"The Wind in the Willows" is a much-loved children's book by Kenneth Grahame about four animal friends. This photo of a Weeping Willow almost mirrors the scene of the first meeting of Mole and Rat (characters from the book) at the river. Rat then takes Mole for a boat ride. Weeping Willow trees… Continue reading The Wind in the Willows…
Category: Home & Garden
A Kitchen Garden…
The interiors of the movies written and directed by Nancy Meyers... "Something's Gotta Give", "The Holiday", "The Intern", and many more... are the envy of most of us, but it's the kitchen garden in "It's Complicated" that I have coveted. That garden had the formal "bones" consistent with the French style potager. I… Continue reading A Kitchen Garden…
The Greenhouse…
Ahhh...Spring the season of unpredictable weather! We've seen it all where I live...warm, sunny days followed by wild winds and rain and my favourite...the snowy, sleet and sunshine mix within minutes of each other! I've spent the week in the greenhouse transplanting the seedlings I started in March. The fireplace has been… Continue reading The Greenhouse…
Dahlias…
Dahlias were discovered by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century growing wild on the Mexican hillsides. Botanists were brought along on these excursions to the New World to bring new plant species back to the homeland. Empress Josephine, who had a special fondness for dahlias, first introduced them to France (in the 1800s) and… Continue reading Dahlias…
Spring Linens…
On the warm, sunny days of Spring, I long for a clothesline like we had in the 1950s suburb that I grew up in. I've washed my winter bedding, down quilts and pillows and, most importantly, dried them outdoors (draped over chairs) before… Continue reading Spring Linens…
Sowing beauty…
When I was in London several years back, I fell in love with the floral displays lavishly spilling out of the window boxes on the elegant townhouses (home to many of the foreign embassies), lining many of the streets in the upscale neighbourhoods. That Spring the colour scheme included white and blue/lavender flowers (pansies,… Continue reading Sowing beauty…
Spring…at last!
I'm not one to complain about the weather because there isn't anything that can be done about it...we are not in charge. In fact, I love winter and the beauty that freshly fallen snow brings to the landscape. Is there anything more beautiful than hoar frost on your favourite tree on a clear sunny… Continue reading Spring…at last!
Treasure…or ephemera?
Over the past month, I've written about organizing (using the Marie Kondo method), the passing of Karl Lagerfeld, and a walking day in Paris. During this time I also read a book, "The Paris Seamstress", written by Natasha Lester in the historical fiction genre I love. As I was reading, the storyline had me… Continue reading Treasure…or ephemera?
The Edit…
Marie Kondo, at 34, has become a media darling, first with the success of her 4 books on "how to organize your home" and now has a popular series on Netflix. Using her method of organizing called KonMari, Kondo asks her readers/clients to keep only the objects that "spark" joy. She suggests… Continue reading The Edit…
Forging Beauty…
My first trip to Paris in 1988 put me into a state of sensory overload! That taxi ride from the airport into the core of the city left me in awe. The architecture was so exceedingly beautiful and foreign to anything I had ever seen, the trees towering over the expansive boulevards and… Continue reading Forging Beauty…
