Striking Gold............in more ways than One!

Nothing could have prepared us for Esto's latest Conquest.........

Thursday was yet another Bank Holiday here in France and we travelled north to just outside of Paris to the Chateau Flins sur Seine where the 41st National D'Elevage Championship Show of the Dobermann Club de France was being held in the grounds.

Dita and Esto were both Entered in their respective Open Classes-Adult Female Black and Adult Male Black as they are now 3 yrs and 2 yrs old this year.

The French Title of Champion is one of the hardest to achieve in Europe within the Dobermann Breed as it comprises of both Beauty and Working Qualifications.There are only two chances per year to gain the CACS-One of such requirement  awards for the title-at the National Show & the Championnat Show. 

Esto not only won his Class with an Excellent A Grading-the highest achievable but went on to challenge all the other class winners to win the CACS! To say we are thrillaed is an absolute understatement

It's been heavy going lately.......!

Apart from carrying it all back to the van-Try polishing that lot!

We've been to some really lovely places over the past few weeks.....makes work all that more pleasant in such lovely surroundings....

By 7.30am we're always ready for a sit down and an Espresso and Croissant! Whew! Sometimes we have to walk for seemingly MILES back to the van laden with goodies-it's tiring stuff this!

We have some lovely new finds plus LOTS of stock-so time permitting it will be listed as soon as we can but we have lots of projects going on at the same time and seem to be running round like headless chickens lately.Thanks so much for our customer E-mails,it's really touching some of the things you say (special thanks to Susan and Maggie for your very kind words) and we are very grateful for all your continued support  and appreciation of what we try to achieve for you in the form of choice.......x

some of the delights coming your way and/or currently available-message us for details....:0)

I'm off now for a cup of Rosy Lea.......yes can you believe the French are catching on to the fact that Yorkshire Tea is the best brew! This was our breakfast yesterday morning........

....:0)

Mayday,Mayday.................!

Well today is a Bank Holiday here in France so another excuse for hundreds of  extra Brocantes,so of course we were up with the Lark to see what we could find.......It is also traditional to give Lilly of the Valley to loved ones and there were many bouquets for Sale.....

As for finding treasure-we've had a good day......:0)

We made many trips back to the van with our finds....and will be listing it all during the coming weeks,time permitting....

It never ceases to amaze me what people are prepared to part company with......!

beautiful Tapestry Textiles.....

Just some of the delights which will be finding their way onto our site soon. Our Mayday expedition finished locally at the Village Square where we picked up good old English Fish & Chips-(yes,right here in France!)-a reward to ourselves for all our hard work! 

Finally....This Stunning Image is by the Painter Eugene Delacroix(1798-1863) entitled La Liberte Guidant le Peuple-Liberty guiding the People, painted in 1830.....it caught my eye whilst trawling the Internet for something completely different-oh how I would love to find such Artwork on our travels! One can only dream I suppose..... Au Revoir!

Absence makes the heart grow Fonder.............!

Oh my goodness-we have been SOOOOO Busy! Our sincere apologies for the lack of any Blog for quite some time but we have been run off our feet with one thing and another-lots of Projects going on which have taken up most of our time for the best part of two weeks or more-mainly sourcing new items from Private collections and house clearances,however thismorning saw us up at the crack of Dawn again on the Treasure Trail in the South of our region,ooh I LOVE trawling round Brocantes-and there are certainly plenty to choose from at the moment!

This fantastic Ballustrade caught my eye on one of my return visits to the van thismorning,to offload my many purchases....how I wish I could have popped it in my shopping trolly!......Simply Gorgeous!

We arrived just as it was getting light thismorning because I didn't want to spend hours out because today there's a certain football match I just HAD to get back home to watch!

Yesterday saw me and the gang getting in the grove ready to cheer our team Liverpool FC on in their match later thisafternoon at Anfield against Manchester City......which is paramount in deciding the winners of the Premiership.....of which we are currently the leaders.....

Team Talk in preparation for today.......

Anyway-back to business..........what a pleasant  journey to a lovely venue thismorning for the one major Brocante we decided to explore for Treasure-just WAIT till you see what we've found over the coming week-no clues,you will just have to scan our site on a daily basis,but we're very happy with what we've found...meanwhile some photos for your perusal....

Today I will be like a child in a sweetshop squealing with delight whilst I pull all the goodies out of the van to photograph! Especially one very Rare and special piece of Fabric for all you Antique Textile hunters...Ooooh-can't wait! I was drooling when I saw it-just HAD to have it.......!Hopefully will be listed later today.....but I have a football match to watch first......:0)

This charming French Bulldog was helping his owner sell it to me....!How adorable.......!

As the sun came up we stopped for an Espresso to wake us up......

then had a last mooch around...

then set off home,very satisfied with our many wonderful purchases.....which will all make their appearence at some point in the near future.I am nowhere near ploughing through the chosen items for last week,let alone today's, but they will all  surface EVENTUALLY!

SO UNTIL NEXT TIME-AU REVOIR!

Golden Cherubs & Canines............

It's been a week of Cherubs...........

Angelic Chubby Faces popping up everywhere.........

It was as if everything we found was of an angelic nature.....then canines started appearing,once one thing purchased, another barked "buy me"..........Art-Deco Terrier Butttons galore.......

 These delightful Cutlery Rests in the form of Daschunds are really something special...!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unique-Boxed-set-of-12-x-Vintage-French-Art-Deco-Dachshund-Cutlery-Knife-Rests-/171266176981?pt=UK_Collectables_AnimalCollectables_SM&hash=item27e04277d5

Then this wonderful Art-Deco Fruit Bowl!..............

These faces are really fab! All these items are online now........

It was a sad day last weekend to bid farewell to the "Special One" as he has gone to his new and wonderful home,but  we are all keeping in touch and are being sent videos on a regular basis....you can see for yourself if you wish!..........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVBTPinqjmc&feature=youtu.be

We have gotten SO used to our weekly puppy fix so we've been visiting another litter of a friend of ours.....I have fallen in love with this little brown male....what a handsome hunk he is.....just two weeks old...BLESS! Another I want to hide under my coat and run off with.....!

We were up very early this weekend......

I lost count of the times I had to lug heavy bags back to the van,but we always stay around until the general public start arriving in their hordes......by which time we're just having a last "sweep" incase we've missed anything, then back to the van and head off home before the sun gets really warm, taking in a nice walk with our babies en-route and picking up a coffee and pastry for refreshment! 

It has been a very sad week for us this week as our beloved Cat MATISSE was found dead on the roadside just near our house by our neighbour Julie.It can't have been easy for her to tell us and we were devastated.......he was a special boy who loved the dogs and we think he truly believed he was a Dobermann himself.....our beautiful baby was just coming up 3 yrs old-I thought he would be around forever....Dita goes out every evening to wait for him to come home for his tea...I don't think any of us can believe he will never come home again.....RIP Matisse.......we all miss you SO much...