Isn’t it wonderful that you can go out and forage and then decorate your marvellous fireplace. It’s well and truely put me in the Christmas spirit. Well done!

Your fireplace surround is magnificent. I loved the idea of being able to forage on your grounds around the chateau. Even in the rain, it looks magical. Happy and Merry Christmas to you both.

I like Sara’s sweater she had on doing the lavender. The fireplace looks gorgeous!😍

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Thank you! 🤗

No worries, the lavender wands can only be made with freshly picked lavender, the stems need to be green and bendy and you can use the dried stems as kindling instead

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

I thought that was the case. And probably best for the wreaths too....

@me-l-9910

7 ай бұрын

I’ve made sleep mask pillows with dried lavender and flaxseed (for weight) as the filling. They’re ideal for a relaxing daytime nap, blocking out the light and lulling you with the scent. You can find instructions online, of course. 😊

@Tony-InLosAngeles

7 ай бұрын

I was going to say that…

@LCamp-cr7fs

7 ай бұрын

I suspect that the gorgeous lavender wreath pictured has to be made with freshly cut lavender too.

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

@@me-l-9910 I love that idea…

Hi Sarah & Steve, I'm loving the scent of lavender as much as you do both indoors and out. I'll be adding more lavender to a hedgerow we are restoring with lilac and lavender. The color and scent will just envelope the front of the house as we are also adding bunches of it near the entrance to front door. Nothing better than to explore a new brocante just before Christmas, and that they are having a sale too sure does make a difference. All that foraging in the on and off rain certainly did have its rewards in the beautiful natural decor you placed around the fireplaces. Enjoy the holidays, better late than never. Mark & Scott

Beautiful & such appropriate music while you were foraging, Sara & Steve!! You're so blessed to enjoy the new Emmaus!! So many lovely items to choose from!! What a stunning property you have & the fields & forest are magical! Aww, the decorations, so nice. I love the simplicity of them!! Sara, you did a fine job!! Happy Holidays, you two!! 🇺🇸

Sara The Fireplace Looks, Beautiful. The Vases Need More Height In Them With Greenery. Xx 😊

LOVE your cape, it is so elegant on you ! And what great designers you are with the greenery, d'uh who would have doubted that !! You are good at all you do guys.....

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

I'm quite good at making it up as I go along... 😂

The woodwork on the fireplace is gorgeous. 🎄🥰

❤you two make everything fun!!! The chocolatier set is so fine & perfect serving during the holidays!!!!❤

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Thank you! 🤗

Loved the foraging part. How amazing to be able to find everything on your own property !

Lovely full video. Merry Christmas from Canada! 🇨🇦❤️🎄🤶🎅

I love what you’ve done to your fireplace. I started watching the fireplace video but fell asleep! 😬🙄So calming and relaxing. Next time I’ll watch it on my big tv while I’m listening to festive music and making mince pies. My husband loves my pastry and I’d be making them all year round if he had his way! Merry Christmas! ❤x

It was great meeting up with you for the Christmas market and we did our best in the pouring rain! Looking forward to dryer adventures in the future. Love the toadstool fountain, so mythical. I believe today is the day the rain is Finally stopping! fireplace looks lovely

Use some of the lichen branches you have on the grounds to create a holder within the vases, this will insure the green material to hold up better and not sink into the large vases, also cut the green branches as long as possible. The lichen branches will give you some additional visual excitement too your arrangements. Love your channel and look forward to the weekly videos. All the best from Northern California

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Great tips! Thank you!

Sarah, your foraged swags are so beautiful! I was glad to see you have a project apron when making them to protect your clothes from the sap. Wishing you both a wonderful holiday season - it looks so cozy!!!

I saw the comment about adding lichen branches to the vases. That would give more height and be lovely! I would make a big bow and add it to the middle edge of the vase with ribbon cascading down. This would give a "middle" to the arrangement and it would look like the greens were come from this middle point. Or try a grouping of ornaments, a star, or all three!

In Saskatchewan we cant forage for ANYTHING green in winter. It's so nice to see it all in your forest.

🍒🫐couldn't find the hearts! Wonderful video!

Cheers....Merry Christmas from sunny and wam Melbourne, Australia. Love It!

❤ the kitschy floral dishes. I see your summer garden party in their future!

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

That was the temptation! At that price, we'd have no qualms about using them outside...

I really, really enjoy your channel. Your affection for each other, your dry wit, and your creativity are just wonderful!

You guy get better and better! Love the foraging!

When I saw the blue and white set I was saying “oh buy it! It’s gorgeous and so perfect for hot chocolate.” And you did! I’m so envious of your Emmaus markets but perhaps it’s better for my pocket that we don’t have them here in NZ. 😅💖

@bernicebabe4154

7 ай бұрын

But we have Restore markets and dozens of other op shops - just as dangerous!

