Let the performance begin................

I have spent all day photographing the first confections from the ballet......

I wore them all and danced................................in my mind of course!!!

Am I going to regret selling them?.........................

Probably!..................................Will I ever find anything similar again?....................

................Probably not!   

Do I feel proud to have handled them and found them new homes where I know they will be treasured?...............................

Absolutement!.........................OUI!

There is a wonderful video at the bottom of the page in the music box!

A pas de deux is a dialogue of love. How can there be conversation if one partner is dumb? -Rudolf Nureyev-

Dance is your pulse, your heartbeat, your breathing. It's the rhythm of your life. It’s the expression in time and movement, in happiness, joy, sadness and envy.
-Jacques d'Amboise-

Birds use their wings to fly, because they do not know how to dance. -Zeynep Okcu

Simply chateau will sell her ballet costumes - because she cannot keep them all and her armoires are already full - even though she would love to look good in pink tights and a tiara even in the supermarche!
-Shirley Wells.

The swan is preparing to fly home................

Heavens! My feet hardly seem to have touched the floor for the last week or so!

 Firstly the tale of how we found the ballet costumes from The Paris Opera Ballet. We had met up with Tartelette Amy from Oregon in Paris and we went to a huge early morning brocante. All bright eyes, bushy tailed and full of excitement at what the days finds would bring. In the early morning light the dealers began opening up their lorries and vans and spreading their wares on tables and floor cloths.

It is at this point you never know where to look, a delicious and very addictive gentle panic begins to rise and you have to try and find treasures emerging from a hundred places at once.

I rounded a corner into a huge pile of frothy ballet tutus, boxes of costume tiaras  and silk boddice and my heart leapt....soft pinks, blues, white, creams, sequins, beads, plumes..then my heart hit the floor as I saw a woman on her knees in the middle of it all gathering it all towards her.

Should I wait to buy what little morceaux she may discard? But if she has any sense she will surely take it all and I will stand here watching open mouthed and miss any other treasures being unpacked.

I resigned myself to walking away when my heart leapt out of my chest as I realised the woman on her knees was Tartelette!!! Can you believe that? A look of sheer joy on her face in the middle of it lost in her own world !

All she could say as she sat there grasping a pink tutu and a swan lake plumed costume was"Oh my goodness..............................Oh my goodness.....................Oh my goodness". She was so overwhelmed to try and choose what she wanted.

Other textile dealers were starting to gather so I quickly told her to shut up and grabbed it out of her hands and started to bag it up!!  Being "besties" good friends I can do that!!!  We got the whole lot bagged up and we agreed that we would sort out who wanted what later! I knew then it would be one for Tartelette and tutu for me!

Much later that day we sprawled it all out on the hotel lawn to see what we had and I do confess a few Demi Detourné, Pas de deux and Plié took place as we tried on the crowns and plumes!! Of course Tartelette had first choice from the haul ( I am not that mean.....she found the haul first!) and the difference is that she will keep her costumes to display and I will sell most of mine on!

I will not tell you too much about the treasured costumes Tartelette will take home with her as I know she will tell you that herself when she gets backs to the USA.

So as we speak, Tartelette is out on the chateau driveway packing her treasures to take the long flight home...............a little glimpse into those bags shows she has a wonderful haul!

All this after a trip to the local hospital with her yesterday after she fell ill......and whilst we were in the hospital all she could ask was "what time does the brocante close?". She has a serious addiction!

Finally the winner of the bag giveaway ( chosen by Tartelette)....there has to be two winners...Pop and Shabbily by the sea . So if you will send me your addresses to simplychateau@wanadoo.fr.  All I can say is that you folk are harbouring some dangerous brains!!

Hopefully this week some kind of normality will kick in but oooooh if you could see the haul of treasures I have to work my way through and get listed...it certainly will not be a chore!!

The Paris opera ballet.................

I have just got home from a wonderful truffling trip and as I was unloading this haul I simply had to hang them up to show you as I am so excited and haven`t shut up talking about it for days whilst we were on the road!!

These wonderful old costumes are all from The Paris opera ballet and date from the 1920s onwards.  I  have tutus,crowns, tiaras,corsage flowers and a wonderfuI  array of flowing dresses. I will tell you how I found them tomorrow and also announce the giveaway winner. I just couldn`t pack it all in bags until I had shown you all!!

There is one tiny tiny tutu and crown that I am convinced is for a performing poodle.......where is Digger when you need him?

There are also those amazing short tutus that stick out horizontally from the waist!

Click on the pics for a closer look! I know I am an addict but there is nothing like truffling in Paris searching for old treasures!!!

Simply-chateau giveaway............

After all the wonderful emails of support after the initial trials and tribulations but ultimately very sucessful online brocante,  I think a giveaway is in order  - and I think this  gorgeous shabby chic oil cloth shopper would be perfect !

A sweet little bag full of Paris panache perfect for La supermarche!

Talking of Paris I am off to to meet up with Tartelette there for a few days brocanting so whilst I am away simply tell me what you would like to find behind this door..........whatever your heart desires.....anything at all....let your imagination run riot!

I will choose a winner when I get home...hopefully laden with treasures!

I have left the online brocante open and there is a new direct link there on the top right of the page.

A bientot !

Okay.....I can now see the funny side!!!

Thank you all for your wonderful messages of support! Okay................okay....I can now finally see the funny side!  I have just spent a good hour on Paypal and phoned them too for a bit of a moan and I think I have finally cracked it!
Sooooooooooooooooo................madamoiselles........I still haven`t really made any impression in the huge piles of textiles & trims so I have posted a couple of new items and will continue to do just a few at a time over the next few days and hopefully, fingers crossed, legs crossed, eyes crossed, everything crossed, the Paypal links will work.

