Pink and Yellow Peony. Beautiful, no? Here's something I bet you didn't know about pink and yellow: they do not "go together". This is a fact handed to me in primary school by, no not the art teacher, the maths teacher who gave me a really bad score in Tessellation because I coloured the triangles in my hexagon pink and yellow. Every mathematician apparently knows pink and yellow do not go together. Pink and blue? Fine. Blue and yellow? A+. Pink and yellow? C. What did I learn about geometry that day? Nothing, in fact my dislike of mathematics was born that day and lasted until I stumbled across the beauty of fractal geometry 25 years later. I did, however, discover I knew more about design than math teachers. And my love of pink and yellow remained, to be irrefutably justified by this photo.
Click photo to embiggen.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Geometry, Botany and Design
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
A Day at the Museum
We're doing touristy things this week, like hanging out with this guy at The American Museum of Natural History
exploring Indonesia at the Margaret Mead exhibition
and of course, meeting "Dim Dum"
Off to New England for a few days of lobstah and sundownahs so posting will be light non-existant. Byeeee
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Dusk on the Dock
a little fishing
one last pass before night rolled in
the intense pink and deep navy sunset
Click to embiggen!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Uninteresting? Happy? Moi?
I've been tagged by the stylish From the Right Bank to the Left Coast to come up with six uninteresting things that make me happy - all those who think they already know too much about me and none of it could be called interesting, can just be quiet and those who say I'm rarely happy can move along. I'm in no mood for sarcasm today, I'm going to be positively full of joy!
In no particular order:
The water - coastline, lakes, bays, the ocean - it doesn't matter, to see the water every day makes me calm and happy
Snow - the first fat flakes falling out of the night sky and the crisp crunch of the icy crystals the following day.
Expressive flowers: blooms that beckon and sensual blossoms 
The smell of old books: cloth covered or leather-bound and the age-stained pages of old encyclopedias
Seasonal food: A plate of fresh red cherries... or heirloom tomatoes ripened in the sun... or a simple salad
The clink of glasses, that happy sound that signals the start of a celebration, or a simple meal shared with friends. Cheers!
Now I'm tagging six inspiring people to do the same:
Nadine at Bouler Design Group
Another New Yorker Just Off the Taconic
Heidi at faboolosity
Jenni at ThirteenEleven
Kathleen from House Things I Like
and The House on Red Hill
All you have to do (but only if it makes you happy) is to find uninteresting things that make you happy, choose 6 people to tag and link your post back to me...
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Objets d'Art et du Désir
Some objects just speak to me:
Yes!
Definitely.
Maybe.
No!
Oh, please...
Now you're just toying with me, aren't you?.
Obviously your style and taste may vary! All collectible objects, desirable or not, and many others available on the Vintage and Modern website.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Osprey in Flight
Sometimes you happen to be in the right place - the deck of the Beach Association, for example
on the right evening - calm, sunny, with a bizillion tiny fish in the bay that attract the Bluefish
and the right lens on your camera
Egret on a Rock
Not much of a sunset last night at the beach but there were compensations... more bird photos to follow...
Monday, June 08, 2009
If only it had rained today...
I wouldn't have popped out to the nursery to get a basil plant to replace the purple basil that disappeared over the weekend and been seduced by
the sign that read "20% off Hostas",
the smell of catmint in the air
and the florescent green Irish moss.
I came home with a summer planter full of annuals, 12 pots of moss, three hostas, I catmint, 3 liquorice plants, and a large pot of basil. It's official, I have absolutely no will power.
In the yard
The last blooms on the azaleas and rhododendrons have faded and fallen and although the peonies and the late dogwood are out there's little color in the yard by the second week in June. That means, of course, less admiring the garden and more chores.
So yes, there was a FOURTH attempt at setting the stone on the steps to the front door - this time scraping it right back to the foundation. (Probably should have done that first time). No one is allowed to look at it, much less step on it, so it could be a while before we know if we are successfully cemented in. Last time it seemed ok - until the torrential rain loosened the side mortar. I have fingers, toes and eyes crossed for this one.