Hello Sarah and Steve, I admire what a wonderful spirit of adventure that you both have!! Your chateau is looking more beautiful with every vlog!! Elizabeth Goodrich, Texas

I too love sewing machines! I have a1956 singer semi industrial It is great!!!

You ought to see the flooding in Florence and the Arno valley!

the blossums make great tea and salade dressing

I enjoyed this post! How lucky you are to be able to forage for Christmas greenery on your own land. You did a great job of putting the greenery together, Sarah! Merry Christmas 🎄

the seeds from lavender sprout quite easily

Your property is beautiful and the fireplace turned out so festive looking!

a chocolatière for €8.00 the whole set! what a gift!

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Right?! Even the platter will be useful at that price!

Thank you so much for your fireplace video! I haven't looked at it yet, but I know I will on my days off over Christmas!

Love the fireplace decorations ❤❤❤Merry Christmas 🎄 🎅😍😘

That was fun, thankyou for that fireplace video the other day, better than the one we have on the tv now!

I would love the silver class

The fireplace video was really great. I did not know about the brush going with the silver crumb collector. I have one that was from my Great Grandmother. I will need to look for a brush just for fun. Bonne Noël.

Beautiful fireplace! Well done!

I completely understand you wanting to adopt orphaned sewing machines. The old ones are real treasures.

Charming video! Loved it

Can I say that I’ve been watching your journey since you appeared at Stephanie’s. I am delighted to see how you two have relaxed into your life in France. It’s just so lovely to see your smiles that seem to be ever present. Lovely. I wish I could take the May workshop, but I still work and I can’t get there. But someday.

Merry Christmas and thank you for sharing your French Christmas with us.

When making lavender sachets or wreaths, the lavender needs to be fresh so the stalks are pliable. Interested to see what you do with the lovely smelling dried lavender you harvested.

❤🎄💚🎄❤

those swags are beautiful

Merry Christmas from Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦.

What a downpour!!! I’m sure you’ll have fun sewing lovely sachets for your lavender. ♥️ A lovely festive arrangement, with a moose to remind you of home. 😁♥️ I’m glad the lovely new set was immediately useful. Excellent filming - man, I really wanted to grab through the screen and take one!

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

You're definitely invited to have one Peni!

Blessings 😊

Today is National Hot Cocoa Day! 😊 according to CTV morning news! Merry Christmas 🎄

that is a beautiful fireplace ❤

Enjoyed this so much!!

Dried lavender into an old pillowcase and start bashing it against a wall or table. No mess easy separating

Being the bargain lover . I have sets of china I have never used. They were just priced right. Totally get the draw.

Lovely video. Wonderful emmoüs finds! The hot chocolate/mulled wine set is perfect. Was that a real mushroom? What a perfect design for a birdbath! And Sara, Stephen said you have eight sewing machines when you really only have seven? That means you’re owed one, right?! The silversmith workshop sounds great, I love your mission of creative mentoring in such a fantastic setting. Bonne chance continue! Enjoy your seasonal fun. ❤️ 🎄

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

That mushroom doesnt even look real when standing in front of it! It was smooth and shiny like plastic! I'd never really noticed mushrooms until we moved to France. And of course, there may be more sewing machines in my future...

In a Lalonde episode they used the lavender stems for cake testing doneness.

The fireplace looks so beautiful. I saw the fireplace video. It is awesome. That retreat with learning to make silver jewelry looks awesome. I look forward to seeing it.❤

It looks fabulous ❤

Since you have lots of ribbon, I think it would be pretty to tie a red bow around the tops of the white vases❣️🎄🌹🎄🌹🎄🌹🎄🌹

After seeing the chapel statues removed for cleaning at La Lande, and similar little hooks behind them, I wonder if there used to be two different little statues on either side of the fireplace? Might explain why the hooks aren’t in the same place, and the little canopies

Did anyone else see a face in the tree next to Sarah's head when it started to rain in the woods. 😀😀

Very festive! I enjoy seeing you out and about in the towns as well.

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Happy holidays!

Oh, if only I didn't live over 17,000kms away in Hobart Australia, that retreat creating items from silver would be so lovely!

The grounds are so incredible, how lovely x

Someone at Lalande put the dried lavender into an old pillow case and shook it hard to separate the lavender buds. I hate saying anything negative, but I have a decorating suggestion for Christmas. Your cute North American moose, etc., are incongruous with such an elegant mantel. Maybe set up a "Canada Corner" with them somewhere else in the chateau? My 2 cents.

that was fun!

Ok that hot chocolate looks perfect!!!

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

It really was ;)

🎄 Season’s Greetings From North Tiny Township, Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦 France, And The Mediterranean Regions Are Treasure Troves Of Delights 💝 Thanks for your exquisite Chateau vlogs, and sharing French lifestyles 🇫🇷 The transformation of your Chateau, and the growth of all your endeavours are marvellous 🌟

Funny, when I lived in Germany..I hated the smell of lavender when we would go to the markets. I think it was just so much in one little space...now I cant get enough of it. It doesn't grow that well where I lived and you would think it would being by the beach, but it just like it here. I would make sachets and put them in every drawer and closet to smell amazing!

