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Friday, August 24, 2012

summer break and wet dogs

We have been away for a few days in the south of france, and water has entered the lives of gibson and ghetto. The former discovered swimming in mountain streams (big time!) and the latter the joys of fishing ..... we didn't have the heart to tell him they were only goldfish ...

As from next week I'll have loads of images to share with you, along with simple ideas for summer entertaining , thank you for stopping by, and good luck to everyone in this week's giveaway!

PS Gibson and Ghetto are both amazed to come home from their break and find themselves mentioned on one of their favourite blogs !! Thank you Jeanne!

the adventures of young ghetto

Ghetto's life is just one long adventure - his days are quite exhausting.

Being rather a ~~undisciplined~~ bold dog, he always has to be where the action is, and hates to think he may be missing out on something. I have developed the habit of checking around my feet before closing the car door, because nine times out of ten, he'll have jumped in behind me

Gibson in true Golden Retriever style, is fairly respectful of house rules here. Ghetto says he's never heard of rules, be they house or any other.

Which is why yesterday morning I was woken by something warm and wet on my neck, you guessed it. Ghetto had come upstairs, pushed open my bedroom door and decided it was time for everyone to be up and about. My reaction was to groan and roll over which brought me nose to nose with Gibson. The look in his eyes said "I do know I'm not meant to be here, but it was his idea, and I thought you might be pleased to see us both after all ... maybe?"

SIGH ....

So they got me out of bed early, which was not such a bad thing, they were fed and sent into the garden, but before long Ghetto was barking.

I went outside to investigate and found him nose to bristle with a hedgehog. I put him away once, but he went straight back and started kicking up a fuss again. So the start to my day was yet further delayed, as - still in my jimjams - I had to don gardening gloves and wellington boots, and crawl beneath a hedge to grab the hedgehog, then open our gate and cross the road to put him safe from wire-haired dogs. I so hope nobody saw me !

In the afternoon, no doubt worried he might get bored, Ghetto managed to get himself shut inside the guest house, from where he tried to escape via ... the bedroom window!

Can you see? he even ventured out on to the roof and dislodged a tile AAARGH!

Hmmm.... life is going to feel pretty quiet around here, the day Ghetto goes back down to Nice!

Oh and by the way ..... August is going to be a month of giveaways on this little blog - one every Wednesday. I already have three stunning gifts to be won, but there are five wednesdays in August! If you have a really cool product that you would like to promote via a giveaway here, just send me an email and I'll see if I can fit you in!

antique french quilts and more news from the south

Thank you to everyone who left comments and sent me emails about the quilts I found yesterday. I was so excited to find them, having looked for years. And my excitement reached new levels this morning when my early start was rewarded with a third quilt!! Thank you for your enthusiasm, it is lovely to be able to share these treasures with such an appreciative audience!

Here are some more pictures, taken in the grounds of our friends' beautiful home, and of course with the gorgeous Gatsby as model.

If you don't mind, I shall pepper the pictures with my answers to some of the questions I received yesterday.....

How come I don't usually find quilts like these in Normandy? Well, this is a speciality from Provence in the south of France, where they are called 'boutis'.

How old are the quilts? I believe that the quilts I found this weekend are between 90 and 130 years old.

Are they handmade? Yes , entirely handsewn and handquilted, the filling is wool.

Are they in perfect condition? - they differ quite a lot. The red with gold flowers is very worn with some patches and holes; the paler quilt with small red roses and mustard backing is in very good condition, it has a couple of small stains which I shall deal with once home; and the red quilt with striped backing I found today is in remarkable condition.

Are they large? - they are all a good size to cover a double bed

Will they all be available to buy? - Possibly, I'm still deciding which, if any, to keep for myself

Is Gatsby really as cute as he looks in the photos? - No!! In real life he is WAY CUTER, practically perfect actually; Gibson and Ghetto should start feeling worried!

Thank you for reading me, à demain mes amis!

dogs and more dogs and horses on sick leave

Have you noticed how sometimes life is going along swimmingly, at a good steady rhythm, without too many hitches or surprises, until one incy wincy detail throws it all haywire.

That's what happened this morning, to my regular, and very civilised Wednesday morning walk.

Come winter, come summer, rain or shine, I walk in the forest each Wednesday morning with my good and patient friend J, and her lovely black lab Rupert. We stride through the forest at reasonably high speed, chatting and laughing, not noticing the time go by - only pausing now and again to yell after a dog (invariably mine!) gone AWOL.

These walks are one of the small and simple highlights of my week.

This morning, of course, we had young Ghetto in tow, and then another good friend turned up with a certain Elliott.

Et nous voilà avec 4 chiens!!!

Suddenly we had 4 dogs!

Where shall I start?!

It was a mess!

Ghetto, by way the smallest, could think of nothing else than getting on top of Elliott (I swear that pup will have certain small parts of him missing by the end of the summer!)

Gibson kept running away, and poor Elliott was rather traumatised by Ghetto's amorous intentions and wouldn't get out from under our feet.

Thank goodness that Rupert was there to raise the tone of the whole event.

Even Iris was amazed to see us walk past the field with so many dogs in tow!

Which reminds me: Quick had a visit from the vet yesterday and it is ALL GOOD NEWS!! The bone is mending beautifully, the swelling is well reduced and we'll be starting some gentle walking on a lead rein before the end of the month! YAY!

Gibson and Ghetto get back together

I.N.S.E.P.A.R.A.B.L.E - that is the only way to describe Gibson and Ghetto ever since the little monster came home last week!

As you can see from the pictures, Ghetto has gone for the hippy-look this season, with long unkempt dreadlocks, but we try not to talk about it, we'd hate to upset him.

Gibson is forever the patient, generous and understanding one, although now and again he does shoot me a look that says,

"do I REALLY have to put up with this nonsense?"

or

"doesn't he EVER slow down?!"

