Botanic Bleu Market

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Paris International Trade Show Favorite

Thursday, September 29, 2016

MAISON & OBJET
PARIS International Trade Show

and my favorite exhibitor

Maison & Objet is an international gift and home show in Paris that was held September 2-6, 2016. The dates for the show were the reason my sister and I chose to be in Paris the first week of September. Yes, we registered as international guests and bought tickets online long before we left for Paris. 

Chenonceau Château Fall Kitchen

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Chenonceau Château Fall Kitchen 


Don't you love seeing beautiful decorations for gardens and homes in other parts of the world? Seeing how different cultures decorate for the seasons? Discovering new ideas to incorporate into your own decorating?

Part of the lure for returning to my favorite French château, Chenonceau, is to see the magnificent floral arrangements on display throughout the gardens and in the castle. Each time I visit I see fresh innovative ways to display grand-scale floral arrangements and come away with some thoughts about how to do something similar, on a smaller scale, in my own home.

Chenonceau Château, known as the Château de Femmes, was built, renovated, and saved by women over the centuries beginning in the mid-1500s.  Diane de Poitiers, the first notable female who resided at Chenonceau was the mistress to King Henri II. She created spectacular gardens that continue to be maintained. Perhaps it is the influence of her feminine touch, and the other prominent women who followed her, that makes Chenonceau a favorite for women.


From the first sight of Chenonceau, the castle captured my heart by its beauty inside and out. Here is where I saw for the first time in my life, spectacular, larger-than-life flower arrangements that filled every room and hall, created from the flowers and vegetables grown in the château's working gardens. 

Fall Is In the Air

Thursday, September 22, 2016



F A L L  

Is In the Air 

{even though the high on Tuesday, Sept. 20 was 100°}


The Autumn Equinox is Thursday, September 22, 2016, and all around the internet there are signs of Fall. Pumpkins of all sizes and shapes and materials... velvet, sticks, bandanas, ticking, Cinderella, bumpy ones, freshly painted ones, pallet board, ... 

Be sure to check out all the links to this week's Monday Social #2 for some fresh ideas for how to decorate with pumpkins. New links have been added since the party began on Sunday afternoon. The latest link is from a blog new to me, and I love her bandana pumpkins and excellent tutorial.  



Here's a tiny peek at the bandana pumpkins created by Sarah at Sadie Seasongoods . After checking out Sadie's pumpkins, hop back to Monday Social #2 to see other links you may have missed. There is a hand-painted pumpkin on pallet wood with tutorial that may inspire your next pumpkin creation. 




Mark your calendars for October 3-7, 2016 when Katie at Let's Add Sprinkles is hosting a week-long blog hop, Fall In Love With Texas, that features over 20 Texas bloggers. More Fall inspiration is coming your way. We Texans are waiting until October for our Fall tour in hopes the temperatures will be cooler than 100°.   




Here's a peek at Fall on my new covered porch/deck. You can see more of it on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 when Botanic Bleu is on the second day line-up for the Fall In Love With Texas blog tour.  




Fresh pumpkins used with natural elements are the ones I favor. Wild, curly, twining tendrils add flair. Have you noticed Fall decorations at Botanic Bleu are not your usual fall colors? See more of a reader favorite Fall post at Not Your Usual Fall Colors. 


Yes, Fall is in the air all around the internet.... 

with much more beauty, imagination, and inspiration yet to come. 

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 

Share your Fall inspiration 
from Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and your blog at Monday Social 
each Sunday beginning at 4:00 p.m. {central time} 

Link-ups to the September 18 party that is still live through Sept. 23 at 4:00 p.m. 
are entered to win this beautiful Michel Design candle. 


Please join me at these inspiring places for more joy of living. 

SUNDAY
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic and Refined
Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home

MONDAY
Monday Social @ Botanic Bleu
Amaze Me Mondays @ Dwellings, the Heart of Your Home
Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

TUESDAY
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

September - The Blue Hour

Thursday, September 15, 2016


Because of its beauty that makes time stop for an instant, the expression l'heure bleue has come to describe a variety of special times and events, not just a description of a special blue glow at dusk. Each month in 2016, I am sharing a collage of blue images that create a little l'heure bleue for me. 


l'heure bleue en septembre
The Blue Hour in September




Throughout France the color blue appears EVERYWHERE. After all, there is the color French Blue. And everywhere in France causes people to S T O P and stare... lost in reverie of beauty. Moments of l'heure bleue turn into minutes of l'heure bleue that turn in hours of l'heure bleue. 


Bleu occurs from the mundane to the magnificent. From the streets to cathedrals to heavenly skies... 



Street signs give directions about traffic in blue and white. This street has a bus lane, a bike lane, and allows stopping for deliveries at specified times. Wonder if any of those cute bike signs have been replaced by the street department and are now available in brocantes (second-hand goods' sales)? 



