How do you stay close to memories....

I am home from another fabulous va-cay out East.    Home is always a good place to put your feet up and be yourself but after laying in bed for a few minutes the other morning and pondering how a short flight followed by a nites rest steals you from  absolute pleasure and puts you back into reality - I just had to decide to put my feet on the floor and ( as my friend "CC" would say)..   "just stay in the day".

So feet to the floor and that's what I did.

I started to tidy my place and unpack a few things.     I was feeling a little ho-hum after such great friendship inspired  adventure.   Then my mind was all about memories and keeping them alive.   I would make the day  one filled with little tributes to "frenchy" style and attitude and to the girls who also have all gone home to thier everyday lives  carrying thier memories too.  

So I made a tea in the lovely hand-painted mug I brought home from a local artist shoppe in Old Montreal.

Cleaned out the fridge to find that I needed to do a little shop.
I decided to make a nice lunch for me and my son.   I would plan to have croissants with lovely cheese and pear slices, a heap of montreal syle deli meat  and dijon mustard of course.  Baked brie with fancy crackers and a jug of what else?
Sangria!
 I would take my pooch to the dog park and bask in the sunshine for another morning before I had to be back at work and then pop into the grocery store to get some things.
I was feeling inspired.
I put a lavender sachet that was a gift from Deborah into my car so that the warm sun would warm it and keep the car smelling like fields in Provence.
I kept pulling things out of my bag and considering every gift.

"Just add lemon"    - isn't that true.   A little tart and a little flavor in life is always a good thing.

( I have a thing for little messages as some people know - and I couldn't resist this little bowl)

I hung this pretty crystal in my kitchen.  It was a gift from my newest friend, Wendy who the camera loves and has a spark for life that is undeniable.   

  "The promise of exceptional moments".        There were so many.    I bought this little cloth napkin so I would be reminded - but I think I will carry it in my purse just in case I need to wrap up a little chocolate that I would like to save for later or to help wipe a tear that sometimes may appear.

BON AMI...     where have you gone?
"My friends".     I think there should be a gigantic one of these flags hanging in Claudettes yard.  6 girls laughing, sharing stories and feeling like we were in school together even though  we spanned 20 years in age between  us.

 

What we realized?     That age really is just a number.     It's something that was so obvious to us all.    Girls inside different kinds of bodies that are at different stages of life - but inside all of us the same.    It's  just that simple.

I wore a pin that I bought that said "I have been in love with Jean Paul".....     so what was that all about?  

Let me tell you.    - lucky me!

I got to see the Jean Paul Gautier exhibit at the Museum of Fine Art in Montreal!

I so wanted to see it and as dear as my friend is.... she drove back to Montreal so I could attend.   Then we were able to catch up with Manon for a late lunch.  Manon is Claudie's  sassy french girlfriend - and she is a partner  in a lovely french  restaurant in Montreal.   Her suggestion for us?  Perfectly grilled Salmon piled on a lovely salad with French Kir.   A plate of pasta to share and some sliced bread with olives and vinagrette on the side.    The food was always just so good and presented in such a way that you would think you were somebody special.   Food is a  world of fashion all its own.

French Kir.

 So back to the real world...    I did the shop,  took Charlie to the dog park although he seemed happy to laze around at home and put cushions on the chairs on the patio so we could have lunch outside under the umbrella.  Not exactly streetside bistro - but close enough.

My lunch that I made for me and Tyson.   On the patio.   In the warm breeze.    

I baked an "apple tart"  for us for desert.   And I thought...     I was happy to have my son with me to share in the moment. 

  He picked the pear slices out of the sandwich which didn't surprise me and he turned down the Sangria - but he loves Brie and the pie disappeared quickly too so all is well at the Julie restaurant.

I hung the red lantern in the tree on the patio so that in the nite it would light just like Claudie's in her tree many miles away.  

Later in the evening we just had corn on the cob for dinner.    And I wanted to try out this cooking bag that I bought roadside in a frenchie supberb on the Ontario side.    

This is a potato or corn bag.  I bought it from that roadside sale I just mentioned.  This lovely woman whose last name was of all things  "Parisien"   couldn't have been happier when we all stopped and bought something from her.    And she ended up being quite a salesperson too! 

Here she is,    calls herself an Artisane (with the sewing machine) which I guess is fair.  She chatted us up about how she was putting part of the money towards cancer charity and gave us demonstrations about things that didn't seem obvious to us.    Somewhere along the line we spotted a huge Winebago in the driveway that she said her & her husband take on trips every year.     We laughed so hard in the van because here we were just wanting to support her little project and some of us saved for months to do this trip of ours.    Seriously,  if only I could make money selling corn bags.     Did we ever laugh.    We added up what we all spent and I think it was about $85.00.    That country lady with the warm smile was pretty street savy alright!

Then there was those Autograph books that we carried around with us.   We wrote notes to each other and had waiters sign messages and pin business cards to the pages.   

I didn't read the pages until I got on the plane home and the notes were so thoughtfully written.  So that's where I left my day.  Dwelling in the memories.   It's a good place to be.


Aurevoire mon ami's ! 

   Love each one of you for your own special spark.

Please don't take my sunshine away.....

So the forecast says rain........  But I thought this was to be the longest summer.   Full of sunshine and renewal.

 

Sunny skies can change to gloomy ones and you don't even know how it happens sometimes. The weatherman is suppose to be our predictor but I don't think he is always to be trusted.

So, the rain just pours down.

It would be nice if you had your cover ready - but it would seem that there are no clues  - and often the weather is misunderstood.   Like other things.

 You can be going merrily along and 

not even realize what is coming your way until you are right in the thick of it.  

There is  mud all over your boots.    

You have been lost in the glorious warmth that sunshine had brought your way.   It made you feel fresh and renewed and on top of the world...

          Life blurrs in these sunny day moments  and you feel in a dreamy state.


Then you hear that familiar little jingle...  "you are my sunshine, my only sunshine....  you make me happy when sky's are grey....


(Heavy sigh here.....)  

In just the right timing something special can happen.     You see a little encouragement that pops out of nowhere.  The rain subsides.  The colors don't look so dark.   The green is now very green.

In the specks of rain - where  the dark meets the light, there it is...   the promise of the rainbow. 

It is what keeps hope in this world that the sun will shine again in a while.   

It's spectacular really.  And it makes you smile.

So, although I live in Vancouver where we are getting more than our fair share of rain...  

  I remember those sunny days very well.   I hold onto them dearly.      And if the sun just won't shine for me at home? 

    I can always get on a plane and go to the where the sun always shines.      In Plantagenet with my best girl - Claudie.        

 Turn on the porch lights sister because I am in need of a escape.   I am coming in a week and we have a lot of catching up to do!

Good nite.

Love ya.