A Petite Curtsy to the Royal Couple

Felicitations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for a lifetime of strength, courage, laughter and love.

Ciao,
Leslie

And the winner of the first Fork It Over Give Away is...

...drum roll, please!

Jane!

Felicitations, Jane!  Please fire off an email with your mailing address so I can get this out to you toute de suite!  It's packaged and ready to go.  I'll send one of the ducks out to the post as soon as your address comes through.

Merci à tous for navigating the hiccups in the first Fork It Over Give Away.  I think I've got the kinks worked for next time...because, dear readers, there will be a next time!  And soon!

Wishing you all a lovely day!

Ciao,
Leslie

Wednesday Window on Provence

Bonjour à tous!  Et merci...merci.

Taken in Nice...back in the day when their charming chairs lined the edge of the sea in free-form and weren't chained down.

Be assured, the ducks are wandering back.  They seem to be taking their sweet time but at least I can see some loose form of familiar organization.  

I can hear the whispers from here: "Does she actually have the ducks line up?!" 

Well, yes.  Yes I do.  I can be a little quirky that way and occasionally in need of actual visuals...if not a bit of comic relief.

Tomorrow is the first Fork It Over Give-Away!  Go here to see how to enter.  Bonne chance!

Ciao,
Leslie

May you know only love...

...and peace and liberation.

A temporary diversion from the regular rhythm of the blog

I haven't known quite what to do about this.  "The ducks" were offered as some hint at background information until I figured it out.

You see, on the day I clicked the give-away post, I learned that my father had been moved to hospice care.  We anticipated this when he went into the hospital on Monday.

My sister agreed to be there for both of us as he navigates this passage into death.

I wasn't going to say anything because I don't really share the deeper spaces of my life here on La Fourchette.  But this time, I couldn't seem to keep up a playful front with such a heavy distraction going on...and I just couldn't keep blaming the ducks.  So rather than going underground and emerging later in the week,  I decided to tell the truth and let you in.  La vie est compliquée.

Images for today and tomorrow will be dedicated to my father, a man of tremendous character.  In his life, he was devoted to his wife, loved his daughters and held an unshakable commitment to always do his best.  As a man of deep faith, he didn't necessarily understand her, but he prayed for his Buddhist daughter.

Now his Buddhist daughter sends prayers on the wind to him...prayers of light and love and courage to accompany him through the profound bardo between life and death.

Fork It Over Give-Away, Part Deux (The Rules of the Game)

The post for the Fork It Over Give-Away was written some time ago, when my ducks were still obediently lined up and eager to march along to any and all orders I might have presented to them.  (They are very sweet ducks and aim to please.  We’re a good team.)

With the quick click of a button, I published the post as planned and kind of thought the process would take care of itself for a week or so.  That click happened to coincide with the very moment the ducks, ahem, fell out of line and started wandering all over the place, taking my concentration with them.

Here's one of them now.  He does look a bit disoriented, doesn't he?

 

 

 

 

Let’s keep the Fork It Over Give-Away simple:

All participants can have up to two chances in the hat.

One chance per person for leaving a lovely comment on the original post (and yes, I’ll include any comments that end up here as a result of anyone else’s ducks playing hard-to-get at the moment.)

A second chance for anyone visiting another blog in the blogosphere and introducing yourself as a visitor from La Fourchette (either from one of My Favorite Peeps followers in the right hand column or any other blog that strikes your fancy.)  Then come back here and leave a message about where you visited.  (Thanks, Deborah, for such a great idea for sharing the love!)

Of course, for those of you who have already left a comment in Zazzle or Widget-lands, consider yourself already entered twice – no need to do more.

All comments must be posted by midnight, Wednesday, 27 April. 

Names will be drawn out of this hat and announced on Thursday, 28 April here at the blog. 

Bonne chance à tous…and thanks for your patience through the confusion.  I'll get this figured out for next time.

Leslie

"Fork It Over" Give-Away

Finalement!  

Gather 'round, dear readers.  

Introducing La Fourchette's first Fork It Over Give-Away!

Sorry...wine, baguette and flowers not included.  But think of the fun you'll have filling this bag yourself!

After many requests to bring back some of the items that were available for sale back in the US (thank you! and yes, the note cards are in production), I'm offering a little give-away.

First up is a cotton twill market bag with one of the many popular images from The French Collection, started when I was shooting for Façonnable for their US marketing campaign. 

On that particular day, wandering through the outdoor market in Nice, I passed one artful display of produce after another.  At one stand, beefy tomatoes sat atop one another, piled high under a red and white striped awning, pungent local olives flecked with fresh herbs glistened as they swam in a bath of olive oil and brine, and then this charming display:  A crate of apples topped with a handful of wild flowers.  Of course, in the mix was our typical Provençal lavender and a splash of daisies.  Only the French can make this arrangement look so effortless. And *this*, dear readers, is one of the many reasons I am livin' my vida loca here.

This favorite French market image is showcased on the front of a 12-ounce cotton twill sac de marché.  Its wide bottom opens up flat, making it great for groceries or larger items.  The cotton-web handles have stress-point reinforced stitching. (Dimensions: 13"w x 15.5"h x 7"deep.)

See!  Folds up nice and flat for tucking under a car seat to have at the ready...or in the trunk...or in your bicycle basket to head to the Farmer's Market in your 'hood.

Share the love - for the planet and for La Fourchette.  Enter today to win this sturdy market bag and have it in time to load up with spring's bounty...or fill it with towels and books and head to the beach.

Two ways to enter the Fork It Over Give-Away:

1)  See that fancy, new widget over there in the right-hand column?  Yup, that's the one - Under all of those wonderful portraits of La Fourchette followers. (Wave hello as you pass.)  If you have a widget account (I say this because in order to leave a comment these characters at the widget site require that you join the club and I'm not asking you to do that), click on the teeny-tiny pencil to access La Fourchette's widget page and leave a lovely comment.  Then head back here and leave a lovely comment on this post on the blog as well. Voilà! Your name will be entered into the Fork It Over Give-Away.


2)  If you do not have a widget account, go to La Fourchette's snazzy new Zazzle shop and leave a lovely comment there.  Once you've done that, come on back to the blog and leave a lovely comment here as well.  And once again, voilà!  Your name will be added to the...yes, you guessed it:  Fork It Over Give-Away.


One comment per person on the blog, but do let it be known if you visited and left comments at both of the other options.  Seems doing both deserves your name going in twice.


You have until midnight next Wednesday, 27 April.  The names of all the participants will be tossed in a hat (a provençal straw hat, of course) and a winner drawn and announced on Thursday, 28 April. (I thought it would be perfect timing to announce the first-ever Fork It Over gift on my birthday!)


There you have it!  Let's have a little fun as La Fourchette gets her creative mojo cooking!  While you're busy leaving comments hither and yon, I'll be busy tweaking designs and planning next month's Fork It Over give-away!  There's more to come, believe me!  It's not all happening in the kitchen around here!


Bon chance à tous!

Leslie