buying French groceries

There is simply no comparison between buying your groceries in a supermarket and buying them fresh from an open air market - especially when the sun is shining, the air smells good and all the summer fruits are out on show.

I always return from the weekly market with a spring in my step - stimulated by the beautiful colours, the gentle bustle and the friendly banter between vendors and clients.

Clients dress nicely to go shopping, they often meet up with old friends, share a coffee on the market square, their overfilled baskets sitting at their feet.

In France, when you go to le marché, you know you will find good quality produce, fresh, often sold by the producer directly.  

For the vendors - who work hard on their farm all week -  it's a highlight too, not only do they make some money, they also interact with their clients and catch up on the latest news and gossip in town.

Freshly roasted chicken  yummmm!  soooo difficult to resist when you're already hungry for lunch!

I love the way that in the middle of the fruit and vegetables you'll find hats, baskets, saucepans and even fabric.

Clients are encouraged to taste, and often extra pieces of fruit, or bunches of parsley are added to the basket.  I know this is  a commercial gesture , but I always think the vendor looks like a n artist putting the finishing touch to a work of art, as he offers a lemon or a bunch of herbs.

So now you know one of my remedies for feeling lazy or energy-less
- a trip to a local market.  100% guaranteed result.

french, feminine and chic

With the change of seasons, my redecorating time of year is approaching and I'm looking for ideas at the moment, scouring magazines and blogs for interiors I like.

This one slowed me down.  I spent a long while looking at how the girl has achieved an interior that feels pared down although there are plenty of collector bits;  that feels feminine; that feels modern although the flat is early 19th century and there are plenty of brocante pieces used.

I'm loving the colour scheme, adore the bathroom - who wouldn't?! - admiring her use of huge Venetian mirrors and definitely envious of the lack of clutter... sigh ...

How comfortable would you be here?


PS.   Great excitement here today as the new computer arrived YAY!!  The handover however has not been totally seamless, and some people are having trouble leaving comments or sending me mails.  Please persevere, and if you need an urgent answer from me by mail, you could always message me on fb for safety!  Merci!

all photos thanks to journal de la maison

{ Using Yardsticks }

I can't wait to find a use for these around my home...

I got a great deal on dozens of them.

The only catch?

They are new, not vintage.

So I dirtied them up a bit to make

them a bit more "vintagey".

I think I can make it work.

I found some great inspiration pics 

on 

Pinterest.

{I finally joined}

Great stuff, right?

Not sure what I'll try first.

A Fun Little Contest and a Giveaway from Me to You!

So as you know, I am due with my third child, a baby boy, on September 6th.  Right now I am scheduled to have a repeat c-section on that day.  I had a regular delivery with my oldest, Savannah, and then an emergency c-section with Matilda due to her heart rate dipping and her face front presentation.

If I go into labor naturally prior to September 6th, I will attempt a VBAC (assuming everything looks good).  If not, we'll play it safe with our scheduled c-section. Things are kind of up in the air.  But I thought it might be fun to do a little guessing game with you guys if you feel like playing along.

Here I am at almost 39 weeks with my enormous belly.  I can't tell you how many people have asked if I am carrying twins.  Nope, only one baby in there and I always carry really far out in front.  My oldest daughter was born five days LATE with an induction due to preeclampsia and PUPPS.  She weighed 7 lbs. 15oz. and was 21 inches long.  Matilda was also a preeclampsia induction, but five days EARLY and weighed 7 lbs. 12oz and was 20.5 inches long.  So far with this pregnancy no signs of preeclampsia at all!

So I've let you know about my previous deliveries to give you a basis for your entry into the contest.  Here's how it will go.  Leave me one comment and let me know 3 things:
1) How much you think baby boy is going to weigh?
2) How long will he be? and for the tie-breaker........
3) What day and time you think he will be born (hour and minutes, please)? 

So I will pick the winner based on the person who gets the weight or closest too it, but if we have two people who picked the same weight, then I will use the length and if we still have a tie then I will use the date and time as the tie breaker.  Sound good?

Want to know what you are playing for........here's the prize - I'm going to let you choose two yards of fabric from my personal collection.  You can choose two full yards of one print, a yard each of two different prints, or a half yard each of four different prints.  I'll leave it up to you.  But these are all 100% designer cotton fabric and some of this fabric can be a little difficult to find lately.

Here are your choices:

These are all fabrics that I currently own by the bolt.  I may be selling some of this yardage off in the near future if I don't need it all for the shop......we'll see.  So if you aren't following along on Facebook, it might be a good idea to head over and join us to find out the latest from The Cottage Mama (click HERE to visit the facebook fan page).

**PLEASE NOTE: This contest is for The Cottage Home blog readers ONLY.  Why?  Because I love you guys and want this opportunity to be just for you.  You MUST be a follower, feed subscriber or email subscriber to enter.  If not, feel free to become a follower or subscriber and enter to win!**

And one last thing, I am writing this post on Sunday, August 28th and am pre-scheduling this post.  So who knows..........have I already had baby boy?  Probably not, but you never know!

yesterday's loot shoot and a small country town

Yesterday morning found me up early , driving through open fields as the  sun rose.  I wasn't alone, we have lovely Dutch guests in our cottage and Esther decided to come along for the ride and hopefully find some treasure of her own.

For once the best fair was in a small town.  I generally prefer to treasure hunt in fields, but with the recent rain, dry road offered its advantages.

