Buttery taste.............

Aren't these petite butter pats adorable? If one wants to collect china but has limited space to display, perhaps this is the way to go.

These above look so French to me but are actually back stamped 'Hand Painted ~ Nippon' so are from Japan. They are in near pristine condition, no chips, cracks or scratches, and the gold is delicate raised embossing. Best part, a true bargain at SuzAnna's Antiques, $11.99 for all six!

Later, hunting through another antiques mall in town, I came across a dealer who obviously is serious about collecting and selling butter pats.....................she had hundreds including these above. The price points were much higher here, mostly per item, starting around $6 and up to $20 each. Loved the square ones but decided the round ones would be more practical.

I purchased these two because the design looks French and the color is a lovely blue-gray. Guess what, they may have been designed to hold those elegant little pats and curls of creamy butter, however I'm using one as the perfect coaster for my coffee mug as I sit here chatting with you.

I truly believe in using the things you love, not hiding them away awaiting a once in a blue moon fancy dinner party. Who has the time to curl butter anyway!

Pink Saturday

Playing with my new camera at SuzAnna's last Saturday, I managed to snap some bits of pretty pink to share with you today. Seems roses are still blooming despite that pre-Autumn morning nip in the air!

A pale silk blossom on a quilted satin box ~ keepsakes, jewelery, love letters, could be safely hidden here. Did you save love letters from the past?

A delicate porcelain rose on a china box. What sweet memories could one tuck inside. Perhaps trinkets and notes, any small items from childhood such as tiny toys, maybe even baby teeth. The rose garland on this vintage platter is pretty.

Be sure to visit our Pink Saturday hostess, Beverly, at How Sweet The Sound where you will find many wonderful blogs displaying pink today........and have a fabulous weekend.

Through a new lens..........

A few days ago, taking advantage of perfect weather before some much needed rainy days set in, I collected my thoughts, my papers, a cup of Earl Grey, and moved into the gazebo for a couple of late afternoon hours of study.

What fun to have a new camera. Double fun to receive this as a most generous gift from my best friend of 46 years! Thank you Paula, you spoil me. Hard work learning the intricacies of a fancy camera such as this. Manuals are obviously printed for non-technology challenged youth........and, unlike me, they must also have perfect eyesight to read such tiny type.

With reading glasses perched on my nose, large magnifying glass in one hand, mini-manual printed in micro-mini font in the other......and new camera slung about my aging, recently ultrasounded neck, I labored with some difficulty trying to get it all together!! While fiddling with all that paraphernalia, I missed a great shot when a large fox walked through the garden and passed within a foot of the gazebo! It didn't even know I was there........and I was so excited I couldn't see to get the camera adjusted for wildlife or any other type of life!

A good cup of tea helps keep one calm. I've started grasping the facts and know that one day I'll be able to shoot really great images. This 12-megapixels digital camera has an amazing 26X optical zoom - wow! Keep the wildlife coming - I'll be ready next time I hope.

Aged Beauty of Mirepoix, France

You can tell, can't you? I'm thinking Southwestern France these early, almost Fall mornings. We were so fortunate last year when a month-long visit enabled us to see the exquisite Southwest and Provence areas in perfect Autumn weather, day after day.


Looking back over my photos, I've felt the urge to 'play' with them even more, adding some effects to enhance the aging which is quite natural in that part of the world. The ancient buildings are not razed in order to fill in with modern glass and steel cubes. The wooden windows are not often replaced with PVC frames. The shutters are not fiberglass, they are heavy wood with iron closures. They have been painted many times and have hung forever on those stone walls.



The doors, ah, the beautiful doors. Hiding what? Families who have stayed, generation after generation. Each perhaps re-painting the original heavy door. Choosing their color carefully. Making it bright and welcoming. The iron door knocker, often a hand. Sometimes a sign to warn, 'beware of the dog'. A vine softening the hard, worn stone.




Entrance to the market square.

What is aging if not old. We should enjoy the process. The wrinkles, the crumbling, the bumps and crevices. The fading, muted colors. Why change what is history for the ages when it can be this beautiful?

All images from the picturesque town of Mirepoix, a late thirteenth century bastide built around one of the loveliest surviving market squares in France. The square is bordered by houses dating from between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries.

A lovely place to visit.

Friends from afar.....

Beautiful Autumn card from across the miles.

When I had the pleasure of meeting blogger/writer/lover of the brocante, Corey Amaro, in Aix-en-Provence last Autumn, that pleasure was doubled.....no actually tripled.....because I also met her cousin Judy with husband Chris who were visiting.

Funny how one sometimes gets the feeling an acquaintance may become a friend. Despite separation by vast continents and thousands of miles, we may be lucky enough to meet again the people who briefly crossed our path. This happened when we visited Judy and Chris at their lovely home in California in late July. An all too brief stop, full of warm welcome and hospitality, made possible on our way to stay with lifelong friends at Lake Almanor. Hopefully we'll meet again along the way some day.

Inside Judy's lovely card was attached a verse from

Keats' poem To Autumn.

This Time Last Year.................

...........I was getting ready for a trip to the South of France. This year no such luck, but I do have some Autumn travel plans closer to home, including meeting up with some dear blog friends in October.

Images taken last October in the quintessential French village of Caunes-Minervois where my English family now live.

The family house at dawn ~ Caunes Abbey in the background.

If you would like to visit this lovely area, close to the city of Carcassonne, see my sidebar for B&B particulars.

My Friends Always Share.......

Make sure to visit my sweet friend Jeanne's fun blog Backyard Neighbor by this coming Wednesday. Not only will you enjoy reading posts from her beautiful North Carolina mountain home, you can leave a comment that will automatically enter you in her wonderful giveaway pictured above. Jeanne and I have met a couple of times and are planning another get together very soon. Know we'll have fun antiquing, treasure hunting and eating in Asheville, NC........and, even more exciting, another very well known blog friend is going with us! More on all this later. Hurry on over to see Jeanne.