Jane Aston, painter.

Rousillon En Morvan was where we visited yesterday. It's up over the Haut Folin the high point of the park, the high forest. It's actually the highest point in the region of  Burgundy at 901m. There were very few cars around yesterday, just a few cyclists. The village is tiny, surrounded by forests, quite wild. 

There was tiny stall. The man was Spanish who had collected together his things to sell. He said he came to Rousillon en Morvan  in 1961. No telephone so after writing home was followed by his father and 4 brothers. One of his brother's was at the Brocante. They all came to find work in the forests here. Anyway I bought this door handle? from this guy. It must have come off a huge door. I 'm thinking it needs to be used for something, maybe a towel rail if it was mounted sideways. There was a little debate as to it's purpose someone turned it upside down and said it was for scraping the mud off shoes. It has a little loop on one side for a cord perhaps. A bell pull I think. I looked at some light fittings very heavy wrought iron and a place for 2 very small light bulbs. We had a long debate about these objects but then he was distracted and I didn't find out how much he would sell them for.

It has storks on both sides.

These were bought from a guy with a van load of things all items were 1 or 2 euros. I also bought an enamel basin.

The Spanish guy with the wonderful things.I also bought a hanging lantern below somewhere.

The building in the centre is the Auberge where people  often meet to go hiking from.

My favourite one so far.

St Hilaire on Saturday. I forgot my camera. The brocante was in a field this time and around the Mairie. Unfortunately the weather was a bit changeable but we were there when it was a bit brighter. I think that many people are staying away this year.
There was an artist with a stall selling some small paintings. I had a chat to him he said it was traditional especially further south for artists to sell alongside brocanteurs. His name is Claude André Laffaye. I normally see him at Moulin Engilbert where he lives. There he opens his house to sell like on the Arts Trails that are so good in the UK.

On Saturday we also went to a brocante nearby. I found this vinegar barrel or 'vinaigrier'. They were used to convert red wine or sour wine you sometimes find, corked to vinegar. A 'culture' or 'mother' living in the vessel transforms the wine to vinegar over time.  The spout is a bit worn but that can easily be changed. I have wanted one for sometime. This one originally came from the Alsace region from a village called Betschdorf. I asked the lady I bought it from if she knew where it was from but she said as far as she knew it had belonged to her grandmother who lived nearby. It still smells strongly of vinegar inside.

I am finding all kinds of these lantern lights for my cottage. I don't know why I didn't consider them before. They are everywhere. I imagine they were a replacement for the original oil lights in the 70s. Anyway I think they are quite sweet.

I like this red colour used for decorating simple tableware. This is a nice sized bowl for collecting my strawberries at the moment.