Bonne Année pour 2013...

Did you have a lovely Christmas? Lots of goodies, food & happy times? We do hope so.

Now Christmas is over, we are thinking towards the New Year & what will be in store for us. Will you be making New Year's resolutions? Will your resolve last or will you give in by the end of January? It's the good intentions that count and who knows, maybe this year, we manage to keep just one. 

The postcard above was found at a local brocante fair. In beautiful copperplate writing, the author expresses best wishes & kisses for the New Year to their children & uncle. Promising a letter to follow the next day - it's so touching.

We hope you have a very happy 2013 & all your wishes come true.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas.....

 It's a beautiful sunny & warm day here in France. It doesn't really feel much like Christmas, not that we're complaining, we've enjoyed a café in the square this morning, watching a very realistic-looking Père Noël giving bonbons to the children. 
So lovely to see the joy on the little ones faces.

 The French celebrate on Christmas Eve with presents at midnight and a fête that will go on well into the wee small hours. We tend to follow the traditional English way by celebrating tomorrow.

How ever you celebrate we hope you have a very merry vintage Christmas.

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Fête

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....

How are your Christmas preparations going? Busy, busy, busy, eh!

Don't get too stressed, take time to enjoy things too.

We love this time of year .........

.....decorating the home & dressing the tree, listening to carols, baking mince pies, toasting marshmallows, watching Christmas movies, wrapping presents, hanging up the stockings.....

.....special times that stay with you.

who ate all the (mince) pies?!.... 

only 6 sleeps to go........can't wait!


À bientôt,

Knock, Knock...

 

We've been out and about a lot this week &, as we love French doors, we took the opportunity to share some with you.

 from the very smart to the peeling paint

 village doors

sturdy, functional doors

 rustic doors

very heavy 13th c. church doors to keep out the English!

 historic doors

Left: A former lepers hospital dated 1745 with the welcome "devs noster refugium"
(God is our refuge) above the door.
Right: A resting place for pilgrims travelling to Spain on the chemin de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle. The date over the door is 1798 & the shell, 
(symbol of Saint Jacques de Compostelle), to indicate pilgrims are welcome to stay.

Not a door but a window!
The shutter has been repaired with wood recycled from a packing box by a resourceful owner.

The door furniture can been really interesting too. Here is a little glimpse.....

door knockers come in all shapes & sizes

 sometimes they are grouped together

 or a latch type

 such a mix of styles

waiting for the Christmas post....

Don't forget to visit our shop and take advantage of our pre-Christmas offer.

 À bientôt,

Hidden Treasures....

We've had a busy week one way & another. A bit like Mrs Tiggywinkle as we've been washing & pressing lots of linens and lace. Although we don't collect linens from the hedgerows, sometime they look like they have been left out in the open! If this is the case, it calls for some gentle hand-washing & some careful stain removal.

When searching for treasure, we're not afraid to get our hands dirty. You have to look past the rows of Barbies & other modern day items to find a potential treasure lurking at the bottom of the box or hiding in a corner. Sometimes they look very sad at first, covered in dirt or mud....or worse! You have to look past the grime to see the potential.

One such treasure was this brooch. Dirty and forgotten among a box full of buttons, odd earrings & broken jewelry. But once cleaned it showed it's true beauty. The jury is out to whether it's gold as there are no visible marks but they appear to be seed pearls. Such pretty blue enamel which became the inspiration for the Petit Pica blue we use in our branding. For us, it doesn't really matter if it's real or not, or that it's a little bit chipped, we just love it.  It's difficult to age, so if there's any jewellery collectors out there who can throw some light on this, we'd love to hear. It's current home in on the pin-board in the Petit Pica atelier.

Apart from linens and lace, we will be adding other items to our shop in the future. 
Here's a little sneak preview.

A little apology.....sorry you've had to wait a bit for this post, we've been having a few Blogger teething troubles. Hopefully all sorted now.

À bientôt,