The Prince, the Duke and the candlestick maker......

This wonderful old handmade parchment document found it`s way to me this week.

Gorgeous old frothy edges parchment dated 1763.

It is a contract between a Prince who also holds endless other titles, a Duke who again is titled to the hilt and a lowly candlestick maker!!

Four pages of wonderful script with amazing signatures.

It looks as if the candlestick maker was renting a property from the Prince and the Duke.....how I would love the full story behind this treasure!

A la prochaine

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Spanish Omlette

I had a message from good some friends yesterday about a little rescue dog in Spain that needed help. 2 years old and going to the kill shelter as he had been abandoned. They wondered if he was for me.


One look at those ears and that was it!!

He is very gentle and gets on well with cats so all is looking good.

So......he starts his long journey to Normandie on Wednesday and will arrive on Friday along with another rescue dog coming to our friends.

He will live a life of luxury here at the chateau but we need a name. Any suggestions?

A la prochaine mes belles
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Paris..........

Truffling with Tartellette from Oregon at the Paris flea markets was just divine. Vibrant and bustling as usual.

Warm sunshine and hoards of treasures. What could be better?

Supper at Laduree....

Even the graffiti was good!!

Back home now listing my finds...

But I have had my Paris "fix" and it is always so nice to come back to the tranquillity of the chateau.

A la prochaine mes belles

xxx

Paris textile sample book....

This wonderful antique French textile sample book arrived on the shelf in my Etsy shop today. A rare find to truffle such a wonderful piece of textile history still intact...

A wonderful source of textile history that is brimming with swatches.

You will find the link to my Etsy store on the right.

A la prochaine mes belles
xxxx

Footloose and fancy free...........

We arrived at the brocante yesterday at 6am in lashing rain and a gale. Whilst waiting for the gates to open we hoped it would stop even just for an hour.

But no, it continued and as the gates opened we donned our waterproofs and joined the crowd. Within 10 minutes we were soaked to the skin. It was the kind of rain that runs off your waterproofs down your trouser legs and into your boots. To make it worse it was sooooo cold and when you get to that state there is no point stopping as you simply cannot get any wetter!!

Some brave brocanteurs unpacked and we bought some treasures despite the storm.

We found a very sweet armoire shaped trinket box and packed it in our bag.

Last night as we unpacked the days truffle haul we realised that the little armoire (which should have 3 legs on each side)  had a leg missing on the right hand side but still stood firmly. We decided that we would remove the matching leg on the left hand side and list it as a dolls house confection rather than a boudoir box.

This morning on the way to La Poste Mark made a confession.

He had been up earlier than me and had decided to remove the extra leg. As soon as he had sawed it off he realised.......

HE HAD CHOPPED OFF THE WRONG ONE!!!

But, not only did he not stop at that point, he continued to chop off the leg we had already agreed to cut off , so, now it has two legs on the right and just one on the left!!!

I laughed so much I could hardly catch my breath! He tried to fight his corner by saying he had saved the leg he had cut off in error so he could glue it back on.

He is not going to live this down and I am not sure if it is ever going to be destined for my Etsy shop as a timeworn armoire for a " Maison de poupee". I think it may have to appear at the odd dinner party at the appropriate moment.

All I can say is thank heavens Mark isn`t a surgeon..........

A la prochaine.....

The Ragondin Brothers.....

There are two old brothers that live in our village. One as thin as a willow stick with a black beret so fitted to his head that I think he must have been born wearing it. The other as stocky as a little barrel with mad grey hair sticking out of his woolly hat.

They live in a tumble down cottage that if you didn`t realise was theirs you would assume it was derelict. In the Winter a small plume of smoke from their chimney is the only indication that someone is there.

They ride a battered old war-time Mobylette. The kind that you have to peddle to get going and it sounds like a hairdryer. I once saw them driving across a ploughed field with them both clinging on for dear life as the mud clogged their wheels which was a sight to behold!

Sometimes after lunch on our way to La Poste we will pass them on the road. The thin one always drives and the stout one clings on at the back usually the worse for wear after a long lunch with a little vin rouge. They wear 1960s type crash hats with leather ear covers and we have always referred to them as "The Odd Couple".

We have noticed recently that any communal village jobs seem to be handed to them. Unblocking ditches, hedge cutting, repairing the church gates and more recently trying to control the Ragondin population on the marshland close to the village. So they have been re-named " The Ragondin Brothers".

Every morning at 5am we hear the moped coming down the lane , past our garden and on to the gloopy mud on the marsh. 

But today on the way to take our parcels we saw that they have had a great forward move in their business. They have added to their company fleet and were very proudly driving a very battered bright yellow van. They are so much like a French Del Boy and Rodney now!

Later in the afternoon they were chopping trees on the long driveway to the large chateau on the edge of the village. Business must be good for the Ragondin Brothers if they now have four wheels instead of two.

Who knows where they will be in a years time!!!

A la prochaine mes belles.....