This November my blog will be 16 years old. To celebrate I have asked you my readers to submit a Guest Post for my blog as a way of celebrating our connectedness as a community through social media.
I hope you will send me your story or at least a glimpse into your life (please send your story and JPEG photos through email.) I feel I know so many of you through the comment section and emails I hope this will introduce you to one another. Thank you in advance for being part of French la Vie / Tongue in Cheek.
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Hello. I am Helene Daniels and I live in the Central Coast area of California. I am so pleased to be asked to post an entry to Corey’s blog as she has been an inspiration to me for many years. I can remember reading about Chelsea and Sasha who were far younger than the lovely adults they are now. I began reading this blog long before Sasha came to California for his last year of high school.
About me: I am a maker. Making is the consistent thread that has defined my life. Here is a partial list of the kinds of making I do:
Doll clothes, wood burning kits pictures, paint by number oil paintings,
key lanyards, leather sculpting, crochet, Makeup, hair color, crazy sweatshirts, Ceramics, sewing clothes, Art school art, watercolors, painting,
baking bread, cooking meals, having babies, planting gardens, Halloween Painterly photos, Murals, landscape design, murals, designing gardens, knitting, slideshow presentations of gardens Teaching landscape design, jewelry, roll painting, etching, reticulation, graduation, enameling, wire knitting, tinsmithing, toolmaking: tinsmithing, wire, granulation, landscape design, tin crowns, chasing and repousé…
Making began when I was a child growing up in Marin County, California. It continued throughout my life, as an Art Major in college, and then as a professional artist, first as a graphic artist in New York City and then as a landscape designer in California. I designed over 300 gardens in this part of California. Then I organized that experience and information into a semester class that I taught at the local college for three years.
Helene and her beautiful creations
Presently, I am retired and my making includes jewelry of all types. Some of these can be viewed on my website: HeleneDanielsDesigns.com or Instagram @helenelouisedaniels.
I live in the home my husband and I build 43 years ago in a valley called Corral de Tierra on the Monterey Peninsula. This country house is full of family many of whom live with us. Three generations are living and sharing this space: my husband I; our daughter and her husband; and our two grandchildren. There is the main house, a greenhouse, a big barn with a workshop, winery, my art studio, and a “yurt” that is a framed round building attached to the main house where my husband and I have our quiet space.
And yes, right now California is burning. Two weeks ago we received a fire Evacuation Order because one of the many fires burning came too close to our rural valley. Mercifully, the fire turned and spared our valley but there has been terrible destruction in our garden.
Family photo three generations.
Here are a few photos of our We travel frequently, sometimes with my husband’s choir which performs in many places in Europe. Most recently we spent a week traveling in Umbria, Italy with our yoga teacher, Thomas Fortel. On one of our trips, we had a quick visit with Corey and Yann in the south of France. There we enjoyed their beautiful home and wonderful hospitality. We picked up the keys to their apartment in Paris where we stayed the following week. The apartment is a treasure beyond imagination. It is decorated with the antiques that Corey has collected and is located in the perfect neighborhood in Paris. It is in the 14th arrondissement where regular Parisians go about their daily business. There is a wonderful bakery across the street, a flower market, and restaurants nearby. The metro stop is two blocks away and will whisk you to any part of Paris in minutes.
Thank you Corey for including me in your blog.
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