A Vintage Birthday

It was my birthday this week and having entered this world in February 1970 I guess that makes me at the grand of age of 44 'vintage' or is that 'retro'?

In a bid to cheer me up (there's not so much to celebrate once you've hit your 40's) Spike came home from work the day before with a beautiful bunch of flowers that brightened up the house with a much needed shot of colour during this dark, cold and soggy time of year!

Something I've noticed recently is that the trucs that surrounded me as a child are now considered vintage/retro too and although I am much more into the 1920's and 1930's I thought it would be great fun to embrace the current trend and have lunch in the kind of traditional French restaurant that was commonplace during my early childhood in the 1970's.

On the morning of my birthday we woke up to a cold, wet and blustery day (which unfortunately is not uncommon on my birthday) and decided it would be good to go somewhere cosy where we would feel cocooned from the raging elements outside.  This was one of the reasons we chose a lovely restaurant we had discovered in the St. Jacques quarter of Cognac called Les Pigeons Blancs.

Having decided to park a little way away from the restaurant (never again!) we tumbled in the entrance like two frozen popsicles to be greeted warmly by the charming owner. Les Pigeons Blancs was everything we had hoped to find in a traditional restaurant but what we really didn't expect was the amazing quality of the food.  For two gourmands (ie. piggies) we found ourselves well and truly in our element.  

Wonderful sea bream with asparagus and butter sauce

I must confess though that the main (and I admit slightly immature) reason for choosing this particular restaurant was that it was the only one that continued the tradition of THE DESSERT TROLLEY and, oh joy of joys, when this bastion of the 1970's was discreetly wheeled over to our table we were not to be disappointed!  

The dessert trolley of our retro/vintage dreams!

Les Desserts au Chariot consisted of many of the old 1970's favourites but with a slightly updated/local twist like the 'Cognac' Babas and a modern take on a traditional Black Forest Gateau.  I plumped for the more gooey desserts (which the waiter assured me were not fattening at all!) of a lemon mousse on a dark chocolate sponge, an exotic fruit cheesecake and yummy coffee meringues.  

My very 'light' selection from the Chariot

I had a wonderful birthday lunch at Les Trois Pigeons and would not hesitate to visit again in the summer so that I can enjoy another sensational meal and sit and sun myself on their delightful terrace.  However, looking at the photos I must confess that I'm starting to feel a bit peckish now so I'll be off.... the diet starts tomorrow!   

Un Oeuf is Enough!

Just before Christmas we bought three new chickens to keep our old hen, Mildred (aka Millie), company after the last of her companions died.  Because they all looked very similar we named them after the Andrews Sisters - Patty, Maxene and LaVerne.

Millie with her three new friends (who wouldn't stand still for the photo!)

Things in the hen house were quiet for a few weeks as the girls settled in but now they are laying practically every day (even Millie has started laying again).  As wonderful as this is it's just the two of us and things are beginning to get a bit out of hand.  

Luckily we purchased an Egg Skelter a few years back when we encountered the same problem and this has proved to be invaluable because we can, at least, be sure that we eat the eggs in date order.

The ingenious Egg Skelter devised by a very clever man from Devon

In our last home we lived on a busy road so we were able to sell our excess eggs on a table with an honesty box which worked really well and earned us a little extra cash. However, where we live now is totally rural with no passing trade so as far as the eggs go we're truly on our own!

Selling fresh free-range eggs from our old house

This week, so far, we have given away 18 eggs to friends and neighbours but the girls keep on laying so I thought I would make a quiche with a few bits that needed using up in the fridge.  I found some left over smoked trout and some slightly overripe camembert which, along with the pastry, used up four eggs. Although this will no doubt be yummy for supper tonight it does not really solve the long term problem.

My rather rustic looking quiche (well I'm not a chef like Spike!)

Another method of using up eggs is to make fresh pasta and to freeze it so I will probably do that when I get a minute but the best solution will be when this year's brocante season begins to pop a few boxes of eggs on my stall so that the ladies can start earning their keep!

Yet more eggs today... aghhhhhhh!

Capturing Les Trucs on Camera

Here are a couple trucs I photographed today for my Etsy shop with my new toy (I mean camera) and I am very pleased with the results.  The reason I needed a new camera you will see below!  

Link to Etsy - 50s Limoges plate depicting 'The Elf of the Poplars'... ahhh!

Link to Etsy - A pretty in pink vintage frosted glass bonbonnière or pin dish 

I had a bit of an accident last Friday.  I was busy photographing a suspension light for my last blog post when stupidly I let my camera slip out of my hands and drop onto the kitchen floor.  Unfortunately it landed directly on the extended lens so that was the end of that.  We'd only had the camera for about 8 months so clasping the guarantee in my mitts I attempted to take it back to Hyper U in Saintes.

