| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Nance in France |
Posted - Oct 13 2007 : 10:46:34 AM
Bonjour everybody! Well, it doesn't float off the tongue like "Nance in France" but it sure is great to be back home, and back here. I missed you guys; finally got internet connection yesterday on the computer my parents have given me to use. Been home for nine days now, and the dust bunnies the size of SUVs have all been cleared away, the volcano of mail has been recycled down to a manageable mountain, and the back yard jungle, or "nightmare on Maryland Avenue" as I like to call it, is also looking better (unlike my manicure...). Boy have we had a drought in this region, I came back to nary a bloom, grass as brown as hay and lots of bald spots in the garden beds where the perennials obviously decided "we're outta here til next year, toots!" We did have rain one morning last week and I was so shocked to hear it I almost didn't recognize the sound! Thankfully the heat has broken also, and the skies are getting that brilliant blue that makes my heart skip a beat.
I did come home to find some welcome home surprises tucked into the stacks of mail. Katie-Ell, thanks for the Hello Kitty note and other pieces of papery paradise; hope I do them justice as I try my hand at altered art. Cheryl, you cute fairy godmother of mail, you, thanks so much for the Halloween socks and horticultural magnets and the little mini lunchbox of chocolates.... I was thinking of 'pacing myself' and only eating one a day, but heck, I ate two the first day, and managed to wait two more days before wolfing down the other two pieces. And Nancy Jo, I bow to your generosity in bestowing those cool insect postcards AND the beautiful embroidered placemat with my favorite theme, birds. The beautiful lace bartered with Emily and the vintage Halloween cards bartered with Tina were there, too, thank you both so much! Texas Fran gifted me with a totally awesome pincushion; her stuff is like a work of art, as you all know by now. And Linda's (our farmgal who quilts with feedsacks) mini quilt was waiting too; I hate to tell you guys how talented she is because I will probably never get to buy anything else again before somebody snatches it up, ha! I don't think I am forgetting to brag on anything else (but if I am forgive me); I love all of you and count myself blessed indeed to call you friends. Love and hugs, Nance |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Nance in France |
Posted - Oct 17 2007 : 09:35:30 AM
Ann, you hit the nail on the head; pansies are just so sunny....and perky and mischevious, soulful, etc. Who could NOT like pansies, I ask you? And Ms. Lavender gal, raising and loving on kids is also a wonderful experience, one that I miss sometimes. If only I could have my grown boys back little again, well, maybe for a coupla hours anyway, ha! Remember that saying "If friends were flowers, I'd pick you"? What a beautiful garden of friendships we are cultivating here.... Going outside now to say hello to the pansies and goodbye to the weeds! Have a great day everyone! Nance |
| Forrester Farm |
Posted - Oct 16 2007 : 6:47:25 PM
Nance, Welcome back. It is so much fun to read this string of posts. The frendship is undeniable, and Nance, I love your way of describing things. Aren't pansys just sunny?!?
Ann
http://annforrester.tohe.com |
| Lavendar fields dreamer |
Posted - Oct 16 2007 : 6:13:58 PM
aaaahhhh!!! Nance how i wish i could join you in france or even new york, you sound like such a sweet heart. Your having such a wonderful life experience, well i know one day i will get to have that but for now it is raising the kids and loving on them. My dreams will come to be one day.
lavendar girl |
| Carol Sue |
Posted - Oct 16 2007 : 5:51:31 PM
Nance,
That my dear is the sweetest love story!!!!!!
And HAPPY DANCE, you found a whole flat of them!!!!
Cs
listening to the quiet moments |
| Nance in France |
Posted - Oct 16 2007 : 5:22:52 PM
Thanks Mary Beth and Mary Jane! So happy to be back here and you are right, blessed to have a husband who occasionally drives me nuts but who loves me completely, and vice versa! What an unexpected blessing to be able to see "up close and personal" another culture and country (oh, wouldn't this make my high school French teacher smile). Reinforces to me that we are all so alike even with our differences. Home, hearth and family always win, hands down, and the human spirit rises triumphant no matter what the zip code. When I am there and missing home and worrying about my garden, I remind myself "hey, this is a whole new area to search out flea markets and gardens and new ideas", and then I am ok again! I bring something of the USA there, and I take something of France home again with me. Like 'they' say, "it's all good". Love everybody, Nance |
| CountryBorn |
Posted - Oct 16 2007 : 2:37:45 PM
Nance, Welcome Home! You must be so glad to be back here for awhile. It sounds to me like you have the perfect combination, half the time here half in the south of France. How lucky and blessed you are. A wonderful husband to love you and two beautiful places to live! Glad to have you back.
