happy birthday chanel no. 5

who doesn't know chanel no. 5.   
50 years young - a great age!

loving this video where even a red builder's 
hard hat can look romantic!

beautiful pictures outside the musee d'orsay in Paris,  
all the month of January

new brocante season - french linen bedsheets

I can feel my pulse beginning to race a little faster as the new brocante season looms larger on the horizon.  The auctions have picked up speed and the brocante fairs will kick off again this Sunday - BBRRR!!!   The negative temperatures are going to make it hard to get out of bed early but I'll do my best.

This season I'm definitely going to be on the look out for more bed linen.  Nothing beats the pleasure of slipping into these smooth heavy linen sheets.   This one is on my bed this week and I love it.  The open embroidery work looks great against the dark bed cover.

Some people get worried about using these.  I can see no point in having them folded up in a cupboard, they have to be seen, indeed they were made to be enjoyed.  I wash all my vintage sheets in the machine, and press them with a mangle iron.

Dinner for French men - a rum baba

Yesterday evening, for reasons that you don't need to worry about, I found myself preparing supper for four of my favourite men.  My husband was present (don't get concerned) , along with three other good friends.

When deciding on my man's menu, the course that gave me the most thought was dessert.   What is a man's dessert?  I finally opted for a great French classic that everyone loves, but not many make at home Le Baba au Rhum.

I used to make babas quite often, so I dug out my recipe and was relieved to see that it's really pretty easy.

 what you'll need

For the dough
2 x7g sachets dried quick acting yeast
1 1/4 cups / 125g ‘00’ flour
1 1/4 cups / 125g plain flour
pinch salt
3 tsp castor sugar
4 medium eggs, room temp, very important
50mls warm milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
75g melted butter

For the syrup
120g sugar
190g water
50g dark rum

To serve
very lightly whipped double cream
vanilla extract
icing sugar

I made it easy for myself by using an electric mixer, the oven was pre-heated to 190°C, gas 5.

I put the yeast, flours, salt, sugar, eggs, milk into the mixer and  beat well for several minutes until very soft and sloppy.  Added the melted butter and mixed again.  At this stage I unscrewed my mixer bowl from the machine and sat it on top of a radiator until the mix had doubled in size.  Yesterday this took about 30 minutes.

I beat the proved mixture really well again then poured it into the mould.  Purists will use 8 - 10  individual brioche or dariole moulds.  I don't have those, so I poured my mix into a well buttered long rectangular cake mould that I lined with greaseproof or wax paper.  I covered with  foil and placed back on the radiator until it doubled in size again.

Once it had risen I uncovered the dough and carefully put it bake for about 15-20 minutes (this cooks faster in the smaller moulds).  Once the brioche was lightly browned on the top I gently eased it out of the mould and lay it on the wax paper on the baking shelf of the oven for another 10 minutes, so the sides could colour too.

While the cake was baking I had time to make the rum syrup.  Easy!  Simply put the rum, sugar and water into a small saucepan and gently warm on the cooking hob.  Once all the sugar is melted turn up the heat and simmer for a few minutes without letting the syrup thicken.  Put to one side.

The brioche or cake must be nice and dry and well coloured.  While it is still warm but not really hot, I poked holes all over with a large skewer, then poured the rum and sugar syrup in little by little until all the syrup has been absorbed by the cake.  Don't get nervous about this, it's amazing how the cake absorbs this quid, yet doesn't become soggy.  In fact when making individual babas you can even lay them into the syrup and let them soak it in!

You can make this dessert hours ahead of the meal, some people even pop theirs in the fridge - warm or cold is a matter of preference, either way it's delicious.

To serve I like to offer some sweetened whipped cream, along with a jug of extra and slightly thicker sugar syrup and another jug of rum.

The top photo I borrowed to show you the individual babas, here is a picture of mine, served in slices.

Bon appetit

French decor, my colour comfort zone

Do you find yourselves naturally drawn to the same colour palette for your home and decoration; pretty much the same family of colours no matter what fashion dictates?.

I realise that while we're fairly bold with colour in our home, the hues of my living room have evolved little over the past 20 or so years, despite house moves and frequent redecoration.  These are my comfort colours, to me they talk of peace and well being.

These photos show a French home that I would happily live in.  It's not showy, the colours are calm, it's uncluttered - grey, celadon, muted golden beige, I can go there ...

Where does your comfort colour palette lie?

Photos thanks to Marie Claire Maison

A cold day in Paris and the last giveaway

Before I tell you about my giveaway today I thought you might enjoy some shots I took in Paris yesterday afternoon where it was FREEZING cold, but somehow beautiful in a silvery Parisian sort of way.

