendous.

So was this Air France flight attendant.

Back in the U.S. a couple of my students found these two Diet Coke bottles;
one has my first name, the other my last! So sweet!

My daughter texted a picture of the family on their way to the Kansas City airport to pick me up.

And here are my six marvelous students and myself, back at KCI where we started our trip two weeks earlier. We are jet lagged, hungry, and exhilarated.

I couldn't have asked for a better group of young men and women to travel with!

Merci, mes élèves! Vous êtes formidables!

***

PAIX.

AMOUR.

DODO.

Bonne nuit!

My Trip to France 2015, part 5

2015-07-11T05:30:00.000-05:00

Days 6-11: Aix-en-Provence et les environs

22 June

During days 6-11 of this trip, the students stayed with host families around Aix-en-Provence while the teachers stayed in Aix itself and had a little few days on their own. I am not going to break down every moment of these days, thankfully. I am just going to give you a visual field trip with occasional commentary. The key word of the week was LAVENDER! (la lavande)

The other two teachers in this photo are Annette and Beth from Oregon. Thanks to them, I was able to make the trip to the lavender fields because they rented a car and invited me to come along for the day. They are so sweet!

BEES! (les abeilles)

And SUNFLOWERS! (les tournesols)

There were other things to see as well.

***
23 June

Aix-en-Provence:

My favorite cheese in the entire universe, Boursin!

***

24 June

Cassis, where I saw the Mediterranean Sea for the first time ever.

It was from this limestone that the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty was made.

And we had a wine tasting with a view through perhaps the best window ever made:

And we made friends with Alexandre, one of the guides of the tour we had just taken in Cassis. He drove the other tour van. Alexandre is a young Marseillais who loves to speak English, would love to go to America, and apologized if we have met any rude French people. He said, "Forget about them!" The two teachers here in this photo are Lindsey from Wisconsin and Jeanette from Missouri.

***
25 June

Gratuitous food pics.

Back in Cassis today with Annette, Beth, and Christiane.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of the sea! As a girl from a landlocked state, deep in the heart of a big country, I love every single moment I get to have with oceans, seas, gulfs, and straits. J'adore la mer!

***
Then we briefly went to Marseille.

Nous sommes Jennyfer. Hey, I am too! :)

I couldn't decide between chocolate and strawberry, and the ice cream man gave me one of each. :)

Pompiers marseillais (Marseillais firefighters)

***
26 June

Back in Aix with Lindsey, Annette, Beth, and Christiane.

I absolutely love the color of this building!

This nice man sells jams, jellies, and chutneys. He was wonderful and he talked of his dream of driving along Route 66 in America someday. I told him he should do it, but he said he has to sell more jam first. I bought a jar and Annette bought a jar! :)

Here is Jenn, Lindsey, Christiane, Beth, and Annette posing with a petrified Paul Cézanne. Sorry I almost cut you out of the picture, Annette. Fun evening before meeting back up with the kiddos.

***
Merci encore for reading my blog. There are just a few more days' worth of pictures left. You are superstars for sticking with me for this long!

***
Paix.

Amour.

Méditerranée.

My Trip to France 2015, part 4

2015-07-10T14:13:00.000-05:00

Day 5:

Today is going to be a looooong day, but we started out the same way--at the Place de la République.

***
We then took the RER (Réseau Express Régional, or commuter train) to Versailles. It is located a mere 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Paris (from right in front of Notre Dame, mind you). Our rendez-vous point at Versailles--a statue of none other than Louis XIV himself.

We arrived fairly early and had to divide into two groups in order to tour the palace. Our group was the second group, but we were free to wander the gardens until our allotted time inside. We curiously found a couple of mirrors amidst the crowds. It turns out these are part of the Anish Kapoor exhibit here. I really like the mirrors, as they give you a unique perspective of the palace and the gardens.

