Paris on a September Afternoon

Yesterday was a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad day (to borrow a phrase from Judith Viorst). I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that my not-so-friendly neighbor's comments were the last straw (I go to great lengths to ensure that when watering our outdoor plants I don't end up watering her windows below us, but it looks like I still have room for improvement).

So I dragged myself outside. And made my way here, to the garden of the Palais Royal. The soothing sunlight, splashing fountain, elegant architecture, bright flowers, and perfectly happy pigeons turned it into a Better than OK day. There are certain places in Paris that are simply magic, and this is one of them.

A Bag to Hold Kitchen Things

Here's a little bag that could be used to hold recipe cards or tea bags.

Side 1:
farine = flour
café = coffee
thé = tea

Side 2:
sucre blanc = sugar
sucre roux = brown sugar

The cross-stitch pattern is from De fil en aiguille magazine, September-October 2007 (n° 57).

Lovely Lavender

Whenever I hear the word lavender, I can't help but think of France...lavender fields in Provence. The lavender growing in a park down the street from where we live. Lavender stalks for sale in a summer Paris street market.

At the flea market a few weeks ago, I pulled some old linen sheets from a trunk and out sprinkled a handful of lavender buds--lavender not only lends a nice scent to fabric, it protects it from moths, too.

The color lavender also makes me think of France. The lavender letters in this little embroidery booklet. The lavender of this toile de Jouy fabric. I like to take it out and look at it, but it's very old--I think it's the oldest piece of fabric that I have--so I don't know if I'll ever have the courage to cut into it or make something with it. But it deserves more than to be folded away in the corner of an armoire, so I thought I'd share it with you here.

Checks, Stripes, and Toile de Jouy

Old fabrics are one of my favorite things in the world. Here are some vintage French fabrics that inspire me. There's something so likeable about their slightly faded colors and sturdy weave. Though I'm not crazy about ironing in general, I actually look forward to ironing old fabrics like these.

Before the Days of E-mail

Since I don't have much time to write today (sorry about that), here's a photo of someone else's (beautiful) writing. All three things in this photo came from a Paris flea market.

Hope your week started well!

Vintage Blue

I find that there are so many shades of pretty faded French vintage blue...here are just a few (with a little red thrown in)!

String & Scissors

It seems like every time I need string--and scissors to cut it--which turns out to be pretty often, I have to look in about ten different places to find one and then the other. And by the time I find both, I get sidetracked thinking of fifty other things I need to do.

I've finally come to the conclusion that:
1. There is clearly room for improvement when it comes to my organizational abilities.
2. Living in a small apartment tends to greatly accentuate this fact.

In search of a solution to the string and scissors problem, here's what I decided to do. Both are now in the same place (hanging in the kitchen) and it's even possible to unwind as much string as I need without making a mess! I still have a long way to go, but it's a small step toward getting organized.