So now to today's giveaway and from a girl who, appropriately, lives in Paris.  Our first French lady of the week!

Sophie lives in Paris but recently discovered the colours and textures of  the Orient and Africa.  Her brand new etsy store  Somalian Panther is full of her pretty bracelets, earrings and necklaces that she puts together using authentic textures and colours.  She marries semi precious stones and charms with leather thong, silk ribbon or cotton tress.

She is generously offering two bracelets to the winner of the giveaway.  One with a little Paris handbag charm, and one with either a stiletto or a boot charm.  The winner will choose the colour of the tie.  I guess we'd all like to wear these, my daughters definitely have their eyes on them!!

To enter this giveaway it's easy: just pop over to Sophie's Etsy store,

then come back  and tell me which of her items you like best.
For a second entry tell me you're a follower at My French Country Home

Finally you can have one more entry if you post or tweet about this,
or if you put up my giveaway button

- separate entries for everything please!

The winners of all of this week's giveaways will be pulled out of a hat on 

 Friday 4 February.  Good luck in this draw!  If you missed the other giveaways 

this week you're most welcome to scroll back and  join in.  

Giveaway Day Number 4

I'm having serious fun here, with my birthday giveaway week.   A thousand thanks to everyone who has joined in.  The best birthday present I could wish for is loads of entries to each giveaway this week, and tons on attention turned on my generous sponsors.  So don't hold back, even if you don't normally do giveaways,  be part of the fun and let's prove once again how intelligent and generous the blogging world can be!

Do you know Gina of  Art and Afalfa?    Since she retired from running her research company, Gina has devoted herself to art and art history.    She teaches special workshops in Historic Tile painting and Decorative Painting at a local college, and she also give private lessons.

She and her husband built a spectacular paladin style home - in the middle of an alfalfa field!

Her Etsy store is stunning, full of decorative, hand painted tiles and richly coloured ceramics and , rather charmingly, batches of beautiful dried flower heads to use on paper or around candles.

For the giveaway Gina has very kindly offered a bakers dozen of her pretty drawstring cotton bags.  The bags are hand-printed with designs taken from her ceramics and are ideal for holding treasures,  such as seeds, herbs, teas, lavender or even buttons.  Each bag measures just over 4"x5", they are colour fast and can be washed

To enter this giveaway it's easy: just pop over to Art and Alfalfa, become a follower,

if you're not already, then come back and tell me.  

For a second chance, (and a separate entry please!), take a stroll
around  Gina's Etsy store,
then  come back  and tell me which of Gina's items you like best.  (I have
my favourites, but I won't influence you!)
Finally you can have one more entry if you post or tweet about this,
or if you put up my giveaway button
- separate entries for everything please!

The winners of all of this week's giveaways will be pulled out
of a hat on Friday 4 February.

Good luck in this draw!  If you missed Monday's painting,  Tuesday's book ends
or yesterday's wild boar bag  giveaway you're most welcome to scroll back and  join in.
Coming tomorrow another amazing giveaway,  number 5.

Giveaway Day Number 3

I'm very excited about today's giveaway which is sponsored by  Lush Designs.  I first discovered these girls, Maria and Marie,  when my husband received an apron of theirs as a Christmas gift! 

I adore their new lampshades depicting hunting scenes , available in several colour ways.

They do so many fun things, clocks, lampshades, greeting cards and of course their famous LO-VE pillows.

For the giveaway they are offering one lucky reader the chance to win a great cotton shopping bag, printed in their popular wild boar motif.  This is very appropriate for my blog, since the wild boar that inspired the design was encountered in France!!

To enter this giveaway it's easy: just pop over to their blog Lush Designs, become a follower,

if you're not already, then come back and tell me.  

For a second chance, (and a separate entry please!), take a stroll around the Lush Design store, then

 come back  and tell me which of their items you like best.  (I have two real favourites,)

Finally you can have one more entry if you post or tweet about this, or if you put
up my giveaway button

- separate entries for everything please!

The winners of all of this week's giveaways will be pulled out of a hat on Friday 4 February.

Good luck in this draw!  If you missed Monday's painting or Tuesday's book ends giveaway you're most welcome to scroll back and  join in.  Coming tomorrow another amazing giveaway,  number 4.

Giveaway Day Number 2!

Welcome to my second giveaway of this, my blog birthday week!  Today I'm very happy because I get to talk about Ann Onusko and her amazing artistic talent.  Ann and I have exchanged mails over the past year for different reasons, and I was thrilled when she offered to sponsor a giveaway.

