Les Vide Grenier ...In The Rain Part 1

When I woke on Saturday morning it was...yes you've guessed it...Il pleuvait!

But as dedication to the cause dictates I duly set of for a local Vide Grenier (empty attic) which is the French equivalent to a Brtish car boot sale.

The weather was pretty awful and I was not expecting much of a turn out of sellers but surprisingly they were there in force, battling the elements. Give the French their due they are nothing if not resilient.

Lets go have a look around shall we?

On y va!

loved this old barrow

...and this little wooden piano

I have a thing about boxes

I particularly liked this stall

a deer in the corner!

lovely little wrought iron thingy!

I also have a thing for old suitcases

ancient coffee grinders

...and old coffee pots

loved the light catching these glass decanter stoppers

...and loved the textures in the box of door knobs

aqua blue soda syphons 

...and another wooden wheelbarrow

kitsch!

don't look if you are a vegetarian

spit roast chicken

Hope you enjoyed your little excursion around this Vide Grenier ...Come back tomorrow for part 2

love Maffy x

Music on a Monday...The Piano

This beautiful piece is from the soundtrack of one of my favourite films...The Piano.
The music is composed by Michael Nyman and its haunting melody very well suits the dark love story portrayed in the film.
Holly Hunter plays the beautiful Ada, who communicates only through her piano and using sign language which her young daughter interprets.
Her husband, Alistair Stewart (Sam Neill) tells Ada there is no room in the house for her beloved piano and trades  it with Baines (Harvey Keitell) for some land.
Baines becomes infatuated with Ada and offers to trade with her, one key at a time,for the return of her beloved piano.
To find out how this happens I am afraid you will have to go and watch the film.

Enjoy!

Love Maffy x

My Wild Flower Garden...and Missing Special People

I have just returned to 8 La Commune having spent a week in the UK with all my special people.
It is always one of the hardest parts of living here in France...when you have to say goodbye, again, to the people most cherished.





Back here though the summer has finally arrived and my little wild flower patch has truly bloomed!This small area of the garden was only planted this spring and already it is filled with colour and doing its job attracting wildlife.
At the edge of this patch is my vegetable plot, or potager. It has been partially successful but, on reflection, is in the wrong place. Next season I am going to let the wild flower area take over this space and plant a two or three fruit trees as well.
I may put a series of small raised beds down one side of the grassed area but due to circumstances beyond my control these will have to be narrow and pretty uniform, not really my style, but hey!
As we have a constant supply of vegetables, salad and eggs from our lovely neighbour Jean Claude it will suffice my need to grow to keep just a small area for fresh herbs and salads.

The little meadow

bees are loving it!

wild Sweetpea

The potager

looking back at the house

WEEDS!

S'amuser au soleil!

Revenez bientôt

Love Maffy x

Twice in One Day ...Getting There!

No time for a long post but thought you might like to see some of my weekend purchases.
These little beauties will be in my Etsy Shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/ElleQuiVend? very soon.

heart shaped biscuit moulds... Mignon!

Interesting balance scales

Pretty rusty tin...but with cute doll decor

yet another religious icon!...might have to change the name of my shop!

vieux papiers...livres

I know someone who will want this!

Si la musique être...

la nourriture de l'amour... jouer !

bloc ephémérides ...old calender pages

1946  & 1949

Tomorrow I will take you to the Vide Grenier...Veuillez vous joindre à moi!

Love Maffyx

Music on a Monday

Not much to say about this beautiful piece of music, except

I LOVE IT!

It is the primary aria from the tragic opera 'Norma'.
In recent years it has gained popularity due to its inclusion  in the Jean Paul Gautier perfume ads.
Just a little ad on note here

My FAVOURITE perfume!

Here it is performed by the stunning Maria Callas



                               

Casta Diva Italian Lyrics

Casta Diva, che inargenti

queste sacre antiche piante,

a noi volgi il bel sembiante

senza nube e senza vel...

Tempra, o Diva,

tempra tu de’ cori ardenti

tempra ancora lo zelo audace,

spargi in terra quella pace

che regnar tu fai nel ciel...

Casta Diva English Translation

Pure Goddess, whose silver covers

These sacred ancient plants,

we turn to your lovely face

unclouded and without veil...

Temper, oh Goddess,

the hardening of you ardent spirits 

temper your bold zeal,

Scatter peace across the earth

Thou make reign in the sky...

Enjoy!

A Work in Progress

This is how it's coming along!

8 La Commune

There are a lot of 'works in progress' here at 8 La Commune.The house is looking a mess with bits half done...but it's coming along!The dingy brown paintwork is gradually going green, the cracks are being filled ,the gutters are still overflowing...but not for long.The garden is starting to take shape but just as it does, as is the norm and my prerogative as being part of the female of the species, I've changed my mind about the layout.The veg patch has been partially successful with the Betterave (beetroot) et Shallots doing very well but the beans and potatoes scoring nil points!The wild flower garden is looking pretty for it's first year...but what grows best in my garden are weeds!But hey! Seed Balls http://seedball.co.uk/ inform me, and they should know, that "weeds are wild flowers too...in the wrong place.This is a rural house with a pretty wild garden...pretty wild owner too!...perhaps that is how it should be.

unfortunately...not today, today tis still raining.

windows...before

windows...after

love these little people

sore subject...best not discussed!

lavender hedge coming along

beans nil point!

potoatoes :(

betterave et shallots

wild flower garden

belle fleurs

plus de jolies fleurs

I like wood piles...hazel

My first attempt at a woodpile...not bad I think?


I love to see you come back soon!J'aime vous voir revenir bientôt! love Maffy x