Monday, May 31, 2010

Singing in the bathroom

This morning I woke earlier then usual. The sun was shining into our bedroom and I heard a concert of different voices outside my windows. Nobody stirred in the house and out I went, with my camera, stalking some birds and flowers in my garden...
She was grooming herself while singing happily along. I video taped her, but I could not upload the clip... :(



There was more then this as I slowly made my round along the well worn path along bushes and hedges. Mama or Papa bird tending the eggs...


The chipmunks running busily among the roses and peonies...


I love the picket fence across the street...and the lovely house behind!

And then this little guy caught my eye:
And I hear a "Good morning busy bee!" My husband calling out the window...Good morning, love!

And a good morning to you all!

XX
Victoria


All pictures and video by V.Zlotkowski

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Memorial Day





All I want for all of us this weekend!

XX
Victoria


PS: All images from the lovely blog Beach Cottage Love Thank you, Julia!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Little threesome

Three small glass canisters were sitting on the shelf in one of those bargain shops, where we sometimes buy the occasional school supply and they spoke to me...
They whispered clearly that they could be employed by me in various occupations, they would be easy to take care of and would need little maintenance... They sparkled and winked at me with their small etched faces!
They flirted with my vanity and took hold of me.


So I took them home and showed them to their new room. And since these three are a rather glamorous lot I assigned them to hold on to my semiprecious knick knack in the powder room!


They told me about their happiness and how life is good!


I am so thankful I listened! I did not know how much I needed them, but please do not tell them, they might get too proud of themselves...

Do you hear things talking to you on occasion?


And because it's Friday tomorrow I let you go with some newly blossoming garden glory...Aren't those so pretty? The peonies are in full bloom now! What a wonderful May we are having around here...





Happy Friday and a wonderful Memorial Day weekend to you! Here in the US we have a long weekend! Hurrah!

XX
Victoria



Pictures by V.Zlotkowski

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Come sit down with me

I love pretty sofas, which give immediately character to any blander environment...
Some are very right now, some are truly timeless and all are absolutely fun!
I know there is this notion of a nice and neutral sofa, prettily upgraded with different pillows, but I say: The heck with it! Stop playing it safe...

This one is great even for little dirty feet and hand, forgiving, but unforgettable...


This one cries for a beach house...or a lovely relaxed, but elegant room!


A bench mark...


For the love birds...


For the dreamer...


I see this in a garden room...


Or an artist studio...


And this one anywhere....cool!



I admit my own sofas, at least one of them, still stem from the philosophy that leather is good for kids and dogs, and yes, it is still in great shape, but oh, have I changed...
The other one is the result of a tiny budget. But one day - oh, one day I will have a marvelous piece of a sofa!!! Do you have a spot for something different? A corner in the house dedicated to fun and fabulous? I put it on my list!



XX
Victoria



Pictures via Anthropologie, last one Urban Outfitters(?) I think.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Lanterns

image

Upon hearing about the heatwave lowering itself over most of the East Coast in the coming days and perhaps weeks I thought of the lovely benefits of summery warm nights, cold chardonnay and tequilas on our deck, thinking a little romantic light would be right...So out I went and I did not have to go far to find something suitable at Marshalls and for $14.99! It's simple and fits to all the mix and match pieces I like to have out here!


I was happy and invested in a lovely candle too...
Since lanterns have become hugely popular you can find them at almost any price point and most of the larger chains carry one style or other!
Below from here, with more to choose from!


Malta lantern

I also very much love these receycled lanterns via cb2!

Do you enjoy romantic nights under the starlit sky?



XX
Victoria


Picture by V.Zlotkowski and as indicated.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

The incredible lightness of summer

Gloucester harbor summer 2009

Reading Elle Decor from June 2010 put me in summer mode! Sunshine and birdsong were the background for a delightful afternoon, the magazines a wonderful stimulus for my senses!
Connecticut cool...


