Tuesday 30 March 2010



















Sorry - both tureens are sold!

A few weeks ago, I went to Angouleme antiques market and in the freezing cold, bought a box of the sweetest things - a collection of vintage toy cooking pots and china plates, dating probably around the 1950s.


You can check out the Ebay listings here - in the 'Toys' section - I will have lots more items listed over the next few days - but this is just a taster...


New lambs!




Aren't these just gorgeous? These are our latest additions, two new-born male lambs - with a rather apprehensive Mum looking on. She hasn't always been a good mother - last year she had a single and was OK but the first year, she had twin males and refused to have anything to do with them. We had to feed them by hand - luckily enough, we had a source of free cow's milk, so although it was hard work, the milk was free - in exchange for a box of persimmon fruit the following winter...

Tuesday 23 March 2010

My inspiration...















Friends often ask me what inspires me to be so interested in the French Chateau-chic look. Well, I couldn't go any further without mentioning a French magazine called 'Campagne & Decoration'. It is my decorating bible - chock full of wonderful interior ideas - rustic, elegant, so very French and always chic.
There are fabrics and vintage textiles, painted rustic furniture and pieces of art, collectors items, a wonderful brocante section, articles on restoration and artisans. I just love it and I'm sure you will too! I have a few to sell on my Ebay shop here - have a little peek- I don't charge for postage regardless of where in the world they go to!

SORRY BUT THESE COPIES ARE SOLD - MORE TO COME VERY SOON!

Monday 22 March 2010

Blessed are the cheesemakers.....

sorry but these pots are both sold - but I always have some in stock as I collect them!
These pots are whey drainers and you can use them to make cheese - or, more likely if you're like me, I use mine to hold garlic. The holes allow the air to circulate, and the garlic stays fresh...


If you do want to make cheese, it's easy peasy - you just put the rennet treated milk into the pot, put onto a plate or draining board and the liquid whey drips out leaving the cheese solids behind.


This sweet pot on the left has 3 little legs to help drainage but could also be used in a vintage kitchen for decor or by the sink to hold washed spoons etc - great for draining you see!

At the top, the paler pot is much bigger - it's a whopper actually - and the French being great collectors of vintage farming and country items would highly prize it - larger pots are becoming so rare to find nowadays.

You can find more details on both of these pots on my Etsy shop here - just clic on 'Kitchenalia' - both pots would make fabulous gifts for self-sufficiency friends, or just look great in a vintage kitchen...

Saturday 20 March 2010

Eggs, eggs, eggs - where's my basket?

sorry but this is sold
If I stand in my garden, I can hear the happy sound of my French neighbours ploughing up their vegetable plots - or potagers - trying to catch up on lost time - it has been a very long winter, quite the worst in the 8 years we have lived here.

And, as a bonus, my chickens have just started laying eggs again! You just can't have enough eggs, and you can't have enough baskets to put them in, and I just adore the metal baskets you get in France for collecting eggs, salad, tomatoes etc.

This lovely basket unusually has a yellow covering over the metal wire strands and the colour just sings out! It is SO mid 20th century, and so very French too...you can see it - and my other treasures - on my Etsy shop here
and clic on 'Kitchenalia'.

A friend has offered us more chickens - around another half dozen - and I am very grateful, as it gives me surplus eggs that I can offer to my lovely French neighbours in return for all their kindnesses - a bucket of huge potatoes and another of leeks... Soup anyone?


Friday 19 March 2010

Dry the dishes or not?



My dear Dad was a chef and wouldn't allow us to use tea-towels, or to the French, torchons, at home - at work, he had a bevy of sous-chefs to sort the drying-up for him!

I just love tea-towels, from Irish linen with kitsch jokes and holiday souvenirs, to the French torchon with red stripes and monograms.

I always have a few French torchons for sale and you can see them here - just clic on 'Vintage kitchen/dining'. I just love to mix and match the red stripe or checks - they never fail to cheer up a vintage or country kitchen...

SORRY, BUT ALL THESE TORCHONS ARE SOLD - MORE TO COME THOUGH!

Thursday 18 March 2010

Cuisine for kids...




Lunchtime is taken very seriously in France, and all kids take a napkin to school each day - cloth mind, not a throwaway paper tissue.

And, to put the napkins in, there were napkin cases: cloth envelopes lovingly embroidered by Mum or Grannie.

Some were beautifully and almost professionally worked and some, well frankly, a bit wonky...but I love them all and I have a couple for sale in my Ebay shop, together with loads of stuff from Limoges. You can see my shop here. Just clic on 'Vintage Kitchen/Dining'.

SORRY, BUT THE BIRD CASE IS SOLD

Wednesday 17 March 2010

New Stock



Hey - new stock has arrived! Limoges was great on Sunday - bought loads and loads and now trying to list everything on Etsy and Ebay.

Only managed 3 items today as the sun was shining at last...what about these drop dead gorgeous lampshades...in silk and velvet...And there are 6 of them - see them for sale here in my Ebay shop - just clic on 'Lampshades'.

SORRY, BUT I'M SOLD


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