There was the horrible moment when I put the gardening gear in the garage and I heard chewing coming form the overhang - which meant we hadn't killed all the bees last session. I stuck a kid's paintbrush in the poison dust and poked it into one of FOUR new holes - and touched a bee. That surprised both of us! It stopped chewing but turned it into a coughing, buzzing, shiny black mass of madness. It flew out and landed dizzily on the path whereupon I put it out of its misery. Next month there will be the ritual filling of the holes, followed by the staining of the siding, This never gets old. Not.
The Guy lovingly painted several new examples of poison ivy with the most effective of herbicides - taking great care not to drip it on the pachysandra or rhododendrons. (I'm a super swelling, steroid needing, extra-specially sensitive soul that gets a full body rash from touching the dog who brushed against it hours earlier so I leave this to the so-far immune member of the family). I feel this is going to be an on-going chore this season.
All the windows were washed - outside and in. We carried the outdoor pool furniture up from the basement, set it out and cleaned that, too. (The pool is actually colder then when we opened it, 66F. No one will be dipping in there this week).
The lilac bush at the back of the pool that was toppling over and threatening to decapitate anyone going back there was pruned back - hopefully we'll get more growth from the base and many more blossoms next Spring.
A gorgeous new yellow Hosta generously donated by the Awesome Designer was planted, but will be replanted this week in a more commodious spot. White Impatiens lovingly planted by neighbor Barbara the entrance to the cul-de-sac were rescued from under the fringes of the day lilies and given some more light at the edges of the bed.
Weeds were pulled and death was removed from the lawn, the flower beds and the pool skimmers.
Of course it wasn't all work: dinner was eaten al fresco, steak grilled by the Loyal Blog Reader for the Awesome Designer's family from New Mexico, The Guy and I. Later, specimen maple seedlings were dug and bagged ready for a trip to the southwest, where we hope they will find some hospitable soil amongst all the sand... (and fewer weeds as well).
Friday, June 05, 2009
Futuro House Auctioned
A mid-century icon, one of the original podlike Futuro houses by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen was sold June 2 by Wright as part of their Important Design auction. The prefabricated house had an estimate of $50,000-$70,000, far less than the 140,000 euros another Futuro house fetched at Christie's in Paris less than two years ago.
A sort of futuristic cabin, Futuro houses were light (made of polyester plastic and fiberglass), easily transportable anywhere by helicopter and first used as ski lodges or summer homes. From 1968 fewer than 100 Futuro Houses were built, but they ended up in places as far flung as Belgium, New Zealand and Mill Creek Park Willingboro, NJ. They were sold in the United States for between $12,000 and $14,000 but by 1978 tastes had changed and oil prices had made them uneconomical to produce. Originally designed to sleep 6-8, equipped with a kitchen and, as an upgrade, a fab fireplace, Futuro houses have since found other uses - as media rooms, gas stations, even the "special room" at a strip joint - but you can still stay in a Futuro vacation house in the woods near Milwaukee, Wisconsin to get the full alien spaceship experience.
For more information and a complete history of Futoro try to find a copy of the book and dvd package: Tomorrow's House from Yesterday By Marko Home and Mika Taanila
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Egg Chair (Leather)
Vintage leather Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair 1958. Drop. Dead. Gorgeous.
One of a pair at Wright's Important Design auction. Details here.
Baycrest Beauty For Sale*
Remember this tour and this slideshow of historical houses in the Incorporated Village? Both featured the wonderful domed towers and windows of this Victorian (1887) shingle-style beach cottage. It's been on the market as a rental for a while and is now for sale. If I had a yen for an older house I'd seriously consider this one. It's architecturally charming, the views to the Bay are lovely and I could fulfill all my Rapunzel fantasies from the turret.
4 Bedroom Guesthouse
The 1.6 acre property features a guesthouse and a barn plus all the desired amenities (pool, tennis court, beach rights). I can vouch for the roof being new, as I watched the shingles being stapled not so long ago, and I could hear the thwack of balls last summer so the tennis court is probably in good shape but there are no pictures of the pool, and all I know about the interior is what I can see on the agent's website and that doesn't include any shots of the kitchen. Red Flags!
*The list price is very fair for the size of the house and the area but the taxes might make you choke on your breakfast cereal... so put down your spoon before you click here (or here) for more details.
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