Pauline's white house

 Welcome....as we await Summer here in South Africa...with one day to go to the official Spring day on September 1st, I would like to share this with you..

In our neighboring village ~Somerset West ~

 a short 15min drive towards the ocean,

my friend Pauline has a beautiful home. From the minute you arrive at the huge French iron gate at the entrance, you enter her serene white world. It is amazing how calming white is...to be "inside" white.. I wonder from one room to the next, and never want to leave....

Just outside the kitchen door...the perfect spot for a  cup of morning tea
and planning the garden "to do" list.

When in growth season, the vine finds it's way right into the orangerie and Pauline admits to this old iron bed as being one of her favorit places to relax..

The dining room table is always ready...

to share with friends and food platters straight from the kitchen

"A la Pauline"

Pauline's faithful gardener Piet, seen through the window

Vignettes in grey and white, leather and stone
glass, scrubbed wood
  old precious books, stone cherubs and vintage lace...

more old books, more old wood..could there be any better marriage.

I adore the combination of old leather with al the white linen and lace..

every corner in her house is inviting, serene and calm...

more calmness...

sharing more kitchen images:...choose a bread board..

carefully selected white enamel and scrubbed wooden bowls

old linen and lace needs a special place to care for..

Laundry

old and happy finds...lace , linen, mono-grammes..

Picture perfect

behind these old rusty trellis: bathroom bliss

...and as we leave this lightness of whiteness for now,  

impossible to capture in this image -

 Most beautiful views over the "Hottentots Holland" mountains,

 and you might just see a seagull visiting inland...

Few words - the images speak for themselves... this is a beautiful home styled by Pauline and enjoyed by herself , her darling husband and daughter....their ever welcome  dogs and lucky friends....

Have a lovely week

Colette x

Thank you Pauline!






it would be very hard to choose one favorite object in this house...
but if Pauline said: Colette, one item for you...
it would be this

original old leather cushion from forefathers ox wagon...

All images by La Brocanteuse


Related to this post:

* Pauline's white house Update

*On Rue Orleans 

* Weekly vignette

To cloche or not

I am convinced the Prince has a hidden warehouse full

Cloche (pronounced kl-osh) is the French word for "bell." 

A garden cloche is a clear object used to cover plants and protect them from frost, while allowing sunlight through at the same time.

The original cloches were large bell-shaped jars that 19th-century French market gardeners placed over plants in spring and fall to act as portable miniature greenhouses. At one time, these glass jars covered acres of fields outside Paris that supplied out-of-season vegetables to the city's households and restaurants.

Cloches can also be used to encourage better germination and quicker growth of spring sown parsley. Any late sown parsley can be protected by cloches from late autumn onwards to provide fresh parsley throughout the year.

Cloches are very useful for raising and overwintering plants sown direct from seed and forwarding the early plants after they have been placed in their final growing position in the spring.

I found the following tips via IGROW VEG

http://igrowveg.com

Advantages of Cloches:

• They can protect seedlings from frost, wind and cold temperatures.
• They can warm up an individual vegetable, row or area in the spring to allow early sowing.
• They can help maintain healthy growth of the seedling or plant.

Disadvantages of Cloches

• Solid cloches rely on you to remove them when watering. Although self-watering cloches are available that have holes in the top for rainwater, they divert the rain collected on the sides back towards the plant.
• The spring or summer sun can damage seedlings through a glass or plastic cloche.
• Pests and diseases could attack under a cloche and you may not be aware until the cloche is removed. 

Le Prince  Jardinière


have a lovely week


Colette x

YESTERDAY

Yesterday I visited my friend Nelia at her shop

 "GISTER"

when translated directly, it literally means 

"YESTERDAY"

Nelia and her sister were getting ready for a interview today

 as well as a photo shoot with a lifestyle magazine called

LEEF  

 (translating:- "LIVE")

entering her shop, is to step back -

 to "yesterday"

old silver and vintage hotel ware

stock moves so quickly, that "yesterday" objects 

finds it's way daily into the shop.

the gorgeous  patina of pewter

vintage toile in a hand painted by Nelia  "koskas"

French linen culotte, old  leather volumes.

Wire baking racks underneath ornate gilt mirror.

detail in a open drawer

She knows just where to find what you are looking for. 

Most of the white stone urns in my previous post

 was found by Nelia over time

in fact, both the cabinet with urns ,the first two figurines

and linen armoir came from her delightful shop.

I could not resist the little stone angel..

one of a few very old chiseled from Cape granite.

I will bring her home after her photo shoot today.

how could I not bring her friend as well?...

 they will come live with us

 love the brick and mortar highlighted with crystals and gilt mirror

Vintage glasses reflecting double

 in front of  hand painted mirrors

is it possible to have a better combo with a sink pail...

better than linen?...

Court yard filled with inspiration

 would it not be great if one could find old gilt mirrors

 to leave outside in rain or shine..

Liefdegroete

Colette x

GISTER

Chelsea House

6 Bright Street, Somerset West 

telephone: +27  21  8524827