The colours of spring

After Winter... Spring...

the weather gets warmer, the sun shining, the trees and plants are coming alive... the birds are singing and insects are buzzing around...

People are in better moods and are out and about... It is really pleasant to be in this season, spring...

In fact it has been spring since the 21st of March.... so these colours you see below are changing and have changed cos SUMMER is on its way!!! Yes, this blog is long overdue.... :)

BEAUTIFUL COLOURS ALL AROUND.... Enjoy

This is a tree just outside our apartment, and the next 8 shots below are the changes of the same tree..... it is amazing at how fast the leaves starts coming out and changes its form and colour... It was beautiful to watch each day to see what is happening to this living thing...

most of the grassy areas are covered with all these little yellow and white flowers.. I am lousy with names of the flowers, perhaps I should look it up... :) but there are so pretty to see.

daisies?????

spot that white bit next to this yellow plant... that's the MOON ....

this tree is one that I pass by quite often cos it is the way to do my grocery shopping... the shots below are from this same tree... I think it is a cherry blossom cos yesterday when I walked pass it, these beautiful flowers are no longer there but fruits that do look like cherries.... BUT then again I THINK I could be wrong too.. so I am not too sure... :)

love the contrast of these plants next to each other

No, this is not my garden.. I wish :)

tulips?

they come in all sorts of colours...

There you go, a blog after 3 months of silence... there are lots more photos of flowers but I think this will do for this post. Perhaps I will upload it one day.. maybe not.. will see.

The big THREE ZERO

Yes, this little baby you see in this photo has turned 30 on the 16th of March!!

So we had a little surprise party with family and some friends.

Johan's best friend was coming back to France for business from KL, the famous Olivier International :) He decided to drop by Lyon and we decided to have dinner together. A quiet dinner for 5 turned to a dinner for 10 :)
Yes, Johan didnt know I was busy inviting his family to join us since his best friend was here too.. all a hush hush business that turned out well... no secrets were leaked out before then so all good!
Just as we were busy having appetizers and just chatting.. a knock on the door.. rather few bangings from papy.. (Johan's grandpa) and we have Papy, Alex and Aurelie that joined us followed by his parents much later...

Trying to squeeze 10 people in the living room to eat was a mission :) Do-able and menageable though. The other mission for me was to prepare a meal for 10 people without Johan noticing.

Here are the party people!! :)
Top row L to R : Benjamin (Oliv's brother), Gilbert, Johan, Marie Christine, Papy, Aurelie, Alex.
Bottom Row L to R : Olivier Intrenational, Yves ( Oliv's father) and ME!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED :)

Below are some before and after photos of the young man.

Johan all buckled up in his 'auto mobile' and his first owned car. She's a real beauty.

Johan on all fours then and now :) He is such a cutie huh?? then more than now I agree :)

His love for wheels!! and adventure.. always had that in him

VROOM VROOM Yes, the real thing!

Already a love for adventure at such a young age! WHEE!!

Wow, how time flies!! That's his 1st birthday and below, we have his 30th.

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY YOYO!!

Still an Angel :)

Did 2009 come by already?!

Hello again our dear blog readers...

First and foremost HAPPY NEX YEAR 2009!!!

We apologize for the many months of absense.

Now back to updating the blog.

We are now living in Lyon about 45mins drive away from Johan's parents' home. A very good location.. only about 10-15 mins walk to Johan's Uni and about 10-15mins drive to his work place. Close to the shopping complex with lots of public transport available around. It is also 15mins walk to the park.

This is the flat we're living in. Just parked infront is Johan's faithful lil car. Been very good to us. This is the car that I drove around when I was working with the elderly in August. The apartment is on the first floor with the window shed opened.. The window above the main entrance is our bedroom.

Look at this beautiful car. The stunning fast automobile... I like this car.. I do, It reminds me of my faithful red 'ferari' sigh.. my starlet!

Enter in... Here we have the stairway.... Makes alot of noise. In fact this building is about or over 100 years old.

Welcome to this cute little apartment. Big and spacious enough for both of us. Very comfy. As you open the door, this is what you will see first..

... a store room/closet?? We hang our big/warm jackets and coats here. Shoes and hmmmm, other stuff...

As you enter and to the right, we have the kitchen and cooking area... and the washing machine too. A good spacious kitchen area is really nice.. yes we keep the bicycle there too.

Cupboards that are filled up.

There we have the view from the end of the kitchen and the brown door you see, is the entrance and the exit door...

Moving to the left side of the room...Next to that door is the toilet. As you can see it, a standard size toilet in France. Well more or less... some are slightly bigger.

In front of the toilet is the computer area and thankfully with internet excess.

Next, the living room/TV room.. whatever you want to call it. Furnished and decorated already.

This apartment actually belongs to Johan's friend, Benjamin who decided to join his wife, Claire and work in Paris. Very timely for us as and convinient. So we are renting this place from them. All the furnishing and everything from cooking utensils and plates .. plants too and the decorative stuff inside this place belongs them except for our clothes, bags, shoes; food and little little stuff..

Yes, we are blessed to have a well furnished apartment at a very good location.

Here is the view out of the window. Not too bad of a view.

can keep an eye on our cool automobile :)

Let's continue our apartment visitation...

The shower room with hot water! Thankfully.. imagine showering in winter with no hot water?? Yikes!

A different view and angle from the living room.

Next and last room will be the bedroom. Yes another bike hiding in here..but that's not ours.

Yes again furnished with a bed and cupboards.. although soon the couple will claim their bed and take it to Paris. We will have to find another bed to sleep on then.. but for now we still have a bed :)

Well, hope you had a good visit around the apartment. Thank you for your company. Come by and visit us again... for a drink or makan makan ???? Till the next update.... Sending you all love from Lyon, France.