camping in style

The lovely weather announced for the weekend has made me come over all colonial.

I think I need one of these in my garden

so I could do this in the evening

and this in the morning

Happy camping!
Happy weekend!
Back on Monday with something new!

photos  maharaja tent; cottars; cabbages and roses

a house to dream about - and then rebuild

Before I start I should say that this post comes with a health warning - not for the faint hearted!

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago, in a post about a beautiful house beside the river,  I showed you this photo of a small house for sale.

Well, I have received so many emails asking me more about the house and about buying old properties in France that I managed to arrange a visit of the property - just for you!

Steel yourselves dear readers - especially those of you used to slick real estate presentations, there is nothing slick about this.  This property needs a lot of work  total renovation, so what I show you today must be seen as a shell or a blank canvas, needing  a helping hand  major reconstruction to become habitable and then decorating   even more work to become beautiful.

First of all the dry facts.   The plot of land is long and narrow and measures approximately 1000 square meters.  The house is the same shape and occupies about a quarter of the space.

The photo above is taken just inside the property looking back over the gate towards the neighbours house on the other side of the road.

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 Although the façade on the road has been plastered to hide the stone work, all the rest of the property still has the stone and brick walls showing.

The outside definitely has potential charm.   Originally used as three separate cottages, the property is not short on doors.  I think I counted nine!  Three or four of those are two-part stable doors.

Sadly this sweet dog isn't included in the sale!

Beyond this last part of the house the garden continues into what was once a potager, and could be turned into a charming jardin de curé.  On one side of the property there is a large house, on the other a brick barn.  It is very quiet and peaceful.

I liked the water pump and the decorative moulding above a couple of the windows.

 Inside there are a large number of small rooms.  The estate agent told me five bedrooms, he's probably right - I lost count.  I definitely saw three former fireplaces including this one used as a bedhead!

 There are several tiny bathrooms, a workshop, a laundry room, a wood shed, two staircases

..... two or three living rooms, a kitchen and some interesting wooden beams  ......

and even the former owners checking out who comes visiting!

Please don't think I'm making fun or criticising.  It's neither.  I simply wanted to show that renovating an old property here is not always a soft option.  It can require time, vision, good taste and considerable energy.  If someone had enough of the above they'd be rewarded with a beautiful and good sized house with loads of character.

So now I can repeat my question of a few weeks back  "Any takers?"

French jam pots

When I told you yesterday about my plum jam, I forgot to talk about the star in any French jam story  Le  Pot Parfait.

Rarely has an object so mundane, so inexpensive reached such icon status.

Parfait means perfect and to my mind the name is well deserved.   Available in various sizes, they will store anything from  garden peas, to strawberry jam to a whole confit de canard.

The glass lid swings up and back on a simple metal hinge, in turn linked to the metal band around the neck of the jar.  When the lid is pushed back down,  and the simple metal clip fastened,  the orange rubber seal is airtight.  Parfait!

To go onto the website for Le Parfait is to enter a temple to the god of the preserved legume.  Here you can read the history of the jar; buy every possible size; find recipes; you can even, bless them, enter a competition showing off your own store cupboard of pickles, jams and other preserved meats.

Le Parfait is truly part of French family and culinary history through the generations.

Recently in an ultimate display of affection , French interior magazines have been featuring alternative uses for Parfait pots, or even bits of them.

If I tell you that as I write this post the house is filled with the perfume of raspberry preserve bubbling on my hob, and that lined up on the kitchen table are two rows of Parfait pots, you will understand that this - as always - is written from the heart!


Another thing that comes from the heart is my thanks to you for visiting my blog, reading my posts and leaving such warm comments.   Corresponding with you is one of the great pleasures in my life.  Merci!

I am linking up to the French Obsession Party at Le Chateau des Fleurs for this post.

all photos  Le Parfait

la confiture de mirabelle

During the year I make a lot of different jams and jellies, but in late August I think I come to  the prettiest of them all - la confiture de mirabelle.  

This little round plum that fruits so generously looks like small jewels on the tree.

and when its stewed down for jam produces the most wonderfully cheerful orange-yellow.

 So if you want to have a go at mirabelle jam or any other plum, you could give this recipe a go.  It's really easy and basically foolproof.  Which is what I need.

Wash and stone the plums.   Layer them in a heavy stoneware bowl with their own weight of sugar.   Leave for at least 5 hours, or a night if you prefer, not in the fridge - just sitting in the kitchen covered with a clean teacloth.

Cook slowly in a big jam pan.  Bring to the boil then simmer for about 30 minutes, keep stirring,  and start testing for setting.  If a few drops on a cold plate start to set then the jam is ready!  Easy!

Let it cool for  a while, then ladle into squeaky clean, dry jam jars.  A pretty label, a ribbon and you have delicious jam to eat at home, or give away when a small gift is required.

Bon appetit!

l'escalier francais

In the same way that you can guess the nationality of a tourist from their footwear, so, I think, you can source a house by its stairway.

Look at these pictures, could they be anything other than French?   I love the curve of the stairway, the stone of the steps, the wooden panelling on the walls.

Notice the chandelier in the adjacent room, the symmetrical secret doors inserted into the panelling in the entrance hallway.
 
What I love about his sort of French building is that although it is grand and imposing, it remains  credible as a family home.  It could never feel quite as comfy as a grand English home, but I can see  this hallway with a pile of Wellington boots inside the door, and a labrador or two wandering out of the living room.

I have a thing about stairways, and I'll be posting about more in a while.

My thanks for the photos to  Mire images

l'aperitif au bord de l'eau

The next time you want to impress someone with your extensive French vocabulary, try slipping in the word 'désuet' .  Pronounced  dez - u- ay .   This pretty word means 'filled with old fashioned  charm', and it perfectly describes the coastal town of  Cap Ferret , west of Bordeaux.

An aperitif at Cap Ferret is all about enjoying simple pleasures.    A few friends, no crowds, playing around on boats, a few oysters, a few shrimps,  children trying to catch crabs, and the odd bottle of wine.  

Good old-fashioned French chic !

I'm out of here

The weather is beautiful, but if I stay at home I'll just keep ticking off my list of things to do, so I am out of here and going on a picnic!  See you later!

Thank you to   decorative county living     for these beautiful pictures.