brocante - what the early bird caught .....

I had a particularly fun time at the foires a tout, or brocante sales on Sunday.  The first one was small and unpromising but actually I bought a load of linen, which as you know is a MAJOR weakness of mine.  A sweet lady has set up a table outside her house, and had a big pile of beautiful embroidered bed linen.  Somehow the linen didn't square with the house, and she told me rather sadly that she had  bought the sheets because she thought they were so beautiful, but her husband didn't like them. and she didn't have the space to keep them.  What could I say?  I was happy to relieve her of the offending items and move swiftly on.  I'll be showing you those pictures another time.

The real fun was to be found at Giverny, yes the same Giverny that Monet used to frequent..  Here the sun was shining and the fair was huge.  I'm still sorting through some of the things I bought,  but today I took some photos to show you. 

I found some beautiful books, which will make instant little collections.

I picked up some cute enamel ware and old tins

There was quite a bit of  blue and grey  transfer ware.  Put altogether they'd make a wonderful display on a wall. 

... and just when I was turning around to go back to the car, I came across the stand of a lady who arrived late.  Amongst her treasures she was selling papers found at her grandpa's home.  Lots of legal documents and manuscripts.  Beautiful handwriting, scrolls and flourishes.  I bought wedding acts; sales of land and vineyards; donations from parents to child ...  The dates range from  1830 - 1880.  I can't decide which is the most beautiful.

Driving home wondering how such amazing scripts could be used to decorate a home, I remembered that the talented Trish at Trouvais has just such penmanship framed on her wall.

She kindly gave me permission to show you these photos from her blog. 

Thank you Trish!

Once I had bought the papers, the kind lady at the fair gave me a few extra bits from her grandfather's personal collection, which I rather think I may keep for myself!

This week is going to be crazy, so  I won't have the chance  to put much up on my etsy shop.   In the meantime, since I did promise you first dibs, if you see anything you like, drop me a mail and I'll let you know the prices.

I hope you enjoyed these photos, maybe one day one of you will come with me brocanting - what fun that would be!