My project 365 #2

I am enjoying my project 365. I am very pleased I have nearly done one month! I'm not very good at posting my photos here though...

I'm still using the bethadilly prompts, although not every day. They are great and I love looking at how other people interpret them.

Anyway, here is my second batch...

From scarf to cushion

The 25 granny squares have finally been joined together (not my favourite job at all!) !

It forms the front of a cushion. The back is just a simple knit. In fact it used to be a scarf. I never wore it as the sides kept rolling up and I didn't like that very much - it was a beginners mistake really... As I had made it quite large, one day I noticed it was the same size as a cushion. It was long too so I didn't hesitate to unravel part of it to make these lovely granny squares.

So here it is, a lovely granny cushion, a second life for an old scarf !

My Project 365

I have decided to take up my first 365 photography project this year. It consists in taking a picture a day. Easy you might think. Well, not really. Even with a smartphone always on me or a DSLR never too far, it is actually not that easy... Time is not always on my side, but most of all, inspiration is sometimes not there.

So, why do it ? Well, a challenge is always good, particularly if you finish it! But mainly because I think it will improve my photography skills and I will get to know my Nikon a bit better.

I started my Project 365 on 1st January and 14 days later, I am still doing it. I am making my life a bit easier by following Beth a-dilly photography's daily prompts. I don't follow the prompts every day, as sometimes they don't inspire me or there are other things I would like to photograph, but it is a great help! I am also getting a lot of tips from Click it Up a Notch.

I will not publish my daily photo on this blog. I am using Instagram for that. But I will do a weekly recap here.

Here is the first one :

The Kings cake or galette des rois

Epiphany

Every year on 6th January, the French celebrate Epiphany with the Kings cake.

La galette des rois (named after the three kings) is a puff pastry cake filled with frangipane, an almond filling. You can find other types of cakes in other parts of France, but in my neck of the woods it is the puff pastry kind. There are other fillings available as some people do not like frangipane. Apple, pear and chocolate... are all there to make everybody happy.

Our galette, pear and chocolate. Miam !

So, throughout the month of January, we gather with friends or family and eat La Galette des rois. It is a moment I really enjoy, it is full of little rituals and it takes me back to my childhood.

The "fève"

The big thing about the Galette des Rois that I haven't mentioned yet is the fève - the trinket. Made of ceramic, you might find one in your slice of cake! Traditionally, they were dried beans but now they come in all sorts of shape and people even collect them (and not only children).

The rituals

Someone cuts the cake and the youngest child goes under the table. He or she will say who will have the next slice. While eating, everybody wonders who has the trinket and they eat cautiously their lovely slice of cake. Whoever gets the trinket gets the crown and choses a queen or a king. It is said that whoever gets the trinket bakes or buys the next cake. We do it sometimes as it lasts until the end of January and it is a nice excuse to meet up with friends.

We shared a really nice pear and chocolate galette. Guess who found the fève ?!

The galette and the lovely crown

We haven't found the trinket yet!

My Little Lala has found it!

It's an owl!

The trinket

Crochet bun cover

My Little Lala goes to ballet and every week, we have to make the BUN.

I have managed to make something that lasts for the lesson but she always comes out a bit dishevelled. I have been looking for a bun cover for ages but was never satisfied. All I could find was those white velvet covers that make a big blop on the head. And I usually don't have time to use the thin net with all these pins you have to put in.

And one day I had the bright idea (oh why didn't I think about it before?!) to crochet one. Off I went on to Pinterest - it's so perfect to find crochet patterns - and found this lovely tutorial on Moogly.

I used a Tiboodoo Baby's yarn with a 3.5 mm hook and I chose to crochet around the elastic band.

It's perfect, practical, it keeps the hair in without using pins or hairspray (hooray!), it's fun and above all, my Little Lala loves it !

Granny squares

All my granny squares are ready! What for? All will be revealed soon.

In the meantime I am joining together 25 of them.

I have found the lovely pattern on the blog Cherry Heart. I am using a 3.5 mm crochet hook but I don't know much about the wool as it is being recycled... more on that later.

I am really enjoying this project and can't wait to finish it!

Les Balades

I thought one of my first posts would be about crochet. But no, in the end, it's about this little walk I like taking with my Little Family.

I love this place by the river, particularly the alley lined with trees. At this time of year, it could be a bit gloomy but it isn't really and it is so exciting to stumble upon vivid colours! There's always lovely colours.

We call it Les Balades, but I'm not so sure it's the right name of the place. It means "the strolls" or "the walks" in French. In fact, a perfect translation would be "promenade". It's so appropriate to my mind that I don't intend to find its real name. There's always a nice ring when one of us say "Shall we go to Les Balades?".

It's the perfect place for a short or long walk and for my daughter, to ride her mountain bike over bumps.

The line of trees 

The alley by the river

Perfect place to have fun on a MTB

Happy colours : red

Happy colours : yellow

Happy colours : green

And of course the duck!

Under our feet

Close-up nature

Beautiful light

I hope to go there at often to record the changes in colours, light, flora and fauna throughout the year.

Taking the plunge

That's it, I'm doing it, I'm taking the plunge ! My own blog !

I've been meaning to create my own blog for a long long time. But I could never do it for various reasons. Which blogging platform? What name? And what for ? What to publish? No miracle, I still don't know why. I have lots of ideas for sure... All very good but it doesn't make it happen. So today, I am taking the plunge, I am starting my very own blog.

Why today? Well, it's my birthday. I am 39, ouch, it hurts... A birthday on 2 January is not fun. So at least, I will share my birthday with someone else or rather something else. And it's also a new year... Is it a form of therapy ? I don't think so. Only time will tell.

So what to publish? Not too sure but these are a few of the things I like, in no particular order:

- cello
- crochet
- London
- my family
- photography

And a few other things I am interested in, still in no particular order:

- design
- social media
- bilinguism
- life in France

I am definitely forgetting things !

Why this name?
I will tell you in another post but the short of it is I am not British, I am French.

But what really stopped me was in which language to write. English? French? Or both? I don't really like translations, we don't express ourselves in the same way. Posts in both languages, a bit too long, no? Two blogs? Definitely not! Time is not on my side!!

Anyway, I am starting this and we'll see. And who knows, maybe this will be my only post! Ha ha!