We're moving!

Ok,  not really.... Only the blog is moving!

Please join me to The Little White House On The Seaside on Blogger.

You'll need to re-suscribe if you want to as Overblog doesn't allow me to see you e-mail addresses.

I'll be delighted to see you there! It's still under construction, just like the house!

On déménage! Enfin, pas vraiment! Seulement le blog.

Je vous invite à me rejoindre sur The Little White On The Seaside sur Blogger.

Vous devrez vous réinscrire si vous le souhaitez car Overblog ne me donne pas vos adresses email.

Je serai ravie de vous retrouvez là-bas (c'est encore un peu en chantier, comme ma maison!)

Magali, from The Little White House xxx

Dear readers,

Chers lecteurs,

Tonight is the Twelfth Night, also known as "day of the Kings (Magi)" in France.

It's a family day where we eat a cake inside of which a lucky charm has been hidden. The person who finds the charm in his or her piece of cake is crowned king or queen for the day.

In Paris, the cake is called Gallette. It's made of pastry and almond dough.

In the south of France, though, it's traditional to eat a brioche in the shape of a crown.

Sometimes with glacé fruits on top of it (my Mom's favourite).

This year I tried to bake my own brioche. I found a recipe in a magazine with the glacé fruits inside.

Je vous passe les informations sur la galette dont vous n'avez pas besoin si vous êtes Français et je vous propose ma toute première brioche... Elle est un peu bancale, mais compte tenu du mini four avec lequel je travaille, je la trouve superbe!

It's not really even... But if you remember that I have a very tiny cheap oven, I believe it's perfect.

You may notice that the glacé cherries are very dark and the glacé orange pieces very light. That's because I use oragnic ones without artificial colouring.

Ne vous étonnez pas de la couleur foncée des cerises confites ou au contraire de la couleur palotte des oranges et citrons confits. J'utilise des fruits sans colorants artificiels... Et au naturel, cela donne donc ça!

It was delicous and I'll keep the recipe for next year... I'll just make some improvement from experience!

I would show you the lucky charm if I could, but it hasn't been discovered yet!

If you noticed some white fabric on a chair in my first picture... It's supposed to be turned into kitchen curtains some day...

Magali, from The Little White House xxx

PPS: 1) All pictures were found on Google and taken from websites, rather than personal blogs. The last three are mine, taken with the dreadful light we've had seen 2013 began!

2) I'm bringing my brioche to the following parties:

Dear readers,

Chers lecteurs,

I've always hated new year traditions. I feel completely stupid wishing a "happy new year" to people I barely know at work. And I don't wish better things at this time of the year to people I love than at any other moment of the year.

Je déteste les traditions de Nouvel An. Souhaitez une "bonne année" à des collègues que je connais à peine me semble extrêmement ridicule. A l'inverse, je n'attends pas un jour particulier pour souhaiter tout le bonheur du monde aux gens que j'aime!

I also don't make any resolutions. I know most of them are forgotten whithin a fortnight!

Je ne prends par ailleurs aucune bonne résolution... ni aucune mauvaise! De toute façon, on ne les tient jamais!

I've never chosen a "word of the year" either. To be fair, I had never even thought of it before I began reading blogs some three years ago.

I spent New Year's Eve with some high school friends: it was a nice night. We went to see a very funny play and then had dinner together. At some point, one of us said what she wished for as 2013 was nearly there. And then, every one of us had to do the same.

J'ai passé le réveillon chez des amis de lycée. A un moment de la soirée, il a été question de ce que nous souhaitions pour cette nouvelle année. Et là, gros trou! Aucune idée.

Well, I was drawing a blank and didn't say anything. Was I that dull that I didn't wish for anything? A kitchen? Wasn't that way "material girl" to say after one of us she wished to find true love?!?

Etais-je à ce point blasée que je ne désirais rien?

This is when I realised that for the first time, I didn't feel like something was missing in my life and I was rather content.

A ce moment, je me suis dit que pour la première fois, même s'il y a plein de petites choses dont je peux avoir envie, dans l'ensemble, je me sens sereine. 

So when suddenly every eyes turned on me and I knew it was time to say what I wished for: "I'd just like life to keep going", was my answer.

Cela a donc inspiré le mot de l'année 2013 (pour la première fois, je sacrifie à cette tradition!).

2013 does have a word, and a French word on top of it!

PLENITUDE

This word conveys the ideas of fullness, contentment and balance that are the ones that are important to me lately.

It's not a joke. It might seem ridiculous to have those words as guides when you have a very unfinished house as mine, when you're a substitute rather than a teacher who always work in the same school, when you're single and the clock is ticking!

