Tap tap tap... Is this thing on?

So, uhh, ummm... How exactly does one come back from having forgotten to blog for 3.5 months? It wasn't even a conscious decision, it just sort of happened, and then the longer I was away the harder it was to come back.

Everything's fine, I was just crazy busy with work and I guess I sort of lost my blogging mojo. Let's try again and see if it comes back. I'm game if you are. Assuming of course that there's anyone still out there after all this time. Is there? Are you?

So where have I been? Well, there was a trip to Provence with my husband way back in April. It was wonderful, everything a trip to France should be despite the fairly lousy weather. One of our hosts told us we're not crazy for thinking that it rains in Europe every single Passover/Easter week - it really does. Sort of the way it always rains on Purim here in Israel. Still, you really can't go far wrong in France, whatever the weather. Don't you agree?

Les Baux de Provence

Cassis Harbor

Van Gogh's Courtyard in St Remy

Goat cheese for sale at the Cassis weekly market

After France there was the usual flurry of spring - getting out into nature, our annual trip to the folk festival, the beach, the pool, and so much more, but I'll save some of those for another post.

Right now we're in the midst of the annual end of year insanity - an elementary school graduation, end of the year sports events, all the birthday parties for all of the kids with summer birthdays - you name it, it's probably happening. It's all good, but more than a little exhausting to keep sorted. It's a good thing I've only got two kids and two adults to keep track of - any more and someone would be leaving the house without their underwear for sure.

So that's me in a nutshell, with a few photos thrown in for fun. What have you all been up to these past few months?

Window with Shutters and Teapot

(Window with shutters and TEAPOT? Huh? I'm betting you didn't notice that teapot at first glance. Now that you know it's there, go back and take another look. See it? Good. Great extra touch, isn't it? I'd love to meet whoever lives there.)

Click through to my etsy shop to embiggen.

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Stained Glass Windows, Beaune Cathedral

Stunning stained glass windows from the cathedral in Beaune, France. Click over to the image listing on etsy to see more detail you can't see here on blogger - the detail on the faces is truly superb.

This and many more items are available in my etsy shop. Click on over and have a look around.

Medieval French Chateau, Brancion

The tiny hilltop village of Brancion in Southern Burgundy is one of the most magical, evocative places I have ever been. The entire village seems to have appeared straight out of history, a Middle Ages France version of Brigadoon, another wonder around each corner turned.

Visit my Society6 shop to bring a bit of the Brancion magic into your own home.

Click here (on Wednesday, I'm jumping the gun a bit this week) to see what other people aren't saying, and here to see what they are.

Le P'tit Paradis - Beaune, France storefront

Windows, doors, even a little red sign - this image was practically custom-made for a Monday blog post. We didn't stop into this lovely looking restaurant in Beaune, France, but I sure do love its exterior.

Click here to purchase this image from my etsy shop.

Have a great day!

Post-Passover Catch-Up

Whoa, where did the last month go? We had visiting parents (mine), travel nightmares (theirs, and note to the wise, ALWAYS make sure you have more than 6 months left on your passports if you want to avoid disaster), Holidays (capital H - Passover), holidays (lower case h - trip to southern Burgundy in France), a welcome home stomach virus (don't ask) and now my long-delayed day job project is finally kicking into higher gear. No wonder I'm tired...

We had a wonderful visit with my parents once they finally arrived, spending time together but also getting out to do some hiking and enjoy Israel's gorgeous spring wildflowers, finding hidden mosaics (more on that in a future post), visiting Jerusalem's Ice World (great fun, especially for the kids, and definitely worth a visit if you haven't been yet (it's on till the end of the month), especially if you have an Isracard and can get 50% off), touring the Old City, and even taking a (touristy but fun) boat ride off the Tel Aviv coast. Even better, they also watched the kids for five days so that Jay and I could go away. Since our Barcelona caper was off we went off to France instead (did I ever tell you about that? What a mess... We had tickets on the now-bankrupt Spanair and only found out they'd gone bust by accident. We did eventually recoup our money thanks to the credit card company but it was then too late to find affordable tickets to Barcelona, so we had to quickly rejig our vacation and flew to Geneva instead, where we rented a car and drove over to France for the week. All's well that ends well, but at the time it was a huge source of stress.). The weather in Burgundy was lousy, cold and rainy, but that just meant we spent more time eating and drinking (happy sigh) and I did manage to grab a few photos in between the raindrops... ;)

Click here to purchase this photograph from Around the Island Photography

So what have you all been up to while I've been away? Inquiring minds want to know :).

Click here to see more Whimsical Windows and Delirious Doors.

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