Scottish Wild Flower Mix

Four or five years ago my dad gave me some money to buy the boys a present from Scotland - along with a bit of shortbread I found them a packet of Scottish Wild Flower Seeds and well, that was a present which lasted!

We scattered them along Ben's rustic, 'dog-proof'' fence which separates Raja (in theory) from the veg garden, and one thing is sure, they've grown up so thickly each year that this is one part of the fence that she never breaks through (in her quest for cucumbers, in case you were wondering). This year the fennel is being kept company by a massive burst of foxgloves. I've even been able to transplant one little plant to the hedge in the front garden, and it seems to be happy there so far. If it manages to seed itself, we can expect another little patch of Scotland in two years' time!

We had a lovely long weekend (Pentecost gave us another holiday yesterday). How is your week going? Is it becoming steadily more red, white and blue?

Christmas in three countries

Happy 6th Day of Christmas, friends! I've set myself the challenge of recording our Christmas using three photos from each country - so here goes... We started Christmas week at home in France. Père Noël travels by horse and carriage here! The smoke is from a barbeque (of course).

The lights in our town are the most tasteful for kilometres around... and the church was lit up by wonderful fireworks from a storytelling event in the town centre.

More lights when we arrived in England - my parents in law regularly go to visit a local street which is decorated for charity at Christmas. This year they took me, Ben and the boys - it was incredible!The theme for this part of the holidays was family - we had a great meet-up with the cousins for a visit to Bristol aquarium.We also met up with some friends - I finally got to visit Niki at her shop Nostalgia at No. 1 - she and her lovely shop are all I had imagined and more! Later in the visit I met up with "Josie Crafter" and we had such a good, long chat about the homemade, happy life and our various children. Ben and I also took the boys over to visit his old schoolfriend Bill (no, I'm not making up that name-combo) and we had an enjoyable late night with him and his family.Finally we arrived in Edinburgh, at 8.15am on Christmas Eve. It was fantastic to see my dad doing well, and to decorate the beautiful Christmas tree he'd put up in his hallway.

There was a LOT of food preparation over the next two days. Ben and the boys decorated the Christmas cake I'd made back in October, using the pieces of marzipan wreath the boys had made with Ben's mum. Then Ben prepared most of the Christmas dinner, and later the boys and I worked hard to prepare a buffet for Boxing Day evening, when my sister and her husband arrived.Hard work in the kitchen was a lot of fun, shared out as it was, and we were well-rewarded with a fantastic Christmas meal and truly magical Boxing Day spread! It was a relaxed and happy family Christmas.

The festivities in Edinburgh are never complete without a trip to the Winter Wonderland fair. This year we went with Aunty and Uncle, and shared out the rides between adults and teenagers - Son 1 went up the Scott Monument with his uncle and I later braved the Big Wheel. I feel I've spent too long not doing things, and the Big Wheel was a good Thing to Do!

Thanks for all your Christmas wishes - I'm off to read some of your own Christmas posts now...

Annoucing a winner... and awards...

Drum roll, please... This lovely ideal of Scottish beauty, as imagined by a French photographer, has an announcement to make.... Out of 117 possible entries, a random number generator chose the number 78 from my excel list...

This means that the winner of my first, Franco-Scottish giveaway, is Olga, of the excellent blog 'Where are you, Olga?' The 'Scottish' lovely above is the extra vintage photo I said I'd add - she has some 'English' and 'Irish' friends on the same photo... So, Olga, congratulations and please email me your address, and I will get posting!However, Olga and everyone else should keep reading, because Melanie, of A Country Dream, has very kindly given me this award. Thanks so much, Melanie - you have a lovely blog yourself! I need to pass it on to 10 other blogs I think are lovely – only 10? That’s always the problem, when there are so many wonderful blogs and kind bloggers around…
But I have managed to narrow it down to 10, so here are some blogs I would recommend to all, each with a very charming and friendly blogger:
*
Olga, whose blog ‘Where are you, Olga?’ is an almost daily glimpse into an amazing part of the world or an inspirational art form. Olga is Polish and wonderfully well travelled! (I have to tell you I wrote this bit this morning, so I had no idea that you were going to be a double winner today, Olga!)
*
Fleur, from Marble Rose – what entertaining things she finds and makes! I’m also currently envying her piano stool…
*
Mandy, from Live, Laugh, Love – you can do all those things by following Mandy’s blog – it’s lovely to keep up with her family and her vintage news…
*
Stacey, at Polka Dot Daze (I like the pun in the title), who is an incredible crafter, making wonderful things for her charming children, and blogging about everything so sweetly.
*
Sarah who loves Red Gingham so much that her blog is both named after it and full of it! I love reading about her family and her crafting activities in New Zealand (Stacey is in New Zealand too – the world seems smaller through blogging!)
*
Lululiz, who can be found in Lalaland (!?) and has some seriously good vintage shopping finds at car boot sales. She also makes soap and has a cottage in France which she can’t currently visit… read her blog to find out more…
*
Julia at Vintage Heaven – just looking at her blog title pictures makes me smile; I don’t even have to get as far as the beautiful posts before I’m grinning…
*
Joe, at Josie-Mary, another really friendly blogger who you just feel at home with when you read about her crafting, shopping or life…
*
Beck, at Dandelion, who is a country-dwelling Australian who has taught me more that I ever thought I’d learn about organic garlic farming, and generally about living the Good Life, Australian style!
*
and last but by no means least:
*
Jeannette from Sans Soucis, who has one of the first blogs I ever read – it is a beautiful inspiration for calm vintage style (as opposed to my own) and has the added treat of letting you see everything written in Dutch as well as English, which is fun.
*

I realise that awards can be a burden as well as an honour, so if you have time you are asked to pass this award on to 10 more 'Lovely Blogs', but if you don't have time, please just relax and know that I think you really do have a lovely blog - surely that's all you need to know...