MJ
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
| Marybeth |
Posted - Oct 16 2007 : 12:30:14 PM
I love the story everytime I hear it. You are blessed and seemingly have a great time. MB
www.strawberryhillsfarm.blogspot.com
www.day4plus.blogspot.com www.holyhouses-day4plus.blogspot.com
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
| Nance in France |
Posted - Oct 16 2007 : 12:07:01 PM
Hey gal pals! Man, the stars must be in alignment or maybe it was just because I took a bath (ha) but I got a feeling I oughta swing by a little mom and pop owned greenhouse not far from my house 'just in case' they had any of my pansies. Good Golly Miss Molly! Found ONE WHOLE FLAT (yes screaming again) so scooped them up plus a few chives and basil and a Greek oregano plant, since I came back to the Sahara Desert in my back yard; yep, ya'll have definitely had a dry spell! Anyway, this is so exciting, after five or six years of barely ever seeing my favorite (it is Maxim Marina) for some reason they are springing up everywhere like......pansies!
Ok, for the 10 cent version of my bicontinental life. I used to work for a bank and always brought my lunch; but the gals knew I could always be talked into an eggroll, so one day they ordered and I did indeed buy an eggroll and got a fortune cookie that read "including others in your life will bring you great happiness". That was 2003, when my husband who had obviously had brain fade at the fidelity section of the vows, left. I had formed a "Girlfriends' Supper Club" where five or six of us would get together at each other's homes for a potluck gab session. The month I had eaten the eggroll I asked the gals if I could include my French neighbor whose rotten husband had left her a year before. I said "I really think she will fit right in" and fit in she did. Nine months later she threw a party while her widowed father was visiting for six weeks and invited us all. I went, we shook hands and the electricity zapped him, too, I guess, because we have been married for two and a half years! He was retired, and I was turning 50 and qualified for early retirement. So that was my only "pre-nup" request...as best we could, we would live a 50-50 split between our homes. So far, we spend spring and autumn through New Years at my house and the rest of the time in southern France. We visited his oldest daughter in Australia two Christmases ago with a cool stopover in Singapore, so this marriage has blessed me with not only a great guy, but frequent flyer miles, ha! Anyway, that's it, and that's all, folks! Thanks for asking. Hugs, Nance |
| Mumof3 |
Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 1:13:38 PM
Welcome back to the states, Nance!! You've sure been a busy bee!
Karin
Wherever you go, there you are.
www.madrekarin.blogspot.com |
| Hideaway Farmgirl |
Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 12:12:29 PM
Happy to hear from you, Nance! I knew you were on your way back to Virginia in early October, with a stop or two along the way. I'm impressed with all you've done so far; in only 9 days!
Thanks for bringing some cooler weather our way, too. This summer has been really hard on crops and gardens.
Jo
"Wish I had time to work with herbs all day!" |
| country lawyer |
Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 09:15:11 AM
Popping in and piping in to say WELCOME back to the USA. Now, give us that don't know the scoop. Is it your job that takes you between France and Virginia? Or family? Or just because? So cool! |
| frannie |
Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 08:53:31 AM
hey nance,
so glad you are in your US home for a while and that you are back here with us and able to share your thoughts with us.
i am just back from roundtop, the mega antique/craft venue in this part of the world and i am trying to play catch up for time away from the farm, and fill all the orders i have for my crafts, that is the good news!
hope ya have a really great visit at home and send my regards to andre.
much love from your galpal in texas, and thanks so much for the beautiful knitted scarf you sent me. the colors, and feel of the wool are yummy, i cant wait to wear it.
love
fran
(http://farmfolks-frannie.blogspot.com/) |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 06:29:46 AM
Welcome home, Nance! I bet Norfolk missed your smiling face!
Enjoy being home for a bit,
Jonni
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
| GaiasRose |
Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 04:23:42 AM
YAY NANCE! Now I can send you things without thinking they might get lost internationally! Huzzah!!!
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose
Blogs: http://gaiarose.wordpress.com
http://womonandsprout.wordpress.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=GaiasRose
Homepage:
http://ForestFaeries.etsy.com
Birth is safe, interference is risky; TRUST BIRTH |
| Nance in France |
Posted - Oct 14 2007 : 8:34:55 PM
Hey ya'll! Thanks for the welcome home howdys! I love every one of you and them; I will be here at home sweet home headquarters til January 10, so maybe we can cross paths sometime! Clare, you "beat the band" as far as having home and hearth in top form...you are MY inspiration!; you and the other gals around here always have me in awe and my jaw hanging because I wonder how many hours do THEY have in their days?! If you want to feel inspired or appreciated, welcomed or uplifted, THIS is the place to come. So very glad I have you all to pal around with. Hugs and happiness, and to all a good night! Love, Nance |
| CabinCreek-Kentucky |
Posted - Oct 14 2007 : 07:39:42 AM
welcome home gurlfren .. are you here 'for good' now? ohhhh my ... if you are .. let's plan a 'gathering'!!!
