Bonjour Happiness!

Jamie Cat Callan's new book Bonjour Happiness is delicious...
I have not quite finished it yet...
and honestly
I don't want it to end
I am savouring every chapter and taking notes.

Her book has come into my life at the exact moment that I desperately needed it...
her words feel like a life preserver and I am hanging onto every word for dear life.

She interviewed many French women

while living in France

and 

writes about their conversations

shares "secrets" about French women 

and 

all the while she gently guides us on our search to finding our own personal

"joie de vivre"

Honest, clever, entertaining, poignant, and personal

are a few words that spring to mind

when commenting on Jamie's work.

I hope that you'll enjoy reading it.

Pepper doesn't like it when I read too long

she gets into mischief

it's not unlike the early days of motherhood 

when I would have a phone conversation

the days before portable phones 

with only a short 6 foot cord

 my radius of supervising was limited

the children would unravel the T.P.

crayon on the walls

or 

start asking for a snack 

that would necessitate saying goodbye and ending the call

5 minutes just for me

were few and far between

now it's the opposite

those days were such a rich and simple time

 I now look back on them and shed a tear

any guesses as to what this might be?

I can tell you what it used to be...

my bookmark!

Now it's Pepper's plaything

she has bent it and left it lying on the bed

after she got bored with it...

I heard some rustling sounds coming from the dining room and thought that I had better investigate...

I caught her in the act...

Pepper is testing out the First Nations Baskets

one was too small, one was too big and one was just right!

she does have a guilty look about her

she had to jump up on the dining room table

leap through the air to land on the buffet 

and then another jump up to the shelf

Not unlike this kitten

who could be Pepper's sibling

I needed a pick me up today...

(I know it's not on my new eating regime)

some days are of the sad variety

and

a little self indulgence is called for

luckily for me not many

chocolates

or 

sad days.

Thank goodness for Jamie

she is perking me up...

that and the fact that I went for a very long walk in the rain

it was truly a challenge to put down her book and put on my raincoat

I felt better breathing in the salt air and listening to the waves as they crashed upon the shore.