Suzanne Carillo

Are you a fan of travel shows? What about home improvement? How about a combo of the two? Lately I’ve been living my fantasy life, giving my mind a break from the devastating daily news and Escaping to the Château with Dick and Angel.

escape to the chateau — Escape to the Château photo credit channel 4. If you are in Canada you can watch it on the CBC here.

My Fantasy Life – Escape To The Château

Have you heard of this series?

They left their lives in the UK to live their dream and buy a fairytale castle in France.

Chateau escape to the chateau — photo credit channel 4

I fell in love with the program because it’s in France (obvs!), they live in a castle and Angel is obsessed with all things vintage and antique.

Angel is a master crafter, designer and all around creative person and Dick is an an environmentalist and engineer with exceptional problem solving skills.

They up-cycle and reuse many items found on the castle grounds and often renovations include the most advanced environmentally friendly options. Their decisions value frugality and sustainability and are made with long term considerations rather than short term gratification. It is a positive view of slow living practises.

Both Angel and Dick are a pleasure to watch.

It also proves it’s never too late to start living your dream, no matter your age.

What’s not love?

When I Stayed In A French Château

Below are some photos from my scrapbook, circa 2009, when we briefly vacationed in a chateau in Bordeaux.

We stayed at Château de Mirambeau and it was even better than I’d imagined.

The note from the concierge welcomed us upon our arrival. It came with fancy homemade sweets.

To say the castle and our room was majestic would be an understatement. We really did feel like royalty.

Apparently we had just missed the French actor Gérard Depardieu who had only checked out the day before.

I believe it’s the only place in the world where you can get a massage in what was previously an 11th century dungeon with some of the original armour standing guard in the corner.

That’s me loving every minute of our horseback ride through the vineyards.

Dressing For My Fantasy Life – The Queen Of The Castle

Here I am dressed in my château uniform and pondering why my man servant hasn’t brought me my pre dinner drink and dance yet.

I drink while he dances.

Win win.

After my pre dinner drinks I need to freshen my look with some powder. I don’t know why I get all sweaty when I’m not the one dancing.

Now I’m impatiently waiting for my fashionably late dinner companion to grace me with her presence.

She claims she was late due to an engagement with her agent who is a P. I. G. His friends just call him Mr. P. Wiggly.

My date is nice but tends to overeat and have rather atrocious table manners. What do you expect from a ~~pug~~ peasant?

What fantasy life would you escape to if you had the chance?

Linking up with Visible Monday, Turning Heads Tuesday, Fancy Friday, and Spy Girl

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Environmental Emergency

Everywhere you look there are signs of climate change. From the melting ice caps and loss of polar bears, wildlife and their habitats to the warming of the oceans and with it the subsequent demise of coral reefs and sea life. Our world has been irrevocably changed by mankind’s greed.

Some of the latest catastrophic losses are occurring in Australia.

What Have We Done? Environmental Emergency – Wild Fires Burning In Australia

The apocalyptic fires have killed 24 people and have destroyed more than 1,500 homes, ravaging through over fifteen million hectares of land (over three times as much land as the Amazon fire).

Half a billion animals have been killed including over 8,000 koalas.

The numbers are so staggering it is difficult to comprehend.

Realizing we’ve permanently altered our planet and its future is heartbreaking. The planet doesn’t belong to us. We are but one species living here and we have ruined it for all.

Before The Fires

I was lucky enough to spend three weeks in southern Australia in 2006. Seeing the devastation incurred throughout the region is beyond heartbreaking. The sense of loss is overwhelming.

At a time like this I feel showing photos of myself or what I’m wearing is irrelevant, inappropriate and indecent.

Instead, I am sharing some photos from a scrapbook I created of our trip in tribute to the extreme losses incurred by the animals, land and people of Australia.

The photos below were taken on Kangaroo Island, a refuge for some of the country’s most endangered creatures, located just off the coast of southern Australia. At this point over 30% of Kangaroo Island has burned.

Kangaroos were abundant on the Island when we were there. With wild fires raging they will have nowhere to escape.

Teams arrived to Kangaroo Island today to help euthanize livestock and wild animals injured in the blazes.

This little koala above was hanging out near a cabin where we stayed on the Island.

Koalas are not able to move quickly to escape the fires which is why so many have succumb to the flames.

What have we done? Environmental emergency in Australia koala bear burnt paws — Photo – Port Macquarie Koala Hospital NSW

The koala above has been severely burned. It will take extra efforts and care to ensure he lives.

How Can You Help?

If you are looking for ways to help you can donate to WIRES Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organization, WIRES (New South Wales Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service Inc.), to help animals in the midst of the bushfires.

In addition to WIRES we helped the koalas at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital in New South Wales. You can contribute to a GoFundMe campaign to rescue koalas by rehydrating them and treating their burns in the hospital.

Life Changes

Ultimately to slow down and ideally stop climate change we need to change our habits and lifestyle. I’ve written previously about some easy changes I’ve made to my life in an effort to fight climate change on a personal level.

Vote For Change

It is up to us to choose governments that will impose regulations and fines on industries that pollute and exploit the planet’s resources. Gas and oil companies whose carbon pollution has helped cause the climate crisis, and in turn created these extreme fire conditions in Australia, need to be held accountable. They need to pay for the loss of life and land out of their earnings.

We are in the midst of an emergency that requires actions, not words.

Educate yourself and take responsibility for your choices. Stand up for the animals and the earth. It’s the only home we have.

Some films I recommend to educate yourself about climate change are; Before The Flood , The True Cost, River Blue, An Inconvenient Truth , A Plastic Ocean.

I would like to recommend this video of Dr. David Suzuki, a Canadian environmentalist explaining the facts about climate change below. It will change you forever.