I forgot to take pictures of the fair, these shots were in the quiet roads leading back to where our car was parked.

Pickings were fairly good and I think that Esther was happy with her share.  I let her snap up any linen we saw and helped her negotiate the prices.   She was particularly happy with the old baskets we found for her, and for the beautiful piece of sculpted wood.

I am in love with the old Provençal hat that I found, it's hanging on a wall downstairs, elegant and feminine.

Also pleased to find these balls of old linen string, the sweet inkwell and the turquoise siphon.

the metal moulds in this shot would have been used for cheese making, probably goats cheese in this shape.  Today they are fun for small plants, or for candles as the light shines through the holes onto the table around.

More little 'perigordine' glasses, but you know I love these for individual flowers on a table.

Maybe the most unusual piece I found was the patented copy binder, brought out for the Universal Exhibition of 1889, the same year as the Eiffel Tower.

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Special thoughts to any readers in the States affected by the hurricane, hope you're all safe.  Also special thoughts to those of you in Australia who are enjoying the first moments of Spring as we begin to pick up the scent of Autumn.

Have a good week!

I Would Like To Introduce You To Henry Strong

On August 25th we welcomed our son Henry Bihl Strong to the world. We have not stopped smiling since. The whole experience has been breathtaking and more than words could ever express.

Henry is Patrick's middle name and was his Grandfather's name. Bihl is my Mom's maiden name.

We have spent every day since just staring at this face...and thanking God for such a blessing.

Thank you all for all the e-mails, calls and comments. You don't know how much they have meant to me. I am so lucky to have such amazing and wonderful people in my life.

Baby Boy's Room: A Nautical Nursery

One week and counting until our little bundle is scheduled to arrive!  I thought I would share some pictures of the nautical themed nursery that we've put together for our special little guy.

My husband, Brett, painted the room.  Surprisingly, he let both girls help for about 10 minutes.  That was enough time for them to get covered in navy blue paint from head to toe - he is a brave, brave man (and a super-wonderful daddy).  Brett had already put up the chair-rail and crown molding when we did the girls nursery, but he painted the navy blue and tan that I picked out from Home Depot.  Both paint colors are Behr and they are in satin finish.

This room has always been our nursery, but it's taken on a whole new look now.  No more pastel pink and green, we've moved onto navy blue, tan and red.  I definitely think it shouts "boy"!  All of this furniture was already in the room from the girls and I'm really happy that we went with a honey colored wood because it works just right for a boy or a girl.

We had this little round table in the nursery before, but I just changed out the overlay.  I sewed a large square of fabric from Riley Blake's "All-Star" fabric line and kept the cream colored tablecloth that was already on the table.

I've always loved our glider.  I just love rocking and gliding with little ones.  Occasionally I still take one of the girls in this room when they need some mommy cuddle time.  Both of them still love the soothing motion of the glider.  If you are debating on whether or not you might want one for your nursery, go ahead and get it, it's well worth the money.  Ours has an ottoman that glides with it as well.  We ordered this one through target.com and it has held up really well.

The pillow on the glider was sent from my mom.  As I'm sure you know by now, she's always making special, handmade things for the kids.  She made this pillow and matching quilt for baby boy's nursery.  She named the quilt "Oceans of Love". 

Here are some more pictures of the "Oceans of Love" pillow and quilt made by Grandma Jane......

I love that my mom puts a label on every quilt.  The beautiful thing about quilting is that these things can be cherished forever; therefore, a label with a date makes this a true family heirloom that can be passed down.

My mom was inspired by a quilt she had seen on "Moda Bake Shop" but she adapted it to make it her own.  I think I need to get Grandma Jane on the blog to do some quilting tutorials, what do you think?  Don't know if she'd ever do it, but you never know.....hint, hint.

I added a bunch of different nautical accessories around the room that I really think pull the theme together.  I wanted to do some accessories that were nautical, but not necessarily "baby".

This distressed wooden flag is probably my favorite piece in the room.  It is screwed into the wall above the crib so it is nice a sturdy.

The sailing ships rug was something my in-laws had in their basement that they had never used.  It even still had the tags on it.  It must have been there just waiting for us to have this little guy.

These three pillows won't stay in the bed during our little guy's first year, but we usually keep our newborn in a bassinet in our room for a little while.  So for now, they just look cute in his crib.  The polka dot sheet is from Pottery Barn Kids.

The "Welcome Aboard" steering wheel as to be another favorite of mine in this nursery.

Now this poster does not exactly go along with the "nautical" theme, but it's my husbands favorite childhood book and he really wanted it in the room.  This shelf is right above the changing table.  I think the poster looks nice and the colors match just right!

"Dream" is a word that I hope my children always keep in the forefront of their minds.  I want them to always know that anything is possible if they put their minds to it.  Life is so much more exciting when you have big dreams.  Hopefully this sign will remind our little guy of this always.

I ordered these three art prints from Finny & Zook on Etsy.  I love to support etsy sellers if I can and I fell in love with this shop when I found them through my etsy search.  They offer many, many different prints and you can choose any color you would like to match your room or nursery.  There are many different images from A through Z as well as alphabet signs and different sayings.  

I purchased these prints and then found photo mats and frames at my local Michael's craft store.  All three prints are next to the large mirror on top of the dresser (didn't get any good pictures of the dresser).

Our little baby boy should be here soon and we can't wait to meet him!  

I hope he loves his room........I think he will, don't you?