A Tiger On the Loose in Scotland . . .

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I would like to dedicate this piece to Liz at Jumble Sale Rabbits, in part to thank her for all the effort she undertook this weekend to dig up from wherever it was buried, and then photograph, her marvellous old tricycle, which I suspect she did partly due to the requests she got from me after I'd heard about it; but also in large part to encourage all you good people to pay her a visit, and take a look at her marvellous illustrations. I grew up on a literary diet of Kenneth Grahame, L. Frank Baum, C.S. Lewis, Rudyard Kipling, Maurice Sendak, Lewis Carroll, and so on, all of which came with illustrations that set my mind wondering at an early age. And I suppose I'm still looking for a way back to some of those magical worlds, which still seem pure and clean compared to our own . . . In any case, I fell in love with Liz Gunby's charming tiger Tiddles at first sight, and sincerely hope her dream of getting Tiddles published for the large audience he deserves will become a reality someday.
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In honor of Tiddles, and to let him know he has some friends in France, here are some stuffed animals that were patiently and hopefully awaiting a good home at the jumble sale that took place near here a few weeks back, already documented in these pages. . . this wild looking duck was spurring his captive rabbit on to new adventures. . . (am wondering if this may be a cousin to one of the evil rabbits Tiddles had to deal with not long ago?)

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Rabbits and tigers and bears !

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Whole colorful crates full, waiting to be adopted . . .

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This one had a hand knit sweater . . .

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Ready to roll . . .

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Even a zebra was hoping to escape the stuffed lions that were stalking him . . .

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Weird Scenes From the Goldmine . . .

Jumble sales, la brocante, flea markets, les puces, vide greniers, empty your attics, garage sales, boot sales, lawn sales, and so forth, attract all manner of people, all hoping to find that incredible bargain which had been eluding them persistently until today. . . and the vendors, the hawkers, the highway robbers, merchants of mediocrity, the occasional purveyor of pure gold, all lay out their wares, their bait, their lures, hoping to catch the big fish, praying it won't get away before its wallet's been emptied. So in that lurid light, the dream world of the rummage sale, a variety of weird scenes are wont to appear, fleeting glimpses of joyous market forces at work. . .

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Like this ready made collage of images, no cutting or pasting required . . .

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The nutcrackers from the Nutcracker Suite were on hand, drinking Heineken. . .

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There was even a battery powered dog, in case anyone needed growling at . . .

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Phials and philtres and quack medicine galore . . .

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And a Victory sans wings, a Venus de Milo sans tête, waiting for someone to take her home. . .

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A Little Light Reading . . .

Maybe because my mother was a librarian for years and years, but I have always loved looking at old books, especially when they are full of color engravings from decades and centuries past. So at the jumble sale yesterday, I was drawn as if by a powerful magnet to all the stands with books laid out . . .

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Jumble Sale Romantics . . .

How many jumble sales take place each year in the shadow of the Chateau de Chantilly ? Only one that I know of, and it was yesterday . . . some sods have all the luck, as certain New Zealanders might be wont to say . . .
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Thought I'd try this doll in black and white, after the color shot of her below . . . if you lean close to those pursed lips, she has secrets about the inner workings of the universe to reveal. . .
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I liked this blue bike with a broken seat in front of a lyric setting that could have been a scene by the likes of Watteau. . . guess I'm just a nostalgic old romantic at heart ?
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These kids were having an intense discussion about the merits of various flavors of ice cream . . . .




























"With the barkers and the colored balloons" . . .
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Sugar Mountain . . .

Going back to the jumble sale again from yesterday afternoon, it was odd, but I had the distinct feeling while walking the various alleys of stands that I'd stepped into totally different time zone, where the slow stroll through a treasure trove of old and lovely objects could have continued eternally, the people working the stands and all the visitors had been there forever, and would always be there, in this magical place where games from long ago could be played again and again and again. Something akin perhaps to what Neil Young was saying in his timeless song "Sugar Mountain" :
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"Oh to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon"
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All aboard the magic train to Fairyland . . .
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Valley of the Dolls . . .

These images are dedicated to Bobzilla, the barbarian barbie bounty hunter. At the jumble sale today there were in fact quite a few dolls in attendance. . . I think they had seen the post I did yesterday, and they came out of the woodwork to see me . . . this first one whispered to me that the Marquis sent them. . .
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From The Horse's Mouth . . .

While at the same jumble sale this afternoon as mentioned below (where the Jack Russells were) I happened upon this Indonesian carved horse who was having a right good laugh with himself in the mirror there. Then he turned around and gave me a piece of his mind for snapping that picture (he told me I better not crop it !), he was all stirred up, and told me to just rein in my photographic ardors, but hay, that's life. You could say, I heard it straight from the horse's mouth. (you can see in the second picture he was a little bit cracked... so I hoofed it on out of there in a hurry !) Which picture do you like better ?
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Or maybe you prefer the rear view ? (and don't even think about any smart remarks about someone being a jackass !)
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Don't Know Jack ?

It takes a special kind of blogger to do two posts in three days about Jack Russell Terriers, as Laurie at Creating Pictures In My Mind did this past week, so this afternoon while I was out poking around at a jumble sale, when I saw this scene, I could not resist doing a picture of these two Jacks. (Laurie, I took special care to leave any sensitive areas blurred and darkened... LOL!) Both of these dogs were looking intently at a piece of sausage that had just fallen on the ground from a passerby's sandwich . . .

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From Bric a Brac to Angels . . .

Bric a Brac shop in Brittany, where there were a number of old barometers (see below post) and dolls (or were they angels in disguise descended from the clouds?) in the window . . . perhaps some of you will recognize where this is ?
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