Monday

 

Today I have decided to have a day chez nous - a chance for a little peace and quiet - and plan to get my paints out for a spot of dabbling and fun.

Last time I was in London, I bought a whole set of new acrylic paints, gel retarder, brushes and pallette knives.

So, I really have no excuse for not being creative today.



 But, first a spot of gentle housework !! a general tidy up and a wash on, or several in fact. Can't waste that good drying wind, it even has a name - The Mistral !!

Usually it blows for 4/5 days and then disappears.... until the next time ....

It can be quite fierce and a real pain but at times it is cooling and welcomed.

I want to tackle something simple to start with - and so paint a sunflower, or three in fact in one picture. It is always a bit of a gamble when I paint as I am not very controlled with a brush or pallette knife in hand and just see where it all goes.

The final picture is certainly colourful and a little bit too energetic looking maybe in the end in fact but I had great fun doing it and that is all that is important to me.

It is not a commercial venture, and I only do it as a pleasure and have no intention ever ever to get stressed by 'failure' or it not looking 'right'. Great cop out really !! but it means that I am always happy with the outcome.

 Simples !!

 
The family all head off mid morning to organise bike hire but first drive over to Isle sur la Sorgue for a spot of sightseeing and picnic buying session in the village.

Lots of fresh bread mainly as most of it was already in the fridge beforehand.


They wander round the town a while and eventually it's time for lunch !! They find a spot by the river to hunker down and tuck in.

Phil still has his ancient picnic blanket - much washed and much loved

He apparently had it at school and even his brother recognised it when he saw it recently at home, happy memories of so many family picnics over the years.

 We have carried this old blanket with us absolutely everywhere we have gone for a holiday ! In the old days it was simply laid over everything that was in the boot as a cover-all to keep things from rattling around etc.....

Nowadays I think he is truly attached to it ! It's ok though, nowt wrong with that.

It's a bit of gentle joke in the family that dad will drive half an hour to find just the right spot for a picnic !!

He usually manages to find somewhere a bit magical in the end, so well worth the few extra miles.


After this the troop head over to Vallon where the bike hire place was and collected the bikes after being measured up and handed out one accordingly !

This is defintely a first for Phil and he is very impressed.

I can hear the longing in his voice when he talks about these fantastic road bikes. His is an ancient all terrain model that he's had for about 20 yrs !!

The only advantage to his old wreck is that he can leave it anywhere and it'll never get stolen. Well it hasn't been yet anyway, but we musn't tempt fate as they say.

Phil drives back to the house, stopping here and there for a little photo session and the youngsters cycled back through the lanes.

They arrive back, later in the afternoon - the first actually being Isabel !! and one by one step into the pool, shoes n socks off but still fully clothed, to ease their aching legs. A funny sight indeed as they paddle around thigh deep in the soothing cool water with a glass of thirst quenching lager in hand ! The pool has many uses you see....


What was really funny was that dad had stopped at a little stall on the roadside on his way back and picked up a large punnet of fresh cherries for us all .

Trystan, on his way back had also filled up his pannier with cherries - but they were scrumped from a tree just outside Langes in fact !!

This is a huge huge cherry growing area - thousands of trees in plantations, and almost every garden has a cherry tree or two and they are absolutely laden with fruit so the temptation was just too much... and on tasting, the scrumped fruit was the most delicious and juicy.

The bought cherries were totally inferior quality, splitting and not half as sweet and ripe. In future, whenever we bought cherries we always checked them out first. Once bitten.....

While the family change, shower and generally chill, Dad and I prepare the evening meal, lay the table, light the candles .....

Spiced duck breasts with a fruity sauce and lots of veg.

Dad really is a good cook

This was inspired by Jamie Oliver in fact - I love his style of cooking, fun and not too obsessed with 'cuisine' and technique but good simple tasty food that all can manage to cook without too much experience.

Perfect for families.



No games tonight, but lots of lounging about on the huge sofas and stoking up the fire.

  Earlyish bed all round.

A weary but happy clan.