The 'Truc' to Drinking with Style

Most people like a little tipple every now and then and when you do indulge I see no reason not to use some lovely vintage trucs to add a certain je ne sais quoi to the proceedings.

Here are just a handful of examples of drink related trucs I have for sale in my Etsy shop at the moment:-

For the wine lovers...

Thermometer & drip collar for discerning wine buffs - Click to view on Etsy

A vintage bottle corker for budding vintners - Click to view on Etsy

Lovely silver plated sommelier cups - Click to view on Etsy

A 'Debouchtout' concertina corkscrew - Click to view on Etsy

and the beer drinkers...

Novelty advertising Oranjeboom bottle opener - Click to view on Etsy

A striking Alsace beer stein - Click to view on Etsy

or how about some absinthe?

Elegant vintage Absinthe spoon - Click to view on Etsy

or a lovely summer punch?

A 19th century silver plated 'Christofle' punch ladle - Click to view on Etsy

And don't forget to keep your drinks cool this summer!

1950's Frigidaire ice cube tray - Click to view on Etsy

Santé!

Psycho chicken, qu'est-ce que c'est?

I shouldn't joke, our poor little chicken LaVerne is very broody at the moment and her hormones are getting the better of her.  We've been keeping chickens for 10 years now but we've never experienced the weird behaviour our LaVerne is currently displaying.

"Having a Greta Garbo moment "I want to be alone"

She's always been a bit different from the rest.  The day she arrived we found her on the roof of the hen house and ever since then she's been a huge source of amusement and very friendly.  However, since the hormones kicked in the other chickens have been picking on her.  They do say that girls can be cruel and there is always the pecking order to consider!

Consequently LaVerne's been in a foul temper (or should that be a fowl temper... sorry sorry sorry!) and has been staging vicious and unprovoked attacks on the dogs!

Would you mess with this puffed up chicken?

It was funny at first. How we laughed when LaVerne pecked our rather nervous beagle Oscar on the bum a couple of times as he hurriedly rushed past her to get in the back door but a few days ago the laughing stopped.

Poor Jake, our lovely pointer mix, was in the back garden sniffing around and minding his own business when a bundle of puffed up red feathers literally flew at him beak first. Being a sweetie pie he just stood there looking bemused but after several attacks of this nature we quickly ushered the dogs into the house. Our Jakie has the most gentle temperament but there are limits even to his patience.

The boys enjoying the back garden in times of peace

Luckily LaVerne has decided that us humans are not her enemy and we are able to collect the other girls' eggs without any problems but in turn leaving her rather bereft.   So my next mission was to find a substitute egg to keep her contented.  I know some people just mark an egg and leave it with the chicken but I was worried that it might get broken leaving behind a rotten egg smell and inevitable mess.  

So when we were shopping at a local brocante market in St. Julien de l'Escap last Sunday I was delighted to find a man with a selection of marble eggs to choose from.  I've never bought a gift for a chicken before but after much deliberation I picked out a lovely teal coloured egg.  LaVerne loves it!  It's quite big for a chicken egg but she doesn't seem to mind and when she's finished with it I shall clean it up and display it in the house (until it is needed again!)

Not the Fabergé egg I was hoping for but precious to LaVerne

The other girls are up to their usual high jinks.  Patty and Maxene are running around the garden with poor old Millie trying to keep up and yesterday evening they joined us as we watched TV by jumping up on the sitting room window ledge.  It wasn't long before Patty started to look shifty with the obvious intention of jumping down into the room so we quickly shooed them away (there are limits even for soppy people like us!)

The House - the final frontier - to boldly go where no chicken has gone before

Millie's keeping out of it!

So the back garden is off limits to the dogs when LaVerne is out but they still have free reign of the front garden.  Fortunately for them our psycho chicken is for the best part of the day safely tucked away on her nesting box trying to hatch a big marble egg.  So Jake and Oskie are still able to sniff about and bark at passing tractors to their hearts content.  Did someone say country life was quiet and relaxing?

The boys by the back door (must touch up paintwork!)

