Log fires, tea & books, oh my!

A lighthearted quiz I saw recently asked what do you do on a wet & rainy day?
My answer was, of course, curl up in front of a log fire with a good book and a cup of tea.

Well, that's the kind of weather we're experiencing here in Normandy this week and it will probably stay like this until Spring next year.
Books are on my mind a lot at present and a few days ago I shared with you some of my favourites from 2009.
The one keeping me in front of the fire this weekend is "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows and I'm enjoying reading it very much.

So, for Chari's 31st Sunday Favourites @Happy to Design I'm recycling a post from April this year. Chari is a sweet lady and graciously hosts this Sunday gathering so that we can enjoy blogs we may have missed in the past.

"A friend, Sarah from Texas, commented recently on a book which is sitting on my Shelfari Book Shelf at the side of this page, "The Constant Princess" by Phillipa Gregory, a novel about the life of Anne of Cleves.
I have read most of Phillipa Gregory's historical novels and have to agree with Sarah that this is one of her best.
Today I added two new titles to my book shelf, "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil" by John Berendt and "More Than Mercer House: Savannah's Jim Williams & His Southern Houses".
I'm sure some of you will have heard about "the Savannah book" even if you haven't yet read it, and if you are considering attending the QCI meeting in 2010 then you must read this book!!
The book introduces us to a variety of Savannah "characters" the most interesting, in my view, being Jim Williams an antiques dealer who saved and restored over 50 houses in a career that began when he was 24 and which spanned 30 years.


He is however, best known as the only person in the state of Georgia ever to be tried four times for the same crime - the alleged murder on May 2, 1981 of his assistant, Danny Lewis Hansford, in Williams's home, Mercer House.
Jim Williams was finally acquitted of the charge and continued to live at Mercer House until his death on January 14, 1990.

Construction on Mercer House, situated on Monterey Square one of Savannah's prettiest, was begun in 1860 by General Hugh Weedon Mercer the great grandfather of the songwriter Johnny Mercer.
After the Civil War, circa 1868 the house was completed by it's new owner John Wilder.



Recently we were lucky to have been able to tour the Mercer Williams House, as it is now known, and it is an absolute jewel of a house.




On the cover of Berendt's book is a picture of "The Bird Girl" statue which once resided in Bonaventure Cemetery but can now be seen in the Owens-Thomas House, a part of the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah. "

Since I wrote this blog we have been back to Savannah, with our co-hosts Nina & Tom, searching out the best places to show to the QCI members when we gather together there 24 - 27 th October for our Annual meeting next year.

Whilst in Savannah we bought copies of both of these books at E Shaver Booksellers and they were auctioned off at the QCI Farewell Dinner Auction in Dallas last month. I'm not sure who the high bidders were but they do have a treat in store when they open their books.

Bonne dimanche.

A collection of fèves for Three or more Tuesday.

It's Three or more Tuesday over at Tam's The Gypsy's Corner, a great show & tell party that's a treat for the eyes.

So, today I'm showing off my collection of fèves.

Followers of my blog may have gathered by now that I collect the French pottery known as Quimper faience. Yes, really!

You probably also know that the 10th Annual meeting of the QCI will be taking place next month in Dallas.

Click here to go to the QCI Blog to read all about the fun in store.
I have attended the past 9 meetings, starting with Washington in 2000, up until Philadelphia last year. I even co hosted the 2007 meeting here in France and will be co hosting again next year in Savannah, Georgia.
The meetings are always great fun and a wonderful way of connecting with fellow collectors and meeting up with friends discovered through our shared love of Quimper.

The Grand Finale of these events is always the Farewell Dinner and in recent years each guest has received a small party favour of fèves (epiphany trinkets) as they take their places at table.
In France “La galette des Rois” ("the king's cake") celebrates the Epiphany and is traditionally sold and consumed a few days before and after January 6 (although today in France, it is available in bakeries for the entire month of January). The cake consists of flaky puff pastry layers with a dense center of frangipane, raspberry, apple, and other flavors, as the baker is inspired.

In times gone by, a dried bean was hidden in the cake, and the person who found it was king for the day. The French word for bean is "fève"; however, although beans were replaced in 1870 by small figures in porcelain and, more recently, plastic, these trinkets are still called “fèves.”

The "fèves" are generally produced in theme series, with every possible theme imaginable, including Disney figures, regional motifs, ceramics, antiques, every aspect of modern life, etc. They have become very popular collectibles and can often be bought separately. Any series is generally produced for one year only.

For several years the fèves presented at the Q Club dinner were tiny figurines of Breton people.
In 2008 our gift was a tiny plate decorated with a traditional Quimper motif.

Over the years I have accumulated quite a collection of figurines and I was so enchanted by the little plate last year that I purchased the complete set.

The series of Quimper plates was produced for Epiphany 2008. It consists of ten pieces, each a miniature reproduction of a real Quimper plate, either Henriot or HB. Many "fèves" are titled, and these are marked "Les Assiettes de Quimper" (The Plates of Quimper) on the reverse side.

I believe that stocks are limited but if you would also like to add a set of plates or figurines to your Q collection click here

à bien tôt
Maggie