The last time I was at Versailles was in March of 2006. The gardens were dormant then, so they weren't that thrilling to view. But this time, I am abasourdie (stunned) by their sheer beauty and verdure. Green, after all, is my favorite color. One section of the garden that especially struck me was the orangerie. Obviously, the climate here is inhospitable to orange trees, but you will notice that they are in containers and are brought out to enjoy the summer. They are kept inside in the winter. The Versailles website says that some of these trees are over 200 years old. Imagine that! There are lemon and pomegranate trees here as well. Such a pretty vista!

My daughter thinks I'm too old for selfies, but I wholeheartedly disagree!

You may notice the fountains are running, which I absolutely loved. These are called "Les Grandes Eaux", and I had not seen these in quite a long time. There was also classical music playing throughout the gardens, and if it hadn't been for the thousands of other tourists hanging around, I would have felt like I was in a movie.

"To all the glories of France."

***
Finally, we made it indoors and we had the added bonus of being able to use audioguides as we toured each room. The interior was extremely crowded, which I did not enjoy very much. I was actually yearning to get back outside to the gardens. Here are a few things I managed to get a picture of before heading back outdoors.

Louis XIV's bed.

Marie-Antoinette and her children.

Hey, déjà vu! Another painting of Napoléon crowning himself emperor.

***
Once we were back outside, we got some lunch but my appetite was almost severed by this structure. It is another work by Anish Kapoor. I won't go into detail on this, but if you are interested in finding out more about it, click on this link. Personally, I think an artist can make whatever kind of art s/he likes, but I truly felt like this particular work was completely out of place at the historic Château de Versailles. I would have much preferred to see the green grass growing underneath.

More garden shots.

Making our way to the Petit Trianon. It is WAY the heck out there, I'm telling you.

I had to pay 10 euros to go see Marie-Antoinette's Petit Hameau, although the kids got to get in for free. It was so worth it, but we must have walked miles that afternoon.

Marie-Antoinette's Little Hamlet was begun 1783 so she could have somewhere just for her to escape the hustle and bustle of daily palace life. She indulged in a pastoral life, complete with a farm and a series of buildings reminiscent of a Norman village. Each house had its own small garden, and there was a mill and a dairy. I LOVE this part of Versailles!

Here is an English garden.

A vegetable garden.

An arbor with pink roses.

Another view of the vegetable garden with an arbor with pink roses. :)

An arbor with red roses.

Mill.

Delightful cottage.

An enchanted swan with enchanted carp.

Unbelievable quaintness.

Another arbor, this time with white roses.

Another vegetable garden.

More botanical photos. Have I mentioned how much I love gardens?

Now, for the animals: une chèvre.

Un mouton tondu.

La ferme.

Un arbre ancien.

More flowers.

Le Petit Trianon, her more elegant home away from home, and in all its formality.

And now back to the bigger place...via the Apollo fountain.

The Latons fountain.

***
Can you tell how much I enjoyed visiting Versailles? I am so glad we came in the summer this time so I could see everything in its highest form. I am also glad I was part of a group with an appointed visiting time because the line to get in for non-groups was super long.

I think I could have been happy living in Marie-Antoinette's hamlet, don't you? Well, as long as I was Marie-Antoinette and only before she was brought to justice by the Parisian mobs. OK, so maybe I don't want to be M-A, but maybe I will make some rose-covered arbors like hers for my garden.

***
After a very long day at Versailles, it was time for dinner. We had walked so far that day, I felt like we had been led on something akin to the Bataan Death March. My feet were in excruciating pain, even though I was wearing tennis shoes. I know, how gaudy, right? C'est un peu tape à l’oeil! Well, I couldn't have cared less what I looked like; I just had to have something comfortable for my feet that day. Unfortunately, my feet were still killing me while we went in search of food. Our guide led us away from the train station and further into town (ouch!), but we were excited to find a wonderful meal at a local brasserie. This, mes amis, is a croque-monsieur. It's like a grilled cheese sandwich but a million times better! Avec une salade verte et des frites, miam-miam! We even sat long enough that my feet were OK when we started back to the train station.

***
And when we made it back to the city, there was only one thing on our agenda--la Tour Eiffel.

One can't take enough pictures of this thing!

We divided into two groups again and I was in the group that got to ascend the tower at 10:00 p.m.

