Happy Holidays

Blimey, Xmas seems a while ago doesn't it? 

Well, I'm back.  Back from my holidays.  Yes, I did say holidays.  Yup, South of France, no less.  Nimes to be exact (in Languedoc-Rousillion close to Provence).

I was obsessed with facades

The crumblier the better.

People often ask how the heck do I manage to go on so many holidays a year.  Well, I'll let you into our little secret:  we try to do them on the cheap.

Oh and the shutters...

....shutters galore

We're lucky that Grandpappy J and P lives in the Lake District AND in Spain so we're in the Lakes twice a year and toddle over to Spain for one week a year.

Signs - I was obsessed with those as well

Lovely signage going on here with a nice table and chair effect

I especially liked faded signs

Lots of faded signs

An old sign

Not so old signs

This year, as well,  we intend to do house swaps with friends in Kent and Norfolk.  That'll be fun and completely FREE to boot!

I like a good knocker  - even when it's a bit rusty

And it's a good job we like camping because what we tend to do is to go on four camping trips in the summer:  three long weekends in this country with three different sets of friends and a week long trip abroad (usually France but we have been to Belgium and Germany).  

Van Gogh lived in Arles for a while.  If you look carefully, you'll see  that this picture is made from leaves, seeds and twigs.  Ingenious n'est pas?

We even took our lightweight tent and camping paraphernalia such as pots and pans, cutlery, plates etc (I kid you not) on our 4 week trip to California the summer before last  and to Slovenia last year.  Oh yes, we're hard core!  It's little wonder that Little Miss J and P  has started to look longingly at 5 star hotels....

A picture of a sign that Little Miss J and P took - it shows an unhealthy interest in  5 star hotels if you ask me.

Of course, all this burbling on about holidays is just a cunning ploy to slip in a few of my holiday pics and bore you all to death.  Ooops!

It's never too early to start thinking about holidays in my opinion.  Haven't got any planned as yet for this year although I'm thinking Berlin (and the lightweight tent - maybe) for my birthday in June.  How about you?  Planning anything for 2012?  I'd love to know.

Happy New Year!  xx