GlobeTrotteuse

As I said earlier my brother is visiting us in Provence. The days begin with long breakfasts, followed by long lunches and long dinners. He is also a fan of healthy eating so the food is very easy....Yesterday we went to our village and then we watered our lavender bushes as it is still hot and dry. After the dinner we sat with a cup of tea on the terrace talking, laughing and having good time........

A young couple visited us today. We haven't seen them since long and therefore I was happy to arrange a lunch. As you know lunches in Provence are serious venues and take time. When our friends left I started to prepare tea for our dinner.....so you can imagine the time perspective I am talking about. It is always so refreshing to meet young people particularly those with positive attitude and a lots of humor......so inspiring....thanks D&J for taking your time to find us and to spend the whole afternoon with us. Here are some pics from the day.....

As the heat continues we are moving out from the house :). The books, agendas, notebooks and whatever is needed is now moved to the terrace at the poolside. The area includes also the "cuisine d'ete" which means that we also can prepare simple food or make a BBQ there. It is like a camp and a wonderful refuge for the coming hot summer days.

It is only May but we already have a heat wave 30°C in Provence and without rain in the last two weeks. It is nice for the swimming in the pool and for the warm evenings when we sit outside but there is also a pitfall with this type of weather....the garden. Although we have automatic watering system but not everywhere. Our lavender plantation (400 plants) is without watering and under normal conditions they are very resistant bushes and manage dry periods in summer but in the spring they need water. So today we spent some hours to water all those plants. And in spite of the heat we fell so lucky and privileged about our lives.

We are finally home. After having visited the market in Coustellet and refilled our fridge we undertook a big cleaning.

Today I leave our paradise for a trip to Sweden. Most of all I am looking forward to see my daughter. I will also take opportunity to see some movies, drink coffee and watch people from cozy cafes. This time I don't take even camera with me so it will be quite on the blog. Have a nice week and...... AU REVOIR.

This week we are again between two journeys and on Monday morning we are going to Sweden. In the middle of all planning...garden, pool....my husband celebrates his birthday. We decided to stay home and only have a dinner for us two. Usually it is the best solution although after 22 years of marriage :) So I cooked a dinner for two. Before that we were on the market and bought a lot of wonderful food. Here are some sneak peaks of the day:

We took a walk today in spite of the heat. I knew that after the walk I would be rewarded when diving in the pool. But there was also another reward along the hiking trail......cherries and in plenty.

Yesterday I tried another recipe from my favorite food blog. I have always liked eggplants and are searching for new creative recipes......but no, moussaka is not for me. This antipasti has a mediterranean flavor and I can imagine a lot of utilisations as together with bruschetta, pasta or as taste agent in a salad. So I tried to cut some pieces into our evening salad.....a little bit garlicy..if you like it.

Just wanted to share some pictures from today afternoon....in the summer time we rather spend our days around the pool and on the terrace. We have still not arranged our outside furniture due to the large amount of pollen coming mainly from the oak trees and covering everything with their yellow dust.  It takes another week until we fully open our Summer season :))

After our morning French lesson we stopped at the supermarket in order to refill our fridge as it was almost empty. Tuesday is the day when the fresh fish arrives so I took the opportunity and bought some rougets which we like so much. I just roasted them in butter and served them together with fennel-betroot-harricot verts salad. We eat now all our meals outside as the weather is warm.... in the shadow of the grapevine pergola and to the sound of our fountain.....now the lazy days begin.....

Yesterday I returned to my beloved Provence. After I left my sister on the Nice airport I went to the railway station and boarded the fast train to Avignon. My husband who arrived earlier from Stockholm was already there waiting for me when I arrived. We drove home along the meadows full of poppies and stopped at a stand to buy some local vegetables and fruits. The young man in the stand recommended ancient type of tomatoes for a salad so I bought it together with basil and cherries and strawberries. I made a simple salad for the dinner as we have both  been nourished on sandwiches the whole day. We sat outside and enjoyed the view and being together again.....

The difference is that when the rain comes to Provence everyone is happy, especially in the Spring. Today a thunderstorm passed through our area and it is not always pleasant. Two years ago a lightning strike hit our chimney and destroyed a lot in the house. Luckily we were not in the house then that probably saved our lives. But I still love watching the rain from the porch ..... and the most beautiful is the green color that appears as soon as the first raindrops fell down.

I sleep so well since I started to meditate regularly. Every morning and every evening I spend min 30 minutes with my meditations. It is not easy to meditate when you have a busy life but if you manage that you will be rewarded. I started to meditate many years ago but first now I have succeeded to achieve at least partially peace in my soul. Because meditation needs regularity and you have to make appointments with yourself. It is a lifetime journey so do not count on to be fully learned. But this is also the joy of it....piece by piece you will be on the way to your inner tranquility. I am also trying to get rid of some of my habits as judging myself and other people, having firm opinions about all and everything etc. After my morning meditation followed by 20min yoga/pilates on the pool side I feel so free, so satisfied.....I am asking me again why I haven't tried harder to achieve this state of mind when I was still working, how much easier should everything be.