La Serenissima........................Venice.....

And so she strapped on her bustle and left for Venice......................

I shall photograph every period costume I can find as it is Carnevale!

A la prochaine mes belles

xxxxx

Woo me........

Woo me....Woo me....I yearn to be woo`d!!!

This divine little booklet has come out of the attic clearance boxes just in time for Valentine`s day.

L`Amour et L`Art de se faire aimer....roughly translated as Love and the art of being loved.

I love the chapters within:

Love tips & hints

The means to be loved

Financial methods (?!)

Little gifts

Diplomatic means

Dancing

Sports (!)

Exceptional circumstances

Love & Jealousy

The romantics

Bold means

I shall be reading more into the "exceptional circumstances" and "sports"!!!! 

This little treasure is being listed tonight.

Bon weekend mes belles and may it be filled with "Amour".

xxxx

From Boho to Hobo..............

It has been a trying day to say the least!!!

Miss Frou Frou and Mr Frou Frou had arranged a ferry crossing to the UK along with their dog Count Kipper to collect the keys to their new cottage.

Having three cats and Count Kipper to move back to the UK along with a house of furniture is not an easy process. They took the opportunity to take Kipper early so that he could stay with family whilst the rest of the move took place.

They arrived at the ferry terminal at 6am to find that the dates for Kipper`s rabies injections and other treatments required to travel between France and the UK had been miscalculated.

Kipper was unable to travel so it was decided that Mr Frou would go back to collect the keys, Miss Frou would stay at the ferry terminal until we could get to her to collect Kipper and then she would travel on a later ferry that afternoon.

Whilst waiting for us to arrive Frou and Kipper had no option but to sit and wait in the empty ferry terminal whilst we made the hour or so journey to the rescue.

Frou was sat feeling sorry for herself with no luggage, just Kip in his bed and a plastic bag filled with his food and bowls  when she was approached by a young French couple.

" Are you homeless mademoiselle? Are you hungry? Do you need food?"

Oh how we have laughed at this!!!!

From Boho to Hobo in one easy movement!!!

She finally made the later boat and we set off back home with Kipper asleep on the back seat.

And then we hit the road block with the French lorry drivers having a protest.......

As I said.....what a day!!!!

A la prochaine mes belles

xxxxx

And bend....and stretch....123....

Come on mademoiselles...get those silk bloomers and chemises on......

I myself shall be doing the dining chair pose!!!

I have just unpacked this little treasure and shall be listing it tonight...up two three four...up two three four...and bend....and stretch....

Click on the images if you want to see them larger!!

Bonne weekend!

xxxx

Dance with me..............

Last night 122 years ago.......there was a charity ball in Paris.

I wonder who tucked this carnet de bal dance card in their purse?

Was it the lady on the front Madame Bouhon?

Did she dance the Polka and the Quadrille?

I hope she danced so much that she wore out her silk slippers!!

So strange that yesterday on the 14th, which was exactly 122 years after the ball, this card sort of jumped out at me from the boxes of attic clearance treasures!

I love the back page that shows someone actually specialised in  making dance cards!!

Being listed tonight mes belles

xxxx

James Taylor...........

We have watched with horror as the events in Paris have taken place. We are booked to see a James Taylor concert there next month so when I saw an email with the heading "a note from James Taylor" I assumed it would be the concert cancelled.

 But no, it was this moving note:

As our visit to Paris approaches, in anticipation of our French tour this March, we have followed, with a heavy heart, the dreadful unfolding of events in Paris. We are moved by the outpouring of compassion, across the world, by all people of conscience.

It is hard to put in words how deeply we feel the connection with the victims of this tragic injustice, with their families and loved ones. 

May their suffering not be in vain. May it serve to remind us all of the precious liberties for which they have been so cruelly sacrificed: freedom of speech, of the press and the rule of law.

May what was intended to tear us apart rather bind us together


Well said Monsieur.

A la prochaine
xxx

Forgotten words...............

So evocative and unique. From the attic clearance come 
batches of beautiful old sepia ink written letters and envelopes written in the early 1900s between two sisters. 

The timeworn envelopes with their Republique Francaise stamps are delicieux!
A peep into a private world over 100 years ago.

                                     

5 letters per batch tied with ribbon.
£10.00 plus postage £2.50
Each batch as wonderful as the next...just email me....

