Pie on high !!

Pie decided that she wanted to be on a post.

She made that very clear by going on to the top of the cupboards whilst I was reading a blog.

She goes so well with some of the pots which amazingly she never topples. Oh, the agility of cats.

A birthday weekend to remember.

I had my birthday on Sunday and the weather forecast for the whole of the weekend couldn't have been better.

We decided to take advantage of that and also we wanted to do something different that we'd both enjoy.

So on Saturday, with a tasty picnic in the car , we went of to Vannes which is about an hour's drive from here.

Vannes is just such a beautiful town with a large medieval part which is right next to the port full of yachts. Especially so in full sun with a blue sky and over 28 degrees that we had on Saturday.

Market day in Vannes is a delight with so much life and so many different things to see, smell

and taste.

Wonderful flowers stalls, delicious foods and everywhere photographic opportunities.

At lunchtime we sat by the marina eating melon, Bayonne ham, salmon, fresh goat's cheese and crusty fresh bread, drinking water and Breton bio cider.

Whilst we were sat in the sunshine the winner of an extraordinary race around the Golfe du Morbihan arrived after running 177 kms, starting at 5 pm on the Friday and taking just under 19 hours to cover that distance. The run includes taking little ferries to be able to cross the sea from islands to coast.

Later in the afternoon we went onto Auray, another beautiful little town with a medieval part

right next to a little port.

Auray is very much a centre for artists and there are lots of small studios to visit.

We visited a few and spoke at length to some of the artists, most enjoyable.

The evening finished very late as we came home and watched Coldplay at Glastonbury, they were just excellent. I went to sleep with my head singing " Yellow" and woke up with the song still there.

After opening presents and cards, there were phone calls from friends.

Then it was off for lunch with friends who live near St Brieuc.

Gerard was celebrating his 60th birthday and and they'd included my birthday in the party so there were candles to blow out, champagne to drink and a magical garden to sit out in the amazing sunshine.

I had a wonderful weekend for my birthday and it will stay in my memory for a long time.

Some treasures in the window.

The weather continues to be grey with tiny patches of blue, windy and on and off rain.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon sewing by hand which I always find so relaxing.

Today I will do the same, creating more bags.

Sitting in the kitchen with Pie, Tortue and Samuel all deciding, with the wisdom of cats, to stay inside with me

Looking out of the window I look at some of my little treasures, no real value, but I love them even the little wooden puppet that has no strings anymore but has infinite charm.

A little bit of sunshine just peeped in so maybe this afternoon there may be more.

Hope your day has sunshine inside and out.

More magic from le jardin des melanges.

The magic parts of the garden would especially delight children, many adults who still have the joy of childhood dreams alive in their thoughts too!

The witches house, the tiny harbour and boats for the kerrigans and the fairies all such fun.

The tiny curtains of leaves like nature's bunting, the circle with the living willow and baby tears to encourage the energising forces that are in all cultures throughout history.

In the vegetable garden old watering cans lined the edges of the paths each one planted out with strawberries and nestling in straw. Each row of plants was marked out by a stick with a snail shell on its top - a fun and practical idea.

The rest of the garden was just full of surprises, beautiful flowers and sweet perfumes.

The insects and bees were provided for with a wonderful wall made up of lots of different sizes of wood, canes, hollow stems, straw and old terracotta pots.

Even the washing line had a magical feel -love the plant pots.

This was a little shelf inside a ruin that had been decorated with stones and shells, little pieces of mirror and other found objects.

Maybe in the future there will be more delights to be discovered in this ruin.

Le jardin des melanges - a magical place.

One of the 250 roses in the garden.

Yesterday I visited a garden about an hour away from Kerjacob.

It is at St Gilles les Bois between Guingamp and Pontrieux.

The weather was not kind to us and there were strong winds and heavy showers.

However the garden was worth it and I'll certainly go again with Mr P.

The garden was started in 1995 after Monsieur et Madame Stephan had renovated the old farmhouse.

Madame Stephan in her frog hat and witch's stick.

The land was completely covered in brambles and weeds of all kinds, so much so that they didn't know that the land undulated and even had a stream passing down one side.

The garden is now just a magical place and looked after by a magical lady who obviously loves every bit of their creation.

The garden twists and turns with lots of hidden places, lots of little bridges to cross the stream and even a house for a witch which Madame told us was a relative of hers from Northern Canada.

One of the tree spirits.

We were told that the leaves were for her modesty !

Madame Stephan's cat joined us for part of the tour and happily draped himself over her shoulder whilst she showed us around.

There are so many photographs for you to see and so much to tell that I'm going to do another post on this magical place in a few days time.