The local Paris police department building (Prefecture de Police) is identified with an elegant blue sign sporting fleur de lis. Another sign to look for in brocantes. 



Built on the side of the Tour de l'Horloge, the clock is the oldest clock in Paris (1370) and is located on the side of the original royal residence for the kings of France on the Île de Citè. 




Just a half block away from the ancient clock are the gold and blue gates to the courtyard of the former royal residence beginning with kings in the 6th century that now serves as government offices. 



Sainte Chapelle was built between 1242 and 1248, and the upper chapel was exclusively used by the king and his immediate family until the French Revolution. Today classical concerts are held throughout the year in the evenings.  




About half of the stained glass windows in Sainte Chapelle are original and are supported by the colorfully decorated interior walls shown. 



Galeries Lafayette department store was founded in 1894 (source: Paris tourist office) during the time all of Paris was rebuilt into its current beautiful skyline. Two spectacular must-see sections of the store are its stained glass dome and the view of Paris rooftops from its open-air balcony at the top floor of the store.  





The view from the modest-priced cafeteria-style restaurant in Galeries Lafayette includes Paris rooftops and the Eiffel Tower. Even at dusk on an overcast day the views are breathtaking and create l'heure bleue moments remembered for a lifetime. 

The top photo was created using the Waterlogue app on my iPhone. What a great way to salvage a blurry photo of Paris! 


🎶  I love Paris in the springtime.  🎶  I love Paris in the fall... 

.... in September filled with l'heure bleue. 




See my Pinterest board, Tour Eiffel and Paris, for more spectacular views in Paris and for a collection of tips of things to see and to do in Paris.

Please join me at these inspiring places for more joy of living. 

SUNDAY
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic and Refined
Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home

MONDAY
Monday Social @ Botanic Bleu
Amaze Me Mondays @ Dwellings, the Heart of Your Home
Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

TUESDAY
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

How to Link Instagram to Linky Parties

Thursday, September 8, 2016


How to Link Instagram to Linky Parties


Linky parties can be used for more than just linking up blog post photos that take viewers back to a blog. Linky parties can also be used to link photos that take viewers back to an Instagram site, the hottest ticket in town, especially since Instagram now has something called Stories. 

Which means non-bloggers can join linky parties and share their Instagram photos. Linking photos to your Instagram site is a great way for others to find you on Instagram and to grow your number of Instagram viewers. This is exciting, but there are two key requirements for linking Instagram photos to linky parties. 

First

The hostess(es) of the linky party must allow Instagram links. 

Great news! The new Monday Social linky party hosted by Katie @ Let's Add Sprinkles, Eilis @ My Heart Lives Here, and myself, Judith @ Botanic Bleu invite you to link Instagram photos each Sunday at 4:00 p.m. beginning with the first party on Sunday, September 11, 2016. 

Second

The photos linked are your own photos that are on your Instagram site. 


InLinkz has instructions about how to link photos from Instagram to an InLinkz party at the following site.

INSTAGRAM  http://blog.inlinkz.com/2014/05/instagram-photos-link-thumbnails/


We would love to see your photos on both your Instagram site and at our Monday Social party. Share DIY, home decor, inspirational thoughts, recipes, travel... whatever is going on in your world. 

We would also love for you to include #mondaysocialparty on your Instagram photos that you share with Monday Social. 


We invite you to share your Instagram photos with us beginning 

Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016 @ 4:00 p.m.
at 
Monday Social 


I also invite you to follow me on Instagram 
by clicking on my Instagram button at the top right of this page.
Please join me at these inspiring places for more joy of living. 

SUNDAY
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic and Refined
Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home

MONDAY
Amaze Me Mondays @ Dwellings, the Heart of Your Home
Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

TUESDAY
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

How to Link Pinterest to Linky Parties

Sunday, September 4, 2016


How to Link Pinterest to Linky Parties


Linky parties can be used for more than just linking up blog post photos that take viewers back to a blog. Linky parties can also be used to link photos that take viewers back to a Pinterest site. 

Which means non-bloggers can join linky parties and share their Pinterest boards. Linking photos to your Pinterest site is a great way for others to find you on Pinterest and to grow your Pinterest readership. This is pretty exciting news, but there are two key requirements for linking Pinterest photos to linky parties. 

First

The hostess(es) of the linky party must allow Pinterest links. 

Great news! The new Monday Social linky party hosted by Katie @ Let's Add Sprinkles, Eilis @ My Heart Lives Here, and myself, Judith @ Botanic Bleu invite you to link Pinterest photos each Sunday at 4:00 p.m. beginning with the first party on Sunday, September 11, 2016. 

Second

The photos linked are your own photos that are on your Pinterest site. 