I hadn't seen a champagne bar on the Eiffel Tower before.

A view of the Champs de Mars (where we picnicked yesterday) and the Ecole Militaire.

Les Invalides.

Le Palais de Chaillot.

We got to go up a bit early, so when we got to the top, we got to see the lights flash. If you don't know this ritual, every evening when it is dark, the Eiffel Tower sparkles for the first five minutes at the top of each hour. I have shown a webcam of this to my students for years, yet I never imagined I would be able to be on it when the lights started flashing. It was an invigorating experience!

And we were at the bottom of the tower when 11:00 p.m. struck and the lights sparkled again.

I am in love with this gorgeous structure. Je t'aime, la Tour Eiffel!

***
Voilà. I hope you enjoyed this installment of my blog. Check back soon for my next post. Merci!

***

Paix.

Amour.

Tour Eiffel.

My Trip to France 2015, part 3

2015-07-08T12:45:00.003-05:00

Day 4:

Quelle canicule? There was no heat wave in Paris while we were there. People were wearing jackets and scarves. It was fabulously cool!

At our rendez-vous point:

We headed to the Catacombs in the 14th arrondissement this morning. When we descended the train, I found a gorgeous field of lavender waiting for me. Who needs Provence now?

Incident #2 where I wish I had my SLR--visiting the Catacombs. My iPhone did a fair job of capturing the eerie atmosphere here, but the quotes are a bit hard to read. Hopefully you can still enjoy these photos.

The Catacombs are an ossuary located in a former quarry in a labyrinth of underground tunnels, twenty meters beneath the Parisian streets. The quarries were made in order to get the stone to construct the buildings in Paris. The skulls and bones of around 6 million people were relocated here in the late 18th century through the middle of the 19th century because the existing graveyards at that time posed a public health risk.

What I find fascinating about the Catacombs is the collection of quotes and sayings that focus on one's mortality. As you enter the ossuary, this quote greets you above the doorway: "Halt! Here is the empire of death."

Un coeur de crânes:

"Thus everything ends on Earth. Spirit, beauty, grace, talent. Such is a fleeting flower blown down by the slightest breeze."

"Believe that each day for you is the last."

"Come, people of the world, come into these silent dwellings and your peaceful soul will be struck by the voice that rises from inside: 'It is here that the grandest of masters, the Tomb, holds its school of truth.'"

"Each mortal appears, disappears without returning, but by illustrious acts lives in our memory. This is the reward and the right of glory."

I do not condone this, but someone drew eyebrows on this skull. Ne fais pas la tête, mon vieux!

***
They say the Catacombs covers 200 miles, but only a small portion of that is open to tourists. Well, we worked up our appetite and needed to find some bouffe. Luckily, we found Paul, a chain of bakeries in Paris. Here is a link to their website.

I love the quote above the counter: "A house without bread is a house without joy." So true, so true. I am quite sad now that I can't have an authentic French baguette any time I want. The grocery store loaves just don't measure up. #FirstWorldProblem

Quoi choisir? What to choose?

I chose the tomato and mozzarella, and I think it had pesto sauce. Tellement délicieux!

***
After the catacombs and lunch, we had an appointment at the Musée d’Orsay, which is home to the finest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist artwork in the world. It also houses art from the Realism, Symbolism, and Art Nouveau movements. The art here dates from 1848-1914. The Musée d’Orsay is a former train station that came close to being torn down in the 1970's to make way for a modern hotel. Luckily, the structure was saved at the last minute and was transformed into the museum we see today. This link takes you to the M'O website where you will find a compelling slideshow about its history.

The trains that left this station headed to the western part of France. The names of the cities are still engraved on the side of the building. Nantes and Angers are two of my favorites!

Inside, the architecture and light are enough to make the space engrossing. That was good because today was the only day during my entire trip where I didn't feel well. And the Musée d’Orsay visit marked the worst part of my brief illness. There were so many people there that day, I didn't feel well enough to fight the crowds to see the Van Gogh and Monet paintings that I wished to see. I have seen them before, so don't be sad for me.

