Stupid, stupid, stupid...

I don't know what it is about the French government, but it seems to want to shoot itself - and everyone in France - in the foot - I am ripping my hair out with all the frustration of it all.

895,000 people have signed up for the 'Auto-entrepreneur' scheme - a scheme for the smallest, littlest, itsy-bitsy businesses.  It was designed to get people off the 'chomage', or unemployment, and to stop people working on the black ie paying no taxes.  It was also to help students and pensioners earn a little extra without having to start up proper companies with all the paperwork and money up-front that entailled..

It seemed to be working well.  But, as all things in France, when someone thinks someone else is getting a better deal, the complaints started rolling in from artisans such as builders, decorators etc as they considered these new upstart entrepreneurs were not paying their way in health and tax charges.

So, the socialist government are going to limit an auto-entrepreneur to two years on the scheme, after which the heavier business scheme kicks in, or a limit of $15,000 pa turnover if the entrepreneur has another form of income ie a paid job or pension.

I guess a large percentage of the auto-entrepreneurs will just close down and go back on the dole - I can't afford the 5 or 6 thousand euros virtual up-front fees so I will close my business down and go on the dole too.  OH will close his business and retire.

I am so angry - such stupidity!  In this day and age, where jobs are as rare as hens' teeth - who is going to employ two old British-ex pat codgers like us?  Who is going to employ the hundreds of thousands of ex-auto-entrepreneurs or will they go back on the dole?  And if they do go back on the dole, where is the money going to come from to pay for it?  And can the French government afford to lose the taxes and social charges that the auto-entrepreneurs are currently paying into the treasury?

I've talked to other auto-entrepreneurs and they think that in the business world, the French government is just a laughing stock and I agree - it could not govern its way out of a paper bag.

Some boxes for sale

I just love boxes - can't resist them!  So useful and pretty - perfect for storing the obvious such as hats, but for small precious objects too.

My favourite is the little green stamp box, but I also like the box with the mauve Limoges porcelain vignette - she's very elegant!

Nice little raffia and straw sewing box - now sold

a perfect starter sewing box for a child - it comes with all these bits and bobs, just as I found it.

A souvenir of Toulouse - once contained the famous Violettes de Toulouse scented goodies such as talcum powder and eau-de-parfum
Box now sold

 

This has a label on the top to send to a friend by post

This is a hat box, but the label has a furrier's name so I wonder if it was a fur hat that was stored here - especially for the summer, as the label suggests - now sold

It once was a brighter green but has faded with the passage of time...

This is a lidded box, again to hold a souvenir and this time from Cognac.  My guess is Cognac-filled chocolates - chocolate AND booze - nice combo! - now sold
 

It has a Limoges porcelain plaque of a very elegant Madame on the front

and my favourite, this little stamp box, with two compartments - now sold.

You can see more details here for all the items, except the green stamp box, which is here.

Have a good end-of-the-week!

 

Night attire for sale

I thought I would show a few of my favourite things I have for sale right now - night attire!  I just can't resist them - all French, and very different.

Lovely large red monogram of 'LD', decorated with flowers too
nightshirt now sold
 

made from heavy linen, long sleeves, dating from around 1880
 

This man's shirt has a fine cotton collar added - for comfort, as old knobbly linen - chanvre - was very scratchy, and was uncomfortable for the poor, sensitive farmers to wear - they used to get their workmen to wear their shirts in first!
shirt now sold

This shirt has additions and repairs - a little history in a piece of textile...
shirt now sold
 

Now, quite different, is this satin slip, in salmon, unworn old stock.
slip now sold

A pretty scalloped edge and a little machine embroidery

two little pleats on the skirt, and a scalloped edge again

It comes in the original box and information sheet insert, dating from mid-late 20thc

This is an older slip - in heavy satin, with frothy cream lace added at the front hem
slip now sold.

It has rather pretty lace on the bust, and the slip dates from mid 20thc; this has been worn, but it is in good condition for the age
 

It came in this pretty box, which is included.

All these items are on auction this week on my Ebay page - here is the link for more information.

Have a good weekend!

Saga of the roadworks

On the left is our barn.  The diggers have removed the road surface and dug down, exposing the little foundations of the barn.  Gulp 

This is the neighbour's wall which has collapsed - the diggers went too far...

This is the front of our barn doors - hope nothing collapses here...

Well, the work outside our house goes on, and on, and on...  The noise starts at 8am stops at 12 for lunch, of course, then starts again at 2pm until around 7pm.  The diggers make our windows 'buzz'.  There is thick white dust which gets into everything, puddles of mud when it rains.

Our neighbour's garden wall collapsed yesterday and there is now a wrangle with the Mayor and the commune about who is going to pay for it to be repaired.  We all think that the company doing the work should be insured and pay for it, as their digger undermined the ground under the wall.  The Mayor refuses and says that our neighbour's have to pay as the wall was not in good condition to start off.

Incredible!

The saga continues... 

Hole in the ground, so big and sorta round...

Here is the hole that appeared a week or so ago, in the road outside our gates.  It's about a metre deep.  The works outside are pretty extensive - a new sewage and water system - but causing an awful mess. The workmen have started putting in rather nice cobblestones down the other end of the village: I hope they extend the cobbles up to our end.

In the meantime, despite the hole being plugged the same day, it is already 'dishing' and I do have my beady eye on it - don't want to be swallowed up like that poor man in US last week.  

Valentine's Day, antique French linen, & monograms

A very pretty nightdress, with palest, palest blue handmade lace trim and monogram -  I bet it sent the pulses racing all those years ago...
nightdress now sold

 and here is the twin - there are two of them, very similar but with just a subtle difference in the lace trim
nightdress now sold

 

Made from metis - linen/cotton union - warm in winter, cool in summer

And for him - a pure linen shirt, with a tie neckline and a red cross-stitch monogram, all handstitched of course.  Can almost imagine Mr Darcy wearing something like it
shirt now sold.

The fabric has softened now and the red cross-stitching on the monogram is now a little faded by sunshine (remember that?) and laundering - these linen shirts must have taken hours to press.  I can only guess that they were pressed as to wear them without, it must have been like wearing corrugated cardboard!

And a most beautifully embroidered sheet - with a heart, flowers, ribbon and a pair of love-birds...
sheet now sold

and the bride's monogram, lovingly embroidered in pink

and the groom's too...


Have a great week, and a lovely Valentine's Day!

A few bits of stock

A pretty antique French nightdress, embroidered in palest blue, with monogram 'RB' - now sold

 

A remnant of tweedy woollen fabric in blue, green and brown, one piece sold, one left

Sage-green and white French mattress ticking, once used as a simple curtain - now sold

Beautiful pelmet, with green and blue passementerie tassels - now sold

An antique linen nightshirt with tie-neck - now sold
 

A morceau of 1930s floral cotton, a bit faded and marked but perfect for a little sewing project
 - now sold

'Captive Unicorn' - a 20th century wallhanging, from the series of famous tapestries at the Cloisters, New York. - now sold

A few little pieces of my fabrics - just to prove to mysef that I have returned to work and started listing the mountain of linen and textiles in my stock room.