Remembering Claude Monet's House and Gardens, Giverny, France-2007 and 2011!

It is not often that you get to visit a place twice in a lifetime.  I have been privileged to see Giverny, France and the home and gardens of Claude Monet in two different seasons.  First in October of 2007 and then again in July of 2011.  I'll let you decide when you think is the best time to visit.  Giverny is just not about Claude Monet, but the village is quite quaint and the Impressionists Museum and gardens are a treat as well.  Hope you enjoy these visits.

Monet's House in October, 2007

Monet's House in July, 2011

Perennial Borders in October, 2007

Perennial Borders in July, 2011

The Nasturtium Walk in October, 2007

The Nasturtium Walk in July, 2011

Another View of the Perennial Borders in October, 2007

Another View of the Perennial Borders in July, 2011

The Lily Pond in October, 2007

The Lily Pond in July, 2011

Well, we are experiencing our coldest day this year so far and we are only 28 days into 2014!  Yikes!  Hope you are staying warm wherever you may be!  Talk to you later.

Remembering Summer in Paris, France-July, 2011!

We ended our European vacation in July 2011 visiting Paris!  We have had several trips to Paris, but none in the tourist season.  Here are some recollections of Paris 2011.  I enjoyed every moment I could in the gardens in Paris.  They are beautiful maintained and a joy to see!  Hope you are staying warm wherever you may be.  We are only going to get colder.  Talk to you later.

Last Time We Were at Notre Dame, There Was Scaffolding!

Lavender and Rosemary Near Notre Dame!

A Bright and Colorful Flower Bed at Sacre Coeur

La Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre

Looking Down to the City from Sacre Coeur

It's All About Plants in This Garden

Look at the Beautiful Sage and Rosemary!

Looks Like the Dill is in Bloom Here!

Always Have to Have Sunflowers!

Wonderful Combinations of Flowers and Colors!

Love to Walk Down the Long Borders of Color!

Loved the Various Heights and Choices of Flowers and Herbs Used!

Another Color Palette,  Heights and Flowers!

Have to End with a Glorious Rosemary!

A Sunday in Brighton, England, July, 2011!

Who Knew It Would be Cold and Windy in Brighton in July!

Every time (Well, maybe not every time) we go to England, The Herbal Husband asks, "Why don't we go to Brighton?"  There has always been a reason not to go.  So in July how can it be bad.  It was cold, windy and rainy!  Typical English summer weather!  The Herbal Husband also has to have ice cream when we go to the beach.  This time it was with a twist.  Although there is no photo to prove it, a seagull swooped down and took a bite out of his ice cream cone!

The Royal Pavilion of King George

The Royal Pavilion was built for the Prince Regent, who later was King George IV.  It is a palace that contains the finest collections of chinoiserie style in Britain.

One of Many Perennial Borders Surrounding the Palace

You know I can always find any herb or two in a garden.  I'm always envious of rosemarys in the right place to grow.

A Happy Rosemary in the Flower Bed!

One of My Favorite Summertime Flowers, Hollyhocks!

Then we hopped on a bus and went out to Preston Manor on the outskirts of Brighton.  It is a very nice manor house that sheltered us when the rains finally came.  What is most special about Preston Manor are the gardens.

Preston Manor

The Walled Garden Entrance

Beautiful Views in the Garden

Another Beautiful Rosemary!

Plants Sheltered from the Wind with the Wall!

A Small Lily Pond

 

A Majestic English Oak on the Front Lawn!

Must Have a Cream Tea to Get Warm!

Really had a wonderful day at Brighton even with the windy, rainy weather.  As you can see by the last photo, we enjoyed a cream tea before going back to London!  I think it has finally stopped snowing here.  The plow truck just went by.  So I'll take a photo for you out the basement door!  It is the light fluffy stuff so it should be easy to shovel away!  I'm happy the herb garden has a layer of insulation for the next deep freeze coming this week!  Stay warm out there if you are in the northern part of the US.  Talk to you later! 

Remembering the Warmth of the Sun- Europe, 2011!

