Here we are, back in France

My heart always beats a little faster when we get close to the cottage, mostly with joy of course at being back in our little corner of paradise on earth, but also with a tiny bit of trepidation, thinking, will the grass be a metre high again, will the tiny vegetable seedlings I so lovingly raised have keeled over and died because I wasn't there to nurture them, will I even find them amongst the weeds which surely will have outgrown everything else? 

The grass was still managable, we could still get to the front door without having to use a scythe, so after unleashing the dogs onto the unsuspecting wildlife ( crickets, birds, all manner of insect one could chase ) and quickly unpacking the car, I made my way down to the veggie patch. Oh boy, was I relieved when I saw that my little darlings had all survived and although they hadn't grown a great deal, they were doing well, yay. Not too many weeds either, hurrah! 

Of course I had to take a few photos, well quite a lot of photos, of the veggie patch, and of the lovely roses growing round the cottage, as they are just about the only flowers we do have in the (so-called) garden, lol. You'll be alright as long as you have a nice big cup of tea or coffee with you -

Last September, my friend Christine gave me some blackcurrants branches she had cut off her blackcurrants and said, just stick them in the ground as they are, you don't need to do anything, they should grow. Yeah right, I thought, sticks just stuck in the ground, can that really work? YES, it did work, it really did, see? -

They all survived and sprouted leaves, and some of them are even fruiting already! MAGIC.

Now onto the few flowers in my so-called garden, the roses and the few baskets and pots -

The petunias I had bought last time we were at the cottage, and my darling friend Christine looked after them and the hanging begonias for me while we were away. I was so happy to have some immediate colour in the garden after we had picked them up from her. The red geraniums I bought at the market on Friday, they shouldn't take too long to get nice and bushy.

Opposite the cottage is the bread oven -

and kind of in front of that is a tree stump with a brocante find urn planted with a red geranium -

The mock orange by the front gate is in full bloom and the scent is intoxicating -

Round the corner, to go to the back of the house, and the clematis has just about finished flowering, but even the seed heads are so pretty -

At the back of the house, where the kitchen window is, another rose, in the prettiest pink with a hint of peach -

and opposite that, growing along the fence by the lane is this almost white but with the tiniest hint of pink rose, sooooo delicate -

And of course I always have to have a few wild flowers in a French pitcher on the table outside the cottage -

We went to a couple of brocantes yesterday and I found some lovely new treasures. Some I want to hang on to, they are too big to ship anyway ( bedside table and a set of little drawers, so cute ), some to go into the shop. I fell in love with a box, which should go into the shop really but it is soooooooooooooooo beautiful, I want to keep it. Sigh, we'll see. I'll show you pics tomorrow if the weather is kind and stays dry so that I can take photos outside. You gonna love it just as much as I do, I am sure.

Enough waffling on, gotta get into my craftavan and craft a little. Until tomorrow, toodlepip xxx

I am a happy bunny

That is because I finally got my little mitts on some gorgeous velvet millinery flowers, woohoo! In god knows how many years of going to bootfairs and charity shops, I have never found a single old hat with lots of beautiful flowers on. NEVER.  I saw a couple once at a proper antiques fair, but at £45 each, way out of my price range. 

Yesterday, I was looking through my blog reading list, and came across a post by Angela, the English Romantic, where she was showing little velvet flowers she had embellished with beautiful embroidery. And she quite casually mentioned that she had those darling little velvet flowers for sale! Guess how quickly I sent her an email, lolol. Lightning ain't got nothing on me, girls!

Anyhoo, this darling girl not only put up with my overexcitedness, sent the flowers I had asked for straight away to arrive THE NEXT MORNING, but she also enclosed the sweetest gift. I'll show ya, shall I?

The flowers -

The sweetly packaged gift -

See, thats why I am a very happy bunny. Thank you so much, Angela!!!

I wrote this post yesterday, and scheduled it for today, because I had already done one post, and come on, two posts in one day from me would be just too much, right? Anyhoo, by the time you read this, we we will be driving through France on the way to our cottage.

Toodlepip xxx

XERXES I

We are rapidly approaching the end of the alphabet over on the Tag Tuesday blog, can you believe it? We are up to the letter X! My choice for this week's tag was XERXES I, King of Persia ( 519 - 465 BC ). I found a little engraving of Xerxes taking the Jewess Esther for his wife and hand coloured the two main figures. The background is a piece of Old Persian writing called XPa, which is  inscribed in the walls of the Gate of all nations, the main gate to the terrace on which the Persepolis palaces have been built. Because I imagined such a ceremony to be colourful and the clothes to be richly decorated with jewels and metallic threads, I used a couple of tiny pieces from an Indian sari fabric to hint at that -

Tonight's the night, girls! We are off to France for the summer. Wish I could take you with me. Well, in a way I do, of course, because we blog and email and skype. Still, you know..... wish you were there........

Toodlepip xxx

Giveaway Fabric Cuff is finally finished

Poor Doni, honestly, she is still waiting for the fabric cuff, which she won in my giveaway a little while ago. Long while ago, actually. But with all the health issues etc which had cropped up in the last few weeks, my muse had decided to abandon me, and has only just returned. The last couple of days have been a flurry of creativity, which I am really pleased about, and Doni's cuff is one of the things I have managed to finish. IF YOU ARE READING THIS, DONI, AND DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THE SURPRISE, DON'T GO ANY FURTHER!

So, not for Doni, but for the rest of you, here are the pics I took of the cuff I custom made for her. She had asked for creams and pinks, and lace of course, and I hope I got it right. I have also included a religious medal, because I am sure religion is important to her. I have used Swarovski crystals, mother-of-pearl pearls, beads, a big fat pink freshwater pearl, vintage French and English lace, velvet ribbon, all on 100 year old hand loomed French linen, French brocade and another snippet of French fabric, and of course some lace motifs-

My wrists are too skinny for this cuff, but it gives you an idea of what it will look like when worn -

Starting my packing now for next week's trip back to France. Thank you so much for stopping by, a big warm welcome to my lovely new followers, and a hug and a toodlepip to all of you ;-) xxx