Perfectly imperfect

Arriving at our holiday home in the Charente Maritime this week, the sense of relaxation and contentment was immediate.  We've stayed here before a few times, in fact that was one of the reasons for coming this year as we needed something stress-free and easy.  I love this house- it's an old grande-dame of a French villa, and it's a happy house.   It's not perfectly decorated and the furniture is the most mish- mashed mixture of secondhand French flea market finds you have ever seen.  It's creaky and quirky and what I would call well-loved.  It's also light with huge high ceilings and a five minute walk from one of my favourite places in the whole wide world - the Plage des Nonnes. 

Something about this lovely house makes it a happy place for our family.  I think it's just the perfect place for our family holidays- close to the beach  and town for morning croissants.  It's got a great garden with a huge table for al fresco BBQ suppers accompanied by copious quantities of local pineau and wine.  And the house is forgiving enough to cope with the battering of an energetic enthusiastic,rumble tumble, sandy family.  It's imperfect but makes the perfect place for us to unwind and relax.  I will be first in the queue if the owners ever want to sell!

I've brought some stitching with me and I will be hunting around for some images for future RSN projects.  One of the particular features of this area I hope to be able to capture are the carrelets- local fishing huts on stilts.  I have hundreds of photos of them at home but I will be on the look-out for new ones!
Here's one from yesterday afternoon- with the Phare (lighthouse) of St George's de Didonne in the background.  I originally thought canvas work but there may be blackwork potential for these images as well.  I'd welcome ideas as I find the design part the hardest part of the course!