turquoise for an autumn vignette

The day is fairly grey here and this morning I badly needed a shot of colour.  A quick tour of the garden revealed that very few blooms have survived our early frosts, so I knew that I'd have to rely on what I had to hand.

I quickly assembled some of my favourite objects in the house, painted trays, old and frayed books, a small oil painting and of course some jugs.

I don't know why jugs are so easy and such fun to collect, but people world over seem to assemble them on shelves, in groups, or on their table.  A jug can be mismatched, can be unique, it can even be chipped, it still holds its charm.

I tried to use some turquoise pieces to match the colours of the old books.

The simplest flowers: rusty hydrangeas and the very last dahlias and that is it.  My entrance hall looks a little more welcoming for the weekend.

Even Ghetto was willing to pose in the vignette, so it can't all be bad!

and on another note ....

new in the store today ...

teacloth runner

metal stencils

monogram plaques

a beautiful morning in our normandy valley

Stunning is the word that came to mind early this morning; the valley was shrouded in a light mist that augured well for a fine day ahead, a real treat at the end of October.

Shot up to the field early to feed the horses and the dogs had to agree with me that it was just lovely to be out and about enjoying that very special light at the beginning of the day.

Of course Gibson and Ghetto always come up with me, and tear around at breakneck speed .

  No prizes for guessing which one comes back first when I call them to go home  ....

 Couldn't resist asking them to pose in the sunshine this morning,

 but it was asking a lot ... especially of little Ghetto ...

"This is so-o-o tedious, she wants us to sit down again for another picture ... life is just too short for this sort of rubbish..."

"At least let's use the time to see what else is going on.  You look that way and I'll look my side..."

"So what did you see your side?"

 "OK, we've sat here long enough, don't say anything, just creep past her, she won't even notice ..."

.... sigh ....

Love it when the village is emerging from the mist like this;

 the same mist that highlights every detail on our path

 hope you have a sunny moment to enjoy today, thank you for reading me.

summer break and wet dogs

 We have been away for a few days in the south of france, and water has entered the lives of gibson and ghetto.  The former discovered swimming in mountain streams (big time!) and the latter the joys of fishing  ..... we didn't have the heart to tell him they were only goldfish ...

As from next week I'll have loads of images to share with you, along with simple ideas for summer entertaining ,  thank you for stopping by, and good luck to everyone in this week's giveaway!

PS  Gibson and Ghetto are both amazed to come home from their break and find themselves mentioned on one of their favourite blogs !!  Thank you Jeanne!

the adventures of young ghetto

Ghetto's life is just one long adventure - his days are quite exhausting.

Being rather a undisciplined  bold dog, he always has to be where the action is, and hates to think he may be missing out on something.  I have developed the habit of checking around my feet before closing the car door, because nine times out of ten, he'll have jumped in behind me

Gibson in true Golden Retriever style, is fairly respectful of house rules here.   Ghetto says he's never heard of rules, be they house or any other.

Which is why yesterday morning I was woken by something warm and wet on my neck, you guessed it. Ghetto had come upstairs, pushed open my bedroom door and decided it was time for everyone to be up and about.  My reaction was to groan and roll over which brought me nose to nose with Gibson.  The look in his eyes said "I do know I'm not meant to be here, but it was his idea, and I thought you might be pleased to see us both after all ... maybe?"

SIGH ....

So they got me out of bed early, which was not such a bad thing, they were fed and sent into the garden, but before long Ghetto was barking.

 I went outside to investigate and found him nose to bristle with a hedgehog.  I put him away once, but he went straight back and started kicking up a fuss again.  So the start to my day was yet further delayed, as - still in my jimjams -  I had to don gardening gloves and wellington boots, and crawl beneath a hedge to grab the hedgehog, then open our gate and cross the road to put him safe from wire-haired dogs.  I so hope nobody saw me !

In the afternoon, no doubt worried he might get bored, Ghetto managed to get himself shut inside the guest house, from where he tried to escape via ... the bedroom window!  

Can you see?    he even ventured out on to the roof and dislodged a tile AAARGH!

Hmmm.... life is going to feel pretty quiet around here, the day Ghetto goes back down to Nice!

Oh and by the way ..... August is going to be a month of giveaways on this little blog - one every Wednesday.  I already have three stunning gifts to be won, but there are five wednesdays in August!  If you have a really cool product that you would like to promote via a giveaway here, just send me an email and I'll see if I can fit you in!

antique french quilts and more news from the south

Thank you to everyone who left comments and sent me emails about the quilts I found yesterday.   I was so excited to find them, having looked for years.  And my excitement reached new levels this morning when my early start was rewarded with a third quilt!!   Thank you for your enthusiasm, it is lovely to be able to share these treasures with such an appreciative audience!

Here are some more pictures, taken in the grounds of our friends' beautiful home, and of course with the gorgeous Gatsby as model.

If you don't mind, I shall pepper the pictures with my answers to some of the questions I received yesterday.....

How come I don't usually find quilts like these in Normandy? Well, this is a speciality from Provence in the south of France, where they are called 'boutis'.  