With a wide eyed expression I approached the counter and pleaded complete ignorance as to why there was now a 'lens error' but there was no pulling the wool over the wily After Sales Assistant's eyes who quickly diagnosed, with a rather exaggerated long-suffering expression, that the camera had without question suffered a blow (thus leaving the guarantee null and irrefutably void!)

With my tail between my legs and a slightly rouge visage we went in search of a the essential replacement (selling trucs on the internet would be kind of tricky without a camera!).  In all honesty I wasn't completely devastated at having to buy a new camera as I had various issues with the old one.  It would frequently override my request not to flash and the flash itself was positioned where I naturally hold the camera and had on countless occasions attempted to pop-up  (when I least expected it) under the fingers of the left hand.  This design fault (in my humble opinion) created virtually black photos which I then had to delete and was in part to blame for the unfortunate accident (well there may have been hand cream involved too if I'm completely honest!)

Luckily there are sales on at the moment in France so I bought myself a fab new camera for 30% off the marked retail price.  It has loads of settings and special effects to explore which will keep me quiet for days (lucky Spike!)

I'm thrilled with the few photos I've taken so far (12x optical zoom don't you know!) but would like the opportunity to take some more which is a perfect excuse to go out on a buying mission and purchase some more trucs (especially with this year's brocante season fast approaching).  

My only regret is that I would have loved to have taken a picture of my clever little camera for this post but for obvious reasons couldn't!

Glorious French Light

Sadly there is not much sign of the celebrated Charente-Maritime light on offer today so it seemed the ideal time to look at a bit of traditional French lighting.  We sourced most of our light fixtures from flea markets, auctions and antique shops and found it immense fun to chiner these one-off pieces for the home.

However, having moved from a rather grand chambres d'hôtes in the Vienne to our present house a few years back we seem to have accumulated a veritable embarrassment of pendants lights, chandeliers and sconces, some of which we've managed to work into the interiors here and others that have gradually (and in some cases regrettably) become part of my stock!

Here are a few examples of the lights we have been able to hang onto (no pun intended... honest!!!):-

This opulent chandelier greets me every morning as I descend the stairs

A simple and elegant applique/sconce in our bedroom

This stunning antique light takes pride of place in the kitchen

A crystal light to add a touch of glamour to one of our spare bedrooms 

And a few we are sadly going to have to let go:-

Two lovely 1930s appliques - click to view on my Etsy site

A moulded glass light shade from the 1930s (click again to see on Etsy)

A little dome light for the country look (Etsy too - click click!!!)

A chandelier 'Hollandaise' for sale locally (due to weight!)

A slightly shabby but gorgeous light (also for sale locally)

At this dark and dingy time of year lighting the home effectively is more important than ever and I don't see why you shouldn't have a bit of fun with it.  These eclectic pieces are perhaps not to everyone's taste and some of them are unashamedly fancy-schmancy but in my opinion anything is better than the horrible and seemingly growing trend of plain plaster ceilings peppered with endless lines of spotlights (unless you find yourself in the unique predicament of needing to guide a plane in to land in your living room!)

A Morning Off

A few days ago as the sun rose I was greeted by a sparkling frosty scene outside my bedroom window and thought to myself how lucky I am to live in such a charming, peaceful place.

The view of the sun rising from our bedroom window

On mornings like this there is only one thing to do and that is to forget work and to get out into the countryside with two of my favourite fellas and to go for a country bike ride.

It's no doubt a strange sight for the locals to see an English woman with a silly 1920's style hat whizzing past them on her Miss Marple bicycle with two hounds dragging her along but it's not only great fun but very practical as most of the time I don't need to pedal and Jake and Oscar get lots of exercise.  

Oscar and Jake - who needs horse-power?

The countryside in the Charente-Maritime region of France is very flat which makes cycling (when necessary) very easy and from my rather unorthodox chariot the changing seasons and the vineyards are truly a joy to behold.

I take the boys out every day (which can be a pain) but days like these are among my favourites and really help to clear my mind and give me ideas for my business.

I am very privaliged to live in France and to be lucky enough to do a job I love buying and selling trucs but as with all things there is always room for improvement which would be easily remedied if some kind person would open a cosy, dog- friendly hostelry nearby!

A panoramic view with our house somewhere in the distance

Le Truc (the trick) to the Bistrot Look

There is nothing more pleasurable than sitting at a table outside a bistrot in town and people watching especially when I'm in one of my favourite places, Paris. There is something so romantic about the café culture that originated from from this beautiful city and the bistrot (or bistro... I'm never sure which way to spell it but prefer the aesthetics of the word with a t for some bizarre reason!) itself that started life there.

