A bad case of brocantitis!

I have quite a bad case of "brocantitis" at the moment -probably caused by the lack of truffling whilst I was trapped in the hospital.  There is of course only one cure.........a lazy wander around my local brocante!!

Could I find a spot for these wonderful ridge tiles on the chateau roof? No? - well what about these delicious terracotta tomettes floor tiles? No..... there are simply not enough.

Non, madame!.....stop it! Stop taking things home before you know you definitely need them!!!

But just look at the wonderful array of treasures around the corner..............

Just look at that tandem pour deux!

But then hiding away..............a huge old butchers block under a whole array of other items..............

A magnificent shabby chic treasure at least 8 feet long, its feet worn down from the scrubbed floor in the boucherie having been washed down every day...........

All of the old blocks need to be re-set.......so much work .....but I couldn`t walk away..............

 I have absolutely nowhere to put it but in my mind I can see it restored. Full of charm and a real special piece for any cuisine. I forced myself to walk away and didn't look back because a look back would have been it.....I`d have bought it.  But I realised that I would have been on a loser even if I had wanted it because I wouldn't have been able to get it through our cuisine door!

I tried to console myself with some old apple crates......

So.....  back at the chateau empty-handed. I am not sure if my brocantitis has been cured or if it has taken a turn for the worst!!!! Perhaps there is no hope for me at all!!!

A la prochaine mes belles.

Le Marquis de la Rochemballe and the rabbits!!!

Firstly many thanks mes belles for all the wonderful notes and good wishes I received. A particularly "grand merci" to Di at Yonks whose delicious blog is an absolute must see:    http://yonksnews.blogspot.com/.

 I did venture out and did just a little gentle truffling this morning after the nurse had been to change my dressings. I am usually up away by 6am on Sundays with my nose well and truly into a brocante - so waiting for Madame to pull into the drive at 8.30am seemed like an eternity! As soon as she had gone I was in the car and on the way!!!

I arrived at the "Place de Chateau" in a nearby town with the depressing feeling that most of the best treasures would have been scooped up by torchlight much earlier in the morning. But then I gave myself a kick as I have discovered that there is always a little sleeping treasure hiding on a table somewhere waiting to be discovered, whatever time you arrive.


There was of course no chance of me bending down to rummage about in boxes lying on the floor making me pay more attention to what was actually for sale on the tables! Leaving no stone unturned I sifted through a batch of old sepia photographs and found amongst them some divine handwritten letters from the late 1800s. I always have lots of people asking for old script for scrapbooking and various other projects, so I bought the batch without really looking what each letter said.


When I got home ( shattered I might add and yes, I know, you told me not to go!) I was amazed to find that one of the letters was the handwritten last will and testament of the Marquis de la Rochemballe - and it is such a wonderful insight into his life. I have not been able to translate the whole document word for word but did manage to understand the following bequests which he had made:

To the priest who I love and revere I leave my large organ (yes, it does say that!) and the  crucifix which belonged to my mother ;


To my noble friend Le Seigneur du Chatel I leave the zinc girouette weathervane that sits above my castle;


 Too bad for Barbarin as not much ( for him) , I can only leave him my big telescope. Perhaps with that he will see much clearer and will judge the people by their manner and behaviour;


My small dog to my kind Agnes;


To Daniel Lascochien I leave my little donkey to carry his loads.


To my dear brave friend Gervaise I leave an ounce of my goose fat (!! charming....what for I wonder!!)


To old Lepelletier, for transporting his hay I leave Le Gerfleur  (not sure what this was - a type of vehicle/name of a boat perhaps);


I leave to Gambillon my best pair of trousers  - and to his dear wife the "Bidet de Boulotte" (stuck on translating this but might be 'a small pony').

And then, to continue, to poor Robert I leave my wardrobe of clothes.


The Marquis then goes on to thank his lawyer for carrying out his wishes and the adds a "codicille" stating that  " I leave to you all the responsibilty for the destiny of my rabbits; I would want this to be done well."

I wonder who the Marquis and his family were, where was his chateau and is it still standing ? and I wonder whether Gambillon wore another mans best trousers and if the rabbits had a happy life?!!

