the reading room

We have a lot of books in our house.  We read a lot and we like to re-read so we keep them. 

 We are comfortable with that.

Many people shy away from full book shelves.  Dusty, untidy, unfashionable?  Different reasons maybe.

How about you? Are you more books on shelves, or books piled on tables?  

 Would you enjoy any of these reading rooms?

all images with thanks to Mires Paris

the first day at the fair

After the first day of the sale at Finchcocks I have nothing but thank-you's today  ..... thank you to everybody who came to buy, who stopped to chat;  thank you to the readers of my blog who specially came to say hello !  amazing!!

thank you that it didn't rain

 (although if tomorrow we could also cancel the wind we'd be grateful!)

grateful for spending the day in such a beautiful setting ......
and for the friendly and seamless organisation ...

so grateful to the special friends who turned up with a sumptuous picnic lunch for us

merci to my daughter for all her help and for being such good fun,

and to the kind gentleman who helped me stop my tent flying away in the wind

  and finally thank you all for being so patient, as I have probably posted far too much about this event - tomorrow we'll have a change of mood I promise ......

 a demain mes amis!

arrived in england

so the bad news is that I didn't have enough room to bring the beds with me - can you believe it?!!  after all that effort . .....  I'll have to find someone to give the beds to when I get home.

the good news on the other hand is that the setting for the sale is idyllic, and that tomorrow morning as from 8 they will be serving tea and bacon sandwiches for the stall holders .... YAY!!

Please forgive the short post, it's been a long day and tomorrow will be longer still.  I promise loads of photos tomorrow.

Also apologies for the fact that my follower button still hasn't returned from wherever blogger has banished it, and to top it all my readers are having trouble leaving me their lovely comments.

la vie n'est pas - toujours -  une longue fleuve tranquille!

life isn't always - that - easy!

Sunday morning update .............
Thank you for your words of encouragement girls, I have to admit to being a teeny bit nervous!
Very happy though that my daughter Ella is here to keep me company.
Hope you're all enjoying a good weekend

my blacksmith

Had to pay tribute to the skills and dedication of our blacksmiths.  Without them our horses would not be as happy and healthy as we like them to be.  'Le Marechal' and his boys turn up here every two months, whatever the weather and just get on with the job; perfectionist, not happy until the hooves are right.

Let's hear it for artisan skills, that need physical strength, a kind heart and a clear head!

new bed makeover and cushions for the fair

Preparing for the fair, I knew I needed a bed to show the linens, but wouldn't have the space to take a huge double bed.  I found a pair of vintage single beds and reworked them.  Here's the before and after, an easy project that anyone could handle.  And old beds like this can be found world wide, usually going for a song.

 I wanted to use the slight recess on the head and foot of the bed to put an upholstered panel.  So after painting the beds, I cut pieces of wood to size, and covered them with padding and an old piece of vintage ticking.  My staple gun came into its own again here.

On the head panel I wanted three buttons.  I had pre-pierced holes in the right place before covering.  Now I just had to sew through the wood and attach the buttons.  For extra strength I  placed a thin flat button on the back as well.

My only solution for putting the panels into place was glue, quick and easy!

I really planned to show you  the two beds set up in the garden covered with some of the cushions I've been making for the fair, but we are having alot of showers today, and I didn't have a long enough dry moment to put it all together.  I'm sure you get the picture.

I'm sure loads of you have already done this sort of project, I'd love to hear about it.


PS  I seem to have lost the 'follow' buttons on my blogs -
anyone have any bright ideas about retrieving them?!
I'd be grateful to hear if this has happened to you to
Thank you

preparing for the fair

Now if you lived around the corner, or maybe in the next village, we would probably have spoken or met up this week, and I would have said "come and see all the goodies I'm getting ready to take to the fair in England!!"

So, since - as far as I know! - none of my readers live that close, I thought I'd just show you.  This part of preparing for the fair is time-consuming but fun.  Taking stock of purchases, imagining how I'll put them together on the stand ... imagining how I'll get them into the car more to the point !!

I think they'll be grouped together by theme, but I'd be grateful of your ideas for my stand.  Shall I lay up a table, create a makeshift reading room?  I'll be making up a bed with the linens, but I'll show you all about that tomorrow.

Here's some of the stuff, tomorrow I have a bed reveal and more china.

Thank you for your ideas

 

And don't forget, any of you great bloggers  who come along to the stand

at the Finchcocks Garden and Jazz Fair on Sunday or Monday, 

will be welcomed on my stand with a glass of wine  

Merci !!!