Et non, ce n'est pas une blague! Cela peut paraître ridicule de cultiver un sentiment de plénitude quand on a une maison inachevée en plein travaux, un boulot de remplaçante toujours dans l'incertitude et une vie de célibataire alors que l'horloge biologique tourne!

I think otherwise... Rather than getting bitter and angry at the world because of all I don't have, I like to remember how lucky I am to have every thing I have: a roof over my head, a job that is always challenging, supporting parents and friends!

Justement, je pense que c'est sur tout ce qu'on a de formidable qu'il faut se concentrer: un toit sur la tête, un métier qui vous lance toujours de nouveaux défis, des parents et des amis toujours présents.

So all I can wish to you all is to find your own state of "PLENITUDE" for 2013 and the years to come.

La plénitude est donc l'état que je vous souhaite à tous de trouver en 2013 et dans les années qui suivront!

Magali, from The Little White House xxx

PS: Clicking on the pictures will take you back to some project posts from 2012.

Dear readers,

Chers lecteurs,

I confess I stole someone idea last weekend.

J'avoue avoir volé une idée ce week-end.

About a year ago I suscribed to a blog called Keeping It Simple.

Il y a environ un an, je me suis abonnée au blog Keeping It Simple, et j'adore lire les articles bourrés d'idées le matin en buvant mon thé.

I love finding its posts in my mailbox and reading them over my morning cupsss of tea... Last week, there was a post about a cute neighbour's gift.

La semaine dernière, cette idée de petit cadeau m'avait séduite.

When I had a gift to make last Saturday, that post came back to my mind.

Elle m'est revenue en mémoire quand j'ai eu besoin d'une idée originale.

Of course I had none of the usual toys most of you bloggers have. I don't have any vinyl of any colour...

But a former French president said that "In France, we don't have petroleum, but we have ideas!".

Evidemment, je ne possède pas les accessoires du style vinyl autocollant... Alors, j'ai mis un peu de peinture sur des étiquettes scolaires autocollantes!

So I took asic white school stickers and painted them with black and orange paint, leftovers from Halloween, then cut them. Here's what I did.

The picture was snapped at night in my ugly kitchen, seconds before getting in the car to deliver the present. As usual I had forgotten to take pictures before... So I apologize for the lack of light, setting, etc...

Thanks for visiting! And Merry Christmas to you all!

Magali, from The Little White House xxx

Dear readers,

Chers lecteurs,

Going shopping in December around here is pure craziness. There's just nowhere to park and even if you can park, there are so many people in the aisles that it gets on my nerves in no time and there's no need to tell you the lines at the cashier are "as long as a day without bread" (French saying).

Alors qu'il est impossible de trouver la moindre place pour garer sa voiture dans les parkings des magasins en ces temps de fêtes, j'ai décidé d'utiliser ma méthode habituelle: dénicher sur Le Bon Coin l'objet de mes rêves et aller le chercher, ayant ainsi l'occasion d'une petite ballade.

So I went shopping my way today. I found something I liked and needed on the Internet, phoned the lady selling it and hopped in the car.

Of course, I wandered in the town the seller lived in.

I apologize for the quality of the pictures... The light was just "bleak" today.I actually love the colour of the skies at this time of the year.

As many old towns, it is built on a hill top... which makes visiting the town rather tiring!

Lamballe is an old medieval town with lots of tiny narrow streets, so taking a picture with a camera like mine is a challenge, as I can never get a whole house in the frame!

Lamballe est une jolie petite ville médiévale dont les rues sont tellement étroites qu'il est difficile d'avoir le recul nécessaire pour prendre des photos!

I swear I didn't drink before taking the pictures! The houses are wonky, either because they are very old or because they never were straight to begin with!

Non, non, je n'avais pas bu avant de prendre les photos. Les maisons ne sont juste pas droites du tout!

I'm so sorry the square was being redone unfortunately for my pictures...

I saw glimpses of beautiful houses hidden behind big gates.

And even a white xxx was blooming in December!

Can you see the house has interior shutters?

Obviously, I couldn't walk those streets without thinking of the unfortunate Princess of Lamballe who was a close friend to Marie-Antoinette and was killed during the 18th century revolution. She never walked those streets, though.

Evidemment, en arpentant ces rues, j'ai eu une pensée pour la pauvre princesse de Lamballe, même si elle n'a probablement jamais mis les pieds dans cette ville!

La Princesse de Lamballe, by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun.

Thanks for joining me in that cold and damp weather for the walk!

Now, to see what I bought today, you'll have to come back!

Magali, from The Little White House xxx