Ann  owns the Great Lakes Decorative Arts Studio and is a decorative painter specializing in plasters, textures and gilding. She practices her trade on walls, ceilings, floors and furniture. She also offers classes in her studio, where she teaches the basics of faux finishing, including gilding, Venetian plasters, and metallic paints and textures.

Ann's main blog, Plum Siena, posts daily design inspirations with an emphasis on colour and patinas. She also blogs at Rose et Lis about paint related topics and her other passion, gardening.

Ann's recent work on two groin ceilings is stunningly beautiful.... I must ask her if her neck gets tired working in that position!

 Ann is generously offering a pair of amazing book ends.  AND she will give the winner the paint finish of their choice.  For the moment the bookends are primed white, but she can finish them in your choice of colour and gold or silver leaf.

To enter this giveaway it's easy: just pop over to Plum Siena, become a follower,

if you're not already, then come back and tell me.  

For a second chance, (and a separate entry please!), take a stroll around Ann's gallery website, then

 come back  and tell me what  you like best. 

Finally you can have one more entry if you post or tweet about this or if you put up my giveaway button, linking back to a giveaway post

- if you can do separate entries for everything please, it would really help me a lot!

The winners of all of this week's giveaways will be pulled out of a hat on Friday 4 February.

Good luck in this draw! Don't forget you can scroll back and  join in yesterday's giveaway too.  Coming tomorrow another amazing giveaway,  number 3.

my blog anniversary - a week of giveaways

Welcome to my blog's first birthday week, and a week of giveaways.  Something new each day, something to celebrate, to enjoy as much as I have enjoyed my first year of blogging.

My blog has changed my everyday life.  A year ago , I bravely promised  that the year 2010 would be the year to reinvent myself, but I had no idea it was going to be this much fun!

Here I am 12 months on,  with a blog I love, new friends on all continents (some of whom I have been lucky enough to meet already),  writing, having fun with my camera, and ADORING the emails waiting for me each morning.  My children look at me differently, my days are packed to the brim, and I feel creative again!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU

You are a truly talented, inspiring and generous bunch of bloggers.  I am honoured and delighted to have got to know you.

So, since we are day ONE of the week, it's time for the first giveaway.
I'd like you all to help me make this week a big success for my kind sponsors.  So join in all the giveaways and let's show these kind girls how much we appreciate what they do!

I have been lucky enough to get to know Ande and her wonderful blog  Chickory because her sister bought something from my shop!   This, my friends, is how the blogging world works.  Ties are formed, and those ties spread out to others and the fun just keeps coming!  

Ande took the deliberate decision to move out of Atlanta and live somewhere where she could grow a food garden and keep her chickens and dogs in a country setting.    She works in her garden and sells her produce from the back of her pick-up truck, at the Blue Ridge Farmer's market. Last year she grew sunshine yellow carrots, all kinds of heirloom tomatoes, lots of flowers, peppers, radishes, spinach and lettuces, lemon cucumbers, and crimson sweet watermelons. This year she'll be going for pumpkins. 

She grows some lovely old fashioned cutting flowers and supplements them with local wild flowers to make her bouquets. At the market she also sells her folk art paintings on wood,  eggs from her chickens and  cards printed  from her paintings of forest and country life.

I love this shot of her truck at the farmer's market, I can tell you she'd be a great success if she drove up like that to our local market.

Now Ande is a busy lady.  Besides taking care of her garden and her animals she loves to paint.  She sells her paintings at the market, at her Etsy store and also at Big Cartel.  She also illustrates children's books, you can find her books here.

This year has brought a load of snow in her direction, which gave her the opportunity to take 'cut-out' photos of her chickens,  and to film her dogs fooling around in the garden.

Ande is most generously putting up one of her paintings, my favourite actually.  It is painted on 12"x16" wooden board.  She calls this painting French Hen Under Flowering Quince.  She used the ochre colour background to remind her of the cheerful shop windows she saw on a trip to France.

The painting comes ready to hang - don't you love the clever detail on the feathers?!

To enter this giveaway it's easy: just pop over to Chickory, leave a comment,

then come back and tell me.  

For a second chance, (and a separate entry please!), take a stroll around one of Ande's stores, either at the Chickory Etsy Shop or at Chickory Big Cartel or both!
Once you've checked out the store or stores, come back with one or two more entries and tell me which of Ande's items you like best.  (That's going to be the hard bit, because everything is wonderful!)
Finally you can have one more entry if you post or tweet about this, or if you put up my giveaway button linking back to one of this week's giveaway posts.
- separate entries for everything please!

The winners of all of this week's giveaways will be pulled out of a hat on Friday 4 February.

Good luck in this draw, you're most welcome to come back tomorrow to join in with  Giveaway number Two.