the damp loot shoot

It is hard to convey just how damp it is in Normandy right now!  We seem to have had incessant rain for days or even weeks,  ....  I wanted to take some pictures of the pretty creeper covering so many houses in the valley at the moment, but conditions are not ideal so that will come later in the week

 

Anyway back to the loot.  Needless to say the fairs are tricky in this weather, and once I get home and dry myself off, I don't feel wildly enthusiastic about setting up a loot shoot somewhere in the garden, so today I shall simply show you shots of stuff I found today, and during the week on a foray into deepest normandy. 

.... I found a few more monogrammed teacloths, ....yeah I know ....

 I have loads already but these are quite lovely, with their red AS

 the sweetest glove box, lined in and out in a pretty 19th century cotton

a really charming and feminine chandelier, and these excellent tin plaques with MA written on

 and the most wonderful hat box, from Paris, but a store speciallising in hats for American and English clients - !!

some lovely tiny Sarreguemines coffee cups and a few more bits ....

I'm hoping to update my store very very soon, so all of this stuff will be available for sale

thank you for your patience :)

 and finally, Quick is out regularly despite the rain and is strengthening that leg, 

thank you for the emails asking after his convalescence.

resting and riding in the french countryside

The past fortnight has been extremely fun and extremely busy.   So when my last guests for the week left this morning I had no trouble refusing an invitation to ride with my daughter and a friend.  Those of you who ride will understand.  Get into that saddle and you just forget about your list of things to do, fatigue disappears and it's just you and the horse.

Some rather weird pictures I know, but I just popped a mini camera into a saddle bag, and clicked as we slowly padded our way along the beech tree lined alleys.  Chatting about nothing in particular, laughing at hopeless jokes, making extravagant plans  ...  girl talk.  I even attempted a video, but the screen moved around so much with the rhythm of the horse walking that it would have made you sea-sick!

 And finally for those of you who have been kind enough to ask about Quick's progress after his fracture.  The vet gave us a thumbs up yesterday, and his re-education will now start, with daily walks and one happy girl on his back!

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!

an eventful weekend and a loot shoot full of copper

 Well it was a busy and unexpectedly eventful weekend here.  There was good and bad, and there was also very very good and very very bad .........

 while I show you pictures of my loot shoot, I shall explain what happened ...

charming vintage clock

a beautiful painting

the cutest individual copper cake moulds

a huge rectangular copper pan

hotel silver butter dish and two tiny canisters bought by my friend

vintage canisters

shabby chic kitchen hooks

So  back to my weekend ...... first the lovely bits:

 a close friend came to stay for the weekend, 

the sun came out;

we had some favourite friends here for dinner on Saturday;

new and  delightful guests arrived in our cottage;

the fairs were not too bad

the not so good bits :

I didn't get enough sleep;

my girlfriend and I didn't find the time to set off with our easels 

and paint together as we had programmed;

I ate too much!

and the very very very bad bits:

young Quick, the newest member to our family, and who I have only briefly mentioned here, fractured a front leg on Friday, and although it isn't bad enough to pronounce him "lost", it does means keeping him practically immobile in a stable for about three months.    We are dreadfully sad, and full of regret although it was an unfortunate accident that could not have been foreseen.

Normally our horses live in a field, and are checked on each day, but being in a stable will mean at least twice daily cleaning out; food and water and generally a close eye kept on him ......  just when I was wondering what  to do with my spare time :)  ...... 

 I know that in the great plan of things, one horse's leg may seem trivial, but his injury is serving as a reminder of the importance of each one of us, and how our well-being, or the events in our life, affect our near and dear.

I hope that you enjoyed a safe, relaxing and happy weekend

Thank you for reading me!

letting it all hang out

There are days like this.

There are days like this when the grass needs cutting, when the garden needs weeding, when the dog's favourite rugby balls are all over the garden, when a pile of  stuff has accumulated at the front door just waiting to be put away and to top it all the horses have got loose.

There are days like this.

Its called family life, its called sorting priorities,

and these are often the days I like the best.

Wishing you a lovely weekend

thank you for reading me this week.

looking chic and riding high - a giveaway

Everyone knows how chic riding outfits can be, horsemanship is a theme so often you used in fashion and interior design.   Today I am delighted to offer you the opportunity to receive a copy of this beautiful French banner, used to illustrate an exhibition of feminine riding outfits through the years.

A dear reader of mine,  the fine  artist,  David Terry, is most generously offering to send, as a gift,  a JPEG copy of this picture to any of my readers who would like to download it and frame as  a print.

David found the poster in the very chic town of Senlis, just north of Paris.  He managed to procure several copies for himself and for friends who love to ride, and today he's happy to share the poster with you.   It can be printed out to its original size of 12" x 16" and looks fantastic framed.  If you would like David to send you the JPEG file by email, just get in touch with him here.

David's proposition came at an opportune moment as we have horses and horse riding gear on our minds here in Normandy.   Since I am no longer intrepid enough to ride my thoroughbred horse Jacquard, whose habit of getting me out of the saddle at the most unexpected moments began to take the pleasure out of a ride, we may have found a more well balanced horse to take his place.

This young and elegant Quick (that's his name!) was put through his paces by my daughter this weekend, and performed beautifully.  He didn't spook at noisy trucks, he was happy to jump tree trunks in the forest, and seemed totally zen about riding out alone, all the things that dear old Jacquard kicks up about.

I am off to ask David for my own copy of his poster, to inspire myself to look chic while riding high!

Thank you David, and best wishes to you all for a chic and happy week ahead.

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!