Only a few more days and the dynamo will be gone again, and the house
will feel strangely quieter..... and tidier!

Just saying.

the quiet time

There is a peaceful routine around taking care of our horses. They are pretty low maintenance, I have neither the time nor the inclination to stable them, so they live up in a field behind the house, and in the winter they get to wear a blanket or two.

Not a day goes by however without going up to check on them, scratch an ear, make sure they have water and feed them with cereal or hay or both.

We have a pony and a horse, both good natured, but the pony is by far the brightest of the two.

Sometimes when the day is rushed I put off the moment to go to see them "I'll just do that first,", "I'll finish this then go straight away" ... but once I'm in my boots and out the door with Gibson at my side, I inevitably wonder why I was stalling. Come rain, sleet, sun or snow it is only pleasure.

If the sun is bright I may find them laying down and soaking up the heat, but otherwise they'll be heads down grazing, rarely more than 10 paces apart.

It is always the pon, who sees me first, and makes that soft snorting noise that says "oh, there she is, wonder what she's got for us". The horse is always slower to react, but when he realises his pal may get to me before him he kick-starts with an energetic buck and canters over.

Iris checks my hands, my pockets, only interested in food; I swear that pony is a walking stomach. Jacquard forgives me if I have no treats for him and hangs around to have his head scratched, putting his ears down to my shoulder level to allow me to get to the bits that really matter.

We can stand like that for a while, Iris walking around me saying "so when are you going to feed us" and Jacquard with half shut eyes, drifting away into an ecstatic snooze and gradually leaning on my shoulder until his weight becomes uncomfortable. While this is going on Gibson is nose to the ground, gleaning helpful information on any animals that went through the field in the night.

Recently a lovely guest to our cottage said to me "but what would you do here if you didn't have the blog to write?!", I smiled thinking of the list of things that were awaiting my attention, but I didn't even attempt to explain that a few minutes scratching a horse's ear is one of the important moments in my day.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend; may you also have an ear to scratch and enjoy the simple pleasure of quiet company.

And a quick PS for the kind readers who have asked for news of Ghetto ... the whirlwind returns, tomorrow for a week or so, so I'll be able to show you his latest tricks!

a dog has to do what a dog has to do ...

Gibson is beyond excited today to show you his amazing new trick and ALSO to show you the first in his range of couture pooch pads!

Young Gibson has finally found his true calling - he is a horse handler!! Every time we go to get the horses from the field he now insists on grabbing the lead rein and bringing one of them back to the house.

He is so proud of himself it's shameful !!

Iris is an exceptionally understanding and patient pony (most of the time) so that helps, but they are still pretty cute don't you think?!

So back to the cushions, if you are interested you can find them listed individually in the store, but basically they have been made to fit around standard rectangular bed pillows. The small size takes one pillow the big-boy size takes two.

I'll be taking orders for pillows with your choice of name incorporated into the logo if desired.

Each of the cushions is made from old burlap grain sack and backed with vintage ticking. I hope you like them!

A demain!

Have a lovely day ....

the thoughtful dog

How sweet is this story .... Young Gibson accompanied my daughter, riding her pony Iris (the daughter was riding not the dog) around the forest yesterday afternoon. Spring is in the air here and it's frankly plain difficult to stay inside when all this loveliness is beckoning us to come out and enjoy.

They cantered up and down the alleys of the forest, jumping fallen trees and having a great time. When Nina finally remembered her promise to be home before dark they set off in the right direction, but as they left the forest, she suddenly realised she had lost a glove.

"Bother! Oh no! Come on Iris we have to go back and find the glove" she turned the pony around and started heading back up the path, and called to Gibson, "come on Gibson, I've lost my glove" Gibson sat down, ( I'm sorry to say that is normal when he's called). She turned to look at him "Come on Gibson, it's getting dark, let's try and find that gl.... WOW Gibson!! "

You guessed it, sweet little Gibson had picked the glove up from wherever she had dropped it and was kindly carrying it home for her.

I tell you, Golden Retrievers are just born gentlemen.

gibson goes on holiday

If Gibson is looking blue, it's because he is home after his holiday where he had such a good time it is hard to re-adjust! :)

We did not take Gibson with us to Nice, even though Ghetto would have loved to see him. Gibson had his own agenda .... Our very kind friends P and D invited Gibson to stay and join in the action packed week planned for their grandchildren and thought that Gibson may like to join in.

Amongst the activities planned for the week were learning to use a compass, how to tie a good knot, how to light a campfire when you haven't any matches and how to cook sausages. The sort of French country survival course that any self respecting Golden Retriever would simply love.

The evening before we left, Gibson packed his new cushion, his lead and collar and an unreasonable quantity of tennis balls.

What can I say? Gibson arrived a day after the granchildren so unfortunately missed the lesson on knot tying and the practice run with the compass around the swimming pool, but I am told that despite this lack of preparation he was with the winning team on the orienteering course and also selflessly volunteered to test the sausages, in case they weren't cooked properly.

Gibson asked me to pass on his thanks for the lovely week he had; that he adored the numerous walks each day! and to repeat that if ever they need another sausage tester that he's their dog.

He's not really as miserable as he looks on these pictures, but it's raining hard here and he's wondering why we haven't been for a walk this afternoon.

Gibson also asked me to show you that his new cushion is an incredibly fashionable combination of grain sack and vintage ticking ..... Don't ever tell me it's a dog's life.

snowy sunday

Images of fresh snow, excited dogs, worried daffodils, snow arrived in the night and is promised to continue falling until Tuesday. As usual, Normandy is hopelessly under equipped to deal with even a few inches of snow, so my children are delighted at the prospect of a day off school, huddled down at home, keeping the fire going.