The simply- chateau brocante that was, then wasn`t , then was ......after a fashion and now might finally be working!!! Oh well, you know nothing is ever normal for me!

Tartellette arrives in Paris from Oregon today and she is going to do the Paris fleas this weekend before we meet up for some serious brocanting next week. I don`t know about you but I can feel some huge pairs of 19th century drapes coming on!!

There is a link to the brocante on the right hand side.
Have a wonderful weekend mes belles!

New link to the brocante !

New link to the right!

I have posted a new link to the online brocante on the right now. Thanks to all for being so patient with the huge blip!! I don`t feel quite so panicked this morning!!


Paypal..................Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

If you could see me now............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have spent days photographing and listing all the items for the brocante sale. The last thing to do today was to put the paypal link buttons in place for each item. It took the ever patient Mark all day long as each button required different HTML and prices. We managed to get finished an hour before the brocante went live and had a well earned glass of Burgundy.


We duly published the blog at 9pm French time after much banter and a queens speech " I now declare this online brocante open..............may gawd bless her and all who sail in her".


And then...........................................it went to rats big time!!! The first paypal button worked perfectly and a big thanks to Hesta Nesta for being first off the starting blocks! But then all the paypal buttons showed that all of the items were either sold, completely different to their description or unavailable.
Well merci Paypal......................NOT!!!!
So as we speak Mark is trying to delete all the paypal buttons, I am batting emails trying to keep track and that bottle of burgundy is almost gone!

So, if you require any item on the brocante just email me before I start on the gin!!
More from the chateau tomorrow if I haven`t hurled myself off the steps!!

When will the brocante go 'live' online..................?

With so many different time zones around the world, I have had to give this question some thought before deciding when best to start my brocante sale. It has not been an easy choice to make but I can confirm that the 'chateau' gates shall open and my brocante shall go 'live' this coming Wednesday, 14th September, at   9.00pm local French time (which is 7.00pm Greenwich Mean Time). 


The link below enables you to work out the equivalent  time in your own town, wherever you may be in the world. Simply put in the date of the brocante,  state 'France / Caen' in the first space and scroll down the menu card to find your city and insert it in the second space.

                                  http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

The online brocante sale................

I know its just an online brocante and I won`t meet anyone in person but I still feel I should dress up for the occasion....................

Are these a bit too much do you think?

THE SIMPLY-CHATEAU ONLINE BROCANTE SALE WEDNESDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER AT

www.simply-chateaubrocante.blogspot.com

The 'simply-chateau brocante sale' .........

I am still working my way through numerous boxes and bags full of 'scrummies' that I need to sort out for the brocante sale. They had been tucked away either because I thought they were too small to list on my Ebay site or I was quite precious about parting with them at the time!!!

And so it is quite a slow process sorting through things, putting them in different piles and then getting distracted by something I spot in another box and go sorting through that instead! I get engrossed in unpacking one box, pick out a few things then skip to another box;  by the end of the day I have achieved nothing except being surrounded by several big stacks of goodies!  I then remember where a certain item came from and go searching for something else I remember which came with it! I am usually very get up and go but for some reason I am a bit "fluffy" with it all at the moment!! I seem to be busy doing nothing!

I have decided that rather than overwhelm myself with huge piles I am going to deal with each item as I unpack it, photograph it immediately, list it in the sale and then go for the next item in the box irrespective of what is lurking underneath it! Does that make sense?

I never realised that I had hoarded so much...I really didn`t! But it is nice to look back at each piece; |I can usually remember exactly where a particular item came from.  I suppose I am just being a bit indulgent!

I am going to tackle the ribbons and textiles today, photograph immediately and then stack ready for the brocante day.

THE SIMPLY CHATEAU BROCANTE SALE IS ON WEDNESDAY 14th SEPTEMBER.
at

WWW.SIMPLY-CHATEAUBROCANTE.BLOGSPOT.COM

( GULP!)

Get a grip woman!

There is no sign of the cockateil  today even though I stood outside and called him (like a demented idiot) for a good half an hour! I hope he has found a safe place and not been eaten by the many birds of prey here on the marsh.

I spent today adding some more treasures for the brocante sale and then like an idiot ( for the second time today !) I actually published the list instead of saving it. I checked to see what would happen if I deleted it - would I be able to publish it again on the 14th? No.... I discovered it would be completely deleted! So after all my time spent photographing it will have to stay there as a taster until the brocante day on the 14th!

Note to self......................get a grip woman!!!

Note to daughter Frou Frou.....the latest impression you do of me along the lines of " Is it hot in here or is it me? What did I come in here for?".........................not funny madamoiselle!! Menopausal?....moi?....absolutely not!!!

Bon weekend mes belles!
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Stop that screeching will you?

I have spent all day working in the cuisine at my laptop trying to get all the photographs for the brocante sale uploaded.

 I could hear a screeching sound outside and I glimpsed a white bird passing the doorway from the corner of my eye and thought nothing of it. The noise continued and I went out to look and just caught a quick peek of a white bird going over the chimney. There are lots of owls here so I thought it must be a young owl who has no idea that it was mid-day and not dusk!

I went back to work again but the bird continued screeching and circling the house, so I took another look and waited for him to pass me on one of his laps.

A cockateil! Can you believe it! Where on earth has he come from? He settled in the hazlenut tree and I tried to coax him down in both French and English but he is having none of it and continues to lap the house shouting!  He is like the one below but much lighter in colour.

If he doesn`t stop that screeching he will draw attention to himself and the hawks will arrive. So, as we speak there is a very decorative cage on the lawn with the door open and lots of seed on the ground  trying to coax him down. Mark has his fishing net ready!
Honestly! As if I don`t have enough to do!!!