It almost feels like home.

To date, our weather this summer has been more ‘East Coast of Canada’ than it has been what we’ve typically experienced in western France. The past couple of years has seen us suffering from temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s, but this year… we’re pulling out sweaters… even during the day on rainy days where temps between 19 and 22˚C have not been uncommon.

I’m not complaining…

… you, on the other hand, would definitely have reason to complain, given the lack of regularity with my blogging of late. Not sure what is up…. but I’ve definitely fallen off the wagon. Let’s try to climb back on shall we….

What could be more Canadian than combining red & white?
What could be more French than lavender?

Put them together and you have the story of our life…

This year, when potting up a small fig tree I rooted, I opted to surround the base with red & white petunias. Such a vibrant contrast was going to be my little nod to home. I’d taken lots of cuttings from the two mother petunia plants & figured I’d fill several flower boxes in time for July 1st (Canada Day). Alas, the snails & slugs made quick work of the poor, defenseless cuttings and only a couple survived.

The potted fig is in a spot surrounded by several lavender plants… also started from rooted cuttings.

Like this image… our life is a place where cultures collide… France and Canada connect…

This week, we celebrated something new, and continued celebrating something recently-new.

A quick post today to tell you about those things and share our week.

Let’s begin from last weekend…

Yesterday was birthday cake for two at our “Over and Above” spot…

Let’s go…

Mother’s Day, near as I can tell, is a moving target and there’s always a little nagging question in the back of our minds… “Is it this week? …in North America it’s ___, but in Belgium it’s ___. Hmm.. is France the same?”

Every. Blessed. Year.
(thank heavens for Google!)

Father’s day is a little better, but not much. While it’s the same, in France, as back home, it still falls a week later than celebrations in Belgium (where Liz’s dad is). Still, we managed to get everyone in and celebrated rather uniquely here. I’ll get to that, but first, let’s get caught up.

Today’s feature image is of the island pavilion at Dampierre Castle, outside of Paris. It looks beautiful from a distance, but up close, the need for renovation is evident. Plaster and mortar are crumbling, windows are broken and the sparse furnishings inside are in advanced disrepair, due to their exposure to the elements.

Sometimes we can be a bit like that, in varying degrees. All looks good from a distance, but when you get up close… not all is as it seems. Pentecost is the answer to that.

Shall we have a quick “coffee chat”?

Have you ever seen honey-bee eggs before?

If you look closely at the feature pic associated with today’s post, you’ll see what look like little, white grains of rice at the bottom of the cells of the bees-wax comb. Those are bee eggs.

When I think about them, I’m amazed at God’s creativity.

Let’s take a quick look back at the week…