And then there were three!

Nellie

No no....it's not a baby. Put that thought away, please.

Three means another dog. When you have two, what's three. We got an email from our dear friend Patty a few weeks ago, she runs a non-profit called Northstar Foundation. They raise and place golden retrievers with children who have autism, asperger's syndrome, muscular dystrophy, loss of a loved one, illness, etc.... It's an amazing foundation and we have volunteered as "puppy raisers" a few times. Our golden Dashell is from Northstar and we also raised Bingo who went to a little boy here in Los Angeles. It's very rewarding. Patty told us she had a 4 month old golden named Nellie. Nellie was not going to go to a family, she will be a PR dog for the foundation here in Los Angeles and will also be bred since her lineage and temperament are excellent. Patty was raising a few other pups for some families and needed a home to raise Nellie. Three pups was a bit too much for her to handle and since she is in Connecticut and most of her placements are in Los Angeles she wanted her out here.

She asked if we would be interested in co-owning Nellie. She'd be raised by us, live with us, but would be inseminated here in Los Angeles and then go back to Connecticut to have and whelp her pups (for 3 months). It was a very easy decision to help raise her, but we didn't think we'd be interest in co-owning her. We have 2 dogs already and a third is just too much. Patty took us up on our offer to help raise her for 3 months and 2 weeks ago Patty flew her out here and she came home with us.

All I can say is "it was love at first sight". She's the most calm, relaxed, sweet pup I have ever been around. When Dashell was her age he was crazy. He's 5 1/2 and he's still a bit of a punk. But Nellie is a dream puppy. She's just amazing, does everything she is told, lays at my feet, sleeps next to my bed, follows me to every room and has already learned sit, down, stay and we are working on "turn around". Right now she's still here for only 4 months. Did I say 4, I meant 3. See, already I'm putting on another month. If she was difficult it would be easy to say only 3 months. But she's so wonderful I could see us keeping her (did I just type that?). Dashell is her Uncle, his sister Rosie is her Mom. We'll see what happens in a few months. Right now she's at the studio with us everyday and all the kids love her and she's having fun with her Uncle and I just love having her around. Stella on the other hand has her skirt in a bit of a bundle, she's a female and the alpha...so having another girl around makes her a bit pissed. She's been giving her the stink eye since she arrived, but she's coming around.

I'll keep you posted. She might stay or she might leave. We'll see.

Trois Mois

It's been 3 months since we left our lovely home and life in the Aveyron. Every day we miss it. Every day we talk about coming back. It's in our blood now, in our future. I also miss blogging, but figured that you wouldn't be interested in hearing about my life back in Los Angeles on a regular basis. But figured every once in a while I'm going to update you on what's going on with our life and plans.

The first month back was very difficult, just adjusting to the noise and traffic and fast paced lifestyle here in Los Angeles. We were used to living in a house where there were probably 5 cars that went by in a day, and of course Laurent's tractor (down and back up to the farm). The only horns we heard honking were either from Nadine & Bernard coming in from Toulouse for a weekend stay at their home Lauérié or Grandma (Laurent & Nadine's mother) as she went to the boulangerie (toot toot). It always made us smile.

I don't smile when I hear the horns here in Los Angeles. They don't sound like (toot toot), they sound loud, long, aggressive.

The one thing that has been very easy is returning to the studio. It's like we never left. Slipping back into teaching art and spending time with the kids was a breeze. We were lucky to have our business to come back to, to have a job, to have amazing customers who stuck with us for the year we were gone.

Art-Works Studio

We couldn't move back into our house because it is currently being rented out. Sure, we could have told the tenants they were out, but they are really nice people, take great care of the house, so why disrupt their lives. We moved into the Archstone Apartments, in Playa del Rey.

They call it "resort living" and it's great. 2 bedroom/2 bathroom, hardwood floors, fitness center, pool, dog run (that's not just a run, it's about the size of a football field all grass and fenced in) which is perfect for the kids, 5 minute walk to the beach and safe. We moved into another Archstone 2 months before we left for France because our house rented early and we liked it there, so figured we'd move back to another one. It's great...but it's not France!

