Country Brocante Style, and a Peek in the Nursery

Hello friends! No sooner did I hit "publish" on my last post than I got the latest copy of Victoria Magazine in the mail with blue china on the cover! Thanks to all of you for sharing your love of blue with me!

Lately I have been tucking away in the nursery to get a little quiet time away from things. There is a good view of the lawn and fresh air from an open window on calm days, and for the time being I have taken down the ironing board and replaced it with a folding table. 

I think a guest room like this is sometimes called a "spare" room. But it is an essential room for me in our little three bedroom house. I have mostly used it as a busy room, but with the makeshift desk and chair, I find I am spending more leisure time here. 

One of my favorite things in here is a sweet print of a self portrait by Elisabeth Vigee LeBrun, a prominent French portrait painter of the late eighteenth century. If you Google her you may realize that you are already familiar with her paintings.

I didn't know this myself until after I brought the portrait home from a flea market and researched it. But Madame Le Brun has a remarkable history as an early female artist that I think might be an inspiration for all my young granddaughters!

There are still lots of other female influences found in here. . . .

You may recognize these pages by Edith Holden too. But it is from her lesser known book Nature Notes which was discovered AFTER the more prominent volume by her: The Country Diary of An Edwardian Lady. Nature Notes was actually created the year before Country Diary, though it was only discovered and published a decade or so later. Both were received to wild, and lasting, acclaim. 

Wonderful to peruse year round!

I also laid out this scrumptious old quilt that is only for show. It greatly increases the "happy" quotient in this room for me.

And maybe this beautiful new book also caught your eye! I am showing just a few random pages to show you below. But there are LOTS of wonderful photos included. You may like it too! Country Brocante Style, by Lucy Haywood.

Well, I hope you enjoyed a little down time with me today! Here we are at the weekend already again. I hope it is wonderful for you!

Thanks so much for popping by!

Wishing you lovely days ahead!

Jacqueline

New Blues, Dish Overload

I've been in love with china for a long time now. It might have started once when I was on vacation in a small Utah town about forty years ago. There was a little china shop on the main street. It wasn't an antiques store, though there may have been a bit of furniture and a few accessories. It was mainly this dazzling wall of the prettiest china patterns you could ever imagine. I have never forgotten it. and I think I have wanted to have my own little china shop ever since.

It's funny how you gravitate toward things. Blue china is probably near the top of most people's list. But it's only lately that I have been possessed by it. So when I came across this box of English china at a seriously give away price I didn't give it a second thought. There is not a chip anywhere on the pieces of this very old pattern, so someone cherished this set a lot.

It was really the detail inside the cups that enchanted me, but all the details of the design are lovely.

I have collected stray pieces of beautiful blue china for the last few years with the intention of selling it, but the only pieces that have made it into the shop have been things I knew I would never use. Serving pieces and such. And now I have been inspired by the NYC cafe Maman that some of you no doubt know of. Their website link is here.  

Maman serves all their coffee and pastries on beautiful pieces of vintage blue transfer ware china in mixed patterns. But even if you never get a chance to go there, their website and Instagram pages are wonderful to peruse. And I think my family and friends are going to be seeing lots of blue china on our table for a while too!  

"The Thames" by Pountney & Co. Ltd.

I have still more blue patterns for mixing and matching tucked away. I would love to have my own cake and coffee shop!!! (Okay, maybe just go to one. LOL!) 

So what are you dreaming about these days?

I hope it's the start of a great week for you!

Happy April! (No foolin'!)

Jacqueline