Madame..... "je vous pique" !!

Well............... if there are four words I have come to hate within the last week or so they are written above!!! Heard  at 7am every morning for the last eight days - and immediately followed by having a huge injection into my thigh!!!  As you will have read from an earlier blog, I had gone into hospital to have my gallbladder removed.


What had been planned as a 2-day hospital stay actually turned out to be 9-day stay when it was discovered whilst I was 'on the table' that three stones with wanderlust had escaped from the gallbladder and had tripped off down into the unknown below;  and the resulting blockage certainly caused the pain I had been experiencing! What little pioneers they really were!!!


The day before I entered the hospital a good friend had told me there was no need to put myself through surgery at all; instead I could choose the self-help option and have a natural "gallbladder flush". From my research on the internet this apparently involved drinking copious amounts of olive oil mixed with a similar large quantities of apple and lemon juice. Somehow, surgery seemed a better option!!!


I had actually bought seven new pairs of pyjamas for my stay - just to be on the safe side and, as it turned out a good idea. Well, I do have my reputation to think of as well you know! So I duly set off very well coiffed, toenails painted beautifully - and my lady garden trimmed into the shape of a French bulldog to amuse the surgeon. ( I am joking about the last part actually!!!.................it was a Paris poodle.....no, that`s a lie too!!)


Within one hour of arriving  I had lost the nail polish, the bulldog had been forceably removed by a trainee nurse  - and I had had to wash myself from head to toe ( including my newly coiffed hair!) in a bright yellow antiseptic wash!!!


Whilst pacing the floor in my room waiting for my pre-med before being taken off to theatre (or "Le Bloc" as it was called)  I told Mark I wished I had actually drunk the olive oil. I did also consider knotting the bed sheets to climb out of that third floor window. I am that much a major  coward of the first order!!!!


So....eventually off I went (duly drugged up with my pre-op medication) - and woke up much, much later in a private recovery suite, vaguely hearing that the op had been more complicated than expected. I didn`t care at all at the time - and ran every emotion possible due to the anaesthetic which apparently involved tears, laughter and me hurling disgusting swear words like a fish wife at my family who were watching me!!!! I am of course not being allowed to forget that one!!


Recovery was SO boring - and if I hadn`t had a portable dvd kindly loaned to me by a friend I would have gone absolutely crazy. I have watched so many films you would not believe, and I have discovered that the dvds  sent by friends says an awful lot about them!!!  I adored "Girl with the pearl earring"...."Vanilla Sky"..(excuse me what was all that about?).....and I was caught by a nurse watching the cartoon "Bee Movie" out of total boredom!!! I did have a very nice fat ginger cat pass my window at 10pm each night - and really sad as it was he who was the highlight of my day!!

One night as I lay in my bed half drugged and half asleep Tartlette called from Oregon so I could help her decide if her bay window have linen sheet curtains or vintage muslin!!! She is not too big to go over my knee!!!!


SO here I am - 8 days later and home at last. Digger went loop the loop ( as I knew he would) when I got out of the car,  and is now refusing to leave my side at all. And I still have a very exciting pipe in my stomach with a plug sticking out which, I hope, shall be removed when I return to see the surgeon in a week's time. You know that man with the octopus face in Pirates of the Carribean? ...well it looks like that!!!

Digger is going to have to get used to seeing the nurse arrive here every morning for the next 8 days.


There is a big brocante this coming Sunday and I am going to try and creep out to it if Mark does not put a stop to my gallop. So............... if you want exciting finds next week don`t expect anything I found truffling on the floor;  it will only be 'waist high' treasures this weekend!


So the boxing ring is set .......... in the blue corner.... Simply Chateau............ and in the red corner...a nearby Sunday brocante.   Shake hands, no biting, no spitting, no pinching, no gouging - and no swearing ( though cannot guarantee this one after my time in the recovery room earlier in the week!), Queensbury rules, no kicking, no punching below the belt, snatching, poking or scratching!


LET THE BROCANTING BEGIN!!!!!


Nice to be back at the chateau, mes belles!!!

WHERE ARE YOU, MOM?