We sold Claude, our lovely 1985 Peugeot, 2 days before we left France. We were both really sad to see him go. That car took us all over France and even to Belgium. He was a great car. We had to buy a car when we arrived home. We wanted something small and test drove many cars, but they all seemed a bit cheap. We then decided to test drive a VW GTI (turbo) and Bruce fell in love with hit. We decided to go for it. Here's our new car. It's great. Small, but roomy and super fast.

zoom-zoom

What we had hope to do in France is open a summer camp for kids from the states. Introduce them to rural france, the lifestyle, the history, the people, etc.... They would stay with us (in our home) and in the morning we'd do art, then an hour of french and then activities in the afternoon (biking, rockclimbing, kayaking, zip lining, hiking, swimming). We'd shop together at the open market, cook together and visit villages, pre-historic caves, etc... We are still moving forward with that idea. This summer we are taking 12 kids to the Aveyron to spend 17 days in rural france. We'll be staying at our friends property Les Aleis. We'll all fly in together and eat, create and play together. It's going to be amazing and life changing. We'll spend 15 days in the Aveyron and then 2 days in Toulouse before heading home. This summer 1 group, next summer maybe 2-3 groups. We are excited to be going back and even more excited to be bringing kids over to see the amazing Aveyron.

We still try and speak french to each other a few times a week so that we don't loose what we gain in the year living there. I listen to french music when I run and still read my children's books. I also write to our friends (emails) who don't speak English, although it takes me forever!

Life is unpredictable and you have to adjust to things that come your way. If Plan A doesn't work, move to Plan B, if B falls through, move to Plan C. Sometimes the timing isn't right. Our plan to stay didn't workout, but that's not stopping us from moving forward to get us back there. We are working on it and we know it will happen. Our goals are written down and we have a plan.

Stay tuned.

Our year in France

Well, it's been 1 year to the date since we moved here to rural France. The beautiful Aveyron region, our little house "Les Costes" in the woods. It has been an amazing journey and we are changed people. We would love to stay here in France and start a new life, but timing just isn't right. The economy, the exchange rate and most important our business back home, Art-Works Studio. It needs us. It misses us. And it's time to go back and take care of business and get back to teaching kids art. We are refreshed and our creative juices are flowing. I'm not saying it was an easy decision. In fact I think it's the hardest decision we have ever made. We love it here. Love the people, the food, our life, the countryside, etc... But we have been very lucky to be able to take a 1 year sabbatical and move to a foreign country. We are packing up right now, getting our year into 2 suitcases. We have 2 bike cases, 2 dogs crates, maybe 1 cat crate and 2 suitcases, oh and 2 carry-ons. Oh my.

Here is a highlight of our year here in SW France.

1. we arrive exactly 1 year ago today

2. our house is called "Les Costes" but the people here in the area called it "the house of fear"

3. we road our bikes about 6700 km (which is about 4,163 miles) this past year

4. our first 30 days here were lovely, then on the 31 of october it snowed.

5. most of november it rained

6. december we were thinking - "what have we gotten ourselves into"...we were freezing

7. early december our 1st cat Maillot adopted us

8. we had the coldest winter here in 12 years

9. road our bikes in 32 degree weather

10. met so many people who are now great friends.

11. some of our friends here have never met an American before

12. got 3 chickens (fanny, rhoda and lefty) had them for 8 months and then, well....

13. in the winter i think i mopped the floor ever day, dirt, wet, dogs = mopping

14. visited so many places: Toulouse, Bordeaux, Albi, Paris, Belgium, Provence, Montpelier, Beziers and countless villages that were all breathtaking

15. saw (6) stages of the tour de france LIVE

16. climbed (3) major mountains here (cols) the tourmalet, col d'aspin and Mt Ventoux!

17. met "no regrets for me", who I can now call a great friend and a wonderful lady.

18. my family came to visit in March

19. our friends Lisa & Steve came to visit in April

20. took french lessons 2x a week, 3 hours each class, no english! loved it.

21. drank many many bottles of amazing vin rouge.

22. July our 2nd cat appeared...Mr. Fancy Pants

23. changed as a person. So much for the better.

24. had one of the best years of my life!

We'll be back in France, we both know it. It's where we belong. But right now it's back to Los Angeles and to the studio. We are looking forward to seeing everyone. I'm probably not going to update the blog anymore, not until there is something "french" to report. So all I can say is thanks to all of you who have followed "our juicy life". I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I had writing it.