Writing books...

Two of these books are only a few weeks old - can you spot the interlopers? It's these two at the top, which the boys have chosen to write in over the summer.

The French summer holidays really are very long, and children are expected to work their way through books like this to keep up their knowledge for the following year.We've done them in the past, but this year I'm on strike (how very French of me). Son 2 will be redoubling, so hardly needs to revise what he will cover again next year, and Son 1, well, I don't know, I'm just giving him a break, too.

So instead, to keep them on their toes and pick up their English (of course, they are almost the only bilingual children I know who don't get formal English lessons, as I'm the local English teacher), they have been allowed to choose a writing book each and write about a page a day. I then read their writing and tell them three things about it that impress me, and three things they could learn to improve the next day's writing.

j

Son 1 has finished a series of chapters on Egyptian myths and the relevance of ancient Egyptian culture on life today. He's now heading off onto a discourse about black holes and Einstein. Son 2, just to prove that you never get two the same, is writing me a little letter each day, and telling me about his thoughts and experiences. I can't tell you how much I am enjoying reading both books, daily!

11 Candles...

j

Happy 11th birthday to Son 2!

It's actually next Saturday, but we always hold a party for friends before things get too Christmassy. Lots of fun, cake and toasted marshmallows had by all!

Cute!

Son 2 found this adorable little landscape in moss yesterday evening. He added a Monopoly hotel and the whole lot is now beeing watched over by an angel in our Advent Nativity Scene.

He took the photos.

What you can learn from a game of Monopoly...

It's the boys' last day off school today, as their antibiotics finally take effect against ear infections etc. Of course that means that today is a good day for me to go down with their original bug... Fortunately I seem to have a mild dose of it, and am coping well on a regime of light housework, lots of blogging and an on-and-off game of Monopoly. So, what have I learned from this game?Well, this edition is a local one (bought at a Troc Shop, of course), from which we've all learnt a bit about the streets and the economy of Toulouse itself.

The Place du Capitole is in the centre, a huge and very elegant square surrounded by arcaded brick buildings.

Sometimes it seems like we live at the airport... It contributes enormously to Toulouse's wealth and is particularly important to the international community...

...because most Brits, Germans and Americans here work in the enormous aerospatial industry of our city. We're not involved, actually, but many of the families I teach are. Toulouse has plenty of these lovely squares, where eating out of doors is the order of the day.

My parents stayed in Place Wilson when my dad was at a conference in Toulouse. Spot the green plastic houses there? SOMEBODY'S doing well...

So, I noticed early on that the choice of counter tells you something about the player. Son 1 loves dogs...Mummy can't decide between items of clothing or sewing notions...And Son 2 is a warrior. Have you guessed who is winning, yet?Now to playing styles. Son 1 and I are very similar - keen to win but not truly focused, therefore apt to making rash decisions or to miss out on opportunities.Watching Son 2 play is the true education. The boy is ruthless and gifted.

I'm going to stay in with this one. I think he may be able to keep us in our old age!

Long Weekend 2 and a wonderful swap parcel!

The advent of reasonable weather here hopefully means the end of the ludicrous wellie boot situation we have found ourselves in this winter.See the problem? What crazy mother thought that identical boots in sizes 35, 36 and 37 would make for easy gardening and dog walking? I cannot WAIT for the day that the boys' feet are bigger than mine, which will mean that they stop walking off in MY boots!Henry the hedgehog, who has been guarding wellies for longer than the boys have been part of the family, is still doing a great job, though. He could do with a brush-around, though, poor chap.
Other weekend events - Son 2 played rugby At Home for once, rather than in some far-flung town on the other side of Toulouse. It was a huge and very successful tournament - well done to the Ecole de Rugby.

The strawberries were successfully transplanted out of Raja's reach - now we just have to think about what to do to protect the raspberries! Son 2 decorated a third pot to complete our pot family. Mr and Mrs Pot (much admired - thanks for your comments) came with us from the UK years ago. This year 'Pappie Pot', which means Grandpa Pot, has joined the family. The boys have some wonderful all-surface pens which can write/draw on glass, stone, pots etc - fantastic!

The fence you saw being planted up has finally removed the 'sitting in a goldfish bowl' nature of our patio. We celebrated by setting up the table there and enjoying an evening meal without being watched by everyone passing the gates. The flowers are from Ben's 'meadow' and the little greenish vase was a troc shop find by me and Son 1 this weekend.This is just a close-up of the little broken teapot I showed you in the last post - very cute, and a good planter for the Lily of the Valley, I thought.

It just got better and better, because my swap parcel from Sharon the Crafty Trundler from Clover Cottage arrived!

It was a free-style swap and she spent a lot of time researching the things I like, including the colour blue. Look at the fantastic bag, which is going to come on a first outing with me tomorrow to my French lesson! And two happy little hearts, in my favourite colours and fabrics...

I knew just the place for the hearts... We have our very own loving couple: Great, Great Aunt Selina, who I think has a bit of a Mona Lisa smile, and the rather gloomy Great, Great Uncle Joshua.I think that the love-hearts are just what they need to cheer them up!

Thanks so much, Sharon - I am overwhelmed by the lovely things I've been given!

This is post number 93, I think. I am planning an 'Auld Alliance' Franco-Scottish 100th Post Giveaway, so do look out for that!

Long Weekend Part 1

In France the bank holiday weekend is over - we had Friday, Saturday and Sunday (although Son 2, below, had longer, as his teacher was off school on Thursday and President Sarcozy's done away with supply teachers - here is Son 2 having a picnic with me between my lessons).

So, over the weekend, Son 1 and I did a spot of troc shopping:

And he also invented a theory about Mayans being the first astronauts, flying to the moon in their pyramids: Son 2 and Ben were planting up the new fence in the front garden: And la Famille Pot got a new member and became hosts to the strawberry plants, to keep them away from the dog this year!There's plenty more to tell, and hopefully more time for me to tell it over the next few days, but for now, enjoy your long weekend if you're still having it!

Sounds of Spring in Southern France

I try to give a good impression of what it's like to be here near Toulouse through my photos, but recently I've been so much enjoying the sounds of spring that I wanted to try to share some those with you too.

The sounds of a morning bike ride:

The wind in my ears
a frog in the ditch. The sounds of an evening dog walk:

Screaming boys

and cicadas on the way home.The sounds of the Veti Relais car park (my favourite charity shop):

Planes taking off from Toulouse airport

and the song of the skylark. © Arthur Grosset

Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

What to do with a new chandelier...

...count the dangly sparkles! In between courses of our Sunday evening meal, the boys and Ben have discovered that there are:

65 sparkles (one is missing from the original 66; perhaps the reason I got it at half price!)

20 or so are golden,

there are about 15 each of blue and pink

and red is under-represended with about 11.

If you want to see the chandelier, scroll down to the bottom of my Floralys post for today!

Orange is...

...a mandala coloured by our younger son...... a Fair Trade toucan!..... a recycled Vietnamese rice sack...

... and its partner...

...a cushion that belonged to my grandmother...
... my carrot salad this lunchtime!...

... the corner of a patchwork cushion (once baby dungarees)...
... another corner of the same cushion (offcuts from diningroom curtains in our first home)...

... an embroidered rose on my England flag... ... a retro sewing basket...

... a raffia basket made by son number one...

...autumn in our garden...

... a fu dog puppet...

... a Chinese drum bought by son 1 at a Vide Greniers...... and the other side of the same drum...

... and a fox, on son 2's breakfast bowl. Thanks so much to Lynn, of The Little Red Hen, for letting me get involved in her colour week! Find and visit the other participants here.