batz-sur-mer

Children ran along the boardwalk that through the dunes and down towards the sea. We inched forward at a slower pace, no less enamoured by the view. As we reached the shoreline, I deeply inhaled the unmistakable saltiness.

Sea air and sunshine are always a tonic. Just what I need to help me mentally prepare for winter in the valley.

Location: Batz-sur-Mer

shrimping

We set off for a walk on an October weekend, welly-footed, nets and buckets in hand. Our destination was a series of rock pools near La Turballe. Hidden in the beneath the glittering water amongst the sand and seaweed was a treasure trove of periwinkles, oysters, mussels and shrimps.

foreshore

 
There were mussels and oysters, waiting to be gathered in the sandy foreshore. We walked to the edge of the sandbar and watched the oystercatchers, dunlins and herring gulls fishing in the shallows. Overhead, flocks of migrating Canada geese flew across the wide arc of the sky. 

We splashed in the eddies, sometimes our wellies wading just that little bit too far. We gathered shells, skimmed stones and filled our lungs with as much fresh air as we could manage.

la gare, Nantes

 
It's rush hour in Nantes by the time we arrive at the train station. The place is crowded with people, tourists taking photos, office workers pouring out from buses and trams and dashing towards the platforms in their tight trousers, smart suits and high heeled shoes. As we wait for our train in our creased clothes and with our rucksacks on our backs, we are surrounded by commuters. We eavesdrop on their conversations, snatching snippets of their daily grind. We laugh firstly at their funny clothes, their harrassed expressions, the fact that their telephones seem to be an extension of themselves. And then we laught at ourselves. I hadn't realised just how much I've turned into a country bumpkin...

holidays

It's half term, so here we are in Brittany for the next ten days. Staying with my belle-famille, catching up with friends, picking home grown flowers, wild-crafting in the rock-pools and along the shoreline, breathing in the sea air. And hopefully plenty of knitting and sewing too.

tarte aux pommes

A bowl of apples from our secret orchard were turned into a delicious (gluten and dairy free) tarte aux pommes in the hands of my chéri. Just the thing to raise the spirits on a particularly poorly day at the end of last week. 

(Needles to say, it was so delicious, there wasn't time to photograph it before *abracadabra* it had been magicked away...)  

rainbow socks (WIP)

It feels like an age since I last knitted a pair of socks. Liesl's sock KAL is the perfect excuse to get some cast on, and use up some stashed yarn.

in equal measure

 

Day and night in equal measure. Enough rest, not too many worries. 

From it's daily rising to it's setting, the sun doesn't hurry across the sky. She takes her time, going at her own rhythm. No need to rush, her daily path is already drawn. 

As we gently slide into autumn, it's the moment to take heart from the sun, to slow down and put balance at the centre once again.

Location: Messanges beach, at sunset. (Les Landes)

cotton top (WIP)

I had an itching to to sew something, it's been a while since I last had the sewing machine out, after all. 

Impossible to think about corduroy trousers, woollen pinafore dresses or other such wintry clothes at the moment, when it's been over twenty five degrees every day since the weekend.  For the time being, I'm keeping things seasonal (and simple) and stitching a simple (recycled) cotton top. 

It's my first time going solo with darts and facings and other such scary things, after all.

bittersweet

Ripe sloe berries out in the hedgerows then in our foraging basket are a sure sign that summer's coming to an end...but that sloe gin (or patxaran) for Christmas is in sight.