Tiny treasures.....

Last year I had two wonderful attic clearances. One was a chateau and the other a large local manoir.

I found that I tended to photograph and list the largest items and stashed the small ones away in boxes. 

I have been falling over the boxes for months now so at the start of this year I am forcing myself to open the boxes and list whatever I put my hands on!!!

It`s actually turning out quite enjoyable and my Ebay site will be looking quite eclectic!!

There is an old Chinese proverb......

"The man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth
must wait very, very long time".

So, along those lines, if I don`t list them they are not going to list themselves!!!

A la prochaine mes belles
xxx

A little unexpected find........

We visited a local art exhibition and one very talented artist had some amazing old props in his booth. 

This superb 18th century window frame was covered in trailing ivy with a small oil painting of a garden scene propped in front of it. 

As I saw it I couldn`t concentrate on any of the artwork at all ....I had found my favourite piece!!

Monsieur the artist took some careful handling to get him to part with one of his props but it did come home with me and is being listed tonight.

Can you imagine it filled with mirror glass for a wonderful decorative looking glass or even used again as a window?

Sometimes treasures can be truffled when you least expect them!

A la prochaine mes belles
xxx

Celebrations at the chateau...............

New Years Eve was a wonderful affair - celebrated with some very good friends at a beautiful old farmhouse in a nearby village.

It was a black tie night and we were all perfectly suited and booted. One lady arrived wearing the most delicieux tiara that she had worn on her wedding day 50 years ago. It was such a twinkling confection that I couldn`t take my eyes off it all evening! How she managed to leave the building without me snaffling it I will never know!!

We celebrated both the French New Year and then the English New Year one hour later with Mark accompanying the singing of "Auld lang syne" on his violin. He had us all in hysterics as he had bought a vintage tailcoat for the occason which made him look like a " mad Maestro".

I was the non-drinking "chauffeuse" for the evening, eventually driving away from the party at 2.45am straight into a thick blanket of frost that made the Normandie countryside twinkle as the headlights caught the view. There was not another car on the 20 minute journey home; a very surreal and enchanting start to 2015.


New Years Day - and, after a lie in, we attended a New Year's Day breakfast with more friends at their gorgeous 16th century cottage. A delicieux feast of home-cooked delights accompanied with champagne.

 Later we all retired to the sitting room and sat in front of a roaring log fire drinking coffee and enjoying liquers. As normal stupidity kicked in and we decided that if anyone mentioned the word "Christmas" they would have to sit on the tiny antique child's chair positioned in the centre of the room and entertain us all with a song or ditty.
As the time wore on I think everyone of us forgot not to mention the fated word and we all ended up perched with our knees under our chins on that little seat!

Needless to say that on the evening of New Years Day we were slumped in a heap vowing never to eat again!

Yesterday morning I awoke early and thought we may as well finish the week off with a bang. I decided to cook a Chinese buffet and have a relaxed evening with friends. They were summonsed with the instructions of "no dressing up, wear your pyjamas if you like as it is a relaxed night".

The food went down very well (Thanks you Gok Wan for your cook book!) and Mark played quizmaster and games host.

We started with two teams for a traditional family game of "Tippit" which involves each team secretly passing a cork between them behind their backs and when the team is ready they all sit and place their closed fists on their knees. A chosen person from the opposing team has to guess who holds the cork by a process of elimination. I soon realised just how competitive we all are and things started to get lively.

The next game was a guessing word game; no miming allowed and as we had kept the same teams it got just a little more competitive.

Another guessing game later involving a timing buzzer that went off when it pleased, creating the most amazing sight that will stay with me forever. At 1am the winning team, all sensible adults ( well?!) were jumping, punching the air, dancing and shouting as they won their heat and ran around the room.
I laughed so much that my ribs hurt this morning and I shall never forget the moment when one of our team organised a coin toss to see who would go next by saying " Heads we win, tails you lose".  No one in the opposing team realised the trick -  and of course our team went first!!

We have all been very bleary eyed today and shall finish the festivities with a roast supper at another venue.

Monday is a day to start a Detox and a Diet - and GET BACK TO WORK!!!

I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas and New Year celebrations as much as we have  - and we wish you good health and happiness in 2015.

My listing will be back on Monday....let the truffling commence!
A la prochaine
xxx