On being featured

As anybody who knows me is aware, I've been sewing my whole adult life.  I really don't know how that evolved.  My grandma hand sewed me a dress she cut from a pattern out of newspaper when I was about four, but otherwise she was only known to me for crocheting.  My mother could sew and went through a spell of making us girls a lot of gathered skirts, but she must have done it while I was in school, because I don't really have memories of her doing it.  She did teach me a few basics when I was nine, but that was about it.

So what made me think as an adult that I was just going to make all my own clothes?  And who would ever have guessed back then that it would become a lifetime involvement?

A Provençal lunch

I seem to be sharing a lot about life in Provence at the moment.  As I am actually in the French Riviera area of the south, and Provence is more towards the west, I should be showing our more coastal/Alpine world.  However, both regions do get lumped together as a lifestyle, and that's what I'm currently trying to give you a glimpse into. 

While we've experienced some rather specific functions lately, we just had a quite simple afternoon barbecue with a few French friends, totally laid back, and I thought you might enjoy some of the very typical elements we managed to incorporate.  I was able to create a very local ambiance rather than some specific theme, and that was rather fun.

As Romea of course wasn't about to miss anything involving people and food, she also sends you her greetings.

A Bastille Day outing

"Play ball!" is a common US expression heard all summer long.  It usually is referring to the American game of baseball.  Here in France, the concept of playing ball is something completely different, especially down in the south.  I'm sure you've all seen the Provençal images of French men (and women) standing around throwing little metal balls at a little red wooden ball.  The game of Boules (balls) is a common sight all over France when the weather is balmy, or in the south perhaps all year round.

We just spent Bastille Day, the French national holiday, with a Boules club.

A Provençal Fourth

Last weekend we had our annual Fourth of July barbeque.  While we like to invite any American friends who aren't otherwise occupied, we enjoy sharing our national holiday with the French (and other nationalities in our lives at the time), who seem to really have fun with our traditions.

I thought I'd show you how our day went, and you can compare it with your own!