I feel quite sad right now. Tonight, my Etsy shop, which has given me so much pleasure over the last 6 years, will be suspended by Etsy for non compliance with their demands to change from a Paypal Only shop ( which still accepts all credit cards through PP without a PP account ) to one which accepts the Etsy Payments system. I really don't want to go into the whole story again, but I have my good reasons for not wanting to to accept an Etsy Payments system which had and still has many problems and security issues.
So what now after 1230 sales on Etsy? Eventually, when I get back to the UK, I will grovel, bribe and charm my boys to help me set up my own website. A new adventure, yay! In the meantime, I will try my very best to be much more active on here. I had prepared some new listings to be sent from France, a couple of days before Etsy sprung their 1 month notice of suspension on me, and I will post them on here within the next few days.
I am also going to have stern words with myself every day and make sure that I post every day - yikes! - on instagram ( lacroixrosion ) and on facebook ( Liz La Croix Rosion ), gulp. Well, I will try, thats for sure, however, the mind is willing but the flesh is weak, sigh. I hope that some of my lovely customers will start following me on IG and FB and keep in touch, hopefully they will get diverted to my About Page on Etsy which has all the relevant info on it, when they try to go to my (now suspended and showing empty ) shop.
It is not the end of the world, just the end of a lovely period in my life. But hey, I am in France, in our beautiful cottage on the hill, with my DH and our doggies, growing veggies, having aperos with friends, volunteering at the animal shelter and soaking up the beautiful atmosphere and wonderful views, thats what really matters to me.
Toodlepip xxx
As most of you know, our home in France is on a hilltop, in the middle of nowhere really, right in the heart of Charolais cow country. The region is famous for their Charolais beef, and our property is surrounded by fields usually full of those gorgeous white Charolais cows which belong to our closest neighbour, farmer Thierry. But a little while ago, a brown and white cow appeared amongst one of the herds, and I was pretty sure it was a milch cow.
This afternoon, Thierry and his son Corentin came to the gate with a lidded bucket for me. My first thought was, omg, they have been collecting big juicy snails after the rains and are going to offer some to me.......... You can imagine my relief when they told me that it was milk fresh from their new milch cow! I had to chuckle, he was practically supplying the whole neighbourhood because his cow was giving sooo much milk ( thats the fabulous fresh grass she nibbles on all day long :-) ). OK....... raw milk.......... what do I do? I knew it had to be pasteurised, but how? Thank goodness for the internet! I read a large number of articles and it turns out that making milk safe by pasteurising is not at all difficult. I didn't have a double boiler, so a smaller saucepan inside a larger one did the trick, and apart from that I just needed a thermometer, and the wine and beer making thermometer was fine for that.
I wanted to take pictures doing it, but didn't have enough hands, lolol, had to keep stirring with one hand and keeping the thermometer in the milk with the other hand, but somehow managed to take one with my phone, lol -
Bottled it after rapid cooling in icecold water in the sink, and just had some. OMG, it is so deliciously rich and creamy and shoobydoobydoo!
I love living in the countryside.
Toodlepip xxx
Is it because I am getting older that time seems to fly by so much quicker, is it the much more relaxed French lifestyle which keeps me away from the computer and blogging? How can it possibly be over a month again since I put up a blog post?
I should have posted the following photos ages ago, sigh. I received the swap ATCs from Kimberly's Springtime In Paris swap, and they left me speechless. All three of them are stunning, and the bookmark which Kimberly sent along as a gift from her is simply gorgeous ( and already in use in a 1859 French Magasin Pittoresque :-).
In no particular order, the first ATC is from Kimberly (ArtJoyStuff) herself -
The second one was made by Sylvia -
The third ATC is from Sherry -
I was blown away, not just by the ATCs themselves, but also the gorgeous packaging -
Kimberly really is a most thoughtful swap hostess and always sends along a beautiful, thoughful, theme related gift. This altered paper clip bookmark is so lovely! -
Thank you ladies, for making this swap such a joy to take part in!
Toodlepip xxx
