Friday 29 September 2017

Surprise!!!

Yep, its me, and it seems I have almost forgotten how to blog, lol, couldn't even remember how to do a post. 4 months. Bit of a long dry spell. Well, I blame it all on France :-). Seriously though, I never feel the urge to crank up the computer when I am at the cottage. Somehow cottage, countryside, peace and quiet, friends and good neighbours don't go together with computers.  But that doesn't mean I don't think of my dear dear internet friends all the time. You are always with me. Plus, the internet is slow at the best of times, and the last few weeks there, it was so excruciatingly slow, I gave up trying to upload photos to Artyah altogether.

Artyah. Well there you have something new. A fairly new marketplace I have opened a shop on. Two actually, one for my beloved eclectic French antique and vintage finds collected over many years ( https://www.artyah.com/seller/lacroixrosion ) and one just for lace, trims, buttons, fabrics etc (https://www.artyah.com/seller/thevintagefrenchsewingbasket ). Now that I am back in the UK, I will be listing more regularly, and as always, if there is anything you are looking for which you can't see listed, just ask, I might have it stashed away somewhere :-). I am transferring stock from my closed Etsy shop at the moment as well as listing new items.

This was the last Friday morning just before we left the cottage to return to the UK -

I did bring back a whole lot of things which I had been hoarding at the cottage, I'll be listing them over the next few weeks on Artyah and start showing them on my lululizinvintageland blog like I used to do. But I have to confess, these days I find it so much quicker and easier to take photos with the phone, post them on instagram, which also sticks them onto my Facebook page straight away. Works a treat, lol, and saves lots of time. ( I am under lacroixrosion on Instagram btw, in case you would like to follow me there :-) ).

I am having France withdrawal symptons at the moment. I miss being at the cottage so much. Our dogs do as well, they are so much happier there. And I miss the doggies at the shelter where we go twice a week. A few in particular, which we love so dearly. These are two very special dogs Andy and I work with -

Boulet 


Bumbotte

They are problem dogs, and we have taken a special interest in them. Boulet is a great big shaggy dog, the most loving dog you can imagine, but so used to the life in the shelter, that he thinks of it as his proper home. Adopted twice, once returned and once he returned himself, just turned up at the shelter gate one day. He is very scared of cars and therefore was almost impossible to take out for walks. People just didn't bother to take him out in the end. It took Andy a long time to built up the trust so that most of the time now he can get him to go out on walks and once he is out, he is soooo happy.

Bumbotte is my special case. She is incredibly shy, has never been walked as she won't budge, and it is impossible to touch her. Again, she is the sweetest dog, not a bad bone in her body, and I just can't bear to think what must have happened to her before she came to the shelter to make her so afraid and shy of humans. She and Boulet share a large run and get on so well. Nobody ever seemed to spend time with Bumbotte as she couldn't be walked, so I started spending time in her run, just being there. Eventually, she would take little tidbits occasionally, before hiding in her cubbyhole again. She spends most of her time in the cubbyhole, pressed into a corner. So I took the plunge and just sat in the cubbyhole with her. And slowly, she would let me touch her, and then cuddle her, and now, we snuggle up together in her corner, she eats from my hand and sometimes purrs like a cat when I stroke her and tickle her. I miss her so much, and I am so upset that she might think I have deserted her. We will be back in France in a month's time, and hopefully, we can pick up where we left of.

I brought back lots of butternut squash from our veggie batch, and just had a fabulous butternut squash, chick pea and carrot soup for lunch. Delicious. My DH has also found some great sounding butternut squash curry recipes, so that will be next.


I took tons of photos with the phone of course over the summer, of the 'fete de voisins', of the family visiting, of the veggie garden, our furbabies etc. and I want to put these on my blog and treat it like a diary again. Might take me a while though :-). 

Enough for one day though. I hope that some of my dear friends are still around in blogland. I will make some time to visit their blogs as well.
Take care and have a great weekend,
toodlepip xxx

6 comments:

Dorthe said...

Oh my dear Liz, so hard to leave part of your heart back in the shelter and in beautiful France . Your two favorite doggies sounds so lovely dogs, only carrying far to many awful memories , -some of the human race , should not be called humans !!! I hope they will both come running to greet you, when you return in a months , time !!

The butternut squash looks both beautiful, and yummy, and your soup, so wonderful.

Dear friend, thank you for returning to my blog, I have missed you ,Liz . Wishing you a happy weekend, back in UK, and all the best of luck with your new shop !!
Big hugs from Dorthe , xxx

Julia @ Vintage with Laces said...

Great to see you blogging again, dear Liz! If I'd be in France, I'd probably would spend a lot less time on the computer either. There are just so many better things to do.
You're so sweet to spend time with the poor shelter dogs. It's wonderful that you were able to connect with Bumbotte. What terrible experiences she must heve had with humans before. I'm sure she'll be very happy when you visit her again in October.
I wish you much success with your new online store. Hopefully the new platform will get lots of visitors.
Your butternut squash look wonderful. Please let me know how the curry recipes turn out.
Have a wonderful weekend, Lizzie!
xo Julia

Createology said...

Hello Dear. Welcome back to blogging and I hope you continue. So many people are abandoning blogging for IG and/or FB or whatever quick instant method available nowadays. I still prefer blogging as I feel it is more personal to connect with friends of similar creative likes. Lovely Autumn...<3

Jeanie said...

Glad to see you on blog again. Oh, your wonderful dog stories. I'm so grateful they have you and hope you can return very soon to connect with Bumbotte again. What strides you have made but I shudder to think of their earlier lives.

AppleApricot Wen said...

Liz!! You're here! Yay!! :) France is a very good excuse. You're forgiven ;) I hope you and the dogs feel at home again in the UK soon. Such sweet doggies are Bumbotte and Boulet, they will miss you dearly I'm afraid. And the squash, my, they look yummy! And so much autumn. How's the artyah going for you? Are you still happy with your move? Wishing you a beautiful day and sending you big hugs xx

suziqu's thread works said...

Dear Liz
So lovely to read this post and what struck me most was the part about the abandoned doggies at the Rescue Centre. I felt so sad reading the storeis about Boulet and Bumbotte! It is so wonderful that you are giving Bumbotte faith to trust and be happy once again crawling into her cubbyhole like that. I would have done the same!
I think you will just have to move to France full time some time in the near future as now these darling dogs will be missing you so much and you them.
Looking forward to seeing all your finds in Artyah as you list them!
Those squashes look so beautiful. That butternut squash, chick pea and carrot soup sounds gorgeous. Would love that recipe!!!
Look forward to reading about your family visiting you in France once again.
Sending love and thanks for sharing such a beautiful post. We need to chat soon my friend,
Suzy xox