I did briefly make it up to the terrace, which I had never seen before. This is a view of a Louvre from the Musée d’Orsay. It's almost as if the ghosts of the celebrated artists float in the air above the Seine between these two great structures. How can you not love Paris when you think thoughts like that?

***
We met as a big group outside the museum, where you can find six statues representing the six continents. I was still feeling kind of icky, so I only took a photo of the statue representing North America. Très jolie, non?

***
There's no rest for the wicked, so after taking a bit of a breather in front of the museum, we got back up and began heading along the Seine toward Les Invalides. I had already passed by the statue below when my fellow teacher Annette made me aware of it. Hey, it's Thomas Jefferson! TJ is my husband's favorite historical figure, so of course I had to take a picture. There is a good reason I didn't know this statue was here, and that is because it wasn't here the last time I was in Paris. It was erected on July 4, 2006, on the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was Minister to France from 1785-1789, and he was an ardent supporter of the French Revolution.

We also walked by the National Assembly...

... and the Pont Alexandre III...

...as we approached Les Invalides.

Don't play ball here.

Inside the dome of Les Invalides, you will find the tomb of Napoléon Bonaparte, military genius and eventual emperor of France from 1804-1815. You can see his tomb from up above...

...and from down below. Les Invalides is quite intriguing to students of history. You can find more information here.

Napoléon can be a controversial figure, but one thing I very much admire about him was his desire to make education free to the public. Of course, he didn't include girls in his decree, but it was a step in the right direction to educate the masses.

***WARNING: This is a complaint.***

***It's too bad Napoléon didn't issue a decree about public toilets in Paris. They are so incredibly hard to find! I went through a near meltdown after Les Invalides because it was there that I realized that there aren't enough public toilets in Paris for all the tourists it receives every year. On this trip, we walked and walked, and we were conscious of keeping ourselves well hyrdrated. Unfortunately, toilets are scarce unless you are willing to go into a café and purchase something to eat or drink (I don't need any more drinks, merci beaucoup!) I won't talk about this issue again on this blog because it seems ridiculous to people who have easy access to toilets, but I have half a mind to write an article of complaint for the French Huffington Post! OK, enough said. Ça suffit! ***

***
After Les Invalides, we needed to find some food for a picnic on the Champs de Mars. I found these lovely lavender plants at a market. I would have loved to take them home with me.

We ended up eating a crêpe with jambon et fromage, a bit of a change from the sandwich jambon fromage!

More pretty flowers. De belles fleurs.

And all was well in the world again because we were having a picnic on the Champs de Mars, the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. This was Friday evening, and a large number of people were relaxing and enjoying the mild weather. I sat and ate dinner with my group of six students. I was shocked because probably every four or five minutes, a man would walk up to us and say, "Vin, champagne, vodka?" They were selling alcohol to random groups of people out in the open. That in and of itself was startling, but they were selling to anyone of any age without checking identification. This just would not do back where I live, at least as far as I know. Whenever someone came by, we would each smile and decline with a polite, "Non, merci." These underage kids were not drinking alcohol on my watch!

A quick video as we walked back toward the Seine:

I had to snap a picture of my favorite automobile of all time, la Dodoche, the nickname for the Citroën 2 CV, or deux chevaux. It has a whopping two horsepower engine, just my style!

***
You might think we were finally finished for the day, but non, ce n'est pas vrai. We still had a two-hour bateau mouche ride along the Seine to experience!

The photos aren't the best quality, but here are some of them:

The banks of the Seine were lined with thousands of people who were relaxing on a Friday night. They were drinking, eating, dancing, singing, you name it. One hilarious event we got to witness was a choreographed dance of two young men who ended their performance by mooning our boat. It was priceless and I truly wish I'd recorded it. The funny thing is the very same thing happened years and years ago when I went on my first bateau mouche ride. Perhaps it's not a coincidence, perhaps it is performance art that thrills foreign visitors. In any case, if you go for a boat ride along the Seine, be on the lookout for the moon!

***
I hope you are enjoying these blog posts. Thank you for reading! Vous êtes vraiment gentils!

***

Paix.

Amour.

Bateau mouche!