Brocante

Sister arrived with late birthday gifts - a chicken garland, chicken jug ( not in the shape of a chicken I hasten to add but decorated with chickens!0 and knitted tea cosy with a fat cat on it!! After coffee and croissants we headed out to a Brocante fair. I had meant to go to the last one but couldn't leave a dying chicken so missed it. Just as we were leaving I got a message from fellow coop member - she had noticed something strange hanging from a chicken's bum this am! Knowing I would stress all day about it we went up to the allotment first. Sister wandered around my plot as I saw to the chicken. Turns out it was the skin of an egg. coop member had said she had found an egg without shell in the coop. Sometimes they lay eggs without shells as they come into or out of lay, and often as they try to lay it they break open. I managed to pull it out but another part retracted in, no doubt she will pass this too at some point! 
So on to the fair and what fun we had! I came away with 3 rings, 3 potpourri metal boxes, 1 wooden rectangular trug/ box with 8 compartments and a handle perfect for storing seed packets, a Victorian stone hot water bottle and a French flat iron! Sister came away with a box of lace, a French wire basket, a flat iron, 1 ring and a Beatrix Potter Needlepoint book and a Needlewoman and Needlepoint magazine that originally cost 1 shilling! The most expensive thing was the french basket at £25 The cheapest my iron and hot water stone at £3 each! What a good Brocante fair! Some of it can be seen here of the things I was tempted by but refrained from buying!!!
I also had great fun photographing a Marron Glace maker and discovered that the mother of pearl pieces I had acquired from Camera Man and I thought were inlays for womens vanity sets are actually Chinese gaming counters!  Usually going for a couple of pounds some are worth £300!!! Must check mine out!!
We had intended visiting some Open studios but we were hungry so headed home! I then filled my hot water bottle and went to bed as I had had a very disrupted nights sleep! Later she cooked one of my hello fresh recipes for tea as I did the chicken bed time - so good to be cooked for and return home to the smell of roasting tomatoes, lemon, garlic and oregano with ricotta to be served with Orecchiette! I think it's going to be a good week! 
Did have a fraught conversation with Friend in the evening - University won't let her daughter study from home and she is in pain and pharmacy mucking up her prescription. I told her to make a fuss, demand to see a specialist for assessment of what is actually causing the pain and how to treat it - even if at this stage it is just better pain management. Still her treatment is inadequate and it's totally unacceptable. On top of all this  is that tomorrow I am going with her to view a natural burial site - she does not want to have stressful phone conversations either side of this. She just wants to be calm and pain free for what will be an emotional  visit.