Sunday 27 January 2013

Hello from France

We are still happily snuggled up in our little cottage in France. With the fire blazing, it is so cosy and I just love sitting in front of the fireplace, toasting my tootsies whilst doing a little bit of crocheting.

As I have mentioned before, there are no vide greniers or brocantes in our area at this time of the year, so to get my fix of old stuff, I had to go to the charity shop in Etang, which opens a couple of times a week for a few hours and is VERY expensive indeed. They got wise to the fact that all the Dutch tourists who love this area pay whatever price the shop puts on things. Grrr.

Didn't find very much, but a few things did come home with me. Amongst them was this wrecked bead tree thingy, which had lost its pot and was very sad looking -


But, I loved the glorious aqua colour of the tiny beads, and thought it would be a good idea to take it apart and use the separate 'branches' in collages. Me and my good ideas, lol. It took ages! Have you ever tried to unravel one of these? But it was worth it in the end, because I ended up with a bunch of gorgeous beaded leaves -



Pretty, aren't they?

I also found two quilted pillow covers, not very vintage, but oh so perfect for the cottage. They might have been part of a bedroom set, but I am using them on the settee, because they are so snuggly. Well, when I say 'I' am using them, I mean, the doggies are, because they sure know how to make themselves comfy ;-). I love the rose pattern, and the pieced border around the central panel, and even the back of the pillow covers is so pretty -







I have to leave the other bits and pieces for another day, the last couple of days have been very grey and dark again, there just isn't enough light coming in to take pics. Which brings me to the weather. Wintry, lol. We did have a couple of nice mornings though. A while ago, we had this lovely sunrise -


and a couple of days ago, after the snow had all but disappeared, we had a very hard frost overnight, which turned the world into a white, glittery and kind of spiky wonderland. Every tree, every blade of grass was covered in pristine white needles. It was a real delight taking the dogs for a walk first thing in the morning -





Every frozen puddle had to be investigated, -

jumped upon, -

and nibbled -

whilst I was admiring the beautiful countryside -




Brrr, cold! After that, it was quite wonderful to come back to a blazing fire and a cup of tea, lovingly prepared by my wonderful DH. 

I am delighted to welcome some new followers, I hope you stay for a while and enjoy the posts. I am very happy you found your way here. And of course a big thank you to all my 'oldies' for visiting, I appreciate you being here so much.

Toodlepip xxx


7 comments:

Jille said...

You have posted some lovely photos and your new cushions are gorgeous - lovely to see them being put to such good use!
Jille xx

softearthart said...

Lovely treasures,

cheers Marie

Createology said...

That certainly is spikey frost. Very cold indeed. Cozy fire and crocheting would be my preference. Creative Hearts are Happy Hearts...

Elizabethd said...

Gorgeous cushions, I would have snapped them up too!

Kimberly at ArtJoyStuff said...

Hello Liz,
The beaded branches were worth the effort, they are gorgeous, and definitely something I would have grabbed if I were lucky enough to come across them. I cannot say that I blame the puppies, those cushions are so lovely and inviting. Stay warm.
enJOY a lovely week,
Kimberly

Valerie-Jael said...

Have fun in France; it's been very cold here in Germany too! valerie

Robin said...

You did bring home some beautiful treasures, those beaded leaves are gorgeous! Stay warm and cozy dear Liz.

Hugs,
Robin