Sightseeing with Baby Girl, fresh from her first year at England uni

Mon cher Diary,

Baby Girl has just finished first year at uni in England with flying colours.

Just like most uni 'freshmen,' she had to move out of her 'house' on campus with everything that she's accumulated during the year.

We crossed the Channel to help her move out and to bring back her "junk" home. Next year, she will be renting a house with some of her close uni friends (a real house out of campus) and so, we won't have to come every end of term to move her things back and forth....

We decided that a brief sightseeing tour was in order on the way back to our home in the European Capital.

Our first stop was Folkestone, a nice, sleepy seaside town in the southern coast of England. The sea front is lined with beautiful Georgian and lovely Victorian homes and buildings. On a clear day, one can see France across the English Channel (or La Manche as it's called in France!)

We checked in at The Grand, a beautiful, genuine Victorian hotel facing The English Channel, for the night. It was rumoured that Edward VII used to spend his dalliances with his mistress(es) in one of the hotel rooms above overlooking the "monkey conservatory", hence the expression "doing monkey business" as one lady inhabitant of Folkestone told us.

We then made a side trip to 12th century Leeds Castle, a ruin that was purchased by Hon. Olive, Lady Baillie, daughter of an American heiress, who transformed the castle into one of the most glamorous homes in England.

To me, Leeds Castle is the epitome of 'modern' grace and glamour re-built and refurbished ever so tastefully, in a most romantic and gorgeous setting.

(More pics here.)

Pictures of random beauty

Mon cher Diary,

Sometimes for want of something else to do, I would look around inside my tiny town house to see how I could re-arrange furniture, decorative items and bibelots. And believe it or not, I also used to inspect my pocket-sized garden to re-plant and re-position the multitude of pots that are disperesed everywhere but lately, I've been neglecting my town garden in favour of my real garden in the countryside.

Today I was doing just that when I decided to take a few random pictures of the items and space that need a bit of attention... Here they are.

Picture of a lone pink climbing rose that I planted two years ago -- it's resting on the window pane looking into the living room window. I will need to do something so that the rose tree doesn't block the window.

Picture of my 'private' bookshelves manned by an antique stone statue of a crusading knight . I really must put order in those bookshelves.

Picture of a painting that I purchased from a collector friend more than 20 years ago featuring a fisherman at the break of dawn, and needs a bit of dusting.

Picture of one of my favourite antique sterling silver tea pots; it is an ornate and heavy Victorian piece, circa 1890, in good condition but needs polishing. (My sideboard is beginning to look like a shelf in a brocante boutique -- definitely needs tidying!)

Picture of one of the garden walls covered with ivy and a bunch pretty roses desperately trying to climb out; ivycertainly needs to be trimmed.

Picture of the perennial red roses at the bottom of the garden that need to be treated against some bugs.

Picture of a part of a garden that really needs some serious TLC.

To cap the day's mental and physical exercise, I helped myself to a glass of Bordeaux. Whew!

Gardening time or gardening preparatory time!

Mon cher Blog,

Yes! Finally! We're on track... the transforming of a part of the property into a garden or a mini private park has begun.

Last week, we spent some four days in our Brittany home which, incidentally, is undergoing a major overhaul -- from top to bottom -- while also prioritising our garden.

If you remember I wrote in a January diary that we had decided to transform some 2.5 acres out of a few hectares (the property used to be a farm) into a complete garden and that we had signed a contract with a landscapist for a phase 1 job which was to pull out the remaining corn roots, pull down some tall and massive trees that were distracting the rolling hill view and sow lawn grass in order to pave the way for a clear space perspective towards designing a French-English garden...

Well, it's done, or almost done. To our chagrin, the landscapist also pulled down 4 of our apple trees too despite our clear instructions that they should remain and left a baby ash tree that we didn't want. He also did not do the entire hectare but just two thirds of the area, in other words, a huge part which was bang in the middle of the future garden area on which the baby ash tree stands and a parcel behind the unsightly sheds were left not quite tilled (shown in first picture).

We weren't happy with the overall result and felt that the landscapist had let us down. The quality of the lawn grass wasn't good either but because we didn't want to have to re-do the whole hectare on account of the cost, we thought it would do. In order to clear the big parcel, he had to lift the 3 baby trees I had planted in October but what was maddening was that he re-planted them too close to each other!

Those three plants will be so wide when they grow to maturity and will be banging against each other and will eventually block our view of the rest of the bottom garden. Fortunately, they will be easy to re-plant, something we will have to do soon. We have decided that we would not hire the said landscapist anymore for the 2nd and 3rd and the rest of the phases. So, we're going back to the drawing board.

At any rate, something else peeved me: the center of the garden was not properly tilled and looked messy to me, so Darling Hubby asked around for help to clear that offending bit. Fortunately, a farmer nearby was happy to do that for us and as pics show, he brought in his tractor to clear the rest of the parcels that had not been properly tilled, turn the soil over, flatten the ground so that he could sow lawn grass seeds. Whew, it's done.

I will now be able to look through the future garden space and beyond from ground level without being distracted by the sight of an uncleared portion. By the end of the month of June, the dark brown patch, hopefully, will be one with the rest of the massive green lawn.

We are currently on the hunt for a good garden architect or landscapist to design my little park and to help us choose the plants, trees, shrubs, other greenery and paraphernalia needed to build a garden.

I am excited about the whole project! My own little countryside domain by the sea in the extreme northwest coast of France.

Almost 100-year old initials in Sterling Silver

My dear Blog,

Here's the latest addition to my collection of sterling silver cigarette cases...

