Double Celebration.................

Wednesday saw a very Special day for us-one that we never thought would happen due to events at the weekend when poor Old Lady Phoebe took a sudden turn for the worst and collapsed. For three days it was touch and go but Wednesday duly arrived, a miracle happened-& she reached her 11th Birthday in fighting spirits! Uncannily-on the very same day- Dita ditched her "Demon Puppy" title and turned into the Demon 1 year old nightmare adolescent!! So a double celebration was had & lots of sausages,cold meat & cake was consumed by all three........(just for that evening)

Phoebe of course was looking for extra helpings as she WAS the eldest!...............

and so we had a Family photograph but trying to keep three enthusiastic Sausage-eaters at bay is some feat!...................."SIT"!..........

WHOOOAAA-WAAIIIITTTTTT!!!

Unfortunately since this picture was taken, our poor Mia has also now taken a turn for the worst and is not well at all.........so we pray for a full recovery....at least the best recovery that can be expected for an elderly dog............like in the case of Phoebe who literally couldn't walk & kept falling over........she is now whizzing round again like a drunken version of Speedy Gonzalez......wobbling all over the place but happy in her own little world & full of the joys of spring again which is so lovely to see-for any of you who are doglovers-I'm sure you can appreciate how precious they are and how hard it can be when they become elderly.

SO-Back to business and onwards & forwards we go..........with some more delights for your Perusal....

more Luscious Antique Lace from the "shoe-box" Find..........

and some other little surprises!..............

yes-we found not one but TWO Boudoir Display pieces.........here's the latest!

and last but not least......this cheeky little Chappie..........

Au revoir for now!

A Ladies Paradise.........

A few months ago we sold this Stunning Antique French Lace & Lavender Silk Ribbon Bonnet.....nothing unusual in that you may say,but this beautiful Rare Bonnet will be on your television screen sometime in the future-as it went to the BBC to be used in a Period Drama Production based on a Novel by Émile Zola entitled "The Ladies Paradise"-adapted from the Original "Au Bonheur des Dames"-set in Paris in the 1890's.

Adapted for television by the writer Bill Gallagher (of Larkrise to Candleford fame) the BBC Version will be set in a Northern Town (we're led to believe Newcastle-upon-Tyne) and focuses on a Young Woman who finds herself homeless following the death of her father and who takes to the City to become a store clerk & subsequently discovers the joys and temptations of shopping (well I can certainly identify with THAT!)

But behind the beautiful Facade of the Department store of the same name-Ladies' Paradise-lies a world of Intrigue,Business and Power struggle................mmmmmm-will look forward to that! To say we are delighted that some of our items will be used in this Drama is an understatement!

so onwards we keep searching.............!

Meanwhile,Ribbons & Bows & more Lovely Antique Lace will be making its' way onto our site over the next week following our Wonderful discovery (or should I say John's clever discovery)....

delightful Narrow or Wide rolls..........

in Pastel Pinks.................................

collectable ensembles & wonderful labels..............

in all colours ,widths & fabrics - ideal for trimming!

Plenty of choice for all sorts of Sewing Projects...........so take a peek!
A Bientot!!

Up with the Lark................

Yes-we really DO get up at Sunrise to hunt for Treasure.................

(It's not easy dragging oneself out of a warm bed on a weekend morning-but somebody has to do it!).........

but the Unusual & Different is out there somewhere....waiting to be found....so dedication is required....(Yawn)

(oops-who nicked part of the wall?!)...............Sparce Carpark.....Vendors getting ready to unload.....Acheteurs getting ready to Achat.........

Demon Puppy needs to stretch her legs........

et Voila......

TRÉSOR!

Etc,Etc,.......new items will be added on a daily basis...so keep watching! Bonsoir for now!

Let it Snow,Let it Snow,Let it Snow.........in APRIL?!

Opening the Bedroom curtains at 8.00 am yesterday morning in Pudsey,Leeds UK-I was greeted with THIS!

