Free Give Away Draw - Artist Marie Poizat's Recipes from Uzès

I really don't know if I should tell you about this place - I really want to keep it a secret, it is so special. But you are friends, after all, and how could I not share this little place of wonder with you? If you are in the South of France and are in the area of Avignon and visiting the famous Pont du Gard. Then do pop by and be astonished by Uzès. It was the location for Cyrano de Bergerac starring Gerard Depardieu.

It was in the market there I met artist Marie Poizat, who is also an avid cook. She combines her love of both by illustrating series of recipes. And it is one of her precious series of 10 recipe cards in a neat folder that I am offering as a giveaway this week. So, look away now if cooking isn't your thing. You can see more of Marie's recipes by clicking here.

Simply click on the flying angel below to enter and I'll announce a winner next week, 11 March 2013. Bonne Chance!

Free Jigsaw Download - Special Elizabethan History Today

This is a clip from the front cover of the special History Today which we offered the other week as a giveaway - the more I looked at it, the more I thought it had to be a jigsaw. I hope you agree. To download the jigsaw - Click here next Click Open, then click the .EXE file name and click Run, when you see the jigsaw puzzle, click Play Too many pieces? Try clicking on Trays on the top tool bar to create any number of resizeable trays to sort your pieces ........ you can also click the Cheat button and watch the puzzle solve itself! The software is by David Gray designer of Jigsaws Galore - the powerful jigsaw player and creator for Windows.

Charlotte - The Lost & Forgotten Princess

There is a very poignant reminder of Princess Charlotte in the Micheál and Elizabeth Feller Needlework Collection - a sampler (F219) worked by Elizabeth Harrison in 1837 which commemorates the short life - just 22 years - of this sad princess.

A child of a broken and unhappy marriage, she described her mother, Caroline of Brunswick, as bad. Qualifying that by adding, but she would not have become as bad as she was if my father had not been infinitely worse. Charlotte's father was the Prince Regent, later King George IV. A charming and beautiful young woman, here seen in the most fashionable attire - including a fabulous cashmere shawl, she did find happiness for a time in her short marriage to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg Gotha. When she died in childbirth, having given birth to a still-born son, in 1817 the public grief was immense - like that which overwhelmed the nation on hearing of the death of Princess Diana in 1997.

With her death, two generations were lost and this loss, now almost quite forgotten, can still be found on all manner of artefacts, some of which you can see in the collection of The Royal Pavilion in Brighton until 10 March, 2013.

Rare Isle of Man Samplers For Auction @ Thomas Roddick, Edinburgh * 7 March 2013

This rare pair of Isle of Man textual samplers within floral borders worked by Catherine Christian Kissack at Ramsay and dated 1828 and 1831 are Lot 240 for sale at Thomas Roddick Scottish Auctions on 7 March 2013. No estimate is given, but for this sampler and the ones following, click here for more details.

Also in the auction is Lot 196 this charming early 19th century sampler in cross stitch on fine linen by Mary Vinces aged 12 dated 1826. It measures 32.5cm x 30cm. There is no estimate given.

Showing its age but endearing nonetheless with its pastoral ground design with house to the left is Lot 242 titled Jane Cubbon`s work Dec 13, 1833. This sampler measures 56cm x 53cm.