How old are the quilts?   I believe that the quilts I found this weekend are between 90 and 130 years old.

Are they handmade? Yes , entirely handsewn and handquilted, the filling is wool.

Are they in perfect condition?  -  they differ quite a lot.  The red with gold flowers is very worn with some patches and holes;  the paler quilt with small red roses and mustard backing is in very good condition, it has a couple of small stains which I shall  deal with once home; and the red quilt with striped backing I found today is in remarkable condition.

Are they large?  - they are all a good size to cover a double bed

Will they all be available to buy?  -  Possibly, I'm still deciding which, if any, to keep for myself 

Is Gatsby really as cute as he looks in the photos?  -   No!!  In real life he is WAY CUTER, practically perfect actually; Gibson and Ghetto should start feeling worried!

Thank you for reading me, à demain mes amis!

dogs and more dogs and horses on sick leave

Have you noticed how sometimes life is going along swimmingly, at a good steady rhythm, without too many hitches or surprises, until one incy wincy detail throws it all haywire.

That's what happened this morning, to my regular, and very civilised Wednesday morning walk.

Come winter, come summer, rain or shine, I walk in the forest each Wednesday morning with my good and patient friend J, and her lovely black lab Rupert.  We stride through the forest at reasonably high speed, chatting and laughing, not noticing the time go by - only pausing now and again to yell after a dog (invariably mine!) gone AWOL.

These walks are one of the small and simple highlights of my week.

This morning, of course, we had young Ghetto in tow, and then another good friend turned up with a certain Elliott.

Et nous voilà avec 4 chiens!!!  

Suddenly we had 4 dogs!

Where shall I start?!

It was  a mess!

Ghetto, by way the smallest, could think of nothing else than getting on top of Elliott (I swear that pup will have certain small parts of him missing by the end of the summer!)

Gibson kept running away, and poor Elliott was rather traumatised by Ghetto's amorous intentions and wouldn't get out from under our feet.

Thank goodness that Rupert was there to raise the tone of the whole event.

Even Iris was amazed to see us walk past the field with so many dogs in tow!

Which reminds me: Quick had a visit from the vet yesterday and it is ALL GOOD NEWS!!  The bone is mending beautifully, the swelling is well reduced and we'll be starting some gentle walking on a lead rein before the end of the  month!  YAY!

Gibson and Ghetto get back together

 I.N.S.E.P.A.R.A.B.L.E - that is the only way to describe Gibson and Ghetto ever since the little monster came home last week!

As you can see from the pictures, Ghetto has gone for the hippy-look this season, with long unkempt dreadlocks, but we try not to talk about it, we'd hate to upset him.

Gibson is forever the patient, generous and understanding one, although now and again he does shoot me a look that says,

 "do I REALLY have to put up with this nonsense?"

or  

"doesn't he EVER slow down?!"

Only a few more days and the dynamo will be gone again, and the house
will feel strangely quieter..... and tidier!

Just saying.

the quiet time

There is a peaceful routine around taking care of our horses.  They are pretty low maintenance, I have neither the time nor the inclination to stable them, so they live up in a field behind the house, and in the winter they get to wear a blanket or two.

Not a day goes by however without going up to check on them, scratch an ear, make sure they have water and feed them with cereal or hay or both.

We have a pony and a horse, both good natured, but the pony is by far the brightest of the two.

Sometimes when the day is rushed I put off the moment to go to see them "I'll just do that first,",  "I'll finish this then go straight away" ...  but once I'm in my boots and out the  door with Gibson at my side, I inevitably wonder why I was stalling.  Come rain, sleet, sun or snow it is only pleasure.

If the sun is bright I may find them laying down and soaking up the heat, but otherwise they'll be heads down grazing, rarely more than 10 paces apart.

It is always the pon, who sees me first, and makes that soft snorting noise that says "oh, there she is, wonder what she's got for us".  The horse is always slower to react, but when he realises his pal may get to me before him he kick-starts with an energetic buck and canters over.

Iris checks my hands, my pockets, only interested in food; I swear that pony is a walking stomach.  Jacquard forgives me if I have no treats for him and hangs around to have his head scratched, putting his ears down to my shoulder level to allow me to get to the bits that really matter.

We can stand like that for a while, Iris walking around me saying "so when  are you going to feed us" and Jacquard with half shut eyes, drifting away into an ecstatic snooze and gradually leaning on my shoulder until his weight becomes uncomfortable.  While this is going on Gibson is nose to the ground, gleaning helpful information on any animals that went through the field in the night.

Recently a lovely guest to our cottage said to me "but what would you do here if you didn't have the blog to write?!",  I smiled thinking of the list of things that were awaiting my attention, but I didn't even attempt to explain that a few minutes scratching a horse's ear is one of the important moments in my day.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend; may you also have an ear to scratch and enjoy the simple  pleasure of quiet company.

And a quick PS for the kind readers who have asked for news of Ghetto ... the whirlwind returns, tomorrow for a week or so, so I'll be able to show you his latest tricks!