*
I am going to take a day off from the computer tomorrow (Wednesday) so if you find me sneaking a look at your blog and leaving a comment after this evening, tell me off!

'Auld Alliance' Giveaway

As I live in France and like to visit my parents who've moved to Scotland, I've been collecting a selection of French and Scottish goodies for my 100th post giveaway. Anyone from ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD is welcome to enter: The 'Auld Alliance' is the name given to the military, diplomatic and trading alliance between France and Scotland, which began in 1295. You can read more about it on websites here, here and here, if you're interested. Obviously, it was in the interests of Scotland and France to curtail the interests of my native England, so that was the basis of the alliance! Access to French wine was also much enjoyed by the Scottish. There is still an organisation of the name today, although the alliance was officially disbanded in the early 20th century:

Here is a glimpse of the lovely little things I've been collecting for you: they've been picked up on various outings which I've chronicled, on the whole, in my blog, so our lucky winner will be able to track back through my links and find out where most of the items came from.

Let's look at the Scottish bits and bobs first: my mother has donated this 1930s(?) clan tartan handkerchief from her collection, and I have added two sweet saltaire beads (that's the name of the Scottish flag) for you crafters, and a lovely little lavender bag lady in the Macgregor tartan, bought from the self-aid craft shop I visited in Edinburgh.
Now to the French connection: you may see the vintage-style apron I found in Veti Relais waiting for one of you here, in the background. In addition I'm giving away the vintage silk Pierre Cardin scarf from the braderie, some Ebay lace, a modern book of antique French samplers, with detailed embroidery patterns, three vintage children on coffee cards from a Vide Greniers, one of my latest fashion suppliments (1898), and a French craft magazine suppliment from precisely 110 years later, entitled '100% Récup' full of weird/wonderful craft ideas.I'm going to add in another vintage photo (wait and see) and some violet flavoured lollipops, a speciality of our area, in the assumption that our winner will be able to find some children to pass them on to!I've got three ways that you can be entered in the giveaway, so please feel free to go for all three; you'll triple your chances of winning...

Entry one: Leave a comment here on this post for me!

Entry two: All those who've signed up as followers to 'Troc, Broc and Recup' will automatically be entered, so please do click on the 'follow' button if you enjoy reading my blog.

Entry three: Please use my giveaway button at the top of this post on your blog, and link to me, or otherwise mention the giveaway on your blog. Make sure you let me know while commenting on this post, and then I'll follow you up and give you another entry into the giveaway.

So that could give you up to three chances to win - I do hope you like the look of the goodies and join in!

I'll keep the giveaway running until Tuesday May 19th (the first day I have enough free time!!!), and then I'll do a draw from all the entries and let you know our lucky winner. Best of luck - I look forward to hearing from you.

Shopping in Edinburgh!

Well, the pound is low against the euro, and Ben not only suggested, but actually REQUESTED that I go shopping whilst in the UK! It's been a tough assignment, but I made it...

I walked up Dundas Street from my parents' house, passing Emma Bridgwater on the way. I like her pottery but it's darn expensive, and I didn't fancy carrying it home on the plane. Instead I bought a string tin and an overtly patriotic tin tray for our entrance hall - what will the neighbours think?My next stop was more unpredictable - my dad wanted a draught excluder and I thought of this charitable craft shop.

It sells crafts made by local people in need - they become members of the self aid society and the shop then sells their crafts. I found a great draught excluder and a few Easter presents for the boys - I'll blog about them when the boys have received them! I was very impressed by the quality, variety and price of the crafts - well worth a look if you're in central Edinburgh.Then off down the lovely George Street, (so much more pleasant than Princes Street, which runs parallel) to: Oooooooh!

Oooooops!

I bought a lot. But not actually too much of an 'oops', because on my list for UK shopping were: a waterproof picnic mat that won't fall apart like the last two, a pair of waterproof slip-ons for the garden, a present for my sister-in-law... If you look closely, you will see that I actually managed all of that in CK, and for a pretty good price, too. And what fun I had... Just down the road to the noble Lakeland Limited, to see if they have any Easter Egg moulds...Nope, but I did get Ben some more jam labels - I think he may have run out by the time I get home! I resisted actually buying anything here: And here, but it was great!And took a well-deserved (?) break... Then off down Broughton Street, to a great independent shop I found last summer.

What a lovely necklace! And only £8!
Hurray for shopping in Scotland!

Tomorrow, I might just hit the charity shops. Or maybe the vintage shops in the Grassmarket. Or maybe I'll do some sewing. Tune in tomorrow to find out...

Off to Edinburgh!

My next post will be from the city of Edinburgh...

Capital city of Scotland...

Now the home of my parents!