We spent this week at home, gardening, sunbathing and in my case, working on my store and other projects in the atelier. Today we have some visitors arriving from Italy who will be exploring this corner of France with us for the next few days.

*Blue star creeper is covering the stones and the ceanothus wants to grow out in all directions.*

I cannot help but enjoy our little back garden every single day this season. Three years ago it was a vacant lot and we chose and planted each plant ourselves, so watching their growth brings enormous satisfaction. With all the spring rain, the garden has taken on a jungle-like apperance. The blue star creeper between the rocks is forming a carpet which I find very pleasing. When I first read about this ground cover, it was described as a hardy little plant that doesn’t need much water and thrives with neglect. It has proven to be the case.

I bought spirea and ceanothus for this little “garden room.” my favorite spot on our property. The ceanothus is not at all like what I had in California, but I’m totally happy with the bright green leaves of various shapes and the soft colors of the flowers.

*Bright pink Mutabilis rose and Japanese maple grow beside the rose arbor where the New Dawn rose extends light pink blooms.*

We chose a "New Dawn” rose for the arbor, which separates the bench corner from the deck, a great old rose variety and behind the bench we planted a couple of Mutabilis (Butterfly Roses) which I have loved since we planted some at our house in California all those years ago. It turns different colors as it matures. It is another old and charming rose bush.

Sage is one of my favorite plants and we have several on the property. It comes in so many different colors. The bees love it and it grows rampantly without any fuss at all. I am particularly fond of this purple one which is across the path from “Hot Lips” a red and white sage bush.

*New members of the front border garden, taking hold.*

In the early spring James and Daniel did a lot of planting, before they left for Paris in late May. The garden. outside their front door is looking very nice indeed. They wanted to choose plants which would look their best in July and August, when they will usually be in residence here. I think they will be quite pleased with their choices once they return from their Paris adventure, which will be at the end of next week.

*Daniel aptly refers to our outdoor lights as the “Singing in the Rain” lamppost.*

Because we have not had a heat wave yet this year. everything is happy, green and overgrown. It is very pleasant to be here just now.

As I’ve mentioned before, maybe too many times! I am working on setting up an online shop selling decorative papers, which I make in the atelier. I decided that I had to create a book where I use these as a way of showing how nicely they can work for book and paper projects.

*The book cover using three different papers, front, spine and back.*

Last week Zinnie let me take an old Harry Potter book which she was about to recycle. I decided to make an altered book with it, basically removing some of the pages, pasting over others with my handmade decorative papers and creating pockets to store things with others. I’ve been working on this over the week and have had quite a lot of fun with it.

*Row of colorful winer trees, used to make a spread with two subtle pockets to put ephemera items in.*

I feel pleased with how well it is turning out. The book Zinnie game me, being such a popular title, is a very sturdy and well-made affair, so it is pleasant to work with.

*“French Door” spread with a side pocket to store postcards, journal pages or what have you.*

Meanwhile I have also been working on a new storefront, using Shopify. When you start getting into online sales, you find that it is a large and complicated web of interconnected sites and apps. One thing leads to another with a steep learning curve around every corner. I did finally, with some technical support from James, launch a new store. Click here to have a look.

Around Home

The Countryside Around

Hello Summer