I know the draw sewing machines have, so hard to resist. I have to hand sew now which drives me mad, but having fun sewing anyway. It just takes much longer. Your property is so lovely, did you have a country property here in Canada? It's truly Christmas to decorate with foraged greens from your own land. I agree Steve, Stephanie needs good walking shoes for the woods. LOL

The silver retreat sounds amazing. Way out of my pocket but I hope we get to see snippets of the workshop makers in a vlog. I so wanted Sarah to buy another sewing machine or two, half the price of UK ones, just imagine a room dedicated purely to sewing machines 😂😂 I have a vintage singer and a Harris, I have a Pfaff machine metal bottom made into a table and 5 mini vintage machines, all for show, I’m afraid my hand can hardly control an electric one using both my hands 😂😂 oh and love your clothes today Sarah. XxxxK🇬🇧❤❤

It's so gorgeous outdoors there around your property

Love the chocolate set great find and Christmas decor

love watching

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

We love that you watch! And comment!

Hilarious aside to Stephanie about the shoes!😂 You guys have such varied content. Good job. Great foraging music! And it's strange to have enjoyed watching you clean and ready that gorgeous stove and fireplace for decorating. Most people show tge decorating, but the prep was really interesting.

I love lavender. And I have that same basket 😀 I got it in East Berlin Germany

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Lol... I wonder if ours travelled that far. We of course got it at a brocante.

hello guys, I got very frightened for a second sitting down with my cup of coffee, watching your video, along comes the water freaked me out. I thought you 2 were looking out from your balcony or upstairs window, I really thought that your backyard was flooded like that thank the gods, that it wasn’t your guises yard❤️✌️

your fire place looks lovely

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Thanks Margaret!

Foraging through your own woods makes you swags extra special well done

Enjoying Christmas preparations at your beautiful chateau. Who will be joining you for Christmas I wonder, maybe parents of either or both? Can't wait to see all the celebrations. 🇨🇦

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

This year will just be our own selves. We are meeting up with Stephen's parents soon though!

Your Christmas fireside video was an inspired idea

I love you guys

I used the the pillowcase method they used at Chateau Diaries and it really worked. Loved your trip to Brive, I had serious envy.

What a fun vlog! Winter by the fire place, not bad!

If you haven’t got any on hand yet, you can grind some of your lavender flowers with sea salt to use as a seasoning. My brother, Zack, taught me how to make Brussel sprouts cut in half and placed face down on a broiler pan then drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with the lavender sea salt, and broiled till a fork can pierce them, but not mushy. They are still my favorite way to have Brussel sprouts!

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

What a cool idea! Will give it a try!

Christmas time is here..... have a Merry one!

Steve I hope you got a photo of that mushroom with water on top it was lovely. Great job on decorating

Now this was really a nice video! Much love from Oklahoma USA Jackie 🇺🇸💖

Needs larger magnolia branches behind it all in the vases ,always works.

🥰🥰🥰❄️❄️❄️

Great video. Sarah, I love your cape and have filed it in my Ideas folder. What a fabulous chocolatier and mazagran set - such a find. The lavender should retain its perfume for some time. I have some lavender bags made by my late mother (she's been gone 10 years) and I just give them a squish and a squeeze to reactivate the smell ( I can't throw them out). Looking forward to the next video.

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

I got that cape in Ireland years ago. Proper wool, perfect for this weather.

@susanspeece2987

7 ай бұрын

@@ManorandMaker I thought you had made it. It's still in my ideas folder.

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

@@susanspeece2987 lol. I love that you think I could!

Ever thought of having a sewing workshop? Then you can have all the sewing machines!

That hot chocolate looks deliish!! Lol

Very festive the fire place looks very cosy

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Thanks very much!

@annettesharrock1236

7 ай бұрын

@@ManorandMaker 🥰

Great idea guys with the fireplace video. It looks fabulous! 🇨🇦

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Thanks so much! 😊

You're property is so beautiful. I loved the walk around even with the rain. Sorry you got soaked. Sara, I think for $60 I might have bought that full set. A little dated but sweet none the less.

Put the lot in a pillow case and shake it about holding it tight round the top and it will all come off the twigs then you can remove the twigs !

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Genius! Just what I needed! Maybe I'll just make a sac for shaking lavender, and then I can just leave the buds in and take the sticks out!

I love your channel 😊

@ManorandMaker

7 ай бұрын

Awww shucks - thanks Clare!

@clarefoskett9959

7 ай бұрын

The energy is lovely. I wish you all the best for the festive season x.

You can use the dried lavender stems as fire starters

👍

I was thinking about your vases and what would look nice is if you just got some nice branches and then put some nice little Christmas balls on them and leave the greenery just down near the bottom.