A Few Weeks of Peonies

Peonies are one of the flowers that make the happiest.  Aren't these beautiful?

As I have said before, blue and green is my favorite color combination.  I love the shade of blue on the enamel pitcher contrasted with the dark green leaves.

I make an effort to buy them closed so that I can enjoy them for the maximum amount of time possible.  

My lovely sister-in-law told me that they will be available for only a few weeks here in Northern California but that they grow like wildflowers on the East Coast.  I am a bit envious.

But I guess that just makes me enjoy them even more while I have them.

have a wonderful day!

Michele

My French Bistro Chairs

I had a wonderful morning at the flea market.  I was fortunate to have found these three bistro chairs.  They have been brought over from France and are from the early 1900's.  I love the peeling paint and obvious years of wear.

Today I learned how to tell what makes some more valuable than others.  

Green and blue is my favorite color combination.  This one is a mix of a deep green and soft French blue.  

This is the sturdiest of the bunch.  Look at the blue and grey on the seat.  

I love them together.  I am not sure that I can part with them :).

Have a great Sunday!

Michele

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Au Revoir To My Chairs

I found these beautiful cane back chairs at an antiques fair.  They were brown when I spotted them.  I honestly started running upon sight of them.  I had run out of cash and forgotten my check book.  I wanted them so desperately that I left the fair, walked a mile to my car, ventured into the town to find an atm, came back in, reparked miles away, all in hopes that they would still be there.  There being the most remote row, (row Y) in a fair of 800 vendors.  I was thrilled when I saw them awaiting me!!

I brought them home and painted them a few times

They have been with us for about a month now.  I posted them on my Etsy site and am happy to say that I have found a wonderful home for them.  I trust completely that Sheila will love them just as much as I have.  She is absolutely lovely. 

I learned today that this detail, the turned and fluted legs and well as the box with the floral design inside is what distinguishes them as Louis XVI as opposed to the rounder cabriole legs of the Louis XV era.  I cannot wait to find more!

have a great weekend!

Michele

marche aux puces

today my girls and i drove to sonoma to check out the french flea market at chateau sonoma.  it was wonderful to say the least.  there are no words for how beautiful the shop itself was.  but today they added several vendors to their side and back courtyards.  for a francophile like myself it was heaven on earth.  i have coveted an enamel pitcher with gold accents like this one for a while now.  i am delighted to have found it.  i love the rust on the bottom.

the bistro chair and the grain sacks are flea market finds as well

i love it's authenticity and french feel

and how it fits perfectly in my bedroom

i will certainly make this marche aux puces an annual trip for us

have a great weekend

michele

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my white linen slipcovered sofa

I have wanted a new sofa for quite a long time...a white one.  I could not find exactly what I wanted.  So I decided to try to make one...by hand.   I am not a seamstress and do not even own a sewing machine.  When I mentioned this plan to people, they looked at me as if I had nine heads.  I was instructed to make it in muslin first.  As I found a beautiful heavy white linen, I just started out.  I knew I could do it.  I went into this with the attitude that it would take a long time, extensive use of the seam ripper, and undying patience.  The other thing I had to keep in mind is that I did not want perfection.  I am pretty happy with the outcome.

definitely not perfect but quite an improvement

i am not a great photographer but like the morning light in my living room

i wanted grain sack pillows.  so i went to my favorite flea market and made them myself

I am almost finished making slipcovers for my dining chairs

will share those soon

take good care

MC

beauty in the young

In the last few months I have made an effort to slow down.  Before my daughter started preschool, I visited it as it was being built.  I noticed that the things that would fill their room were pleasing to look at.  I inquired about it and the director told me that in her years as a preschool teacher she had come to believe that beauty, in many different forms, was integral in child development.  She felt that they were drawn to beautiful things and places just as we are as adults.  When I do take slow down a bit I see beauty these days in everyone I meet.  I notice it in people's features.  And sometimes their beauty comes out in unconventional ways.  That is something I love.

of course, these are the most beautiful faces I know

and seeing them laugh seems to make everything ok

have a great weekend

Michele