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Sept. 29 & 30: Sunday & Monday: Resting and Renewing.

Well, Saturday was so full that it has taken me two days to rest up from it. If you have read the post just before this one, you already know that on Sunday I spent from 9:30 to 2:30 writing the post for Saturday’s 3 village extravaganza. Something quirky started to happen about halfway through the post and it was taking an extremely long time for the photos to load into the blog library. While I was working on it, the sky grew dark, thunder and lightening came on with a vengeance, and then the rain came down as if it were a monsoon. But that only lasted, maybe, two hours. By 2:30 the sun was shining again. There was a fair in town this weekend – vendors selling local foods, wines, and crafts and musicians and dancers in the streets. Cathy had gone down the hill to Le Pin, where the fair was taking place, in the morning while I wrote the blog post. When both I and the storm were spent, she and I went back down the hill and found that the festivities had resumed. I hope you will forgive me, but I didn’t take my camera. I was truly burnt out. It was a bit of a relief to wander around with nothing on my back and nothing in my hands. But, of course, now I wish I had photos to show you. This seems to be a story that repeats itself.   Cathy and I did a wine tasting and bought a bottle of rose. At home I never drink rose – seems it is always sweet, which I don’t like. But the rose here is very different, not sweet at all, and remarkably good. We tasted two different roses by the same producer and the difference between them was striking – very much like tasting two different sauvignon blancs or two different pino noirs. And I thought all roses were the same – not at all! I also never realized that Provence is known for its roses. After our tasting, we walked around and looked at all the booths, listened to the band (very good musicians) and watched some folk dancing. We returned to our apartment hungry, but it was too early for dinner. It was even too early for aperitif, but we decided to go for it anyway. So we made a plate of cheese, apple, and bread and poured ourselves each a glass of a red wine we already had opened and sat out on our patio and enjoyed the sunshine after the rain (we had a huge puddle at our feet, but a dry spot right in front of us – who could ask for more?). After our aperitif, we went out wandering. But we did NOT bring the camera, nor did we bring art supplies. We were in need of a bit of a break. At around 6:00, we returned to the apartment and made ourselves a lovely salad. After dinner, Cathy went out again, but I decided to stay in and work on my book. I added six photos of the pages that I worked on. Many of you won’t be interested in this, it is intended mostly for my students – to show them that I am practicing what I preach. The rest of you will probably miss all the magnificent views. Stay tuned, there will be more – I have five more weeks to this trip! On Monday morning (Sept. 30), we were up at 6:00 and at work in the garden at 7:30. We quit at 11:45, went back to our apartment and had showers and lunch. We had made a tentative plan with S & T to go back to St. Tropez this afternoon, then on to the village of Grimaud. But we worked so hard in the garden today that everyone was especially tired, so S, T and Cathy decided to go lay on the beach and swim in the sea, and I decided to have the afternoon all to myself right here in Bormes-les-Mimosas (mostly right here in the apartment). This is my last week here and I leave early Saturday morning to go to Nice. I felt a need to stop all the exciting adventure and take stock and organize – my things, my papers, my plans, my head. The first thing I did was write an email to the 9 students who are attending the workshop in Nice. Then I got out all the papers I have been stuffing into two large drawers and spread them all over the bed and began sorting and deciding. What a task! But I felt much better once I had done it. Then I went out walking on my own for about and hour and a half, just to clear my head and let it all process. I stopped at our local boulangerie and bought two tarts, one fruit and one pignolia nuts – THAT cleared my head very nicely! I wasn’t going to write a blog at all today, especially with no new interesting photos, but I decided that I would, just to keep those who are regular readers aware of what I am doing – resting. It’s 6 p.m. on Monday evening and Cathy just returned from the beach. So I’m going to end this and go make some supper. Let’s see what tomorrow brings…more adventure? or more resting? More art? That’s another story…I’ll tell that one before the week is over.
Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo One.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo One.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo Two.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo Two.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo Three.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo Three.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo Four.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo Four.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo Five.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo Five.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo Six.

Progress on book, Sept. 29: Photo Six.

Martha
October 3rd, 2013 at 12:10 am

So glad I’m finally about caught up with your blog in a timely fashion! Glad you have built in some break time for yourself – rest and recoup! Like the tile-like motif showing up in your book!

Marie Fortin
October 2nd, 2013 at 3:43 am

It sounds like a break is being enjoyed. Good for you Debi. Your book looks wonderful, the way the shapes and colors are being arranged, I’m enjoying this blog very much and all the lovely photos.
Enjoy your much needed rest and keep on trucking.

Vicki
October 1st, 2013 at 12:43 pm

I’m so pleased to hear you are taking a break! You certainly deserve it and hope you will get recharged for the next half of your trip. Your book reflects the colors and shapes from your travels – looks great. Be good to yourself….breaks are part of the journey.

Diane
September 30th, 2013 at 11:52 pm

I am also so glad that you are resting! I am exhausted from following along. I can’t wait to see your book in person. I really like the way it is shaping up. I’m starting to cut out shapes in my painted papers and your designs have inspired me. Hugs from the financially shaky US of A.

Laura
September 30th, 2013 at 7:40 pm

I’m so glad you’ve had a day to recharge and get organized.

Your book is looking very nice. The shapes bring to mind pathways as well as arial views of towns. Kind of ties in with your feet theme!

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Debi Pendell Artist by debipendell.com