Storytelling Sunday August 2013

This year Storytelling Sunday asks you to "pick your precious". This is how Sian described it ...

Start looking around, see what you love. Pick Your Precious is for short story tellers and for long. You can take the idea of simply a photo with a few words; or, if you are a can't-stop-yourself storyteller, you can expand as much as you like. The thing to keep in mind is that at the end of the year you'll have a permanent record of the little things you hold dear - and your family will know why you are holding onto them! Doesn't that sound like it might be worth it? No more "Do you really need that?"

Please join us this year. It only takes a minute and even if you only write a story or two, that will be a few more of your stories written down.  (and better late than never I always say!)

This month is a special month as it is my birthday.  I love to celebrate birthdays and not just for presents!  Everyone deserves one day each year where they know without a doubt that they are special :-)  I have put in my dinner request and organised some fun with friends.  I have been a little down the past few weeks and organising fun has been a great cure.  I will share all about that in another post as it is now time for my story.  A birthday present ...

You may recall a birthday story last August for Storytelling Sunday.  The beginning of that story recalled the fateful year of 'no birthday celebrations' and today I wish to finish that story.  We were camping in France over my birthday and while the family didn't forget it, they also didn't make ANY plans.  Feel free to click on the link if you wish to read it and also how they made up for it two years later :-)

Once The LOML realised his mistake he suggested that we find a special birthday present during the final week of our vacation.  I think he was a little desperate as he started suggesting a few extravagant things, but I did eventually find something.  Something small that I love very much.  Every time I look at it I notice something else.  It reminds me of fabulous family times and a wonderful camping trip to France.  It is too hard to describe so I will just show you what I found, not far from Sleeping Beauty's Chateau, to bring home as my birthday present ...

Old French Village

It is quite dimensional

There is so much detail

It is a 21cm x 14cm piece of limestone and is a bas-relief.  We stopped at a beautiful little place with caves where they made wine and all sorts of limestone items.  No one spoke English and our French is limited to a few words and two phrases ... "Do you speak English?" and "Where is the toilet?".  Neither are really helpful when you rock up to a tourist spot, unless you are dancing in desperation :D  The owners of the place had printed tour sheets in English so we followed along behind the group and I read out each section to the family quietly at the back.  The caves are full of water which is limestone heavy.  Items put into the water have layers of limestone deposited on them and these pictures are created by molds of carvings that are placed into the water.  No two are exactly the same as the mineral deposits add colour and patterns.

We weren't allowed to take photos (and it was too dark anyway) during the tour and at the end everyone is served a drink in their underground bar.  Photos were allowed in there and you could also taste more of the wines that they had for sale.  Here we are in the underground cave bar ...

It was very cool and refreshing down in the caves.

The Thinker & The Extrovert

I fell in love with the limestone pictures as soon as I saw them and knew that I would be choosing my birthday present in their gift shop.  I looked and looked and looked until I found the perfect one.  It was a beautiful gift and The LOML stopped feeling so terrible after I finally had a present!

I knew I had kept the brochure somewhere safe and I hunted high and low for it so that I could remember the name of the place.  Moving so many times since then hadn't helped but in the LAST box I looked in I found them ... our tickets, the brochure, and some postcards as the low light photos didn't do the place justice.

Yes, I am a hoarder storykeeper

If you are interested in ever visiting you can find their website HERE.

And that is my story this month.  If you like a story or two head on over to Sian's and read a few more.  I usually grab a cuppa and sit and read them as they are all wonderfully told.  They will make you giggle and some have even made me cry.  Happy August everyone!

Chipper