France Post 5 - A Little Bit of Nature

So many of the blogs I am reading at the moment are in full Halloween mode, so hopefully this post won't scare too many of you, lol. It is all about SPIDERS! Hah, gotcha, lol. I can hear you going eeeeeek and noooooooo. Actually, it is not that bad, it is only about SPIDERWEBS. Because I love them. They are the most awesome things and have always fascinated me. We do get more than our fair share of spiders at the cottage. I don't mind them outside, even when I get covered in spider silk when I take the dogs out for a walk first thing in the mornings. They spin their walkways right across the little lane. In the house is a different matter though, spiders have to be removed as soon as they are spotted, lol. I really don't fancy the idea of a spider making merry in my hair when I am asleep. But still, overnight spiderwebs appear as if by magic, in a corner or between beams.

But back to the spiderwebs outside. The way they sparkle when the early morning sunlight touches the dew on them is just stunning, don't you think? -










On the ground, the webs are really dense, almost like a cloth -


and this just shows you that I wasn't kidding when I said we have rather more than our fair share, lol, a whole army of spiders must have been at work here overnight -


There, thats it, you can now breathe again, have a cup of tea or coffee and relax. Tomorrow I'll get on to the linens I brought back from France. So for now, have a happy week, toodlepip, xxx

France Post 4 - Paper Treasures

I did mention yesterday that I thought books are so precious that they deserve a post of their own. Well, I stuck a couple of other papery goodies in with them as well, thats alright, yes?

I have always loved books ever since my grandmother bought me my first little Pixi books when I was 5 years old. There are thousands of books in our house, in just about every room of the house. Old books have always fascinated me, the beautiful colour of the old paper, the fabulous illustrations, the amazing covers, the feel of the thick, rough, hand cut pages.... I love it all. I didn't find a great many old books which I could afford, but enough to keep me busy for a while, not exactly with reading ( my French really is not good enough for some of these ) but with scanning those wonderful illustrations.

So, without further ado, here they are -

Isn't the colour of this book cover just glorious? -

It has fabulous illustrations.

I can never resist the beautiful small religious books, this one from the end of the 19th Century, is particularly lovely, with the metal clasps and the gilded edges -

This is another religious book, a missel, just look how beautifully each and every page is decorated -


These two small volumes from 1893 may be somewhat tattered, but the illustrations are beautiful, showing glimpses of the life at the end of the 19th Century -


I also found this old music book, in a very bad state, so I won't feel too guilty taking pages out for collage projects ( or perhaps for a Yay-I-am-back-from-France giveaway, lol ) -

This "agenda", diary, from 1903 is fabulous on so many levels, it has great kind of ledger pages, diary pages and the gorgeous salmon coloured, errmm, other pages, lol. I think they are details of solicitors etc -


The next two books have the most gorgeous Art Nouveau covers, I just adore them. The illustrations inside are pretty darned good as well -


The back is just as pretty as the front-


Every chapter is headed with gorgeous images-

Love plates -

This 1954 diary made for really interesting reading -

I also found a few more of these great embroidery leaflets -

Some awesome 19th Century letters -

Postcards, cabinet cards and religious cards -

And the most precious find, this complete, in the case card game, Jeu de Tarot -

The illustrations are quite amazing.

Well, I have just about managed to unpack the largish box with the linens, I'll try and photograph them tomorrow or Monday. Tomorrow's post will be slightly different though, no vide greniers finds, just a bit of nature....

Toodlepip xxx