My angel took flight............

My treasured gilded porcelain angel that has hung above the door to the cuisine decided to end it all today!! For some reason she took flight and hit the tiled floor with an enormous crash that had us all running to see what had happened!!!

She is smashed beyond help but she did leave her wings behind.

I love them!!! Merci Mademoiselle!! Every cloud and all that!!

Bon weekend mes belles.

The handcuffs are off!!

I find it SO hard to get back to work when the family have gone back home!

 Someone took the handcuffs off and now I don`t want to be captured again!

I want to "do lunch", go to the beach, be a tourist, go sightseeing, go to the chocolaterie and have hot chocolat and croissant amande and sunbathe in the garden. ( It is however raining at the moment but you know what I mean!!)

I don`t want to do the second world war museum again as I ended up sniffling at the touching letters sent by American soldiers stationed here in the war to their families and sweethearts back home in the US.  ( My blubbing was much to the amusement of my nieces!). When I read the letters of a soldier who didn`t make it home I had to go outside!!!

I am consoled that I have some delicieux pieces to list and shall wear the crown all day long as my last treat!

Can you please remind me to take it off before I answer the door to the postman? He already thinks I am a bizarre madame Anglaise!

A la prochaine mes belles
xxxx

Repettos brought to life..................

It has been a wonderful short break with the family on a long weekend visit. Yesterday the sun was scorching so there was nothing else for it but to pack a picnic basket and head for the beach.

My two nieces are both ballet dancers which was so evident as they elegantly tip toed their way through the shells on the beach to the waters edge!

The old faded pink Repetto ballet shoes hanging here on display were brought back to life when the girls stepped into them..............

So of course the girls came in useful to model some old theatre costumes I have recently truffled out!

 

 

 

This tailcoat is an amazing confection that has Louis IV written inside in old sepia ink!

Well they didn`t think they were going to visit without having to work did they?!!!

Back to work for me tomorrow with lots of new treasures to be listed.

A demain mes belles

xxxx

A little break...........

Just a little break for me whilst the family visit.

Here is Mark`s horse Madame Edith with Lydia. As usual Edith is first in line if there is any head scratching to be handed out. She is happily in retirement here with Docile my old mare who is now 21.

Doci and Edith the "girls" are inseparable and have spent today basking in our first day of sunshine in the orchard.

Both of them are utterly pampered.

Docile haughty as ever declined a photograph and left to scratch her derriere at the top of the field!! She was born in Paris and is an absolute "diva". In her younger days she was the lead girl in a team of four carriage horses and will not turn out for any photographer unless they come from Paris Vogue!!! 

A la prochaine mes belles
xxx

Another of the nine lives used up for the Baron............

My biggest fear for Charles le Baron is that he would ever injure his one good leg at the back. This is the one that takes all the weight of his back end.

Yesterday he dragged himself inside the chateau in terrible pain using the amputated stump leg with the good leg dragging behind him. We had no idea what had happened , there were no marks and the good leg was swollen and getting bigger.

We rushed him to the vets and she told us that if it was broken or fractured there wasn`t much hope for him as he couldn`t manage to be in plaster for 6 weeks and not be able to walk. There would be no way to support his back end.

We were told that they would x-ray him and do what they could and would ring us as soon as possible.

I have spent a long sleepless night worrying and expecting the worst.

This morning the phone rang early to say that there is no break or fracture and it would just be a matter of time and rest.

We have just arrived home with him and he came out of the cat basket walking normally as ever on his 3 legs!!! He ate his food and went outside to terrorise what he could find!!!

HONESTLY!!!!! I have been frantic all night long!

Thank heavens my boy is home!

Time-worn.............

I know nothing about clocks at all and tend to stay away from them for that reason. But sometimes one catches my eye and who cares whether it works or not!!

I would be happy to display this confection even if it never ticked again!

The gilded ribbon topped frames of the numbers are adorable

Time to get it listed before I keep it!!!

