For Your Patience...



...mes chers amis, a bouquet for you!



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We are busy with final details for our Chic Provence Design Tour in two weeks!
Lots of new posts and photos soon of projects we've recently completed along
with our incredible journey in heart of Provence coming soon!






thanks for visiting!...  Kit





Provence Spring & Tomato-Tapenade Tart with Goat Butter Crust!



Hope your weekend is wonderful.. I'm spending a relaxing day with Chris and Nicky chez nous, having walked already to the local farmers market and planning a springtime feast for a leisurely Sunday lunch, we've been listening to extravagant Italian opera on Sirius all day long. Throughout the day I've been peeking at pictures of Provence, and dreaming about being back there there next month! Who isn't captivated by the beautiful colors and settings in Provence?


stunning use of pink on pink in this beautiful window

lavender growing in the haute Luberon.. magical

magenta, anyone? fearless use of glorious color against
all that stone and stucco

somehow I could easily see whiling away several hours in this very spot.. join me?


could anything be more welcoming than this pretty
entryway with bougainvillea and geraniums, a greenish
door and sparking white trim?


un verre de bandol, svp?

Bandol, the beloved rose colored vin de provence;
best served quite chilled when the temperatures
are soaring!


sophisticated pink plays off the rustic
unfinished and weathered doorway

this "les olivades" table cloth
strikes just the perfectly
artless note for your springtime table

you can just feel the warmth and hear the cigales buzzing in this setting where time slows down and old linen is on all the beds

le cigale.. the beloved  bug of Provence! you
see it everywhere in ceramic figurines, decorative
painting, table linens.. 
un peu cheesy but really adorable :)



This is the meal I ended up serving friends for dinner... 
what do you think? Would you like to join us 
next time?

Sunday lunch au printemps

Provençal Tapenade-Tomato Tart with Goat Butter Crust *
Pan Seared Lamb Provençal Style with Garlic and Rosemary
Smashed Red Bliss Potatoes
Roasted Asparagus
Spring Garden Salad 

Strawberries Pomegranate
with Pomegranate Chantilly and
Gateau Quatre Quarts 





*gluten free and delicious
tomato-tapenade tart

from the brilliant baker Karen Morgan's


***


ben-affleck-435
no,  just in case you thought it was, this isn't
me and Chris at the market... it's the
amazing Ben & Jen and they are carrying
my friend Andrea's
French Basketeer 
market basket!
Buy your own at Andrea's site! 

most images above
Pinterest.. of course!


***



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thanks for visiting...  Kit








Who Doesn't Adore...



..early springtime? Nicky certainly does. He gets to hang outside all day long while Mom putters around in the garden.. and even help out a little. While the rest of the country is enjoying temperatures in the 70's and 80's, we are still verrry cool and rainy here in the San Francisco bay area, so a day of sunshine is a treasure and draws me outside, abandoning all other work and projects to the garden for a few blissful hours.  I have a feeling all my clients are doing the same thing :)


hmmmm... what's this?..... a whole bag full of DIRT?  Yesssss!



Nicky and I take a break from garden chores and go for a walk
to get early springtime inspiration....first time I've worn 
sandals in a long time!


I love the early spring colors at this English cottage.. pink dogwoods,
pale green ivy and tulips of all colors, and that red maple 


really beautiful creamy camellias 



close up of the rhododendrons at the cape cod


every year Bob's fence looks like this.. stunning! I think
this is a large trumpet vine



one of my favorite homes in the neighborhood, this 1905 large craftsman
"lake house" was recently painted from dark brown overall  to
this stunning combination of mossy green with cream trim; I love
seeing the shapes of the white oaks now before leaves cover all
the branches completely



stunning peak through the rhododendrons at the cape cod on the corner


I adore this house on our walk... the ivy wall is just that color of early spring growth.. pale yellow green that later will turn to darker blue green in the summer


flowers from our garden ready for our
springtime dinner party guests


close up of our lovely wisteria


I love how the wisteria blooms before the leaves are even
out on our huge white oak trees in early spring


Nicky is also wondering what's up with our naval orange tree? doesn't look so good.. the arborist just stopped by to say we are watering it waaaay too much and not to water again until late summer... and don't plant the annuals under the tree this year... bare dirt, oh well!



back now to "le potager" * ..fennel, artichokes, lemongrass, basil, scallions, blueberries, tomatoes, spinach, arugula, lettuce, chocolate and regular peppermint, a host of herbs and a strawberry pot! I have become slightly obsessed with gardening this spring, although I have little experience except puttering around and trying things out..  it's looking good for this early in the season, non?





*  "le potager" :

a vegetable garden, grown
to feed the family (or the entire
court of Versailles!), le potager
is a smart idea in these times
of "crise" (financial downturn)


who would not want to have "un aperitif" sitting
next to this delightful potager in France?

kitchen potager for le Chateau du Rivau, Loire Valley






I adore these whimsical watercolors of vegetables and
their flowering forms from
"Dialogue avec le potager"



***



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