tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-260700 2009-07-13T14:43:20+02:00 Stories collected while living in France. TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451cb9a69e2011570b77742970c 2009-07-13T14:43:20+02:00 2009-07-13T14:43:20+02:00

Photo Corey Amaro, If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me about antiquing, I would have enough money to buy every antique in France and offer it to you for a song. Since I haven't collected nickels, and since the questions about antiquing are rocketing into orbit due to the summer holidays, I thought I would list a few of my favorite places to go antiquing, shopping and finding home decor. The places listed below have online shops, they are located in France. If you have a favorite place please add it to the comment section. Photo source Chic Kitsch Tombees du Camion In Paris... This tiny, teeny shop with funky, small things: Doll hands, wooden letters, paper flowers, paper clips... the shops name Tombees du Camion means: Fallen from the Truck. Photo source Atelier 154 Atelier 154 In Paris Industrial goods, large and small letters, stools, metal cabinets. Photo source and blog Bord 2 scene. Bord 2 Scene a collection of small decorative pieces. Brocante de la Bruyere (photo source from their site.) photo source: Goerge on the Place. George on the Place In Paris Photo source and site: Madame Mademoiselle. If you like the the...

Tongue in Cheek tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451cb9a69e2011571f85a18970b 2009-07-12T10:36:03+02:00 2009-07-12T10:36:03+02:00

The little girl who had short, red, curly hair, bobbed up and down the aisle while her Mother looked at swimsuits. I was amused by her non-stop chatter, and her Mother's faithful replies. When the little girl wandered-off, the Mother would ask, "Where is my shadow?" The little girl would quickly return assuring her, "Here I am!" Standing in the same aisle, I was captivated by their relationship. Soon thereafter a large-triple-sized woman came into our aisle to pick through the swimsuits. The little girl looked the woman over a few times. Then pointed at her, exclaiming, "Look Mommy SHE' S really big! Her mother paused... then gathered the little girl in her arms, "Yes she is big and you are small. The woman is just right the way she is. I am just right the way I am, and you are just right the way you are too. We are perfect however we are made, big or small." The Mother put her daughter down, and the little girl started to twirl, her red hair danced on her forehead. Isn't it good to know we are "just right" the way we are? Hearing that message (which certainly was meant for...

Tongue in Cheek tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451cb9a69e2011571f3bc76970b 2009-07-11T10:40:48+02:00 2009-07-11T13:08:37+02:00

Two walls painted and two more to go... photos soon to follow. I am a happy camper in our, practical, user friendly, not as charming, new kitchen. One of the lick-able features that I am smitten about is the water spout above the stove top. It beats having to carry pots of water from the sink to the stove. My only regret in the kitchen is that I did not put the water spout off to the side of the stove top. The reason being that when I am cooking with several pots at a time the steam goes up and tends to coat the spout, making cleaning it a daily activity. What is one of your favorite features in your kitchen? Note: My friend Ellen and her husband Frank were featured in the New York Times last Thursday! Ellen is an architect living in North Carolina. You can see her ultra contemporary home here and here. I am so proud of my friends, BRAVO Ellen and Frank!!

Tongue in Cheek tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451cb9a69e2011570f6c828970c 2009-07-10T10:57:45+02:00 2009-07-10T10:57:45+02:00

Good guessing ladies and gentlemen, very impressive, so impressive that right in the beginning one of you nailed it, and I did not have to give another clue. Some of the wrong but nevertheless impressive guesses included: -A shoe horn, -A letter opener. -Something to stir boiling laundry. -A page turner for newspapers. -Kel thought since it was a yard long it could be, "...a tongue depressor, and it's long so the house doctor would not catch any germs! -A game token or card. -Kay said, "It was used in the Opera House to direct music." -A board to flip crepes, or to take bread out of the oven. -A putty knife. -It is used to fold or crease linens or newspapers. -Mary Kate guessed it was a, "Crumb sweeper for a really big antique refectory table. the kind of table that could sit 40 people!" Even French Husband did not know, and has been begging me since yesterday morning to tell him. I told him he had to guess, though he did not want to play. So he has had to suffer in the waiting... I have used it as a paddle to spank his behind. I must admit...

