What a day

For the first time in weeks we are having a dry day. Yep, it is after 4pm and not a drop of rain in sight, woohoo! So I got out into the garden, ermmm,  field is definitely a better word for it though. Digging  away in a field full of nettles, weeds and grass is darned hard work! But I managed to clear a small strip for planting. Eventually. When we'll actually get some sunshine. Because although it is dry today, the sun is still hiding behind grey clouds.

But on to rosier things, lol. As it is PINK SATURDAY today over at the wonderful How Sweet the Sound blog, I took some quick pics of beautiful pink blossoms on a small but rather old and mossy tree. I have no idea what sort of tree it is, the blossom looks like apple blossom, but I can't recall ever seeing any fruit on this thing, lol.

Anyhoo, here are the pics -

I cut a few of the tiny moss covered branches and took them over to my craftavan -

Ahh, a few blossoms make it look even cosier and homely.

A few days ago, the day started really beautifully. The dogs got me up early, so we went to watch the sunrise in the garden. It was quite dramatic -

This was very early on, I couldn't make out any details really

slowly the colours got more intense

 until the sky finally turned a beautiful blue

and details of the beautiful landscape slowly appeared

needless to say,  that didn't last very long and soon after it clouded over and the rain set in again. 

The next day when we went out of the front door, this view greeted us, although view is probably the wrong word, cos there was nothing to view except solid greyness -

Yep, the world had disappeared again, and we were in the ( low flying ) clouds, lol.

Have a wonderful weekend everybody, and if you like pink, check out the PINK SATURDAY links at How Sweet the Sound.

Ah, before I go, can I ask if there is anybody out there who is a wizz with Adobe Photoshop CS5 Ext problems? I seem to have a really weird prob and would love to be able to talk to somebody about it. Help!!!

Toodlepip xxx

More photos from the last brocante

I am suffering from withdrawal symptoms. It has been raining here in our part of France for so long, there hasn't been a vide grenier/brocante for two weeks! And the outlook for this weekend isn't much better either.


Here are some more pics of bits and pieces which I had found at vide greniers at the beginning of the month -


A beautiful very old sauce boat, made by Sarreguemines -

A very sweet little sequined purse, handmade in about the 1930s, silk lined -

I adore the taupe colour of the sequins, so elegant.


A set of twelve cake forks with, I believe, Bakerlite handles, and a gorgeous Art Deco design on the collars-

A rare and very beautiful old Digoin cafe au lait bowl -

A 19th Century flat iron, which somebody had painted in a delicious shade of blue-

A chauffeuse, the19th century equivalent of our hot water bottles. They were kept in/on the stove or in the bread oven to heat up and would then be placed in bed on cold winter nights to warm the sheets-

A miniature Limoges plate with beautiful gold decoration -

And this tiny little round red box -

 I would have bought it just for the sweet little box itself, but it also had something inside -

This lovely old pendant -

Thats it for today.Toodlepip xxx

This week's tag and inchie challenges

" Makeup " was the inchie challenge for this week. Oh heck, I don't wear makeup very often, so I wasn't going to get much inspiration from my dressing table, bathroom cabinet or my teeny little almost empty makeup bag. But then I thought, hey, clowns were lots of makeup! And that was it, I started searching for a clown image, because I still don't have any colouring pens here, lol. Found one in a French magazine, a tiny pic, perfect for an inchie -

The second photo shows the inchie on an old postcard with a young lad in a clown's costume, and the third one  shows the inchie on the Larousse dictionary page I used to cut the word clown out of.

You can see more "Makeup " inchies here - http://everyinchiemonday2012.blogspot.fr/2012/04/inchie-makeup.html

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" PURPLE " was the challenge at this week's Tag Tuesday blog. I had an image of purple flowers in my image stash and I had purple bling in my sparkly gem stash! What more could I possibly need, lol. Well, lace. didn't have purple lace so I used purple ink pads to colour some French lace and a bit of muslin. Purple background came from a French magazine, i think it was a photo of a room with purple wallpaper.

There are so many gorgeous PURPLE tags on the Tag Tuesday blog, do have a look -
http://tagtuesday.blogspot.com.


If the weather is so bad again tomorrow that I can't dig the veggie patch, then I'll post pics of some more brocante finds for you. Until then, toodlepip and thank you so much for visiting. xxx

Crazy April weather in France

When we arrived at the cottage at the beginning of the month, it was so sunny and warm, 20/21C. Very pleasant. So we spent a few days visiting friends, being visited, shopping, walking, playing with the dogs etc. Eventually, my wonderful DH got all the tools and bits he needed to start fixing the central heating system. With our dear friend Francks help broken copper pipes were replaced, not an easy job in a cottage with field stone walls half a metre thick, lol. The pipes didn't run straight, because some granite stones were just too tough to get through, so were all bent and VERY difficult to get out and to replace. But those wonderful guys did it. Radiators were replaced, and eventually we had a working central heating system again. YAY! Just as well, because about ten days or so ago, it turned cold. And wet. And very windy.Typical April weather, one minute sunshine, the next rain,changing all day long. So we couldn't really do anything in the garden, because as soon as we took the garden tools out, it would bucket down again. Since then I have tried to get some photos taken every time there was a bit of a break in the rain storms.


When we arrived, the hawthorn was in full bloom. Doesn't it look like they are covered in snow?

The forsythia added some beautiful Spring colour to the front 

and the deep pink of the ornamental currant was delightful

About ten days ago, just before it turned horridly dank and cold, I bought a few little plants, flowers and herbs, for the garden pots - 

it was such a pleasure to plant up the various old zinc, enamel and terracotta pots I had in the barn.

The currants, white, red and black are all doing well and fruiting already -

The hazelnut at the front is going nuts

The rhubarb is getting soooooooo big, I can feel a rhubarb crumble coming on

and the lilac is almost ready as well

I know I show you pics of the Wisteria every year, but I just can't help myself, it is such a beautiful colour, you'll have to put up with another batch if Wisteria pics again -

It will still be a little while before the leaves are all grown properly and all the flowers are open.


Now, this is the view out of my kitchen window, looking straight down the lane going past our cottage

and sideways over the fields down the hill

On a fairly normal day. But as I was sitting here preparing this post, there was a break in the  rain and some much appreciated sunshine lit up the fields next to us. It looked so dramatic, the bright green of the new leaves on the oak tree, the fresh greens of the fields all lit up, and the VERY dark clouds in the background. I had to take a couple of pics quickly to show you -

by now the sunshine is gone again, of course, and the rain has set in again.


Before we left for France, I received a beautiful new mermaid made by my wonderful friend Dorthe. Of course she had to come to France with me, so that she could visit her family here. So now, three of Dorthe's little beauties live in the bathroom -


This is the new addition to the family, Viola -

The older sisterAlexa

and their guardian sea angel, Angelina -

Gosh, this turned into a very long post, I hope I haven't sent you to sleep. There is so much blogging I have to catch up on though. Tomorrow I'll post pics of this week's inchie and tag challenges, and the day after lots of pics of more brocante finds!!I spent all day today editing pics, so they are ready to go and doing the posts shouldn't take too long.


Until then, toodlepip and big French hugs, xxx