Pet Friendly Chambres d'Hotes

We still have a few free nights for B and B guests in August.
La Verderie is situated 12km from the A10, a perfect stopping off point if you are heading for the South of France and pet dogs are very welcome! Visit the website here or email Sue to check availability.

Open Studio and workshops in France

Chambord

We have just come back from a hectic few days in the UK. The return trip was very long with a detour to see some puppies (which was a wasted journey), then a lovely drive back down the Loire past some of the beautiful Chateaux, through a massive thunderstorm at Poitiers which nearly brought the traffic to a halt. We came back with a car loaded full of Kilims for the gallery (if they make it that far!)

Kilims for sale

I now have a month to tidy, re-arrange and make stuff to fill the gallery in time for the two day Open Studio at La Verderie in August (Sunday 18th and Sunday 25th August). There will also be paintings by local artist's Pamela Slater and Doris Murray, woodturning by Roger Slater and Culli and woodturning demo's. For further details visit the Art in France website here.

Stag in the sunflowers

The sunflowers are finally out and looking very beautiful, BeBop and I have been going for very early morning walks and came across a stag in the sunflowers this morning, sadly too far away for a good image!

Knitting and Crochet workshop with tutors Debbie Abrahams and Jane Crowfoot

Join Debbie and Jane for an inspirational workshop in South West France. The holiday runs from the 8th -14th September 2013 and the price includes all the workshops, full board with wine, transfers from Angouleme station or La Rochelle airport and outings to local towns. We have just one space left in a single room or spaces for two guests sharing a twin room. Email sueculligan@gmail.com for further details.

June knitting and crochet retreat in France

Friday was the last full day of the retreat, the girls had opted to spend the day at home to try and finish off their projects. We drove over to Burie the next village along from us to get stamps for postcards and have a coffee, then back to the studio. There was a great cheer from Lin when she finished her crochet alphabet blanket which looks fantastic.

 

We stretched it out on the table to block,  along with Pauline's lovely crochet flower. Margaret started to knit a very tiny mystery project, leaving us to guess what it was and it turned out to be a gorgeous woolly bunny. In the evening we all went to our friends David and Yvonne's house for a lovely relaxing supper.
On Saturday morning we waved goodbye to Margaret as she set off for the drive back to Brittanny, Lin and Pauline settled down for a final morning of crochet with Pauline declaring that she has finally mastered crochet (it looked pretty good when she arrived), but she seems convinced now!
After lunch we loaded their cases into the car and went into La Rochelle for a coffee and a quick wander around the shops, passing all the brightly coloured stalls along the edge of the old harbour.

 

 

 

Then it was off to the airport to say goodbye. Another brilliant week with lovely guests, lots of talking, knitting, crochet and sharing ideas.
It seems very quiet at home, with no more guests until the knitting and crochet workshop with Debbie Abrahams and Jane Crowfoot in September. Time for me to catch up with the gardening before the weeds completely take over, do some decorating and DIY around the house and design a new range of kits for KnitKits.