Seashells at auction - a mystery !!!

Last week I went to an auction, I love them.

There were many things that I would have liked but choosing things for an old stone farmhouse has to be thought about.

When I was looking at all the boxes beforehand and all different things in them I saw
 a big box of ocean shells.
I decided that was what I was going to bid for.

After about three hours the boxes came up for auction.
I was a bit concerned as they were selling many boxes together which I didn't want.
Luckily for me the box of shells came up on its own, luckier still I managed to put in the
winning bid. I was very pleased.

When I got back to the car I had a quick look inside the box to see the different shells

Many of them had old handwritten labels giving the name of the shell, in some cases where the shell was from and someone's name.

Then I noticed that some of the shells had circles either cut or scored into them.
I was looking forward to getting home and doing some investigating.
In my next post I'll tell you all I've discovered.

The Blues.

Just love the colour blue.

Scraped paint on the side of a boat.

A garden to inspire with crooked sheds and rusty sculptures !!

So, its raining outside again and at this moment I'm wishing that we lived nearer the south of France.

However I can look back to the lovely day we spent at the Abbey Beauport a few weeks ago and remember the sunshine we had that day.

The walled garden is mainly left to nature now to encourage the wildlife but everywhere there are delights to find.









The ' sculptures ' of the abbey are made from chicken wire and rusty metal and I LOVE rusty metal.
I also loved the fact that you could look through them at the garden.







I'm planning one day to have a go at making one of Kerjacob but I think Mr P will have to help me.

In my last post I put in a photo of the scarecrow, well here is another photograph of him.

He makes me smile- which with this rain I need !!

In various places in the garden are these delightful sheds.

None of them are straight and all them are made of old wood.

When you sit inside you can here sounds as if 

people are working in the garden and you can also hear birds singing.

Its just a delight.

Old garden implements on a shelf on the side of a shed.

I want a shed like one of these too and Mr P was so taken by them he agrees.
We have some old wooden doors which would make a great little crooked shed.

Another little crooked shed in the background.

There were also some lovely metal bird scarers near small areas that had been planted with vegetables
I of course like these too.
 So one day perhaps we'll have some .

So a lovely day in the sunshine and lots of great ideas to try out one day.

An Abbey by the sea.

In my last post I said that we'd been to the coast at Paimpol and that we were going 

on to the Abbaye de Beauport.

The visit to the abbey was just wonderful.

The sun decided to shine, the day was warm and the sea a turquoise blue - perfect.

Abbaye de Beauport

The abbey dates back to the 13th century and is positioned by the coast.

People would have arrived there by land and sea.

There are wonderful views to the sea from the large windows of the abbey. 

Just loved the colour of the window frame with the flowers. 

At lunchtime we shared a picnic with friends enjoying the sunshine, which has been missing for much of the summer here this year.

A great deal of the abbey is in ruin now but enough left to imagine how it was.
Inside the ruins there are flowers and it gives it all a romantic air.

Some parts have been arranged to give an impression of  how life might have been .

I just loved this small corner where you could listen to the musings of a lady
who would have once lived at the abbey.

In what is left of the cloister area there is a lush garden.

From these tall windows it is easy to look beyond to the sea
which when we were there was a beautiful turquoise blue.

The view out to sea from the abbey.

The entrance below made me think of somewhere hot with the ochre paint given a shadow and then it lead out into a sunlit herb garden.

Inside one of the rooms they had hung these beautiful voile panels which gave so much atmosphere to the place.

Then it was out into the gardens for some time in the sun.
Here is just a taste of what will be in my next post.
Isn't he just great !

A study of blues in Paimpol.

Last Thursday we went on a day out to Paimpol and to a wonderful romantic abbey.

In Paimpol, a very pretty fishing port, there were so many things to look at including some very interesting shops -

 ( must go back and look more closely ! )

When I looked at the photographs later I noticed how many of the ones I'd taken in Paimpol had a common theme - blue.

So here we are - a collection of blues on a day that had blue skies and a big yellow sun.

Outside a lovely brocante.

Just love these muted coloured flags.

In my next post I'll show you photographs of the Abbey.

A day to the coast and Pont Aven.

  On Wednesday we decided to search for the sun and to go off to the coast.

A favourite place of ours is Le Pouldu where Gaugin spent some time painting local scenes and the people who worked on the land.

Part of the beach here is rugged and to sit on the sand and watch and here the waves was so relaxing.

The sun was mostly hidden by cloud but it was warm.

Le Pouldu.

I always love walking on the beach and finding shells and stones.
I always come back with some in my pocket or basket to add to my collection.

Whilst I was walking I also looked in the rock pools and I loved the image the seaweed had made in some of the pools - nature's graphics.

Later in the afternoon we went into Pont Aven which became famous for the artists who went there especially Paul Gaugin.

Original lavatory at Pont Aven.

The building above is a strange little building which is a toilet, now of course it works in a way that doesn't cause a problem for the river !

On the wall above the little building is a large copy of one of Gaugin's paintings.








There are many galleries in Pont Aven and in the upper windows of this one they had these 'snakes' looking out - they were fun !

Snakes at gallery window.

At this gallery there is a lovely cat - he's always about - sometimes in the window where often I think he's the best thing there !

Gallery cat.

Down then to the harbour on the Aven where there are many boats.

Yachts at Pont Aven.





Later in the day the light was excellent for taking photographs with the reflections of the boats in the river.

This lovely duck / goose ( not sure ) swam into the picture and also through the reflections adding to the scene.

More reflections and late evening sunshine.

This lovely old boat was against the wall of the port and I loved the decoration on its hull.

Pont Aven is a very pretty town and there are flowers everywhere.

I love the simplicity of these little daisies who seem to be happy to grow where there is little soil to nourish them.

I love also the agapanthus, they seem to love the climate of Brittany.

They have such sculptural buds and glorious long lasting flowers, even their seed heads are dramatic.

Before going home we ate the rest of our picnic in the warm evening sunshine.

                                                                  A perfect day.