Just have to do something to not think about the snow and very cold temperatures that are coming our way!  So I had a great idea!  Why not finish our trip to Europe that happened in 2011?  I did a few posts about that trip, but not nearly enough.  We rented a car near Avignon, France and really got see the countryside, particularly the lavender fields.  It was very warm there.  The only very warm weather we had on that trip.  To refresh your memory, we went to The Netherlands first and then went by train to the south of France.  Weekdays and weekends are for the open air markets in various towns.

Hope you enjoy this memory of our 2011 trip to Europe!  It is lightly snowing here and getting cold.  More snow is on the way tomorrow!  It is winter, but a more extreme version than we have had for a very long time!  Stay warm!   Talk to you soon! 

Honey and Basil-two Staples of French cuisine!

The Fruit of Summer!

The Spice Ladies!

Lots of Bright Colorful Wares for Sale!

Wheels of Gruyere Cheese

Wheeling Fresh Herbs and Flowers in for Sale!

Celebrating Five Years of Blogging! A Favorite Repost or three of 2011!

Well, I couldn't let 2011 go by without several reposts from a great year.  The first was a dream come true to have Jekka McVicar in my herb garden when she spoke to the Herb Society of America in Pittsburgh.  Here is a link to that post that I wrote for The Herb Companion (now Mother Earth Living) called The Herb Channeler's Adventures with Jekka McVicar. 

Then there was a wonderful anniversary trip to Europe in July.  I wrote about it in a post called More European Adventures-Graveson and Arles, France.  I think I need to finish that trip!

I don't always enjoy doing crafts, but these little spice wreaths are very easy and fun to do.  Here is the link that I wrote called Spice Wreaths for the Holidays!  It is a link to the link for Herb Companion (now Mother Earth Living) post with the recipe.

So hope you enjoy these early journeys in my blog.  Again, you may comment on this post to be entered into the giveaway.  Please do not comment on the early post.  Oh, you can comment if you wish, but it won't count towards entry in the giveaway.  Please if you don't have a blog contact, please give me some kind of contact info.  You can also leave a comment on my Facebook page, Nancy Heraud.  One comment per person please.  I will be reposting my five favorite posts from each of the years in the coming days and if you haven't already commented, you may comment on those reposts as well.  This giveaway will end next Wednesday, August 14, 2013 at 10 AM EDT.  The winners will be announced once selected by The Herbal Husband from the magical cheese making basket.  Good luck and thanks for reading my blog!


Another beautiful day so I'm going out to see what can be harvested, trimmed back, etc.  I'll show you those photos soon.  Talk to you later.

Chateau de Villandry 2007 and 2011!

2007 Vegetable Garden Plan!

The 2011 Vegetable Garden Plan!

The 2007 Vegetable Garden in October

The 2011 Vegetable Garden in July

2007 Overview of the Vegetable Garden

2011 Overview of the Vegetable Garden

2007 Lemon Verbena in the Herb Garden

2011 Lemon Verbena in the Herb Garden

I'm woefully behind in posting about our fabulous European adventure in 2011.  So indulge me a bit and I'll try to make it a great armchair vacation for you during this cold snowy winter.  This is one of my favorite gardens in the world, Chateau de Villandry.  It was completed around 1536 and was the last of the great chateaus to be built on the banks of the Loire River during the Renaissance period.  I have given you a comparison in gardens from when we were there in 2007 to 2011.  I realized reading the brochure that they have two plantings of the vegetable garden, one in spring from March to June and the other in summer from June to November.  I would go again in August or September.  October was great and July was a bit under grown.  Don't get me wrong it is a beautiful place no matter what season you visit.  The last two pictures are of my beloved herb, lemon verbena.  In July it looks a bit more like the plant you grow.  In October when it's like a hedge, it doesn't look as familiar.  These last three photos are of the new Sun Garden is an exotic place made up of three green areas.  It was a very peaceful sighting.  Enjoyed this garden as much as the vegetable in the fall.  Hope you get to go some day.  You will really enjoy it.

The Sun Garden

The Cloud Room

The Sun Room

Well, it is finally sunny here!  Got out to see what's going on in the herb garden.  Still pretty covered up with snow.  We are supposed to get a bit of mixed precipitation tomorrow night into Friday.   We may get into the 50's next week.  Maybe Phil was right.  Spring will be early this year.  It was really early last year.  Hope you are having a sunny day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.