A Practically Perfect Day

What makes up a perfect day depends on who's day it is of course, but my perfect day was encapsulated by a trip to the lovely seaside resort of La Tremblade last Sunday.  It was a beautiful sunny day and with some money burning a hole in my pocket I was keen to find a brocante market and buy some stock.  

Having consulted my trusty little yellow book (a local brocante diary and must have in France for all brocanteurs and keen antiquers alike) we plumped for La Tremblade because we had never visited it before and fancied a paddle in the sea!

We were delighted when we arrived and saw that much of the housing stock was made up of beautiful Belle Epoque villas from the turn of the 19th century (note to self... "buy holiday home there when lottery numbers come up").

By 10am it was already incredibly hot and the flea market was large and heaving but in spite of this I managed to find a handful of lovely trucs for my Etsy shop.

One of the lovely Belle Epoque Villas from a lovely shady café terrace

After an hour or so I was still happy browsing but my husband, Spike, is like a finely tuned timepiece when it comes to mealtimes and it wasn't long before his stomach was telling him it was lunch o'clock.  The next mission was to find a place to eat that served either vegetarian food or fish (I am a pescatarian which if you live in France translates as deviant).

Hopeful that we would find fish on the menu being a coastal resort we had a little wander down the long sandy beach to avoid going back through the busy lanes lined with market stalls.  Eventually having discounted most of the eateries we passed we stumbled upon the most beautiful Art Nouveau restaurant called Le Martin Plage.

Le Martin Plage with stunning Art Nouveau windows

I love this sign.. so reminiscent of the Paris Metro

We both plumped for the skate with caper sauce and were delighted with the beautiful meal that arrived.  I then chose the home made tarte au citron to follow which was equally delicious (although I ate it before I remembered to take a photo... oops!)

Skate with Caper Sauce (it looked a lot better in real life)

After lunch we decided to swing by a little flea market on the way home that was situated in a quiet village called St. Agnant.  Little did we know that on the way we would be treated to the sight of storks nesting with their young on many of the pylons along the busy link road.   We would have loved to have stopped to take some photos but sadly we had an idiot up our posterior so it was impossible to pull over.  I've included the following photo that some other brave soul took.

One of many storks nesting on pylons in the Charente Maritime

The market at St. Agnant added a couple more trucs to the days' haul but the storks were the highlight of my day and definitely made the detour worthwhile.

All in all, for me, it was a practically perfect day comprising beautiful weather, shopping for trucs, a walk along a sandy beach, a wonderful lunch in an Art Nouveau restaurant and seeing the storks with their young - I couldn't have asked for more (well finding an Imperial Fabergé Egg for 5€s would be super but perhaps that's asking a bit much!)   

A 'Ménage à Trois' in Rural France

Alright so it's not so much a household of three - it's more like a swampy threesome. Since we installed a pond a couple of years back many creatures have come to live alongside our ducks, Clarence and Claude.  

Clarence and Claude (Claude is green headed and Clarence is grey)

So we were very happy when a couple of noisy bright green frogs (Franc and Francetta) decided to take up residence.  The only problem we had is that we have never been able to tell them apart so when a third frog turned up this year that also looked exactly the same we decided that they would now collectively be known as 'The Francs'.   

Franc chilling in the shallows

Often to be found doing very froggy things like croaking, resting on water-lily pads and playing leapfrog with each other I felt compelled to try to learn a little more about our little long-legged friends.  

Franc sunbathing on the edge of the pond

To my surprise and delight it seems we have three Grenouille Verte also alarmingly known as the 'Edible Frog' (oops!)  Yes our little 'Francs' are sadly an endangered species largely thanks to the appetites of certain Gallic gourmands.  Suffice it to say I will not let on to our neighbour, Lionel, who has on numerous occasions mentioned a great penchant for frogs' legs.

Can you spot all three?

All joking aside I had no idea until now that the native French frog had declined so much and according to a very interesting, although rather upsetting, article in the British Guardian newspaper it really has become a serious problem that needs to be addressed.  