Staying overnight at my mother-in-Laws to pick up John's youngest son James and bring him back to France with me was proving rather difficult after my otherwise pleasant previous week of sunshine down in the Midlands where I had been over to visit My son & family! Firstly,the electric gate of Grandpa John's was stuck,weighed down with the weight of the previous night's snow and wouldn't open -so we couldn't get OUT! Secondly,the Leeds/Bradford Airport was in chaos due to the weather conditions and previous two days of strikes by French Air-Traffic controllers and flights were delayed all across the board.Oh it all comes to try us doesn't it?! We eventually got to the Airport and sat twiddling our thumbs after the proverbial reading of all the NewsPapers,Celebrity Gossip magazines etc so it wasn't the greatest start to the Journey home.THEN when we finally did get on the Plane,it was held up because apparently there were two people on it that shouldn't have been and there was yet another delay whilst the Captain asked us to all check that we were who it said we were on our boarding passes and that we were actually flying to Limoges!!!

Previously in the week, I had flown home as my poor son had to undergo Knee Surgery & was hobbling round on crutches whilst baby Granddaughter Erin had been admitted days later for possible hip surgery at the tender age of just 15 months-poor things didn't know how they were going to cope.But it all worked out nicely as Erin had to go under anasthetic but didn't actually have an op and came home with a cast to wear for 12 hrs every night for 3 months and son started to feel better once the swelling had gone down in his knee-which is why folks-there has been no Blog or new exciting listings to boot!

HOWEVER-John has saved the day because he went toddling off on his own last weekend and came back with the most marvelous array of new and exciting finds-I am so very proud of him-I have trained him WELL!

He'd chatted up a little old French Lady & charmed her into selling him a box of the most Exquisite Antique Laces...............

...which I can't WAIT to delve through and photograph for you...I was nearly in tears it's all so beautiful (see-he DOES take notice of what I search for & buy!)........

Stunning Copper Pans,Jewellery Boxes,Photo Frames,Figurines,Antique Shop signs............

I think I may be out of a Job soon if he carries on like this! So I am off to put some new batteries in the camera-keep a watch on our site,-all these new scrummy pieces will all be listed as soon as I can physically do so! A Bientot!

Better the Devil you know..............

All the devastation that takes place throughout home and garden in any one week by the demon monster puppy simply melts away into just a memory when she struts her stuff in the Showring and makes her Mummy & Daddy  very proud.....we returned from a long and tiring day in Paris on Sunday from only her fourth ever show with another beautiful Trophy and she was forgiven her sins instantly....until Monday morning when she was tearing through the garden once again-this time with "Kaiser" hot on her heels, John's eldest son Ryan's new puppy (yes we're ALL mad in this family).

The show was held outside at a venue in Grandpuits,where the English weather seemed to follow us on the day,with regular  heavy showers-much to the amusement of our fellow competitors..........who seemed to be attempting some kind of record as to how many people and dobermanns could fit under a large fishing umbrella at any one time..... 

The day was a long one but our little girl did us proud..................

and she also got to see her first Mum with Dita's stunning Multi-Champion mummy once again who was in the "Honneur Classe" for all the winning she has done throughout her career........................................ 

For our Dita, the recognisation was INSTANT- even though she hadn't seen her since we had taken her away as a small puppy! Obviously some dogs never ever forget & she promptly started screaming her head off, throwing herself all over & leaping about like a lunatic trying to get over to where she was............it brought a lump to my throat, -it was really quite Poignant...............

ANYWAY,back to work this week has meant delving through the dusty "Back Room" where the forgotten buys of late summer are once again emerging as we havn't had time to trek around the Brocantes because of Dogshows!..........

I know what a certain someone would do with THESE if she got a sniff of them.............! 

This is one of the Pair of  Stunning Matching Jardineres we have on Auction........................ 

that's all for now folks! A la Prochaine Fois!

For Medicinal Purposes only..............