I think this is why I love of bistrot furniture by manufacturers such as Thonet, Fischel, Baumann and Mundus & Kohn and adore the sinuous lines of their bentwood creations in particular the art nouveau designs from the belle époque.

Recently I have been on the lookout for some original vintage bentwood chairs (you can recognise them by their patina and by the maker's label under the seat that will hopefully still be there). I own four at the moment, two by Thonet and two by Mundus & Kohn and have, to my dismay, recently seen the prices rocket.

A few years back they were considered little more than firewood and many of these evocative creations tragically finished their days on a bonfire or in a damp old barn slowly delaminating.

One of my Thonet chairs from the Belle Epoque period

From time to time I catch a tantalising glimpes of them in a movie or period drama and have come to the conclusion that the majority of the remaining survivors have probably been stockpiled in props departments of film studios and theatres.

Unfortunately the few chairs I have seen for sale in my part of France usually have caned seats which is so expensive to have redone that I am loathed to buy one.  The others, quelle horreur, seem to have been irrevocably vandalised by paint (for some reason puce seems to be la couleur préférée for these ill fated chairs!)

I did however make a fab purchase last week in La Rochelle of an original 1940s bistrot table with a cast iron base and brass banding around the top.  We paid quite a lot for it (80€) but we needed a small table for the corner of our living room so that Spike and myself could enjoy a meal while watching TV without having to eat off of our laps. With two dogs, one of them a very greedy beagle, we found that we were often wolfing down our food in order to finish before the inevitable splash of Oscar's drool hit the floor.

The bistrot table sitting happily with chairs by Mundus and J & J Kohn Ltd.

My wonky hat & coat stand

With our super little new table we can now eat at a blissfully leisurely pace with the peace of mind that if we take our eyes off our meal for a couple of seconds there won't be a podgy little hound launching himself at our plates. Jake, our other more sensible dog does not have such bad manners unless there is cheese involved in which case wouldn't trust him entirely either!

Another piece of bistrot furniture that I'm particularly proud of is my bentwood hat and coat stand.  I bought it when we first moved to France from a massive brocante in Marsac in the Charente region and although it is in a bit of a distressed state I love it all the same.  It takes pride of place in our kitchen for use when guests come over to visit otherwise it is left bare. Bistrot furniture is not only beautiful but durable and functional and I believe even as trends come and go it never really goes out of style. 

Trucs to Finish in 2014

Well it's 2014 and time to start anew with a clean slate and to make some resolutions for the New Year. 

My main New Years Resolution this year is to finally finish off all the snagging jobs on the house that we have been renovating for the last three years.  We are very proud of what we have achieved here but with Spike busy working and with one thing and another we appear to have ground to a halt!

The living room with reclaimed parquet floor

There is always the danger when renovating a house that once the big jobs are done like kitchens, bathrooms, electrics, heating etc. that the little trucs slide. 

Here are just a few examples of what lies ahead for us in 2014:-

Our house still waiting to be rendered... beautiful!

We have put a lovely reclaimed parquet floor down in the living room from a Parisian house that was demolished in the 1950's to make way for the périphérique (ring road around Paris) but still haven't put all the the trim around the edge. 

There is boxing-in to do in the downstairs cloakroom (don't know why we call it that as there is not a cloak in sight!) and the boot-room (lots of boots so that's OK!)

We have been meaning to render the front of the house for some time now but that will have to wait for some warm dry weather... hopefully in the Spring.

I promised to paint the metal gates into our courtyard a couple of years back but have yet to encounter the optimum weather conditions (well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

There is also a bit of landscaping to do in the garden because outside the back door a muddy puddle has emerged that regularly gets walked into the house by dogs, cats and the occasional chicken when they give us the slip before we can grab them with an old towel (not the chicken... they shouldn't be in the house at all!)

I'm sure there are more things to do that I can't think of right now, not to mention the ongoing maintenance issues such as touching up paintwork and fixing shutters that are falling off their hinges.  

However, when I think back to the state of our kitchen last Christmas it spurs me on to get these little trucs done once and for all.

The back door last year & makeshift sink!

The back door and the kitchen now

The front of the kitchen last year

The front door to the kitchen now

I am hoping that by committing this list to writing that we will finally get these niggly jobs finished as we are both keen to sell the house and to move onto our next project. It's not that we don't love our French country home but we are ready for a move back to town as having both lived in London for a number of years we miss the convenience of being able to walk to bars, restaurants, markets and any cultural events that might be taking place. 

So my wish for 2014 is to move on to pastures new (or should I say pavements/sidewalks new) and to transform another ugly duckling of a house into a beautiful swan.