Aa prochaine mes belles
xxxx

Beating myself up...........

We have just arrived home from a wonderful weekend at a huge  brocante that once a year stretches for 5 kilometres through the woods.

We always start at 4.30am on the Saturday morning and no matter how many times you walk the 5 kms you find something you haven`t seen before.

The hotel was fabulous and the rain held off which was a miracle.

I would normally today be showing you all my latest treasures which are piled high and I absolutely adore them all.

But something happened that I absolutely cannot forgive myself for. I let something happen and I didn`t intervene and now I am beating myself up.

On the Sunday morning after the main day of the brocante  some new dealers arrive so we always have a slow walk up the length again just to check before we leave. Many dealers from the day before simply cover their stock with sheets and bed down in their vans for the next day.

At 7.30am we started to walk and it was Soooooo cold!! We arrived at a van where a family were unpacking and a small pale little girl in a summer dress was sat on a chair in the cold. I noticed her as she was about 4 years old and had a dummy ( comforter) in her mouth. I thought she was perhaps a little old for it but "hey ho" who am I to say?! I did think someone could have given her a sleeping bag or blanket though to cover her bare legs as it was so chilly.

I thought no more of it and continued.

On the way back down about an hour later, her father, a small wiry rough looking man, was unloading his stock onto a plastic sheet on the floor. The little girl walked across the sheet and he shouted loudly at her which caught my attention. He then picked her up and threw her so she skidded on her hands and knees onto the gravel.

I stopped dead and couldn`t believe what I had seen as did a few French couples. Initially I thought I had imagined it. He then went over to her dragged to her her feet, knelt down and yelled and yelled right in front of her face. Her knees were bleeding, he took no notice and he pointed to the van telling her to go and get in. She never cried one tear and just stood there pale and shaking.

No one said a word. Including me and now I cannot forgive myself. I don`t know if I could have found the French words quick enough - as if that matters.

It is easy to say after the event but why didn`t I go and stop him or at least tell him I had recorded it all on my phone and was off to tell the gendarmes.

Why didn`t some bigger guy  just pick him up throw him in gravel to see what it felt like?

Why didn`t I just knee him in the groin- you don`t need French words for that?

So, that little pale girl is stuck in my mind and I know I should have done something although I don`t know what.

Why on earth didn`t I do something?

A demain mes belles

xxx

Charles le Baron du Breuil

They know nothing! Nothing at all! They think I am just a semi feral three legged cat dumped in a ditch! Huh!

What do they know?! When they are not looking I am secretly researching my ancestry as I am sure that I am a descendant of one of Maire Antoinette`s cats.

Already I have discovered Great Great Aunt Mimi a famous court cat.

And Great auntie twice removed Mademoiselle La Souris

 

But best of all Monsieur Louis le Marquis de Vannes

 

 

When this becomes public they will have to treat me with the respect I deserve.

 

Until then................. I shall dream of my life to be.

 

 

 

A la prochaine & bonne weekend mes belles

xxxx

A new service?

As I sat replying to emails in the warm sunlight flowing into the cuisine this morning two chattering swallows flew in through the door.

Charles le Baron du Breuil thought his breakfast had arrived and panic followed! I pressed a quick " send" on my email and then rushed to open the windows.

The swallows were panicking and fluttering against the windows ( pooing as they went!!) and Charles was leaping like a lunatic with his claws out.

I managed to get them both out safely and went back to my emails ignoring the dirty looks from Charles!

Then I looked at what I had sent!

The email was a lady asking me if I posted items to the USA. I had replied " Yes, we WHIP internationally".

A new service perhaps?!!!

A la prochaine mes belles
xxxx

Time for chocolat..............

I adore chippy old distressed paintwork............

................and I adore chocolat............................

So what`s not to like?!!!

This divine old chocolaterie clock from the late 1800s/early 1900s is being listed in my auctions tonight.

A la prochaine mes belles
xxxxx