Easy living in Santa Monica


A simple plan in the Hampton's...





Making a splash on Shelter Island...


Island Girl's kitchen on Martha's Vineyard. (The eternal girl Meg Ryan)



Ahhh, summer living by the sea! Don't you love it?


XX
Victoria



Top picture by V.Zlotkowski all others via Elle Decor!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Into the maple tree

Sometimes I feel like in the far back days, when I used to climb a tree to read... My grandmother's estate had large old trees, some with gnarled low hanging branches.
One particular Japanese maple tree sweeping over an old empty stone fountain was my hiding and reading place on hot summer days. The stone basin below kept it cool and I would sit in the shade with an old blanket to make it comfortable. Apples or cherries within reach!
You can see the rim of the old stone basin right behind my father and I. (On my first birthday!)


Grandma's house in Heidenau, near Dresden, Germany


This is one of the few pictures I have from those childhood days in what was then East Germany. The house and steam engine factory were taken away by the communists since my grandparents were considered capitalists and needed to be "equalized". It became State property and over the next 40 years would be run down completely. (No meaningful reparations were made after the collapse of the GDR!)
After my grandfather's death in 1948 my grandmother and my mother were allowed to live in two rooms of their former glorious Italianate villa. The upstairs bedrooms and servants quarters were partitioned and rented to tenants. So were the above ground basement rooms which used to be gardeners and cooks quarters.
As a child I used to roam the house from attic to basement. On cold evenings going into the wine cellar with only a candle to find the right bottles was creepy enough! Imagine one bulb hanging from the ceiling, barely lighting the dark hallway and a musty cold smell, small wooden partitions and dust and mice everywhere!
It held at the time only home made apple and cherry cider, jams and the occasional bacon hanging from the ceiling. I loved all of it!
But I digress...or...?



Sitting this sunny morning in the veranda/office of our house I see into the wonderful Japanese maple tree, which let's me wander back in time. I remember so many things.
And looking at the branches could I find a cozy spot to read? Or just star gaze at night...perhaps now I would prefer a swing...

image

This morning after dusting my bookshelves I held grandma's photo and it transported me back, far away to a land, that no longer exists...

Dearest grandma, I wish I could talk to you now....

Last night I began reading a most delightful novel by Alan Bradley and I have a feeling this helped too dreaming back in time. The heroine, 11 year old Flavia de Luca, a sleuth with a knack for chemistry brings me back to the summer of 1950. A series of inexplicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia's family calls home.

Sentences like this hold me hostage:

"....an old Rolls-Royce Phantom II, which now resided in the choach house. It had actually been Harriet's, and it had not been driven since the day the news of her death had come to Buckshaw. Furthermore, although Father was not a driver himself, he would permit no one else to touch it.
Consequently, the coachwork of this magnificent old thoroughbred, with its long black bonnet and tall nickelplated Palladian radiator with intertwined Rs, had long ago been breached by field mice that had found their way up through the wooden floorboards and nested in its mahogany glove box. Even in its decrepitude, it was sometimes still spoken of as "The Royce," as people of quality often call these vehicles."


Or this one:

"The pit shed was the outbuilding farthest away from the library's main building. Tottering percipitously on the river's bank, it was a conglomeration of weathered boards and rusty tin, all overgrown with moss and climbing vines. In the hayday of the motor showroom, it had been the garage where autos had their oil and tires changed, their axles lubricated, and other intimate underside ajustment seen to."


Now this book is not about cars and garages at all...It is an enthralling mystery, a piercing depiction of class and society, a tale of deceptions and a rich literary delight.

I think all this together put me on this time travel track.

And since it's Friday I still show you my flowers which I grow in the garden and some inside from the hothouse or warmer climates...



This rose is actually taller then me...




It's about books again you will say....yes, and memories attached to them!

Have a wonderful weekend!


XX
Victoria



Pictures by V.Zlotkowski and as indicated.
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