 Here are the steps for linking Pinterest photos to a linky party.

  1. Log into your Pinterest account.
  2. Click on a photograph you would like share.
  3. Copy the URL address from the browser address bar.
  4. Go to the blog of the hostess for Monday Social.
  5. Click on Add Your Link.
  6. In the first box, paste the URL address that links to your Pinterest photo.
  7. In the second box, type the title you want to appear beneath your thumbnail on the linky party.
  8. In the third box, add your email address.
  9. Your Pinterest images will appear.
  10. Select the image you want to use.

Here's a photo on my Pinterest board, Botanic Bleu Blog that I shared on a linky party site. 




Here's how it looked as a cropped thumbnail on the linky party.


Why promote a Pinterest site? 

Pinterest has become one of my favorite sites on the internet. I find DIY on all kinds of things. There are delicious recipes with beautiful ways to present the dish. One of my boards is Tour Eiffel & Paris where I have collected tips for traveling to France as well as beautiful images of Paris. There as many reasons to love Pinterest as there are people who Pin to their boards. Each person collects what interests her/him. 

For bloggers who earn money from writing their blogs, Pinterest is a powerful tool to help them. The House of Muses wrote an excellent summary of how Pinterest took her number of viewers to 800,000. She includes what she did to gain such a large number of viewers in a short time in her post 9 Steps to Pinterest Domination. 

Whether you enjoy Pinterest for personal reasons only or you want to increase your number of Pinterest viewers, we invite you to share your best Pinterest photos with us beginning 

Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016 @ 4:00 p.m.
at 
Monday Social 
Please join me at these inspiring places for more joy of living. 

SUNDAY
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic and Refined
Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home

MONDAY
Amaze Me Mondays @ Dwellings, the Heart of Your Home
Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

TUESDAY
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Treehouse Deck with Adirondack Chairs

Thursday, September 1, 2016


A treehouse deck at the same level as the French doors opens the living room into the surrounding woods. The new deck beckons sitting for long hours under a ceiling fan watching nature, even when it is raining. 

Treehouse Deck with Adirondack Chairs 



By using chairs, a deck space is easily rearranged for just a couple or for a large crowd. Giving New Life to Old Adirondack Chairs and power washing folding wooden chairs gives a bright clean look to all the furniture. 



An old chippy blue painted box is the perfect size for a coffee table, and the box is convenient for storing supplies for the deck. Like the citronella candle in the blue bucket, extra pillows, a throw,... 



On either side of the French doors are a French-style metal plant stand and a glass-topped table with a Singer sewing machine iron base. 




Serving snacks and drinks is easy, easy, easy using the table. The coastal looking metal box on the treadle holds gardening gloves, some snippers, and a spare spray faucet to attach to a garden hose. When using the table for serving food and drinks, the box can hold extra napkins and glasses. Another possibility is using the metal box to serve iced-down bottles of drinks. 




Setting food and drinks, or your feet, on the chippy blue box are no cause for concern. The old weathered box will not be harmed, but will gain even more patina that adds to the relaxed atmosphere of outdoor living. 




Nothing new, except plants, was purchased to furnish or to decorate the new deck. Everything was either on the old deck or in the house... like the old blue box that was upstairs holding seasonal items. 




A coastal summer theme is easy to create with existing blue and white shell dishes, a starfish decorated glass, and a set of coastal bird decorated metal tins. 




The Adirondack chairs were refreshed with power washing, sanding, and painting. 



Surrounding woods, however, remind us that the deck is not on the beach, but is nestled on a country plot instead. 



Potted ivy plants receive rain water and sunlight because they are on the four-foot extension beyond the roof of the covered section of the deck. 



Trees surrounding the deck offer deep shade during the summer months, but will allow winter sunlight to warm the deck when they drop their leaves. 



The plants on the blue box and glass table will be rotated to sunnier areas periodically. 




While the overall look on the deck is coastal right now, there are still French country touches that will always be a part of any decor of our house, outside and inside. 




There is still the open area of the deck yet to be shared. 

We had rain for a solid week after the new deck was built, and more rain is forecast. So much rain is highly unusual for north Texas in August. We are enjoying the covered porch part of the deck in the rain, but the open area needs several sunny days before it can be pulled together. 



My Sanctuary

One day the sun will come back out. 



*****

First Party date is Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016 @ 4:00 p.m. 

Looking forward to seeing all the links to Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Blogs! 


Follow me on Instagram by clicking on my Instagram button at the upper top right. 
I hope to post Paris photos on Instagram. 
Please join me at these inspiring places for more joy of living. 

SUNDAY
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic and Refined
Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home

MONDAY
Amaze Me Mondays @ Dwellings, the Heart of Your Home
Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

TUESDAY
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home