Swede

Paris in May

 

Can you believe it???  Mr. Swede and I are spending May in Paris "together". He was there last week and again at the end of this week on business, but we are both taking vacation and going together with no work worries.  We didn't do anything to celebrate our 20th anniversary in December, so this will be it.  I'm working this week, then we leave for the City of Lights.  I'm back May 29th.  We will be there long enough to get several Saturdays in at the Vanves flea market.  I sure hope to find something fabulous. My main goal is to photo every piece of antique and vintage object of beauty I find -- every rusty door hinge, door knob, or architectural element. Paris has been there as a settlement since 250BC as Parisii founded as far as anyone knows by the Celtic people of Ireland who came across what is now the Celtic Sea.  I love the Haussmann buildings from 1853-1870 as well so hope to photo all of their elements. Our apartment is on the island of Saint Louis whose buildings are mostly from the 1600's.  St. Louis, Missouri is named for this island.

Ile Saint Louis is the smaller natural island behind Ile de Cite shown in the foreground [you can see Notre Dame on the right].  I got this photo from the Internet, so apologize for not citing the original photographer of this aerial photo.  The Seine River goes around on both sides of the island.  This is in the center of Paris.

In this photo you can see the Seine and the stone work around the island. There is a road around the edge. Sorry, again - I don't know who took this photo.

Here are some photos of the apartment Mr. Swede got for us last week.  It is one bedroom, one bathroom with kitchen and dining-living area.  Very small.  Yes, only 410 square feet.  Most of the island is residential --constructed in the 17th century.  You can see the tall ceilings with wood beams.

White settee in front of the bar area.

The marble fireplace and desk with Aubusson rug.

Here's the kitchen area.

The sink and cupboards in the galley kitchen.

The white tiled bath with the washer.

We will be doing all the tourist things like Versailles, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and hanging like we're locals on the island.  And, since the best ice cream shop in Paris is on the island, Berthillon, we will have to walk past it each day--lucky for our calorie consumption it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

I'm looking forward to an exciting time.

And, last, here's today's Daily Thing of Beauty, my neighbor's Queen Elizabeth Rose.  I used picmonkey.com to add the marbelized vein effect.

Summer

Rose photo: Swede

 

Thrifty Treasures: Les Passees Stock Exchange

 

If you are anywhere near the intersection of Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri or Mississippi between September 16 and October 29, I encourage you to go to the charity consignment store Les Passees Stock Exchange located in Collierville, TN on Shelby Drive immediately behind the Avenue mall. You can read about it HERE -- all about how to consign your items and how they support childrens' charities.  All the women who run this consignment store are volunteers and they do tremendous work. It is only open for six weeks so there is urgency - when you see something you like you had better grab it.  They consign mostly items for the home -- furniture, antiques, glassware, jewelry, china, silver and even fur coats.

I thought I would share today a few items that I purchased this year. I am linking up to Southern Hospitality's blog feature Thrifty Treasures on Monday.

 
You can see all the links on Monday, September 26th on the Southern Hospitality blog HERE.

Here is my greatest bargain.  Handmade porcelain peapods by Pamela Tidwell of Vieuxtemps in Georgia.  I have seen her fabulous porcelain flowers and vegetables for years but they were out of my price range. I saw this one in the front jewelry case and asked to see it.  I knew immediately what it was as I always loved the peapods. The volunteer took it out of the case and I could find no breaks, cracks or damage to the piece. When I looked at the price, there was no question that I was going to be the new owner of the peapods.

 
I knew these were in the $300+ price range so I went home and looked online at Vieuxtemps website and it was $329. You can see her other fabulous works HERE.  I would love someday to have her potted flowers.

 
Here is the backside which sealed the deal. I joked with my friends that this must have been a gift from somebody's X-husband as certainly everybody knows how to Google to find out what it was. Crazy price!!

 
Here is my next bargain. A fitted boxed set of sterling and mother of pearl handled knives in perfect condition made in England.  These will go great with my other MOP handled pieces in my collection for tablescaping.

Below are a few more pieces that made their way into my cart. I won't show every item, but I think you will like my $5 finds.

 
Hand painted German pedestal 10" cake stand in mint condition. Great fall colors to display my pear, peach and guava Apple Annie's fruit pieces.

 
Mint condition lattice edge milk glass bowl.

 
And its white partner, a pedestaled bowl for $5. Sorry, I already removed the sticky tag before I took this photo.

 
Mint condition Waterford decanter for $65.

 
Carnival glass footed compote.

 
Handpainted platter.

 
Italian porcelain cupid pedestal bowl at 10" high for $20. No broken tips on the flowers - perfect condition.

I'll show one more.

 
These antique stoppered bottles for $12.50 each.

If you are a treasure seeker, you know how great it feels to find something wonderful for $5 or $10. You go home beaming because you also helped an organization of women assist kids who need help.

Best wishes,

Summer

Photos: Swede