Trick or treat...

Doily-stencilled Pumpkins...

Happy Hallowe'en!

Celebrations of Hallowe'en in France are subdued compared to other countries, but the village of Issigeac in the Dordogne celebrates in style. Each year it holds a foire aux potirons (pumpkin fair); a feast for the eyes...

The weekly market sits side by side with the festivities...

This year there was a demonstration of oxen & cart, carrying pumpkins, of course. The handlers wore traditional clothes from years gone by even down to the sabots (clogs)...

 

...& of course, there were pumpkins & squashes of every shape, colour & size...

 

November 1st is an important day in the French calender as it's Toussaints (all saints day). It's the day when the French honour their dead. Traditionally, they buy chrysanthemums to put on the graves of their love ones. If you visit any market around this time, you will see row upon row of them. A patchwork of colourful pompoms...

A rainbow of colours...

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We just love enamelware, it comes in such a range of shapes, colours & designs. From the plain to the highly decorated, from small jugs to tall coffee makers, utensils, storage boxes, even plates...the list is endless...

LEFT TO RIGHT
Top Line: Blue flower coffee pot, Pink coffee maker, Pink flower coffee pot, Blue pitcher
Second line: Blue check pitcher, White pitcher, Blue jug
Third line:  Red check salt box, Café canister, White salt box
Forth line: Speckled canister, Flower plate, Utensils

 Stand-alone items can look stunning but if your lucky enough to have several, then grouping collections can look equally gorgeous...

Top line: Plain pitchers
Bottom line: (left to right) Plain, Hand-painted, Flowers

 Most pieces were designed for use in the kitchen & are versatile, looking good in both a modern or vintage setting. Apart from the kitchen, they can be used in other ways too, I often use a little blue jug as a vase...

We've just added a few beauties to our shop and hope to have some more soon.

...the last of the geraniums...

Vintage love...

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(Big sigh!)

I love this picture! Lots of vintage goodies stacked high on a dresser.

 We have been putting some of our own vintage lovelies in the shop this week.

Café au lait bowls are so adorable, they look great in any kitchen.

Traditional French storage jars add that bit of je ne sais quoi to any home & are not just for the kitchen. They could be used for utensils but how about on a desk to store pencils and pens,  or for art or craft tools, the list is endless...

These oval plates were originally designed for the dining table but would make gorgeous soap dishes or perhaps for jewellry or on a bedside table.

Aren't these café cups & saucers fabulous? Each printed with the Wagons Lit crest. Think Murder on the Orient Express....Wagon-Lits were the company who ran the Orient Express & the Train Bleu among other routes & were part of that wonderful era of steam.  Just imagine when your sipping your coffee from these, what it would have been like on those glamorous trains...

I couldn't believe my luck in Bergerac yesterday, in the middle of a roundabout, a huge bar of chocolate just waiting to be eaten. No such luck! It wasn't real, just to advertise the Salon du Chocolat (Chocolate fair) being held in the town this weekend.

Bon weekend mes amis...

Brushing away the cobwebs...

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 We've been busy this week. We started by having a bit of spring clean, or should that be autumn clean, of the blog. We wanted to make things clearer and easier to access. We have a new header & you can now go easily to the shop by clicking on the "shop" tab or on any of the photos in the side bar. There is also a "contact us" tab, if you wish to send us a direct email.

We have some pretty buttons to take you to Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest. There are also new buttons to subscribe to our blog. Make sure you never miss another post by signing up via your reader or by email.

That done, we then turned our attention to the growing pile of stock we've been collecting over the last few months. We've had a lovely time sorting through & photographing them. In the next couple of weeks there will be lots of lovely items will be coming up for sale in the shop, from gorgeous ceramics to kitchen storage jars & coffee pots. Here is a little taster...

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The weather here has been very changeable recently & there have been some spectacular storms. It is fascinating to watch the wonders of Mother Nature...