My French Bucket List....

Hi everyone! I hope you are having a fine day. Do you have a bucket list? I'm sure you do. Doesn't everyone have one? Did you see the movie? Morgan Freeman was charming and I loved him in the movie. Although, his charming portrayal of the chauffeur in Driving Miss Daisy will forever capture my heart.

I have a bucket list as well.  It has the annoying habit of getting longer...Some of the things includes the following... Flying in a micro light over Victoria Falls. Taking a hot air balloon trip over The Serengeti during the migration. Completing my memoirs. etc, etc. It's a long list, trust me...

But then, I also have a separate French bucket list! Yes a whole separate list. Can you imagine! I am an African first and foremost but I seem to have strong tendencies towards my French Heritage and I blame that for this extensive list...Lol. Lets see... No 1. I would dearly like to live in Paris for a month at the very least. I want to hire a apartment near Rue Montorgueil and visit all the food markets, take my bounty home and cook up a storm! Then there is the Louvre where I could wonder around for a week and not be done! And, of course all the other antique markets, etc,etc.

Then there is a barge trip down Canal Du Midi....

Aahh, and then there is Provence that I simply have to explore better than the last time I was there. Thus I need to hire an old farm house in the Luberon, steel my nerves and drive on the wrong side of the road and explore every nook and cranny and market!!!

Gordes, above is picture perfect and I loved it!

Another thing on my bucket list is to buy a piece of land and build one huge barn  and furnish it with French finds... and for inspiration I would like to introduce you to some of my favourite French Inspirational blogs. You may know many of them but just in case you don't, allow me to introduce you...

La Brocanteuse a wonderful blog by Colette. She has a passion for old French Linen and travels to markets to find her treasure. Have a look at her blog here! The post that I loved the most apart from her amazing home was the one on the gardens  of Villandry. Absolute enchantment! please visit and enjoy!

Another of my favourite blogs is by Sharon Santoni who lives in the beautiful countryside of Normandy and it is called My French Country House. Sharon shares daily live in her beautiful valley and her charming home and she was also one of my blogs first followers. Another of the places that I just visited briefly and would love to spend more time at. Sharon also has a charming cottage for rent on her property and also a brocante with fabulous finds. please click here to visit her online store!

Now, friends let me introduce you to a wonderful blog called Trouvais written by Trish. It is one of those wonderful places you go to dream!! Have a peek here and I will forgive you if you are gone for a while... Enjoy! Below is one of my favourite images from her blog. Yes, it had to be an urn!!! Gorgeous, isn't it?

Blogland is an intricate network of inspirational finds where you can get lost for hours on end and enjoy every moment. The wonderful blog that led me to Trouvais in the first place was, and I leave the best for last..... Atelier De Campagne. Please click here for a magical trip of inspiration and brocante paradise like none other...

When I grow up I want to do what these amazingly talented three guys do!  Trinidad, Johan  and Martin takes us on their trips to wonderful markets and then shows us how to put it all together with Johan's  beautiful vignettes. I promise you, I will never ever look at a shutter with the same eyes, ever again! Trinidad has a wonderful way of telling the story of their travels and where they find treasure. Studying the gorgeous photos they show us how to put it all together in our homes. Please visit their website as well to view the individual pieces on offer here.

I do hope that you have enjoyed your visit of these wonderful blogs with so much inspiration. I thought to round of my French Bucket list I would share some of my favourite French Inspired rooms with you...

Just a few wonderful images to keep you going until the next round of inspiration...

Have a great day and if you have a special French Insprational blog that you visit, please share it with us in the comments below. I for one, and I won't be the only one, would love to pay them a visit!

I will be joining Mosaic Monday at Dear Little Red House as well as
Debbie Doo"s Newbie Party where you can meet new bloggers! please support these generous ladies who host us every week!
Live well

Veronica

xxx

The above images are from the various blogs mentioned, and the picture of Gordes my own

Goats do Roam...

Good morning friends from an icy Cape Town! Our little Indian summer is over and winter arrived again in the form of an icy wind that cuts to the bone!! Earlier in the week on a glorious sunshiny day I spotted a whale frolicking in the bay but as I was a bit late for an appointment I just snapped a quick shot and could not wait for the whale to resurface!

Today's post is dedicated to a fellow blogger! A few week ago I saw a post on her blog about the wine she bought and recognized it as one of our local wines. She loved the label and bought the wine. I promised her to visit the winery and give her a tour of where her wine was made. She lives in Canada and her Blog is called Pondside!

I posted it on my new blog about Cape Town and would appreciate it if you click here to view the post please. The blog is called Mother City Magic.

Have a great week!

I will be linking to Mosaic Monday over at Dear Little Red House!

Live well

Veronica
xxx

Home Jewels

Good morning friends. I have had some computer issues and have missed a few days so I have loads to catch up on from all your lovely blogs. I am pleased to be back on line!!! Let's hope it lasts... 

It pays to clean out your cupboards!!! Not only do you get organized but you find stuff that you have completely forgotten about lurking at the back of said cupboards. Most of the time you find something and you go" Ugh that old thing!" and promptly toss it out to the dirt pile.

Well, dear hearts I found something that I did forget about! My grandmother's old fan... a veritable home jewel!  Wow, I thought why is it hidden away in the depths of darkness and not appreciated every day. But how and where? While I contemplated my newly found treasure I flung it open and put my hands on my hips, pulled in all the protruding bits, lifted my head on high  and threw a few flamenco moves around my bedroom. The Labrador regarded me with  suspicion...poor thing...wasn't sure if he should make for the door to escape the performance.