you'll have those gardens all green again by springtime! sooooooooo good to have you back in the wonderful u .. s ... of .... a! xoxo
True Friends, Frannie
FREEDOM VALLEY FARM
KENTUCKY
http://freedomvalleyfarm.blogspot.com/
|
| Carol Sue |
Posted - Oct 13 2007 : 11:44:54 PM
Yippeee Nance,
You found some of your beautiful pansies. How that must have made you smile.
Now stick your feet up for a few and enjoy them before you go on the hunt again. LOL
Carol Sue
listening to the quiet moments |
| Marybeth |
Posted - Oct 13 2007 : 7:39:40 PM
Hi Nance, good to have you back on this side of the big pond. MB
www.strawberryhillsfarm.blogspot.com
www.day4plus.blogspot.com www.holyhouses-day4plus.blogspot.com
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
| katmom |
Posted - Oct 13 2007 : 7:01:07 PM
Nance,
Welcome home, and now that you are getting setteled back in, be sure to pamper yourself a bit,,,,starting w/a manicure! (for all your hard work)
And now to get ready for the Autumn festivities....glad your back in the good ol' USA.
>^..^< Happiness is being a katmom.
www.katmom4.blogspot.com |
| katie-ell |
Posted - Oct 13 2007 : 6:03:33 PM
Hi Nance,
Glad you're back stateside and found lots of goodies waiting for you. I had a ball going through my stuff getting things together for you . . . made me realize how much stuff I have just waiting . . . hope you can use some of it.
I love fall pansies. And I'm putting still more bulbs in the ground here, as well as for some customers. Check out my blog to see my fall colchicum/crocus. Amazing color.
Anyway, girl, good to have you back in the US and back here on the forum.
xxoo
kl
www.youaretoocreative.blogspot.com |
| suzyhomemaker |
Posted - Oct 13 2007 : 5:20:51 PM
Nancy, it is so good to have you back home in USA. I enjoyed our emailing while you were in France, and I look forward to it again now that you are home and set up with your computer once more. It's good to hear your enthusiasm as I feel pulled along in your excitement to tend home and get all in shape.
Country girl in NE PA |
| Nance in France |
Posted - Oct 13 2007 : 3:18:29 PM
Thanks ya'll, for the welcome back. I really MISS you guys (not yelling in caps, just enthusiastic) when I cannot log on and see what everybody is up to, whose cup of creative juices is running over, etc. Nancy Jo, I do not have mail forwarded to me in France because of the huge cost involved, especially if they tried to stuff a million dollars in an envelope; found that out the hard way when I asked my girlfriend to mail me three magazines I wanted to read......cost $22 to enjoy them in France. I do put up cards and things you guys send me there, in the tiniest bedroom I have turned into my little "salon" which is fancy talk for craft/junk room! That way I feel more at home while away from home. Out of all my orchids enjoying their summer vacation on the back porch here I still have two in bloom, so at least there was a bit of color. And a couple of days ago I took my mom on a whim to a greenhouse "just to see" what kind of pansies they had (meaning my hard to find favorite periwinkle blue with white edge around the black 'face') and when out of the bazillion varieties I saw I spotted a small display of THE ONES (yes, screaming this time) I bought all 15 of them. Doesn't put a dent in the display I usually have but hey, ya gotta start somewhere! And last night on the way to the grocery store I spotted a small bathroom wall cabinet with perfect mirror intact, on the curb for trash. Mashed on the brakes and helped myself; got a neat craft idea for the mirror.... so life is looking pretty good, gal pals, especially with friends like you. Hugs, Nance |
| willowtreecreek |
Posted - Oct 13 2007 : 2:29:09 PM
Welcome HOME!
Felt and Fabric Crafts
www.willowartist.etsy.com
www.willowtreecreek.com
BLOG
www.willowtreecreek.wordpress.com |
| Alee |
Posted - Oct 13 2007 : 2:23:58 PM
Welcome home Nance! I have a package here that I have been waiting to send! I will put it in the mail on Monday! Yay!
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora!
|
| Kathie |
Posted - Oct 13 2007 : 12:57:13 PM
WOW!!
What a Whirl wind trip~!
& what an absolutley fantastic homecoming!!
Isn't it great to know how loved & thought of you are Sweetie?
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
|
|
