French la Vie https://www.frenchlavie.com French la Vie Sat, 25 Jul 2026 06:05:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 https://www.frenchlavie.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/poppy-1-150x150.png French la Vie https://www.frenchlavie.com 32 32 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/07/25/the-story-of-blue-willow/ The Story of Blue Willow https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/962873087/0/tongueincheek~The-Story-of-Blue-Willow/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/962873087/0/tongueincheek~The-Story-of-Blue-Willow/#respond Sat, 25 Jul 2026 02:00:50 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=85819 The night before Koong-se was to wed the duke, Chang disguised himself and slipped into the house and escaped with Koong-se (and the jewels).  Once upon a time there was a wealthy Mandarin, who had a beautiful daughter named Koong-se.  The Mandarin had plans for Koong-se to marry a powerful Duke.  But Koong-se had fallen […]]]>

The night before Koong-se was to wed the duke, Chang disguised himself and slipped into the house and escaped with Koong-se (and the jewels). 

Once upon a time there was a wealthy Mandarin, who had a beautiful daughter named Koong-se.  The Mandarin had plans for Koong-se to marry a powerful Duke.  But Koong-se had fallen in love with her father’s humble clerk (Chang).  Obviously, this could not happen because of the difference in their social class.  Their love was discovered by her father who built a high fence around his house to keep the lovers apart.  The Duke arrived by boat to claim his bride, bringing a box of jewels as a gift.  The wedding was to take place the day the blossom fell from the willow tree.

The alarm was raised and they ran over the a bridge, chased by the Mandarin, whip in hand.  They escaped to the Duke’s ship sailed to a secluded island where they lived happily for years.  But one day, the Duke discovered their hiding place and sent soldiers who captured and killed the two.  The gods, moved up ni by their plight, then transformed the lovers into a pair of doves. »

Blue Willow and other blue ware from my cousin Judy.

To read more about Blue Willow dishware and the continuing text. Please click on this text.

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/962873087/0/tongueincheek~The-Story-of-Blue-Willow/feed/ 0 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/07/24/judy-delicious/ Judy Delicious https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/962454125/0/tongueincheek~Judy-Delicious/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/962454125/0/tongueincheek~Judy-Delicious/#comments Fri, 24 Jul 2026 02:00:01 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=85803 My cousin Judy follows a recipe and knows how it will taste before the first bite. Whenever any of us are invited to Judy‘s table, we know it will be a feast. She creates effortlessly – At least that’s how it seems. There must be a few invisible helpers tucked around the corners. And if […]]]>

My cousin Judy follows a recipe and knows how it will taste before the first bite. Whenever any of us are invited to Judy‘s table, we know it will be a feast.

She creates effortlessly – At least that’s how it seems. There must be a few invisible helpers tucked around the corners. And if I find them, I’m bringing them home with me.

The secret ingredient isn’t on the recipe card it is within her.

No fanfare. No applause. Just grace, set at the table. Abundance is simply Judy’s native language. She lives as though there is always enough to share.

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/962454125/0/tongueincheek~Judy-Delicious/feed/ 5 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/07/23/home-base-4/ Home Base https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/962002739/0/tongueincheek~Home-Base/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/962002739/0/tongueincheek~Home-Base/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2026 02:00:35 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=85797 Being back home changes my rhythm. Things aren’t where I expect. People coming and going. Happy distractions. Full days that blend into another- full of conversations, laughs, tenderness, and moments I somehow forget to photograph. Pretty wild for someone who usually documents everything! I only realized at the end of the day my camera is […]]]>

Being back home changes my rhythm. Things aren’t where I expect. People coming and going. Happy distractions. Full days that blend into another- full of conversations, laughs, tenderness, and moments I somehow forget to photograph. Pretty wild for someone who usually documents everything! I only realized at the end of the day my camera is mute. Sorry—everyone’s happy, healthy, and all is well. Now, I must think Photos!

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/962002739/0/tongueincheek~Home-Base/feed/ 2 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/07/22/dinner-last-night/ Dinner Last Night https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/961531451/0/tongueincheek~Dinner-Last-Night/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/961531451/0/tongueincheek~Dinner-Last-Night/#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:00:41 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=85785 My nieces, Marie, Molly and her brother Warren came to my mother’s and brought a dinner they made. So happy to be with them I only took these photos! Not even of the delicious dessert, or a selfie of us all. But the time spent together was truly all I needed cxx]]>

My nieces, Marie, Molly and her brother Warren came to my mother’s and brought a dinner they made.

So happy to be with them I only took these photos! Not even of the delicious dessert, or a selfie of us all. But the time spent together was truly all I needed cxx

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/961531451/0/tongueincheek~Dinner-Last-Night/feed/ 5 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/07/21/some-of-us-2/ some of us https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/961167680/0/tongueincheek~some-of-us/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/961167680/0/tongueincheek~some-of-us/#comments Tue, 21 Jul 2026 02:00:06 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=85776 From left to right: Me on my tip toes, my sister in law Diane, my brother Mark, my mom, my brother Mat with one T, and my sister in law Shelley. my mom is 90, doesn’t she look great! Her secret: family, faith, eating candy all the time. My two brothers and their wives. When […]]]>

From left to right: Me on my tip toes, my sister in law Diane, my brother Mark, my mom, my brother Mat with one T, and my sister in law Shelley.

my mom is 90, doesn’t she look great! Her secret: family, faith, eating candy all the time.

My two brothers and their wives.

When you are the shortest in the family, and you didn’t pack high heels, stand on your tippy toes

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/961167680/0/tongueincheek~some-of-us/feed/ 11 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/07/20/the-vineyard/ The Vineyard: https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/961016750/0/tongueincheek~The-Vineyard/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/961016750/0/tongueincheek~The-Vineyard/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2026 02:00:32 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=85768                 

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 ]]> A week ago, my cousin’s son Jake died after a terrible illness. He was twenty-four. Talented. Creative. Loved. The kind of person who did not know an enemy. I did not know him personally. I knew of him. But I knew my cousin. We are family.

His funeral was in Napa, and because I was in California, my family asked if I was coming along. I hesitated, though I could not understand why. I knew I should go. I could go. I wanted to go. Still, something held me back.

At the very last minute, I threw on a black dress and got in the car.

We drove two hours to the vineyard where the funeral would be held. When we turned in, a rush moved through me. More than forty years disappeared. Someone I loved dearly had died. He was from that same area. He was the same age as this young man. The grief was palpable. I remembered it. I felt it.

And in that moment, I understood the hesitation.

The memory. The pain. The sorrow. The letting go. His family standing inside a grief so deep it could be felt to the bone.

The vineyard stretched around us. Rows of grapes, full and sun-kissed, gathering the sweetness of time. Green slowly giving way to deep purple. Still becoming.

And there it was—the reminder that what is becoming can already hold so much beauty, like the grapes ripening on the vine, carrying within them what the season promised.

Some do not finish becoming. They remain with us—in the way we remember, in the way we see, in the places our hearts return.

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