Paris, Poitiers & Proper Shattered....................!

John, & son James headed off to Paris last week to visit The Veterinary Hospital at Maison-Alfort in the big City as our beautiful Canine Roger the Lodger had a very important appointment with a Professor there.....for some X-rays and a small operation. Their Consultation Rendez-Vous  was on the Wednesday,Operation Thursday and Discharge on Friday so John & James made full use of a spare day waiting, and armed with new Camera went off exploring.......

I must admit I wish I could have gone with them but someone had to hold the Fort back at Base......!

I could NEVER have walked past Louis Vitton and not gone in.........!!! (or spent a few bob!)

 AND I wouldn't say no to this Rooftop appartment with Garden for the dogs!!....

HOW FAB!

But he DID bring me back this FANTASTIC piece of Advertising Memorabilia from the Famous L'oreal Empire-found in a Flea Market ......how RARE must this be?! The Vendor told him it Originated from a Department Store in the City-I have certainly never seen anything like her before or doubt I will again! Check it out on our site now-WOW! You see John DOES have an eye! (well he has two actually but there you go...)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121004542567?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

So after all the Journey and Excitement for a few days back they came home with said Roger the Lodger with a huge plastic Cone on his head for two weeks until he has his stitches out-I will be black & Blue by then as I have lost count of how many times he has crashed into my legs with the stupid contraption.

Sunday saw us tootling off to an International Two-day Championship Dog Show at Poitiers whilst James offered to stay at home with old Lady Phoebe and Roger "Conehead" the Lodger. It was exactly one year ago that Demon Dita-then just a 6 month old puppy attended her first show there and delighted us by winning Best Puppy in Breed. She has only been lightly shown due to our work commitments but she has steadily been consistently successful-this would be her first Intermediate class now she is 18 months....and guess what?-SHE WON IT!! 

Not only did she win but was awarded the RCACS & RCACIB-Reserve Best of Breed!!! Not to be outdone-little Baby Esto (well maybe not so little at 37 kgs @ 6mths old) won BEST PUPPY too!!!

Quite a Haul of Trophies & Awards wouldn't you say???!!!!

So now we are getting down to the Nitty-Gritty and getting listing with plenty of new delights this week-quite a lot of catching up to do....! We have a few bright and sunny days forecast so we will be clicking away with the cameras & bringing you more ideas to mull over...until then Bonsoir!

Family, Fun Days & Fair Weather.............

What a hectic week it's been! I can honestly say I've never felt so shattered-or so happy at the same time! My gorgeous son, his beautiful Fiancee and darling Granddaughter spent a week in the Charentes and we have been out & about most days with them trying to keep them occupied with the weather at this time of the year not guarantee'd but it gave a good account of itself especially on Friday when we all travelled down to La Rochelle for the day.

La Rochelle has to be one of my favourite-ever places,such stunning buildings,Architecture,shops,scenery-it has it all and the fact the temperature was in the 80's that day was just the icing on the cake.....Erin spent all day marvelling at the boats,the fishes swimming in the Harbour.....she was SUCH  good little girl-she certainly has more stamina than me!!

John had a field-day trying out his new Nikon Camera and all the Filters & Lenses.....he took some pretty good pics if I say so myself! He purposely took lots for me so I could use some for the Blog-I think be getting Paid for this by La Rochelle Council for doing their promotion work for them!.....

The only trouble was-he started becoming irritating following me around, I thought I'd got away without being seen munching the free piece of Handmade Nougat being offered to everyone out of a basket as they wandered past the shop.............apparently they'd all walked on ahead and had bets I couldn't resist....they know me SO well.....!

But hey-who cares when you're on holiday for the day!

The Hotel de Ville has been undergoing a Four-year renovation project...what stunning Features....

and still has another year to go-all I can say is Wow!

Would love to have taken this lot home with me!!!

Especially this ceiling!

or maybe this Staircase?!..

Meanwhile Erin and me-well, we just went strolling everywhere.......

 and when it got a bit tiring..........

Grandchildren are soooo Precious!

And so it was,that the wonderful day had to come to an end but it really WAS such a lovely time there-the sky really WAS that clear & Blue! (no-it wasn't a special Filter of John's!).We drove home,-stopping en-route to stock up with supplies and finished the Evening with a Fab Barbeque.

And then all little Angels have to get ready for bed.....with a nice warm bottle.....Aaaaaah!

And so back to reality-our Canine Lodger is still with us bless his little Paws,but the great news is that our friend is OUT of hospital.so that is Absolutely Fabulous news. Still a long way to go on the road to Recovery but Fabulous all the same.

Have you been Watching "The Paradise"?!-we have been Excitedly glued since it started, trying in ernest to spot any of our Antique Silk & Lace Bonnets but havn't seen them yet-the programme is well worth watching anyway-I just LOVE  period Dramas-don't you?!

And so after waving Farewell to the Family it was back to Business as usual-I simply havn't had TIME to list all these lovely finds from last week and before that yet, never MIND this weekend's haul-I'm going to disappear in that stockroom one of these days when it all Avalanches on top of me!

I have some really Fabulous Textiles coming up and plenty of items for every pocket and Taste from the Extra Large to the extra small.....I adore these Antique 19th Century Neyret Freres Silk Stevengraphs I found recently-they are so fascinating.......and so Superbly Woven..

 and the Huge Boutis is one of my Favourites-this would keep you SOOOO Warm on a Winter's Evening!

The Renaissance stylised Design is Magnificent.............

I am so tired now I will bring this to a close-but after Walking our legs off around five Brocantes in One day this weekend I'm not really that surprised with myself-I'm definitely not getting any younger! Yawn..........x