Have a look... pretty isn't it? Sad thing is, that I do not know more about it and where she got it or if it has a story...

I decided to perch it behind my lamp in the meantime while I consider it further. Not an easy item to display, but it seems to work here behind the lamp in the living room.

This got me a thinking about home jewels as I call them. I sat down on the couch and thought about other home jewels that I would like to acquire. As you can see I have space to fill....

Home jewels are those pieces of lovelies apart from furniture that you like to adorn your home with. Of course top of my list is urns.

The one above is my favourite at home apart from my red urn shaped lamps but of course I would like a few more like these below...They are gorgeous.

Two of my favourite home jewels. Urns and cloches.

The perfume urns below are sheer luxury...

Mirror and urns. How about this in the bathroom...I would spend a lot more time in the bathroom!

This has got to be one of the most charming displays of a cloche..

Another "jewel" on my list is busts.

Candelabra

Old books and I just love these old keys.

Apothecary Jars

A dress form and of course an antique mirror.

Mirrors, throws and pillows

Ginger Jars

I do not have any blue and white in my home but as my colour quest continues it is the one combination that I absolutely have to find a nook for.

Lamps and as you can see both these are urn shaped!

Quilts....

Some trunks with character ....

Always on the list....especially when they look like these.

Birdcages

This one is particularly jewel worthy.

What are your favourite home jewels? Do you have some lurking about in cupboards that are worthy of display? It might be time for some ferreting about in forgotten places...

If you find anything or have favourite home jewels, please lets chat about it in the comment box below ! Thanks for stopping by..

Happy ferreting for home jewels

Veronica

xxx

I am linking for the first time to Feather your Nest Friday at French Country Cottage Today.

as well as

Vintage Inspiration Friday at  Common Ground. If you wonder over there, please check out the Design Challenge as well!

SJ from the blog Homemaker on a Dime (cool name) stopped by my blog and very kindly invited me over to join them at the Creative Blogger's Party and Hop . Thank you SJ I am happy to meet you and fellow bloggers to learn and share. I already spotted a tutorial on how to make your own blog button which is my next techno challenge!!

apart from my home images all are from pinterest

Dramatic Black and Gold ~ Colour My World

Good morning friends. Here's hoping that Monday will behave herself impeccably! I would like to welcome all my new followers as well as those who have been here from the start of my blog! Thank you all for joining me in my journey of discovery, new inspiration and sharing  through the wonderful medium of blogging. I have met such wonderful like mined people and have learnt an enormous amount and expanded my horizons beyond my wildest expectations. Thank you for contributing so generously to my experience here in my dot of cyber space!

Today I continue on my quest to learn more on colouring my world! Black and Gold is the dramatic bold choice for today. Reason being...it's a long story...

My home is at the stage where it needs some serious renewal but we are also at the empty nest stage:( (sulk...sulk..two years and still struggling...) so what to do? Renovate or sell?

My son still has one foot at home and one at Varsity but my darling daughter left two and a half years back. Now, her room is painted in an old gold...another long story...) and I wanted to move my black metal bed  to her room and convert it to a guest room. So, in the meantime while we decide what to do, I am still, compulsively gathering inspiration. Anyway, even if we move to another house, the colour combination will probably be the same ..so here goes...

Lets start with our closets shall we? We dress before we decorate!... Do you wear this colour combination and if so do you wear it for day or evening?

A dramatic start!

It seems that the colour combination of black and gold automatically inspires designers with the dramatic...

I would probably do black pants and gold top

 

Love the wedges

 

Dramatic...

Now that we have a dramatic outfit on, let's throw some paint at the walls!!! Black paint! My son wanted to paint his bedroom black and he got a firm ..."No!" (better not show him this) Then he tried his luck with red and got an even firmer "No!" (I had visions of phsyco problems ala Harry Potter dementors with red painted bedroom and I explained that red was for dining rooms only..lol)


But...this looks great to me. That is probably a wall tattoo in gold. I still want to look into the whole wall tattoo thing. Its easy peel and stick and there are some fun ones for kiddies bedrooms.

Below is some Fornasetti plates that I might use as well as that Ralph Lauren image on the right with those gorgeous black books This is one of my favourite vignettes ever. Click here for the post on Ralph Lauren.

 

A dramatic combination of black and gold

Fornasetti again and very glam. If you are a Fornasetti fan, have a look at my post HERE.

 

Bathing with a dramatic flair....

 

...and there is my all time favourite bath tub in gold (I prefer a copper one please)

 

The charcoal wall makes the gold colour pop even more  in my opinion...

Just a touch of gold and black...

This would most probably be my take on black and gold...

But for my new guest room this would provide the inspiration...for old gold walls, black metal bed to start the room off with.

A wedding reception...

This for a scrap book page looks quite elegant...

Are you still scrolling down? Or have you had an overload of black and gold?

This is my favourite wall colour!  I can just imagine how it changes almost hourly with  the changing light. Love this room.. The art is not me but everything else is gorgeous.

 

Above and below are also two favourite images. Both warm  and glowy rooms just the place where I would feel at home.

I have started to put together a mood board for this bedroom to hopefully help in the decision process. The wall colour stays as does the black metal bed.  So, I need to decide about the colour for the bedding, lamps, etc. Then there is a hideous built in cupboard that is in need of a make over...I am thinking along the lines of decoupaging it with sheet music or old pages of a poetry book..

Now I would like to know how you feel about the dramatic combination of black and gold.

Would you wear it and do you have it in your home or is it just for the masked ball?

Happy Living

Veronica

xxxx

I will be linking to Mosaic Monday at Dear Little Red House for a party!

images pinterest