Brocante season is in full swing but I'm laid up recovering from a minor operation. So not much new in the shop, no taking photos just a lot of snoozing and listening to Radio 4! If you would like to order something from the shop please do but it will take a little longer to get to you than usual. I'm hoping to be back on form by the end of the week...

market day # 6

Chez Boutonnet - the best chocolatier/patissier in town. 

The almond croissants are to die for. I'm not noted for

my feeble appetite but they are so rich and glorious that I

can only manage a half at a time!

16 rue du Sergent Bories. 12200 Villefranche de Rouergue

14 juillet

The Bastille day fireworks last night in Villefranche were absolutely fantastic!

There was a band (accordion, keyboards and guitar) which interspersed french and latin tunes with Una Paloma Blanc ( took me straight back to the Summer of 76!) and believe it or not the French version of the Hokey Cokey. An elderly lady positively bolted to the dance floor when she heard the opening strains of that one! She struggled a bit to do the moves, especially getting back up from crouching,  but she gave it her best shot. I heard her afterwards saying to her friend "Oh I do feel better for that"!

Great fun!

blackcurrants

I have my camera back after a week of being without it and it works so that's something of a relief.  We've been to several vide greniers over the last few days  so there will be new things on Etsy soon including the rather fine galvanized object above! What do you call it? Too short to be a bucket, too agricultural to be a dish. A container, a feeder...?

Anyhow it came in useful for picking 11 kilos of blackcurrants yesterday, most of which will be transformed into jam and some into compote with apple. More on compote later, it's a favourite subject of mine and a mystery to me why it is never mentioned in British books on preserving even in my favourite,  the excellent River Cottage Handbook nº 2, Preserves by Pam Corbin.

Other than that the weather is South West France is foul - rain, grey skies and I have been lighting the stove in my studio all week which is just bizarre. Better weather forecast for this week starting this evening so we shall see...

market day #5

Bring your own bottle. Or jerrican! 

In French a jerrican is called a bidon and so is a beer belly...!

first plums

We gathered the first plums after supper - plums already - how can that be? It was Spring five minutes ago! These are St. Jean plums and are the first earlies of many different varieties which grow here. Barring hailstorms we should have plums from now until October.

echinops

Not much brocanting this week but a lot of weaving.  It's been warm and cloudy and stormy and when I walk down from my shed to the house around 5 or 6pm the perfume in the garden is intoxicating. Some of it is coming from the buddleia 'black knight', but also in flower are achillea, campion, and echinacea. I particularly love the steely blue globes of echinops.