Anyway, please give a thought to 'The Francs' before you decide to tuck into a plate of frogs legs.  On a more cheerful note here are a few quirky frog related items I found on three of my fellow Etsy traders sites:-

 A lovely sterling silver frog brooch with pearl.

A 1930s tinplate frog from Germany.

And finally a beautiful illustration by one of my favourite artists - Edmund Dulac.

All the Fun of the 'Fer'

One of the many wonderful things about living in France is the wealth of stunningly intricate ironwork.  Whether it's wrought or cast the possibilities are seemingly endless and although iron is by nature a hard, unforgiving material it can be manipulated by a skilled artisan into a thing of true beauty.

I personally like it when the iron has a patina of age as to me it can lack a certain charm when it's painted up too perfectly.  Luckily there are products on the market you can buy to preserve the iron without loosing the authentic rusty aspect (is it just me???).

Anyway, here are just a few examples that have caught my eye over the last few years that I would love to share:-

An irresistible sneaky peek through some cast iron gates at a courtyard of an elegant Saintes townhouse.

A charming belle époque bench in our garden that we inherited from a previous home. The woodwork needs a bit of restoration (a job for Super-Spike) but the metalwork is still in perfect condition albeit a little grubby (oops!) 

I can't tell you how many houses I have rejected over the years because the windows had been replaced unsympathetically.  This intricately cast crémone (I suppose the English translation would be handle or lever) still charms me whenever I cast eyes on it (no pun intended!)

Who wouldn't want this lovely plump putto on their front door?  It would certainly serve as a constant reminder to go easy on the food!

I just had to take a photo of this wrought iron balcony adorning an elegant townhouse in Angoulême (well a girl can dream can't she?)

This sweet little wrought iron plant stand is another inherited item from our previous house. I love the rusty patina and in spite of this it is still as strong as the day it was struck in the foundry.

This is one of three wrought iron screens we bought a few years back from an architectural salvage yard.  For some reason we've always struggled to find a permanent home for them - oh well maybe the next move! 

This deliciously sinuous balustrade graces the courtyard of a house in Cognac.  I particularly love the finials although I'm not sure if they are pineapples, pine cones or artichokes (answers on a postcard please).  

These wonderful architectural works of art are truly to be treasured.  It breaks my heart when I see a lovely pair of ironwork gates being replaced by soulless PVC - and no I don't care if iron is higher maintenance... some things in life are worth the trouble.

Antiquing in the Charentais Town of Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire

Last weekend there were a multitude of flea markets and antique fairs to choose from in our area.  However we've recently been stumbling across the same old stalls with the same old stock so we decided to visit a fair a little further afield for a change.

The sun was shining so we thought we would make a day of it and visit the large brocante at Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire then wander around the town itself to see if we could find somewhere for lunch (hooray!)

We arrived at the fair at around 11 o'clock and quickly realised that it would be a shopping trip of two halves.  The sun was relentlessly scorching, the brocante was big and we immediately knew that we had stumbled across a gem.  It was so refreshing to see some real antique stalls mixed in with the more affordable stalls set up by locals clearing their attics (vide greniers).  This meant that there was an eclectic mix of trucs in all price ranges.

A hot sunny day for the brocante at Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire

After about an hour or so of schlepping around in the heat we rushed back to the car with the first haul of goodies (sugar tongs, cheese dome, among other things) and then set off for centre ville to find a restaurant. We eventually found somewhere and I chose a lovely fresh salad followed by delicious îles flottantes (for those of you unfortunate enough to have never experienced this iconic French dessert it is basically Italian meringues floating on runny custard... heaven!)

Unfortunately my dessert completely wiped out my slimming salad so it seemed a good idea to have a brisk walk around the town.  Being a Sunday it was very quiet but it's faded elegance made the experience charming all the same.  

L'église St. Mathias at Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire

A traditional French department store with lovely old writing on the exterior

After our lunchtime stroll we headed back to the brocante for some more trucs.  As usual we couldn't resist buying something for ourselves and picked up a foo dog chop seal (also known as fu dogs or fo dogs... lets call the whole thing off!) This cheeky little fella has now found a permanent home on my desk (at the moment he is guarding a lottery ticket so fingers crossed with that one!)

