Friday

A new old metal box to store some garden tools...a bouquet of lavender I picked up in the cloister of my work place...

















...other two of the wooden ornaments collection bought at the last antique market...
































...some glass candle holders bought at a flea market in Nice during my Easter holidays for my web-shop...

















...my Jeanne d'Arc Living magazine arrived from Tine...

















...and finally...cinema...Coco avant Chanel...an icon not only for fashion but for her extraordinary and revolutionary strength in changing the look of the women!

Gardening 2!

Gardening today! It's now very hot...more than 30° and I'm very busy at work, but I like to work in the garden in my free time...I still have to bring here lots of things...chairs, table, lamps, accessories...

...the grass is growing up but it's still far to be a lawn...

















...some lemon flowers...they've a marvellous scent...

















....roses...

















...purple Solanum...





























I've to buy some other flowers and pots and to hope that sun and water help the grass to become a green carpet...now it looks like a leopard!
Thank you for all your nice comments! They make my days!!!
It's only Wednesday but...have a nice week end!!!

Second hand market in Lucca!

We have a very famous antique market each third week end of the month, but for the first time we'll have a second hand market..."vide-grenier" for the French. I usually go to the South of France with my friend Paola to sell our old items, but now we have the same chance here in Lucca! I'll go for a look but not to sell...it's too hot now...but may be next time...we'll have our stall too!


















http://www.mercantipercaso.com/

I like this kind of markets...it's funny to sell and barter and often we can find lovely hidden treasures!
You all are invited to hunt!

Last finds at Lucca antique market

At the last antique market I bought some old wooden ornaments. I like these kind of useless finds but I had to decide what to do with them! So I've painted and transformed them in a sort of hooks to hang decorative and light objects or tea-towels and aprons in the kitchen...

...these are the first two I made...

















...they all are different in shapes and the patina is different too...

















...I picked the herbs in my work place...we have lots of plants in the cloisters (it's an ancient convent)...I'll show you some photos in one of my next post...

...new items for my web-shop!

Blue shades...

Blue is not one of my favourite colours...I seldom wear blue clothes and I prefer warm shades for my home! But when blue declines into purple, lilac or violet...then I like it! I love lavander, violets, wisteria and all the flowers in these shades....

...this photo is a mass...but sometimes I'm a mass too...

















...I like blue with white and grey...may be a bit cold for a Southern women as me, but charming...

















...sometimes I feel blue too...but that's another story!
Have a nice and sunny week end!!!

O sole mio!

My mother has just come back from a trip in the Naples area...marvellous places!
Naples is one of my favourite cities...stunnings monuments, sea, sun, Vesuvio, delicious food and very nice people...and the villages around are all very famous...Positano, Ravello, Amalfi, Sorrento...the isles of Capri, Ischia, Procida...many artist, poets, writers took their inspiration from these paradises..















Carl Wilhelm Götzloff 1837

Naples is very famous for its music too...when I was in Beijing, the taxi driver started to sing o sole mio as soon as he knew that I was Italian...
...and of course is very famous for pizza....















...lemons (do you know Limoncello, the typical lemon liquor???), cedars and for red horns! They're goodluck charms...Italians are very superstitious!

















I give you all a virtual red horn....good luck!!!!

Gardening!

A nice day yesterday...I spent my afternoon jumping to some of my favourite places...garden shops and antique market...not properly an antique market...a sort of big store where people sell old things and whatever is thought to be useless!
Finally I found an old zink basin! I've been hunting to find zinc items for a lot of time, but they seems to be a rarity and even expensive here! After my conquest, I visited some garden shops...I find them very relaxing! I love to be outside when the sun shines! I bought white Geraniums and some other flowers and then...gardening!



















...I don't remember the name of these blue flowers...the white ones are Solanum...


















...here they are my new treasures on the old stone bench in the garden!

























Tomorrow a tour to the Lucca antique market and...beach! I love beach in this season...few people, sun and pleasant temperature!

Have a nice and sunny week end!

Zink and slate tags!

We bought these tags in France...the slate ones can be used to tag plants or to leave a short message...they're large enough...it's easy to write on by a white pencil or a piece of chulk...





































...the zink labels can be used either as a clip or as a magnet...
























...these are new items for our web-shop but I like them so much...I think I'll take some of them for myself too!

Plants...

New plants for the garden and the window sills...white Pelargonium...


















...pale rose dwarf Pelargonium...

















...the first ancient roses blossoming in the garden...

















...I don't know the name of this plants...but I like the tender flowers...

















...a new lavander plant and the first lemon of the season

















Thank you for all your kind birthday wishes to Filippo! We had a nice party!!!

Happy birthday Filippo!

Tomorrow is a special day...it' my son's birthday! I'm a little bit moved...he isn't a little boy anymore...he's 18! He was 2 years old in this photo...many years ago! We had happy and sad moments, but what's important is that he's a very sweet and sensitive young man! Tonight we have a party with family and friends...I'm very busy today!
















Happy birthday Filippo and be happy!

French finds!

Here they're two other items bought in France for the web-shop during the Easter vacations... a biscuit tin with lovely decorations...

















...an old bowl from the famous French munufactures Sarreguemines...it's a little bit chipped as you can see in the photo, but it's nice anyway and I like the decoration...

















I've something more from France to show you, but I still have to take the photos...too busy at work in the last weeks...

Lavender sugar cubes!

Lavender bought in France, white and brown sugar cubes (and some other shapes...) some labels and...voilà! An hand made product for Les Cotrions! Summer is coming and what's better than iced tea smelling of lavander under the sun???

















Have a sweet and sunny week!