Mom....you said you would only be away for about 2 days...and here we are nearly a week later, and still no sign. I watch the gates every day waiting and hoping that you'll be in the car with Dad when he comes homes each night. Charlie and I are really looking forward to you coming home  - and we promise not to jump up on you until you are really well. Love Digger. 

IT IS REALLY GALLING TO BE OUT OF ACTION!!!!

Just to let you all know that I am still alive and kicking - but the kicking bit is likely to be a bit painful at the moment if I attempted it!!
Am currently hospitalised recovering from an OP  (I've never been away from my desk for so long!)  but normal service should resume middle of next week.
Why am I in hospital? Clue is in the heading!

L`AMOUR FRIVOLE..................

L`AMOUR FRIVOLE...............

You know what its like. You`ve shopped till you drop in all the couture and perfumerie magasins in Paris and I knew that it was a bad idea to wear those little, pale blue silk Madame Pompadour slippers with the ribbon bows - but they looked so divine with my new rose-trimmed gown.

  I couldn`t get a carriage home and had to walk all the way home through les jardins des Tuileries carrying that huge hat box with the latest ribbon bedecked coiff - and now my feet are really killing me! I was very careful not to drop my silk handkerchief as this would have been a sure sign to those promenading dandies that I was available!

I shall just loosen up these tight corset laces and have a little sit down in my boudoir to rest - and relax as I close my eyes.

And what happens as soon as you drift off into a gentle slumber ? Well........some dandy has followed you home and climbs through your window.... he carefully lifts your shawl with his walking cane - all to catch a glimpse of what lies below your corsets!

I say "wake up madamoiselle"!!!! Take that cane and thrash him to within an inch of his life!!!!!

Fine dining with a petite French pug!!

Oui..............it is still raining!!! How long can it go on for? I have curtains to photograph and cannot risk putting them above the doorway as the minute I get them in place it will just hound it down again! NO more......please!!!!

Being trapped indoors has given me time to look all through the boxes of treasures I have been hiding ready for listing and I forgot I had brought this old menu card home some time ago. Dated June 1922 it is marked with age but I love it now as much as the day I found it!!! It reminds me of Jo at  "Hestanesta"..........................

http://hestanesta.blogspot.com/

Is that you Jo? If so can I borrow your hat?!!!

A demain mes belles....hopefully with no rain and those delicious faded florals I have will get photographed at last!!

Bonjour!!

I came down into the cuisine early this morning. Mainly because it seemed to be the first day for weeks that it has not been lashing rain! The cuisine has been opened up ready for the new extension and "mais oui" there is a huge hole in the wall now which is currently being covered over by a piece of plasterboard to stop the swallows flitting in and out of the main house!!

When I saw the orange light coming over the top of the doorway I assumed that the lights had been left on and moved the boards away to go and switch them off....................

But no...................it was the early morning light and the whole room was golden........

I shall be so glad when its finished.....it`s going to be wonderful!
Whilst the light was so good I took the chance to carry my old mannequin outside to photograph the amazing 1920s satin bejewelled gown I found last weekend.

It is a gorgeous hand made confection with amazing jewelled detailing.................................

and a delicious full train....................

I wonder which lucky madamoiselle it was made for? It came with some other amazing antique clothing and the most exquisite hand worked marriage shawl I have ever seen. I was just about to photograph it and guess what? The heavens opened again and the rain has lashed all day!

Oh well.....it was nice while it lasted!

Hello Sailor!!!!

It`s amazing what you find when you are out and about truffling for treasures.............

Hold on a minute....who`s this strolling down the boulevard?

Well........Bonjour sailor!!!!

A la prochaine mes belles!

Totally shabby chic and totally delicious!!!

I was over the moon to find this child mannequin yesterday. Dating from the 1850s it had been laid on its back in a grenier attic until the house was cleared a few weeks ago.

It was those little buttoned wooden boots that did it and I couldn`t leave without him!

The dilemma was to try and tidy him, strip off all the distressed fabric or to leave him as I found him. I know I would display him just as he is so I waxed his boots and I`ll let someone else decide.

Absolutely adorable!

Bon weekend mes belles!