Countryside images

Our mantelpiece is rather calm at the moment (for me) but it seems to draw people to study the various images...

I asked Son 2 the other day: "Are you OK? Are you LISTENING to me?" (classic mother question...) He replied vaguely: "Yes, but I'm just looking at those badgers..."

Well yes, I think they are worth gazing at too! They're from an English book of nature through the months.

This French dressing-table mirror is my latest find, from the charity shop. It's sitting with a few other favourite French discoveries.

The little jug is also a September find - it has cows in a field on it. I guess I've grouped together various countryside scenes, French and English, and am rather pleased with the results. The large feather in the jug comes from a Spanish bird - Son 1 picked it up in the Picos de Europa last month.

Hmm, a peaceful, countryside display. Just what we need for la rentrée!

A trip into the past at the Christmas Market

This week is turning into one of 'those' weeks - ill son, impossible to find doctor's appointments, incontinent dog and broken washing machine... but I am going to talk about something LOVELY instead! I loaded these photos up at the weekend, after we'd been to the English Christmas Market run by the Toulouse Women's International Group (photo from the local newspaper). The market is always good, thanks to the huge selection of English-language books donated by the wider ex-pat community, so as always, I bought some entertaining mystery novels:In addition, this year I found a few children's books - Son 1 is a big fan of William and I'll probably read the other two before putting them on my teaching bookshelves.

Then there was a selection of what you might consider 'informative or improving' books:and two bought only for their iconic Penguin covers:"Surely that completes your '10€ a bag', Floss?" you might ask, but no!

Photos and text from London in 1956.

A free bookmark of the period hidden inside...And evocative photos of the people and the fashions.In 1956 my grandma was just a few years older than I am now, and wore clothes and hats a lot like the ones below.

So just when I thought my 10€ bag really was full, these came out of a box, one by one:Some Latin translations (he was pretty good, 31/40) and notes were tucked in the books.This one is far more exciting for the graffiti than for the lessons!

I wonder if anything came of the infatuation with Leslie? Great '60s lettering there...

And that was 10€s' worth of books, to be read, kept, given away or returned to the stall next year!

Over on the White Elephant stall, red stickers meant 1€ each, and I thought these mugs would replace a few chipped ones in our blue and white kitchen.

Blue sticker = 2€ - a good price for these little Japanese quails on their box. I need to do some research about the mark on the base:

I thought that was probably it from the White Elephant, until I rounded a corner and found, tucked behind some cardboxes, THIS:

A year's worth (2004) for 10€! Happy reading for me...

And then tucked IN the same cardboard box, vintage French china.

3 for 1€.

I pointed out that they should get the china out of the box and onto the front of the stall - I do hope that a few other vintage shoppers came by...In addition, I bought the wintery candle set, complete with display plate and glass whatsits, for 1€. It's very sweet, but it won't be able to stay where I put it on the piano, as it rattles when Son 2 plays! He must be rather heavy-handed...So that sweet little trip into vintage France and London, via grammar schools and pilgrimages, cost me 30€ (all for charity) and a lot of rummaging.And inside the little Westminster Abbey bookmark, the best thought of the day. After the fair, we went for lunch with good friends who live nearby. Thanks, friends nearby and far away - you are better even than a haul of vintage books and china and a year's set of Country Living!

The Grand Old Flag... and a visit!

Happy Fourth of July to our American friends! I lived in America as a small girl and enormously enjoyed the Bincentenial celebrations, although it was a little bit difficult being the only English child in a class of American 6 year-olds who all thought they might still be at war with the redcoats!As our home is increasingly decorated in red, white and blue (it all started with the Royal Wedding), I decided to make this week properly American, at least as much as I can. The excellent vintage history of the USA (in French, of course), is a good start. And I'll be posting more red, white and blue each day this week. If you'd like to join me, let me know in the comments and I'll put a link to your red, white and blue post in my sidebar for the week.
In other news, we celebrated my birthday yesterday, with a visit to a very special Festival at the Jardin des Martels - we went to the gardens last September for Ben's birthday and when I heard about this festival I decided there and then to hold off my birthday celebrations until July!
We travelled there in style, parking and picnicking near a little station which runs a miniature railway to the gardens. This meant that Son 1, still on crutches following a successful operation on his knee, got some entertainment even though he wasn't able to walk much round the gardens. Above you can see the two boys listening to the conductor giving a highly personalised history of the little railway!
The festival spirit was in evidence at the gardens...
But Son 2 and I still spotted some undisturbed wildlife...
Although it spotted us, too!
Son 1 found a shady place to sit and enjoy a view, and the rest of us wended our way down through winding paths to the focus of the festival...
... the lotus lake!
And here is a lotus, the star of the festival.
It was a beautiful day, and we're hoping to go again next year - and perhaps get a taste of the lotus cuisine next time!

Hazy Sunshine on Vintage Shelves...

For weeks now I've been taking photos of the shelves below our front windows - usually in the hazy sunshine of the late afternoon. The shelves themselves aren't vintage, it's the contents that qualify!

Two beautiful books...

... a hand-made wooden horse...
and a (fledgling) collection of vintage Lourdes souvenirs. I'm collecting the pictures of the church, not of Our Lady, as I'm not Catholic myself and I find the scenes more to my taste. Lourdes is not far from us - and I love those sheep!

Of course, it's rare to find our shelves without a few little additions of the adolescent boy variety...And over on the left, in fact all around the not-vintage speaker, is the pride of my current collection!

A 1920s tin with Basque dancers on it - aren't they great? They have some Breton cousins... (Elizabethd can correct me if I'm wrong)...

and some Normand ones too, if I'm right.Finally, here are some stylish dancers from a region of France I don't recognise. Are they Provençal, perhaps? I bet some clever reader can enlighten me.

I bought these tins over the winter at the all-year Flea Market. The seller wasn't a dealer - I'd never have afforded them if she'd charged their market value. But I did pay her a good price for them.

The hazy sunshine on my shelves seems to be telling me I was right to splash out for once!