The great mattress throwdown

In continual cleaning efforts at the chateau we decided to get rid of 30 some moldy mattresses that have been in a closet for many years this is a me throwing them out the window.

A long walk

For the last 7 months Monday nights have been the night where Debbie and I go to the gym of a local junior high for an aerobics-type class, it has been a great chance to get to know some ladies in the community especailly as we carpool each week with 2 sisters, Helen and Annie from Saint Albain.

Now that is is nice out and the days are longer we have been alternating between working out and going hiking through the area. Each time we walk I am so amazed by the beauty and so yesterday I decided to take my camera so that I could share the beauty I so often enjoy.

Here are the ladies walking on a path through a vineyard.

We even found some wild strawberries to snack on as we walked.

Brighten the corner where you are

We have continued with our landscaping work, making new gardens, boarders and planting new flowers.

Here is the newest garden that we just finished Saterday. It is at the entrance to the chateau where we had a patch of weedy grass.

Kathryn, our newest team memeber, and I started a new project today, no not teeter-tottering but sanding down the playground and repainting it. No one said we couldn't use the teeter-totter while we sanded it.

1 little, 2 little, 3 little indians

This weekend is the children's weekend at the chateau with 42 kids coming from the Grace Brethern churches. The weekend is organised by children's workers from the different churches. This years theme is Indians and their lessons are on truth.

They did a reenactment of the Sand Creek Massacre, as an introduction to the weekend introducing the subject of truth.

Jay played the part of  a member of the calvary who came in and attacked the indians, after they had lied to them. It is rather a sad story for us americans but it works very well with their themes of indians and the truth.

The kids look like they are having a lot of fun as they each recieved an indian tunic made by people from the Macon church.

What a wonderful world

We took a few days to get away and gocamping  down south  to the pyrenees . While there we visited many beautiful places.

The still running abbeye of St Martin high up in the pyrenees.

The Château de Peyrepertuse the beautiful remains of a long history of wars.

Carcassone by night

Visiting the chapel of Saint Michael.

Carcassone

For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies;
For the love which from our birth,
Over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour
,Of the day and of the night;
Hill and vale and tree and flow'r,
Sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.

Spring in the garden

We are doing some landscaping work around the chateau, repairing boarders, enlarging gardens, planting lots of perenial and ground cover. It's been lots of work but it's looking great!

Nadia, Jay and Debbie's cat has been doing her part as the acting garden statue.

Maribeth and Debbie doing some planing.