Brocante in my Garden?

That is what it looked like when I took the bags with the latest brocante finds ( Thursday ) from the car and emptied them out onto the garden table. Did I buy all that?  No wonder my purse was empty, lol. I did have a wonderful time though, haggling with the stall holders, having a good old natter and a laugh. And I did find so many beautiful little treasures. But see for yourself -

Original fashion magazine illustrations from the 1800s, beautifully framed -

Gorgeous casket, tiny boxes, lots of watch parts to play with -

Lovely quality, heavy, silverplate cutlery/flatware -

19th Century roller stamp and a bunch of pretty stamps to go with it -

The sweetest old tins -

A beautiful large Madonna statue -

The most delightful gilded bronze candleholder. The spike has dropped , but DH can fix it! -

Two antique brass and laquered wood office stamps, one says 'Professeur', sweet little benitier, and the prettiest fabric covered box -

Small coffee spoons, perfect for our larger sized espresso cups, and a couple of gorgeous hat and coat hooks -

Lace, lace, lace -

and more lace, yay -

I'll have to take photos of some of the most beautiful pieces some other time.

Very pretty vintage slip in the loveliest shade of pink.

And the coup de coeur,the most delicious find -

oh, it is so beautiful! Shimmering crystals, delightful shell pink milk glass cups and drops, fabulous gilt finish, that amazing crystal spike in the centre...

I'll have to show it to you properly when the weather improves and doesn't threaten rain showers every few minutes, as I'll have to hang it in the garden to photograph. In the meantime, I drool over it in the box ;-).

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that wonderful raspberry pink tagine, which has inspired a search for proper tagine recipes ( not the pressure cooker or oven dish kind ). You can just see it in this photo -

See why I am so behind with everything? Brocanting takes up a LOT of time. But what a wonderful way to spend time, eh?

Toodlepip xxx

Too much, too much !

I have lost the plot already, lol, and I thought I was going to be so organised whilst we are here in France. I had intended to photograph and list straight after every brocante, post as soon I had made or done something, blog at least every couple of days. Alas, I find myself miles behind and desperately trying to catch up once again. Sigh.

So, where to start? I was just looking at Petite Michelle Louise's Grey Dey Thursdey post, so lets start with a bit of GREY ;-). Here are a few recent brocante finds in glorious grey -

This lovely old lace might have started out as a steely blue. Maybe, difficult to tell. It has faded to a gorgeous grey/ivory and is so perfect for my craft projects -

I am so bad at keeping my promises. I know I said a few days ago that I would post photographs of more of those beautiful antique French clothes the next day. I failed miserably, of course. But as white goes very well with grey, I'll post some of the photos now.

This full length night gown really is the most amazing one I have come across. I am sure it must make you feel like Royalty wearing something so incredibly fine. This was the little teaser I posted -

and here it is -

I think while I am on a roll, I'll prepare another post and schedule it for tomorrow ;-).

Until then, thank you for visiting and toodlepip xxx

Playing with the Mademoiselle

I mentioned in yesterday's post that it was a very windy day. Beautifully sunny  and warm but VERY windy. And of course that was the day I decided to take photos of the stunning antique garments I had found at the brocante a little while ago. I was going to wait until I had time to launder them but I I had other stuff to do, and decided, what the heck, I'll photograph them anyway. So there, lol.

DH had brought my Mademoiselle down from the bedroom so that I could dress her and take photos in the garden. The bedroom wasn't light enough. This is my sweet Mademoiselle -

She usually wears this sexy little antique hand stitched top -

And today, she got to wear this absolutely gorgeous antique 19th Century underskirt as well -

A sweet little monogram, on the front, just under the waistband -

The details are incredible. The whitework embroidery is amazingly fine -

If I was taller and slimmer, I would wear this in a heartbeat as a summer skirt, all summer long. And probably in the winter as well, with a snowy white jumper and boots. Alas, I am somewhat vertically challenged, lol, so after I have had plenty of time to adore, touch, fondle and ooh and aaahh over this piece, I might have to let it go.

I think I will save the other pieces for tomorrow. I'll just show you a teeny little taster bit -

I'll link this post to BLISSFUL WHITES WEDNESDAY over at Becky's TIMEWASHED blog once her post is up. Until then, toodlepip xxx

Mirror

Over at the 'Our Beautiful Word' blog, this week's theme is MIRRORING. I thought this was a really fun prompt, and was looking forward to taking some photograph yesterday. Hah! It was very windy indeed, and there wasn't a mirror like surface to be had on any bit of water, lol. Not during the day today either, but it calmed right down around 7 this evening, so my darling husband drove me down to the lake in Cuzy so that I could jump out of the car whenever I saw I spot I liked and take a quick pic.

First, I tried a couple of pics on one side of the lake -

Had to be really quick to get this one, the van was driving fast! -

But I got much more excited once we drove round the lake and I was able to take pics of the other side -

It looked so pretty!

Why don't you have a look around your home or town and see whether you can spot any mirroring? Link your pics HERE so that we can all drool over them.

I have loads of beautiful brocante finds to photograph. I tried to make a start today. On the antique garments I had bought. I asked my DH to bring my beautiful mademoiselle down into the garden so that I could use her to show the clothes. Of course, as soon as I started, the wind came up and it took me ages to get any shots at all. A few choice words may have floated down to the valley as well, lol. But it was great to see the French tea towels I had managed to find, fluttering in the stiff breeze. I'll post those pics tomorrow hopefully.

For now, toodlepip, and thank you so much for visiting. xxx

Happy First of May and silver grey brocante finds for Grey Dey Thursdey

What a beautiful, fragrant French tradition, the giving of 'muguet', Lily of the Valley, on the 1st of May. Today is a bank holiday in France, Labour Day, and also the day when people give each other little bunches of 'muguet' as a good luck token. I can't give you real ones, but perhaps the images will do the same and bring you all good luck. 

Everywhere I looked today, there were bunches of Lily of the Valley for sale, and their scent in the air was so delightful. Where did I see them? At a brocante, of course! Which brings me neatly to the second part of the post, the Grey Dey Thursdey bit :-). 

I almost didn't make it. We got into the car at 7am, bright eyed and bushy tailed, lol, and............ it wouldn't start. Flat battery. ARRGGHHH. Now as you know we live in the deepest countryside, very little moves on a normal day, and on a bank holiday, well, just about nothing at all, lol. And you can't just knock on the nearest neighbours' door at 7am on a holiday, lol. So my poor darling husband stood in what passes for the main road near our house ( about as wide as a country lane, lol ) and waited for someone to drive by. And waited. And waited some more. And finally, somebody did drive by, and eventually, 2 hours after the planned start, we got going. Hurrah. But I did find a few lovely old things, so it was all worth it. I'll just show you the silver grey treasures though, so that I can link the post to Petite Michelle Louise's lovely GREY DEY THURSDEY linky party ;-) -

And I'll leave you with another little bunch of muguet -

Thank you all for your very kind comments on previous posts and of course for stopping by today. Toodlepip xxx