Backyard inspiration

Now wouldn't this look nice in the backyard....

I like how part of the cement seat isn't covered in pillows-

makes nice built in side table areas.

20 years later

Remember the catastrophic Exxon Valdez oil spill?

AP file photo

Exxon has to pay interest on damages....

Read the news article here

Finally...a little justice for the region that has yet to recover!

Art in public spaces

Bend Gate by artist Lee Kelly

photo found here

I'm all for art in public spaces....let everyone enjoy it!

Ironwork of Italy

“He who allows his day to pass by without practicing generosity and enjoying life's pleasures is like a blacksmith's bellows: 

he breathes but does not live.”

~ Proverb

Scroll shadows

Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy

Wrought iron scroll shadows

around the old tree
wrought-iron fence encircles—
guardian spirit

© 2009 by Magical Mystical Teacher

Hey Harriet's shadow shots....every weekend

Two years ago, today

On June 26, 2007, we bought the house and five acres we now call home.  Two years.  I still don't feel like I quite fit in here....a desert habitat is certainly not where this water girl ever expected to live.  Two years of joining clubs, organizations, local Chamber of Commerce... trying to make connections....for my business, yes, but also for my psyche.  I'm not used to not being surrounded by friends.  Two years...

A previous post: 

Years ago, I came across a design book by architect Sarah Susanka called The Not So Big House.


Susanka put into words what I had been thinking for years. She believes in designing homes “that favor the quality of its space over the quantity” not "the notion that houses should be designed to impress rather than nurture.” www.notsobighouse.com

I’ve always loved small spaces. The home we lived in for almost 18 years was a cottage built in 1925.

840 square feet on the main floor.

I loved the intimacy it provided.

When we decided to move to the desert, we knew we wanted another house with a small footprint. We looked at house after house for almost 10 months. Half-way through the process, we realized moving to the most expensive part of Oregon, wanting acreage, a house, and no mortgage was going to be a problem. We had to compromise somewhere.

With much grinding of teeth, we began looking at mobile homes on acreage. My husband asked me, “Can interior decorators really live in mobile homes?”

Living in a trailer, with fake paneling, plastic cupboards, shag carpeting, vinyl flooring, aluminum siding and metal slider windows held absolutely no appeal to me.

But after watching our formerly quiet country road in Silverton, sprout 200+ McMansions over the last 10 years, we knew we wanted the peace and quiet acreage would provide.

We bought 5 acres with views of the Three Sisters (3 - 10,000'+ mountains) in Central Oregon’s High Desert.


We have 300+ days of sunshine a year, along with so much privacy I’ve yet to meet any neighbors....and we have a double-wide trailer.

Life's funny, isn’t it?

Italy, mostly Rome

No captions...I'll just let you wander through 

(think 90 degrees...hot & muggy)

Summer

Where is your favorite camping spot?

This is mine: Graves Creek, a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) campground in the Olympic National Forest, Washington state.  This is where I want to run away to this summer...away from the dry, desert heat to the green, wet moss that literally drips off the trees.

“It's not that bad. I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely.”

~ The Princess Bride

The Quinault River is a clear jadeite green and icy cold.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time”

~ John Lubbock

These photos were taken on a camping trip in 1994

with our trusty old point-n-shoot camera....

with film that had to be....developed!

Theme Thursday = Summer

White

Faded Charm's weekly white meme

I don't decorate with white, so I ventured outside.

My husband is something of a rock hound.

We have quite a collection of petrified wood and rocks,

most of them found here in Oregon.

I love the seashell

A Birthday shout out to my baby sister, Cherelle

Happy 40th !

Prickly salad bar

We caved and bought cacti...

take that (!) hungry deer!

I immediately forgot the Latin names of all of them...

ok, the common names, too.

If everything goes as it should, this bad boy will grow 6' - 7' tall

Couldn't resist the purple skin on this one.

This little guy will eventually grow to about 3' in height.

So much for the deer salad bar our yard had become.

Italy....random photos

Photo opportunities were everywhere in Italy...

architecture, crowds of tourists,

frescos and icons,

to the simplicity of wooden pews.

Don't forget to look up!

I had never seen shutters that hinged up like this.

The domed architecture of the Baptistry of St. John in Pisa

to classical statues and iron gates.

Italy !

Skylight shadows

photo credit-Christina House

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.  Some see nature all ridicule and deformity...and some scarce see nature at all.  But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself."

~ William Blake

Homeowner Jonathan Williams designed plywood cutouts based on oak tree photos to use in the skylights to help block light and reduce heat gain. Ever-changing shadows are cast throughout the day. 

How seriously flippin' cool is that!?!

Read the article here

Pop over to Hey Harriet for more shadow shots

Shade

"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment.”

~ Jane Austen

Trux has if figured out...

What will your "most perfect refreshment" be today?

Click here to see more of Hey Harriet's Shadow shooters

I love a good window display

Creativity meets Ikea in this stylish window display
by Jeff Klarin and Rebecca Johnson of Bughouse Art + Design

Photo-Bughouse Art + Design

Don't ya just love it?

More info here

Garden sculpture

I was browsing the Little and Lewis website 

for some garden sculpture inspiration...

and came across this piece, a cast Gunnera leaf. 

My friend Sue (of bookclub fame) made one years ago for her garden. 

Sue...come to the desert. I need one, too!

White, a meme

My sister-in-law, Kathleen,

has started a White Wednesday meme

on her blog, Faded Charm

I'm recycling this post to get started..next week's will be fresh!

Seventeen years ago, I received three white ironstone pitchers as wedding shower gifts and a collection was born. We bought an antique pitcher on our honeymoon, adding our style to the mix. Every addition since, has been an antique.

Even though I stopped adding to the collection years ago (really, how many pitchers does one need?) I still love the simple lines, variety of shapes and overall look. Plus, they're damn handy when one needs a vase!

There are others that aren't shown here...our house in the desert doesn't have the same display area as our former cottage.