Tongue in Cheek tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451cb9a69e2011570efe676970c 2009-07-09T13:13:53+02:00 2009-07-09T13:16:52+02:00

First I am sorry I am late posting, the day got ahead of me. Too many irons in the fire, but here I am ready to post... a Guessing Game! Yippy! Every now and again I see an item at the brocantes (antique market) that stumps me. When this happens I ask the dealer if I can take a photo of it to show you, my lucky, bright, clever readers, to see if I can stump you too. Isn't that thoughtful of me to want to see if I can stump you? I have had several of these guessing games and each and every time someone has guessed the item I have shown. There have been some doozies, French antique things I thought nobody would figure out. Though readers of Tongue in Cheek are very cheeky, clever and leave comments that I swear people come to read instead of my blog :) !! My goal is to stump the Tongue in Cheek Flock before the end of the year.... I hope I can do it today. Here are a few of the Guessing Game things I have listed before: Fly catchers This looks like a key and it is a...

Tongue in Cheek tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451cb9a69e2011570e3e031970c 2009-07-08T13:45:24+02:00 2009-07-11T09:49:04+02:00

Pizza bread. My mother made pizza bread with black olives, onions, tomato sauce and a truckload of cheddar and Monterrey Jack. It remains a comfort food, for me, like no other. My mother would make it when a bunch of young people would come over, which was often considering I have four brothers, a dad who had every teen age boy who ever had a motorcycle hanging out in his barn, and as I have said before, a million cousins. Pizza bread is easy to whip up, filling and a crowd pleaser, a grand slam type of hit food. A food to serve when a party happens without your knowing it is going to happen. Sacha, my teenage son, left yesterday for California. In the twenty four hours that he has been gone I have noticed three things: 1) There is food in the fridge. 2) The laundry basket is not full. 3) A void, a hole, a silence... the lack of presence... my shadow. Knowing that he is in California has made me miss my family even more- if that is possible. In times of melancholy comfort food is a soothing blanket. Pizza Bread came to mind. I do...

Tongue in Cheek tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451cb9a69e2011570cd92bd970c 2009-07-07T10:42:02+02:00 2009-07-07T13:50:30+02:00

The other day my friend's mother Josephine, invited me over for lunch. As I drove to her house I wondered if I should bring flowers or a bottle of wine or something. It seemed odd to go with empty hands, though I knew she didn't expect me to bring anything. When I arrived Josephine told me that it was market day in her village, and would I like to see it. As we walked around the village she bought baguettes at the bakery, fresh goat cheese from a farmer, organic greens from another farmer, and some wine from a local wine maker. While at the market Josephine ran into some of her friends that she hadn't seen in a very long time, their conversation gave a depth that can only be shared by good friends while only using a few words. Leaning over she asked me in a whisper if I minded if she invited them to join us for lunch. I thought it was a wonderful idea. We walked back to her 18th century home, and climbed the stairs to the second floor, where a table had thoughtfully been laid in advance and red poppies sat in a vase...

Tongue in Cheek tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451cb9a69e2011570cd6267970c 2009-07-06T08:43:42+02:00 2009-07-06T08:43:42+02:00

Last night as I was washing the dishes after dinner, I looked out the kitchen window and saw Sacha talking to French Husband. They were doing that male bonding boy thing, talking about bikes, how fast they could go, and his new helmet. Sacha's face like the full moon was a glow in the pink, twilight sky. As I reached for another dish, and held the sudsy sponge in the other hand, in that very ordinary moment that I have lived many times as a wife and mother; I started to cry. I cried a mixture of many things all labeled with the word love. Love for my son, love for French Husband, love for the moment, love for standing in front of a kitchen sink, love for the stack of dishes, love for missing my father, love for the money to be able to send Sacha to visit my family in California, love for feelings that are raging and simple and often unexplainable. Hot tears, steadily washed my face, without thinking I wiped them with the sudsy sponge-- it didn't matter that my eyes were now burning more because of the soap- my heart felt the same....joy.

Tongue in Cheek