Shabby SuzAnna's

No time for treasure hunting this week but did stop by my favorite place, SuzAnna's, last week and found even more wonderful things I would have loved to bring home.

Just look at this spectacular shabby, rose encrusted dresser - with a little TLC this would be a stunning addition to any room in the cottage. These French beds below were to die for - some lucky shopper has picked them up by now I'm sure. Note the old lampshade frame with shreds - this idea seems to be a popular look for Halloween decor in some current decorating magazines.

Actually I did grab this already shabby twig sculpture - using it on my table with the white and pale green pumpkins - thought it would also be pretty decorated with crystals and red hearts come Valentine's Day.
Mirror, mirror on the wall......................loved this display of old hand mirrors.

Just so many great items at SuzAnna's. When I return from England I'll be heading over there for their Holiday Open House. I have a new decorating project in mind, the guest room, so know I will find plenty of lovely already shabby and chic things, at reasonable prices, to bring home. Those wonderful gals just get better and better when it comes to finding and hauling back the best treasures to their charming shop.............and it's just the most fun place in town to shop, meet up with friends, have meaningful chats, and just feel good. One almost wants to move in with them to stay surrounded by so many beautiful items full of history.........and then take some home to start a new life in one's own cottage!



This is an early Inspiration Friday post - hope you all have a great weekend treasure hunting in cool Autumn weather.

A Hollywood Legend

I'm really not interested in the Hollywood scene as it is today - celebrities being 'celebrated' for their bad behaviour doesn't sit well with me. However, there are some legendary Hollywood 'stars' who were amazing in their day. In the tiny community of Grabtown, North Carolina, a star was born and her name was Ava Gardner. This past weekend on our trip through the town of Smithfield, we visited the museum dedicated to her - home to an incredible collection of original scripts, photos, movie posters, costumes and personal effects - Ava's story was a true Hollywood 'Cinderella Story".

We viewed an extremely well made film showing Ava with most of Hollywood's top male stars, including those whom she married (Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra). Here are some photos depicting her rise from little country girl to famous movie star.

Below - a watch given Ava by Frank Sinatra.

The museum has done a great display of costumes from several of Ava's films - behind glass so a little blurry here.

Note the teeny tiny waistline of this exquisite black velvet gown - Ava was definitely petite!

Below is Ava's beautiful china from her London home, along with some decorative items. She spent her last years living in London, becoming a close friend of the famous British poet, Robert Graves who actually wrote poems dedicated to her.

Sadly the days of the true Hollywood *star* seemed to have passed - they certainly were legends, both female and male, and I still think their movies were the best!

North to South Carolina Road Trip

OK - this week ahead will be a whirlwind - here I am back from a weekend road trip/wedding and now preparing for my trip home to England in one week. Lots to show you, lots to do, please bear with me as I post all these pics now - time will be at a premium.

A side trip to Florence, South Carolina on the way to the wedding, took us to the Pee Dee Farmers' Market..........................and there they were, the elusive white pumpkins, my search was over! I found some beauties and a gorgeous pale green one - the only one remaining.

Mexican chimineas and wrought iron furniture.

Fountains, statues, benches - all lovely. No pick up truck, no take home!!

Great veggies such as organic garlic, white radishes, pale green zucchini (courgettes to you European gals) and patty pan squash.

Driving home along the back roads we noticed how the terrible drought has affected the crops. Tobacco has suffered (not that I'm shedding tears over that one), but the soybeans and cotton looked parched, the corn was already ploughed under, and even the pumpkin crop has been damaged this season.

Below is a cotton field awaiting harvest - this crop is making a come back in North Carolina.

A beautiful plantation style antebellum mansion which now seems to be a farm house as it was surrounded by barns and outbuildings.

The imposing historic market place in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Above you can see my lonely green pumpkin waiting to be taken home - below a real white one front left, and the green one. The white twig 'sculpture', already a bit shabby, I found at SuzAnna'sMore postcards from the road soon.

"Eat your vegetables"

Being vegetarian for almost thirty years I've enjoyed many grown in our small back garden each Summer. The last of the garden harvest was picked Tuesday - a few eggplants hanging on for dear life, some dangling small green peppers, the remaining Roma tomatoes struggling to survive despite roots devastated by hungry voles! Tossed with extra virgin olive oil, roasted along with an onion, yellow and red peppers and a few garlic cloves and a dusting of that French herbed sea salt, they turned out lovely and the entire house smelt so good.

What to do with them while still hot and colorful - make risotto with roasted veggies, quick, easy and healthy.


A little freshly grated Parmigiano~Reggiano, a grind of black pepper, and a few fresh basil leaves ~ supper's ready.

"Buon appetito."

Salt of the Earth

While salting my veggies last evening I thought, why do we say "the salt of the earth" when it comes mostly from the sea? Throughout history salt has been important and was at one time traded for gold.

Why is American packaging somewhat boring.......sometimes just plain ugly.........while in France, something as ordinary as salt is not only vibrant with flavor, it comes in beautiful containers like this.

SEL DU JARDINIER (Gardener's Salt) is beautiful.............gritty crystals with tiny specks of herbs mixed in. This metal trimmed wooden box complete with attached string ties looks lovely sitting on the kitchen counter.

The usual blue box of iodized American salt has only one redeeming factor...........'when it rains it pours'. My French salt will never pour - it's damp and sticky as if it really did come straight from the sea. It needs help from a spoon or one's finger tips - but even that feels right. Sometimes, perhaps all times, the old ways are better.


Well OK, the little girl with the umbrella is pretty and I do like how the company is showing the old illustrations on their packaging lately.

A Taste of Autumn

Have you ever bought fruit and found it wasn't ripe enough to eat immediately? When I opened the nasty plastic clamshell box containing these California plums. I found them to be really rock hard ~ a big disappointment! However a quick run through the cookbooks today turned up this Plum Raspberry Crumble in Ina Garten's great 'Barefoot In Paris' - Easy French Food You Can Make at Home. This was simple and delicious - luckily I had frozen beautiful raspberries this Summer, the plums baked to soft perfection, and all other ingredients are basic items we all keep around the kitchen.

Just the right dessert for an Autumn evening - warm from the oven with a dollop of creme fraiche - even the colors excite one's taste buds!

Beyond the Pale.........Pumpkins

These pale beauties evade me.................I want some, I dream of them, where are they hiding? Lead me to that pumpkin patch, please.

We cottage girls often want something different. After all, shabby chipped paint, rambling pink roses on faded fabric, unpolished silver, creamy china, are sometimes insulted by bright orange pumpkins.

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I didn't find any big pale true beauties yet, but a few smaller ones were joyfully discovered this past weekend! They'll keep these two large ones company on my table. They are big and pale, yes. Beautiful, in a way. Real, by no means. Don't tell - from a distance they fool. My seasonal secret.