I wouldn't say that it's the prettiest of my collection but it certainly is a little special to me because it has my initials (well two of my initials) and so didn't hesitate to acquire it.

In pretty good original condition although it's almost 100 years old, hallmarked for Birmingham (1911) and weighs a nice 65 grams. I like its beutifully embossed vine and leafy features.

I am still (as always) on the lookout for pretty cigarette or vesta cases to add to my collection. Of course, they must be antique and should be in relatively excellent condition.

Meanwhile, I'm off for a few days (again!) and will have no access to comp. I know, I know! You'll say, have just come back from a visit of Naples, and here I am going away again. Well, I've got things to do for and with the babies, for and in the house(s), and perhaps weather permitting, do a bit of golf on the side (but not necessarily in that order.)

Parting with the Kiddies' 420

Mon cher Blog,

The kiddies are growing up and becoming "independent" too. I put independent in quotation marks because in reality, their independence is still a bit of an illusion.

A few years ago, when we were expatriated to the Capital of Europe, they asked to have a dinghy that they could sail every weekend (that's how they put it, "every weekend".)

We've always had a sailboat at one time or the other. In fact, just before our expatriation to Asia a dozen or so years ago, we had a 30-footer that was a marvel to sail (we were living in Faslane then) even with just two of us, i.e., hubby and I, but sold her when the overseas move was confirmed.

But the move back to Continental Europe afforded us little time and place to do "big time" sailing so a big boat was out of the question, hence, the "demand" by the kiddies for a dinghy was reasonable. We got them a second-hand 420 some 3 or 4 years ago. Baby girl had chosen a nice blue, 2nd hand but virtually immaculate 420.

We put in our membership application to a local yacht club, got accepted and the kiddies enthusiastically joined local regatas for a good while, i.e., a good 12 or so months. We also towed her everywhere we went, to England, to France, to Belgium and even to Germany where we would sometimes sail race with friends. Then, teen-age stuff got in the way, eg., "I can't race this weekend... I've got to see friends!", "Not this weekend, I want to watch a movie!", "Not today! Friends are coming!", etc., etc.

The long and short of it is that after a little over a year, the boat and weekend or Sunday sailing were all relegated to a "We'll see...!" activity. The poor 420 which was initially loved and taken care of so enthusiastically began to be neglected. And so today, I decided that I shall have to, sadly, part with her and will put up a notice that she's for sale.

I don't know how the kiddies will react to the news but heck, it's not fun doing it on your own (me, alone!) and taking care of the boat (even a 420 needs TLC every now and then).

Anyway, Daddy is seriously thinking of getting another 30-footer and do a bit of more serious sailing again, so I'm nonplussed about not having a boat for the moment.

Pictures of kiddies with Daddy boating during an outing in Brittany.

Meet the Family's best friend!

Meet my lil bodyguard, my companion, and family’s best friend… she’s as courageous as a Doberman and as fierce a fighter as a Pit Bull! I kid thee not! She's not shy at all and can be quite friendly to strangers but woe to anyone whom she believes threatens her mistress! She growls and prepares to attack!

Lil Pit Doberman has travelled to virtually the whole of Europe. Whenever we travel by car, she comes along and trots around everywhere doing the sights like everyone else. I believe one of her favourite cities is Prague (where we've been twice). I suppose it's because there are very few dogs in the streets of the city so she feels exceptional -- and she is!

You see, my Lil Pit Doberman's pedigree is top rate and she has proven a deserving offspring of her champion ancestors when she herself became a Junior Champion of her breed and group in dog shows in Finland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and the UK.

Yep, you can say I'm mighty proud of her and I AM because she's so loving, caring and a wonderful great little friend!

Picture of Lil Pit Doberman taken in the garden in our home in Brittany a couple of weeks ago. She will be 8 in three months. She doesn't look her age, does she?

My passion and my lion head sterling silver bowl

Mon cher blog,

It' s been quite a while!

Been very busy with so many things. There have been so many things on "my plate" and so have not paid attention to my personal blogs.

One of my many pre-occupations these last few weeks besides the renovations on my Brittany home is purchasing antique objects, an exhilirating but rather expensive hobby.

I confess that I am an incorrigible antique hoarder -- just don't have the heart to get rid of some of my collectables at home to the frustration of my kiddies and my hubby! (Heh!)

Collecting old and beautiful pieces is a passion. I like to collect old, sterling silver teapots, bowls, mugs, tankards, cigarette cases, vesta cases, large photo frames, snuff boxes, rare fobs and medals including pretty crystal decanters. I'm only interested in collecting any of those items if it's old, pretty, in reasonably mint condition and hallmarked solid sterling silver (except for the decanters).

Believe it or not, I've added quite a number antique pieces to my collection just these last few weeks alone that pretty soon, I will be lacking in space and will be compelled to make a choice, i.e., what "to flog" and what not "to flog", for lack of display space. And that, to me, is a horrendous dilemma!

One of my latest acquisitions is this rather old, ornate solid sterling silver bowl (one of the 3 sterling silver bowls I purchased recently...) which I call "my Lion-head bowl."

This beautiful and delightful bowl was made by Edward Barnard & Sons, Hatton Garden, London, and assayed in 1913. It's of intricate design and its body is embossed with regular reeded patterns offset by beaded patterns. It's nice sized, more than 6 inches in diameter and weighs a hefty 500 grams; truly a nice item to display.

For the moment, it's one of my favourites. However, I'm afraid it will be relegated somewhere inside one of my cabinets as soon as I purchase another item (I've got my eye on one right now) to make space.