the may bouquet

After the long winter it feels positively luxurious to be able to compose bouquets from the garden and surrounding fields.

As the lilac starts to fade here it is the turn of the Hawthorn tree (or May, as the British aptly name it) to come into flower.

Tight small buds of white, crimson or pink, it is a lovely tree with an easily recognised perfume.

 

I grabbed some from a field as I walked down from the forest this morning, then added some purple tinged grasses, a few blades of barley and some splashes of purple from the garden, in the form of lilac, irises and wisteria.

 The result is a very relaxed looking 'basket of flowers, whose beauty will be short lived, but appreciated even the more for it.

Carolyn Quartermaine at the musée fragonard

 If you are in the south of France this summer, here is an exhibit worth visiting.

The charming Musée Fragonard has invited Carolyn Quartermaine to create a show called Conversation Piece.  Using the private collections of Jean Francois and Helene Costa, who founded Fragonard in 1926, Carolyn has put together a series of collages from photos, mementos, drawings and various paperwork.

 The project began when the museum acquired an untouched 19th century photographic atelier in Grasse.   It is this studio, with its faded murals, and orginal furniture that inspired Quartermaine to assemble her collages.

 Drawing on the museum's wealth of Provençal costumes, the Costa photos, personal documents and other scent related memorabilia, Quartermaine's collages are truly charming.

Let me know what you think, if you check it out!

Photos by Martin Morrell for Elle Decoration

french irises on rooftops

It is iris time here in Normandy, and as well as enjoying them in the garden, we are also happy to admire the purple spires growing on thatched walls and rooftops.

This is a tradition peculiar to our part of Normandy, where there are still craftsmen to thatch, and where we like to add a few succulents and irises to the peak of a thatch covering, so the roots help anchor the reed thatching.

The lifespan of a good thatched roof can attain about  45 years; it is said to keep the house warm in winter and cool in the summer.  When it rains (which it does a lot in Normandy!) only the top layer is humid, the rest remaining dry as the water runs away.

Personally, it works for me.   I love the country charm it adds and the soft palette of colours.

What do you think?  Would you like  a home with flowers growing on the rooftop?!

What is sure is that I loved the outline of this thatched wall, early one  sunny morning this weekend.

 Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into traditional normandy.  Thank you for your comments over the past days, so sorry I've been too busy to answer all my mails, or comments.  Next week I should do better .....

christina's loot shoot, - greige comes to Normandy

The weekend has been filled with wisteria and irises and brocante, and all of that shared with the lovely Christina from the blog Greige and her charming Mom, Linda.

This is Christina's second visit here, and Gibson and Ghetto definitely approved her presence ...

and her choice of purchases!

Ghetto and I agreed on this lovely orange sofa, we both wanted it to stay here!

 We had a wonderfully eclectic range of loot, and despite the 'damp' weather, managed to find some great treasure at dealers and at the fairs.

 Christina managed to stay looking gorgeous all weekend, even  after being up and about at dawn, and shopping all morning in the rain!   I'd love to know her secrets!

 If there are things you like here, then drop Christina a line, or keep a very very close eye on her online store, Shop Greige

 

And because it is important to me that my brocante clients enjoy driving around this lovely part of Normandy, we also took the time to take a few pictures and stop for a country lunch  ... who says we have to work all the time?!

Yup, I think we can officially declare the weekend a big success!