Monday 11 August 2014

Touring Blogland

Recently my dear friend Sarah invited me to join her on the Blogland Tour and featured me on her blog @Hyacinths For The Soul. 
Sarah and I have been friends since meeting at the Quimper Collectors Club’s second annual gathering in Washington D.C. in 2000. 

Sarah and I had a great day antiquing in Bayeux
when she & her husband came to visit in 2011.
As collectors of French faience in particular the pottery produced in the town of Quimper, Brittany, we always enjoy getting together with other Q collectors. I for one am counting down the days until we meet again next month in Nice, the jewel of the French Riviera.

plage Beau Rivage, Nice, France.
(photo from internet)
As part of the tour Sarah gave me 4 questions to answer.

What am I working on right now?

First of all with my Quimper Club Secretary’s hat on I’m working on preparing a report to present at the meeting next month. 
Mark Twain once said “there are two types of speakers, those that are nervous and those that are liars”. I know which type I am, addressing an audience is not something I am very comfortable with doing. Luckily I only have some statistics relating to the membership to report, so I think I’ll be o.k. 

Around the Presbytere I’m working on keeping everything “show home” ready as we never know when the Immobilier/ estate agent might call to arrange to bring a client over to view the house. 

My precious “me time” is spent in my attic craft room and it seems that lately I've been scrapping vacation memories.

L. Tulum, Mexico 1998
R. South Beach, HHI 2012
Some of my most recent pages.

L. Kos, Greece, 2013
R. HHI again with Dad & Joyce, 1992
How does my work differ from others in this genre?

Such a good question, but I’m not really sure that it does. I do have certain things that I like to include on my scrapbook pages, whether I’m following a sketch or a set of criteria set down in a challenge. I usually draw doodle a couple of lines around the edges to frame the layout. Tags! Almost every layout has to include tags wherever possible and I love to pile on embellishments in clusters and layers. These are my “signatures” I guess.

Why do I write or create what I do?

The simple answer is that I started my blog to share our life in Normandy. Our beautiful home, which we fell in love with the first time we saw it, is in a very small rural hamlet and there’s not a lot to do here if you’re not a farmer! 
In 2008 when I first started blogging I had no idea if anyone would be interested in my ramblings but just started chatting as if to a friend and went on from there.

 ice cream sundae, anyone?
I write about my garden, especially the potager, our pets, my husband, our little trips around the area and those to more faraway places. Blogging and scrap booking are the perfect hobbies for me.

How does your writing process actually work?



I always have my camera close by and anything such as my latest read, a beautiful sunrise, a bee on a lavender bush, a dog looking cute, white fluffy clouds or a new recipe can easily find its way onto the page. It’s almost always the photograph that dictates the post and inspires my words.
Lettuce soup, better than gazpacho!
Enough about me.

Time to introduce you to two ladies whose talents lie in quite a different direction to mine, you'll soon see why.
Lorrie @ Fabric, Paper & Thread is a blogging friend of many years who lives in Victoria, BC, Canada. 
On her blog you will find links to her Etsy store and Craftsy page where she says " I love to sew and create in a variety of mediums. Sewing, embroidery, paper crafts - you name it, I've probably tried it. But I always come back to my love of fabric and sewing! "

Another very talented lady is Sue @ I Sew Quilts
Sue and I met through the Quimper Club when we both attended the 2001 annual meeting in Quimper, Brittany. At that time she ran a very successful store aptly named “The Pumpkin Patch”. Sue’s blog is a feast for the eye, not only does she share with us the projects that she is currently working on but takes us travelling around the UK and the US, to the many museums and quilt shows that she visits with her quilting friends.

I’d like to thank Sarah for inviting me on the tour and you, too, for your company today. 

Please do visit Lorrie and Sue 
on Monday, the 18th August 
for the next sequence of the Blog Land Tour.


12 comments:

  1. It was very interesting to discover more about you thanks to those questions. They were tricky, weren't they?

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  2. We have similar interests. Gardening, blogging about it, and scrapbooking. Right now, though, I am building dollhouses.

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  3. Hi Maggie, I’ve always enjoyed seeing your lovely home, certainly inspired with your Quimper display I see from time to time. Looking forward to finally meeting you in Nice! You’ll have to share that Lettuce Soup recipe, looks delicious..........

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  4. This is a lovely post, Maggie - it's always fun to learn a little bit more about blogging friends. I'm thinking about these questions for next week....

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  5. Maggie, thanks for joining the Blogland Tour. It's fun to learn more about the history and workings of Normandy Life.
    I'm impressed with your scrapbook pages. I've all but given up on that hobby as I've not done it in years. Still enjoy looking back through the many I've put together through the years.
    The lettuce soup looks delicious. Please share the recipe. It will only be a few weeks till we can enjoy a good visit. Can't wait!
    Thanks for inviting Sue. I wish she could join us in Nice. I've only met her once, at the meeting in Bath. I'll look forward to her post and also to Lorrie's. Always fun to meet a new blogger. I'm off now to see her blog.

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  6. A lovely post Maggie, made me sorry in a way that I declined to take part, but I must stick to my rules. :)

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  7. I've not scrapbooked in ages. How lovely to meet up with friends in such lovely places. Have a wonderful day. Tammy

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  8. Hi Maggie! I remember when Sarah went to visit you. I enjoyed reading your responses,I had never heard of Quimper before blogging. I haven't been blogging much of late, summer is busy here and I want to enjoy every minute of it! I hope you are enjoying yours!

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  9. That was fun to read, Maggie. The world is so much smaller through blogging - like you, Sarah is a friend I've not yet met in person - but a friend nonetheless. Lorrie is a real-time friend - we had coffee just Monday, and a lovely chat about some of our blogging friends!

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  10. Hi Maggie! It's nice to know a fellow scrap booker. It took a whole year to complete my hiking album but well worth the time. Thank you for introducing yourself and I'll visit again.

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  11. I am so delighted that you started to blog and I really enjoyed your answers! Your blog is a favorite stopping-off point for me, and so this was extra fun.

    (I have to say, I'd be hard-pressed to keep my home on show-status!)

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  12. I like your take on blogging! Everyone should write, every day, don't you think? You are an excellent scrapbooker! I like your style!

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Thanks for stopping by, your visit just made my day!