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Just about three years ago this time of year I visited Paris on my own and felt welcomed by a special farm display on Avenue Montaigne (designers row) complete with a designer cow parade, and hay bales and pitchforks at Dolce & Gabbana. These charming fellows are bouncers, which they have at all the designer stores. But even they made me feel welcome.
So I'm returning the favor, with a Parisian display at our Michigan farm. Connecting two dots on the planet on Earth Day, n'est-ce pas?
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I had two tins of coffee from Fauchon food store in Paris that I'd picked up a couple years ago to give to my sister Ginnie. When she came for a visit at the farm after Christmas last year she happily brought them to share with us since she hadn't consumed them yet. Delicious.
The tins are beautiful, and I haven't wanted to throw them away. I didn't know what to do with them, until I saw Design Sponge's post with images of pretty cans as flower vessels.
Cut some chicken wire (we have lots, need some?) and fold and stuff it into the can for holding the flowers up, a makeshift frog (brilliant).
Et voila! Paris at home on the farm. Voulez-vous un café?
Now where is that bouncer of mine?
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Some of you noticed (thank you) that I began a small blog. It's called small and is comment-free. It came to me one night (you know how nights can be - all that silence and dark space), just images of small things. I'd love it if you'd stop by now and then and remember that small things matter.
small gift at the restaurant:
Hi Ruth, Gabana goes Green Acres? Smile,smile smile. I read the design post too. Great flowers, I even love that table! How about some coffee can arrangements at the wedding. Speaking of weddings,David and I watched the movie, Rachel Getting Married.I didn't think it was that great,kind of a Girl Interupted but not that good,(usually I love any movies that involve psychiatric hospitals,reminds me of those long lesiurely Sunday drives my family would take to the mental hospital to visit my aunt after she left the convent.. i know, i know, you can't make this stuff up, sorry I got off topic) but the wedding was quiet different,tents and musicians ...
ReplyDeleteKahn the bouncer too cute, but scarey tooooo yikes!
Aaah I was expecting to see something about Paris hilton :).
ReplyDeleteSo trying out a new genre eh? Looks interesting and could have tried some designer wear for the farm animals :D
Ha! Ruth!
ReplyDeleteGreat way to connect the dots on our small, yet diverse planet.
I love your can arrangements as well as the Design Sponge site! Thanks for the link.
Those bouncers look a bit out of place in front of Dolce & Gabbana ... where Paris meets the country!
I agree with shicat. Some of those sunflowers in pretty tins might be a cool thing to have at the wedding.
Happy Earth Day!
Khan makes a good bouncer! Enjoyed reading this post and will check out your new blog with no comments. Happy Earth Day! Go hug a tree, I know I will. Oh, almost forgot, the daffodils make me smile.
ReplyDeletegreat post love it!!!
ReplyDeleteFlowers are gorgeous! Am filing new use for old cans & chicken wire (a bit lacking in that). Will Khan be an usher at the wedding?
ReplyDeleteWho knew stores had bouncers??? Even (well I guess especially) in Paris???
Happy Earth Day!
(I remember well the cow parade, but was not yet a blogger and took no photos!)
ReplyDeleteCountryside in the city and vice versa, aren't we often dreaming of this? If one could have the advantage of both? Maybe to ask for too much? :-)
I am a sucker for old cans. What a tribute! I love this!
ReplyDeletexo
Your bouncer should be reserved for rough and tumble Miami clubs. Seems a bit scary for Paris.
ReplyDeleteLol, love the bouncer, Ruth you have the coolest taste in stuff.
ReplyDeleteSo lovely! I love French country:)
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying Small. It's refreshing to just enjoy it and not have to comment:) Simple things in life:)
Very quaint! I too like decorative cans and bottles. Now you have given me ideas how to put them to decorative use. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteKhan the Bouncer! I'm pretty sure he could take on those fancy Paris window dressers! And the mannequins wouldn't stand a chance!
ReplyDeleteYou just have the best ideas! I'm temporarily blog-blocked. Maybe this weekend will unblock me! Can't wait!
sweet new blog. very very nice. everything you do is nice. always a beautiful photo, a reference. thank you.
ReplyDeletei remember the picture Ruth, the debate then was, what are those two guys doing there.
ReplyDeleteKahn looks more like a self styled dictator, and not like a democratically elected bouncer
Cathy, hehe, I can definitely see Lisa creating a window in Paris like that.
ReplyDeleteI love the table too, Don picked it up somewhere on a curb. He's always doing that.
"Rachel Getting Married" is the next movie I'm watching, just haven't found the time yet - it's on my stack. rauf told me it reminded him of our daughter getting married here at the farm. And yes, we will be having all kinds of vessels for sunflowers - canning jars and odd vases - why not throw in a few cans? Green Giant peas? Hahaha, just kidding, pretty cans would be cute.
And don't worry, Don doesn't plan to let Khan out during the festivities.
Nautankey, I am so sorry to disappoint you about Paris Hilton. But she would be scarier than Khan!
ReplyDeleteDesigner wear for farm animals, hmmm. Shhhh, please don't tell Don, he doesn't need any more ideas.
CottageGirl, with all the sunflowers Don planted last weekend, we will need every vessel we can put our hands on. Well, some of them will stay in the ground.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy Design Sponge - it inspires me every day. I just absorb the images, and then I move on. They have some very good DoItYourself posts as well as Before and Afters.
