Casting Crowns

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Artistic tendencies are hard to shake; if you have ever seen the movie, Babette's Feast, you know that the main character Babette was gifted in the art of fine cuisine. After having won 10,000 Francs through the French lottery during the Revolution, she was expected to leave her job and friends behind, return to Paris and spend her wad in the city of lights. Instead, she stays in Denmark and puts her heart into her passion.



Babette spends her new fortune on the best of ingredients pour un vrai dîner français, a real French dinner. She lavishes her guests with the best of French cuisine and is left penniless; you see a meal like what she prepared would have cost exactly 10,000 francs. Moved by this altruistic gesture, her employer is humbled and thanks Babette for her generosity; Babette, truly generous indeed, finds another motive for her actions and says, "I did it for myself. You see Mademoiselle, an artist has to create to survive." Her hostess weeps and takes Babette in her arms and says, "In heaven, you will be the artist God intended you to be; oh how you will delight the angels..."


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The Angel of the Month of August goes to Rosemary from http//rosespetitemaison.blogspot.com/ . Rosemary is a talented, passionate maker of crowns and all things beautiful that delight the eye. What impresses me the most about this artist however, is her dedication to her passion, her need to fulfill the call within her to create and be faithful to her nature as an artist. Rosemary is an artist whose hard work is greatly appreciated in this poem:



If ever there was once a queen

whose heart was made of gold

her name would be Rosemary

and her story I unfold

So now I take this time to praise

her craft, her gifts that be

ever so delightful and so very sweet to me.

Her hands unceasingly create

unique crowns made for queens

little boxes glittered

made to hold the best of things.

Her crowns bedazzle all of those

who follow to no end

this artist whose most precious gift

is that of a true friend.



Rosemary will indeed delight the angels with her passion, her dedication and creativity. However, she need not wait for heaven to "become the artist God has intended her to be", she has already enchanted those of us who know her and her work with the skill and the kindness with which she expresses herself.

Please pay Rosemary a visit when you can! Bon weekend tout le monde!

Photo of Stéphane Audran from Babette's Feast 1987

Lavender Fields Forever

There is something soothing and peaceful about a field of lavender. My first encounter with this wonder of nature was when I was in the town of Grasse in the South of France. The scent of silence and stillness wafted freely in the air and carried me away to where my French dreams began. I thought to myself, "I could die here." When Karen Harvey Cox from Scrapbook of Inspiration asked me what my favorite flower was, I told her it was lavender. And sans hésitation, she lovingly painted this sweet watercolor just for me. What a special moment it was to find this little treasure in my mailbox two weeks ago.



You see, there is something magical about the intensity of the color of each flower when they densely congregate into one massive bunch; you can see the magic better if you click on each photo...












Like the artists that we are, we want to imitate the beauty that we observe in nature and create the mood we love in our homes...



Even thought I admire the color of lavender with a hint of gold accents, I haven't ventured out YET to paint my walls in this sweet hue, but I have used lavender for culinary purposes and the taste is subtle and unique.



Each time I bite down on something that I have enhanced with Herbes de Provence, the taste transports me back to my beloved Nice, Eze, and St. Paul de Vence, where I step into the world of Marcel Pagnol and his unforgettable literary characters.



I have worked hard and it's time to relax and enjoy what is left of my summer vacation. Thank you Karen for the one-way ticket back to my home away from home. I think it's time to faire une sieste in my lavender colored bed and dream of a land of lavender fields forever...

Forget-Me-Not!

Bonjour tout le monde! I am still here, I have not faded away into the shadows, so please don't forget me! I just wanted to say MERCI BEAUCOUP to everyone that has said a little prayer, thought good thoughts or just dropped me a line asking me about my progress with my thesis. I have used my time wisely and I have written two out of three chapters!

My adviser was so wise in giving me the most difficult chapter to write in the beginning of my journey. The last chapter will not be easy, but most definitely more manageable since I got the other two completed. Now it is just revisions to tend to.

My dear husband has been away in South Africa on business with his colleagues; I await eagerly for his return!



When he comes back, he will bring the camera and I will resume posting. I have missed you all so much, but I was fortunate enough to be close to the computer at all times so that I could visit you all.

Have a great week and see you again soon!

Fondly, Anita