My lovely dog of foo chop seal - who could resist that winning smile!

Just in case my little foo dog doesn't work his magic here are some other things I picked up at the market that can now be found on my Etsy shop.

A lovely vintage cloche and plate - click to see on Etsy

An elegant absinthe spoon - click to see on Etsy

A cute little posy holder - click to see on Etsy

A stunning biscuit barrel by Christofle - click to see on Etsy

A charming little hot chocolate pot - click to see on Etsy

A lovely Art Deco trivet - click to see on Etsy

Lion paw sugar tongs - click to see on Etsy

All in all a hot, tiring day but enjoyable and very successful.  I have discovered it's definitely worth going a little further afield to find those special trucs that I will thoroughly enjoy owning - at least for a little while.  

A Special Treat for the Birthday Boy

What can you give a beagle that has everything?  Well apart from a lifetime pass to the nearest fridge the next best thing is a lovely woodland walk.  Last Sunday Oscar turned 8 - of all of our menagerie that's the only birthday we know for sure because our little pedigree chum has a birth certificate.  On this wonderful little document it states that he is from a line of French champions but sadly, in his case, unless this honour is directly related to eating, our little porky mutt will not be following in their footsteps.

Little Oskie came to us with problems to overcome.  From puppyhood he was a nervous little fellow and if caught off guard to this day an unexpected gas explosion emanating from his rear end is enough to make him jump.  It doesn't really take a genius to figure out that he wouldn't have lasted long if he had been purchased for his bred purpose of hunting.   With the addition of a heart murmur and an expensive operation to fix two slipped discs he was very lucky to have ended up with a soppy English couple!

Baby Oscar  when we first brought him home... ahhhh! 

In the window box of our old house - I'd like to see him try that now!

So last Sunday instead of setting up the market stall to sell my trucs or going on a buying expedition we took a weekend off from all of that in favour of the ultimate doggy treat. Finding some woods was our next challenge.  Being surrounded by Cognac vines is truly wonderful but there are very few trees around our home to challenge Oscar's highly tuned nose.  It was while pondering this problem that I remembered reading about an old hunting park that was used by King François 1st and situated in the heart of Cognac. This 500 hectare wooded parkland can be found just a short distance from town along the right bank of the River Charente.  

Having bundled the dogs into the car Oscar's highly strung younger brother Jake (pointer/Tigger mix) began making very annoying squeaky noises -  no doubt a direct result of his recent trip to the vets for his yearly vaccination. Luckily for the rest of us he gradually calmed down and eventually contented himself with sticking his head out of the window and letting his tongue wave luxuriously in the breeze.

On arrival the weather turned a bit drizzly but there was no going back as we were dragged off down one of the paths. It's a wonderful feeling to be strolling through some woods knowing that you are within easy walking distance of a town and having explored a labyrinth of pathways four half and hour or so we decided we'd had more than enough fresh air and exercise and it was time to go in search of a chocolat chaud!

Jake and Oscar in clover!

Me (cold and tired) with the boys (raring to go)

On the way into town we found a lovely little tree lined strip of land called the Promenade du Parc where Belle Epoque ladies with parasols would have paraded up and down the grassy central strip whilst carriages drove along the tree lined avenues on either side.  It was all the more charming for its faded elegance and led to a striking war memorial.  We took a slight detour and wandered up a couple of back streets to Cognac's formal park the Jardin Public which houses the elegant Hôtel de Ville.  

The Hôtel de Ville in the Jardin Public

The Place François 1er in the heart of Cognac

From there it was just a few minutes to Place François 1er where we sat outside a pavement café and enjoyed a warming hot chocolate complete with whipped cream on the top (well we'd earned it!)   When it was time to go home we reversed the remarkable walk through town, park and woodland and all bundled back into the car - tired, happy and dreaming of the big squidgy sofa waiting for us back home (bliss).

Dreams of walkies