Kat, I laughed at myself for posting daffodils right after I complained about them in the last post.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad, Sally!
ReplyDeleteOh, you make me laugh this morning, Ruth! Just a precision, I think it's rue Montaigne ;-)
ReplyDeleteI feel like such an Indian-Giver, Ruth, but then I think they were meant for me to give back to you. I feel the same way about special tins. I canNOT part with them. So, thank you for putting these to good use. Now I'll have to check out your new blog!
ReplyDeleteMore beautiful photos! Thanks for introducing me to Design Sponge...that's one I never heard of before...I've been trying to get rid of excess things in my house...now here is another excuse to hang on to all my "stuff":)
ReplyDeleteI love this post with its tongue in cheek composition. The formidible bouncers at the door and your "bouncer" are priceless.
ReplyDeleteI'm off to see your Small site. Its sounds like a delightful idea.
You are too clever for words!
ReplyDeleteHow fantastic that you now have a reminder of Fauchon at your disposal. I have a Fauchon tin which contained individually-wrapped ice cream wafers.
Should I fear Khan more than the bouncers in Paris?
What beautiful thoughts and pictures. : )
ReplyDeleteKaren
Great idea to give the small things a place. wished I had such ideas at night too :-)
ReplyDeleteDS, we are debating whether to bring Khan and his ladies out, but probably not. I don't quite trust him after being attacked by a rooster at our last farm.
ReplyDeleteI had never seen store bouncers either. When I tried to go into the Ritz Hotel to look around, they wouldn't even let me enter. Have to be a guest. I must have been looking a little too like Aunty Em.
Peter, I don't think it is asking too much at all. We have to make our place what we want. Would you like some hay? Or, maybe Dolce & Gabbana has some leftover for you.
ReplyDeleteChristina, oh yeah? I think tomato cans especially are pretty. I love red.
ReplyDeleteLoring, you mean Khan? He would fit right into Samarkand though, I think.
ReplyDeleteOh thank you, Bob, especially in blog friends.
ReplyDeleteAnet, French country - cuuute!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I'm having so much fun with small myself.
Dakota Bear, maybe you'll show us?
ReplyDeleteThank you, California Girl, that's kind of you. I am really enjoying focusing on one photo over there every day.
ReplyDeleterauf, Khan is getting scary. I carry a pitchfork with me in the coop if I go in there, I don't trust him. I wonder if you ever had any rooster encounters when you helped your mom raise chickens?
ReplyDeleteP.S. Visited small - too cute!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the correction, Alice - I'll change it in the post!
ReplyDeleteBoots, I remember Mom having a lot of old Christmas tins. I have one of her very old beautiful tins, the one she kept her sewing things in; I keep mine in it too. I wonder what the painting on the lid is. I think I have to post about that treasure now.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, Oliag, that doesn't sound good. Only keep the ones you can't part with.
ReplyDeleteSue, you should have seen the cow parade in Paris. There were some very well designed cows, like the one in black lingerie in the link I embedded.
ReplyDeleteDutchbaby, nice to see you! The answer is yes. I think those bouncers at the door of the Dolce & Gabbana store are just for appearances. I know I wasn't even free to browse in French stores. They only wanted me to buy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and welcome, Karen, and your post on your gratitude list was like smelling the spring rain.
ReplyDeleteHildegarde, oh it's so nice to see you, I've stayed away too long again. Why do I do that?
ReplyDeleteYou have good ideas in the light of day - too many for my poor feeble non-artist brain. You should rest at night.
Back again to say that the poem by Wendell Berry is perfect; I love 'small' (those flowers on the napkin are precious);you are, of course, right to exclude the chickens from the wedding; and NO WAY do you look like Aunty Em!!
ReplyDeleteG'night...
Thankyou Ruth for flying the flag for France ! Now I know what to do with discarded coffee tins! I wish I could be imaginative like some people....Our daffodils are not our yet!Next time you are coming over to Paris blog me! We are 2.5 hrs south of there!
ReplyDeleteLiked your small idea and the blog pictures! Keep 'em coming!
ReplyDeleteUn petit noir sur le zinc !
ReplyDeleteOr an expresso, it's up to you.
Thanks.
Two days ago, I got an excellent italian coffe in Malmö with my daughter.
A further small correction: It's Avenue Montaigne! You will get it correct at last! :-))
ReplyDeleteah paris! i want to go there too!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check out your other blog.
ReplyDeleteLove what you did with the tins, so cute.
may be coincidence, when i happened to finish a cool drink, instead of throwing it out, i kept admiring it as a vase or a plant holder and it looked so pretty... wow! seeing it here with flowers.. wonderful, ruth!
ReplyDeleteRuth you are right, small things do matter. And now can I have your bouncer, lol, he is one handsome one. Anna :)
ReplyDeleteDS, glad you like small. And Berry is a treasure, absolute treasure. Thanks for all!
ReplyDeleteDelphine, I need inspiration from others on a regular basis. I don't come up with many ideas on my own.
ReplyDeleteI would love to connect with you in France!! Is that what you mean? :D
De rien, dear Daniel, my pleasure!
ReplyDeleteMerci, Peter! I have remedied it now, thanks to you and sweet Alice.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can, renaye.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Aunty Sandy.
ReplyDeleteIf a coincidence, a nice one, Merging Point.
ReplyDeleteAnna, small things, like your little Matthew, who matters oh so much. Ahhh!
ReplyDeleteYes, you may borrow Khan.