Taking time ...........

Light shining onto rocks.

It has been a very hard two weeks for me.

The last twelve days have been spent in hospital .

I was taken into hospital for emergency surgery for appendicitis with the complication of a huge abscess.

Everyday was an ordeal but thankfully I am back home and to be in my own bed last night with Mr P next to me was so good.

I have spent sometime this morning catching up with the blogs I love to follow.

Slowly, slowly I will be well again and I look forward to getting back to being creative but for the moment the steps towards that will be slow but I WILL get there.

PURPLE - I LOve this colour.

Autumn is changing slowly towards winter and somedays are quite grey.

However walking around the garden there is still colour.

I love the colour purple and it lifted my heart earlier this week just to realise how much there is in the garden at the moment.

The butterflies, bees and moths are still enjoying the sunny days that we have and are still visiting the flowers to collect nectar.

Last week I bought a few new plants, the sedum above has tiny leaves and lovely small flowers.

The shrub below is now planted and the bees have found another plant to visit.

How many of you love the colour purple ?

Yves Rocher and La Gacilly.

Yves Rocher -the cosmetic company was started by Yves Rocher.

He was born in the village of La Gacilly, Brittany in I930.

His father died when he was 14 and he started to help his mother run the small family textile business.

A local healer taught him a recipe for hemostatic ointment based on the lesser celandine flower.

He decided to sell the natural ointment by mail order in a Parisian magazine.

The sale of the ointment went so well that he continued his research and in 1958 he founded the cosmetic company which bears his name.

The products all used natural ingredients.

He wished to make beauty products which were natural and accessible to all people.

The company was so successful that in 1961 he opened his first shop.

The company had an estimated value of 2 billion euros in 2007 and employs 15,000 people.

Yves Rocher is the biggest employer in the town and has invested huge sums of money to make this charming town into a huge visitor attraction.

The factory is open to the public and their extensive growing areas for their products can also be visited.

The annual photographic exhibition features world renowned photographers and always has a link to our environment - a continual commitment from this family company.

Recently an art centre has been made in an old building and holds  changing exhibitions throughout the year.

The village also has many artisans with their studios open to the public.

Fabric sculpture from the current exhibition.

Mixed media sculpture.

Just made me smile !!

Wire sculpture.

Wire and fabric sculpture.

Whilst I was looking at the photographs this charming cat decided to get in on the act he was
lovely.

After a few minutes he decided to really pose for me !!

I also noticed this lady and thought her simple elegance so striking.

I took my photograph and noted that another person saw that I'd taken a photo and he followed suite.

Here she is again crossing the river going towards the Yves Rocher shop and cafe which are housed
in an old mill.

Lastly this was another image to make me smile !!!

Festival of Photography - La Gacilly

Every year the town of La Gacilly holds a wonderful 

photographic exhibition.

Much of the work is by photographers of world renown.

The theme is normally related to peoples of the world and what

influence we have on each other and what effects we have on the earth.

The photographs are all displayed in the open air in the town of La Gacilly.

Mr P and I went there just over a week ago and the autumn sunshine threw
 the shadows of the leaves onto the photographs.

One is continually reminded of the differences in our lives and environments.
The house in the photograph below is really built from throw away pieces but it provides some shelter.

Then we move to a city were so much is excess - including a golf range looking across the towering sky scrapers.

Contrast with the photograph below which is of a 22 storey apartment block in Sao Paulo which was the largest squat in South America - it housed 750 families.
The building is now empty and all those families have had to find somewhere else to live.
Many remain on the streets.






There is a set of photographs about the gorillas - our nearest relative.

There photographs are mounted on the side of the Yves Rocher information centre.

Below are a collection of some more of the photographs that I loved.

In my next post I'll tell you about the link with the worldwide Yves Rocher beauty company and the little town of La Gacilly.

Nature is just amazing!!

There are occasions when words are not needed.

One of the prettiest villages in France - Moncontour.

Last week after we'd visited Manoir de Beaugard we went on to Moncontour.

The small town dates back to medieval times and sits on a hill protected by its walls.

It has recently joined the list of one of the prettiest in France.

One of the old gates in the walls.

Every two years there is a medieval festival

 which really is wonderful.

People come from everywhere to watch the procession through the town and also too see all the other displays like jousting.

The next festival is in 2013.

Local children dressed as beggars at the festival.

Stilt walkers in amazing costumes.

Knights riding through the town after the jousting.

In September the town becomes more peaceful and there is a chance to take photographs more easily.

 The shops all carry medieval signs so they fit in with the medieval feel of the town.

The church bell tower looking so good against the blue September sky.

Flowers everywhere give the pretty town such charm.

The facade of this house is very unusual with its terracota pillars .
It once belonged to a wealthy merchant.

This old house below is for sale but needs a lot of work and didn't seem to get much sunshine but the details on it are just wonderful.

Just love the man on his horse on this roof - I think they are to protect the house from lightning.

Lots of niches with holy statues to protect the houses.

Carved detail on the wall of an old house.

I

Typical of the area - this blue paint.

If you ever get the chance to go to Moncontour in Brittany you'll not be disappointed.