We rose with the Lark...and tootled off South to Charras on Sunday morning (yes,sorry, I know it's now Wednesday, but I've been very busy so far this week!)-to a large Brocante which we visited last year, & where these simply Gorgeous Large Medicine Bottles leapt out off a table to me screaming.."Buy Me,Buy Me"..(or perhaps more accurately....."Achetez-Moi,Achetez-Moi") ! Trouble was, with a heavy bag full of treasures in one hand & a very sticky & extremely moorish half-eaten Almond Chocolatine Croissant in the other hand, I was finding it a little difficult to negotiate. John was busy talking away to a friend he'd bumped into and I was desperate to grab these stunning piece before somebody else spotted them.Thankfully the Vendor spotted my dilemma (actually think he felt a bit sorry for me having a bit of a blonde moment) and rushed around to the front of his table to help.Eventually we struck a deal and I was thrilled with them but what a precarious walk afterwards around the stalls trying not to get them broken!

Stunning Art-Nouveau Decal............................

Glorious colour!.....................

It just amazes me what we find sometimes.....a never-ending variety of wondrous things.........the Amber coloured Bottles are equally as Beautiful..

Does anyone admit to remembering Sweets called "Spangles"?!..don't you think the stopper of this Bottle reminds you of the Orange ones?!!......................Stunning!

After the Brocante,but still early morning,we headed off home and stopped en-route to exercise the "Monster",who'd been catching up on her Beauty sleep in the back of the Van. We came across an unconventional looking Chateau in the throes of renovation but it was hard to get Photographs as there was a huge tree blocking the view....so off we went through the peaceful expanse of forest opposite, to take Miss Dita to stretch her legs.......(if you go down to the woods today....................................................you're sure of a big surprise)....BLINKING HECK- What was THAT?!!!!.... We thought we were being shot at!!.. We'd only walked a hundred yards into the woods when shots rang out far too close for comfort, so the three of us  beat a VERY fast retreat back to the van...La Chasse was obviously in full swing ahead!

This weekend we are off to Paris, but sadly not for Brocanting.......we will let you know why next time..(?)...until then,be good-and don't forget to browse the Site,because we shopped till we dropped last weekend so we'd have plenty to list while we go away for the weekend.......

Water,water everywhere.............

Last week saw us treated to some beautiful warm sunny afternoons here in the Poitou-Charentes......it was bliss and felt like summer was on its' way at one point, as we wandered around the garden in teashirts doing odd jobs here and there. We have nowhere near a landscaped garden-more like a field with a few lucky flowers and shrubs which have survived the onslaught of the demon puppy Dita. My once beautifully planted large Stone trough, which we were lucky enough to have been left by the previous owners, was my pride and joy last year-I carefully bought and chose plants to compliment each other-now simply reduced to a sandpit-type play area with not much compost or plant-life left,thanks to Dita's compelling need to dig everything up that is rooted in the ground. However needs called for John to get the hosepipe out, which he left me in charge of whilst he nipped out for some odds and ends.I was busily working away on the computer downloading photographs etc when I stopped for a break & gazed out of the open front door to admire the sunlight & warmth filtering in....&  what I thought was a cluster of midget-type insects floating through the air......WRONG!!-It was a huge fountain of fine watermist stretching across the lawn from a new Supersonic High-Velocity Garden Fountain invention by Dita...................the little madam,who I thought was sitting basking in the sunshine had been chewing holes in Dad's hosepipe......................note the culprit admiring her work from a distance...............

sometimes I could honestly kill her!.......
Last weekend's Brocanting didn't come to much-we drove down south to the Angouleme area but apart from a few odd things found at a lovely indoor gathering we didn't find much else other than some scumptious home-made Baking! We really must stop giving in to temptation!Yesterday we ventured out for an hour to a local roadside Brocante where normally the price prevent us from doing anything more than just looking..though I did come across this gorgeous Tapestry Mantleshelf Trim which I just couldn't resist-drawn by its' beautiful colour palette and wonderful classic Ribbon Garland & floral design....now onsite!A bientot mes amis.........!