Storm front

Sitting in my car, waiting out a tropical storm in Savannah this July!

After a stormy night we are relieved, no power outage, no trees down in the garden and the only problem is the significant flooding of our basement.
I could not sleep well and woke up much earlier then normal to the pounding of the rain on the roof and against the windows, but it was not as strong as we feared!
I am thinking of all the much worst hit neighborhoods and the people who lost loved ones. My heart goes out to them!


I hope you all stay safe!








Pictures by V.Zlotkowski.  Copyright 2011

Tag of war

The morning heat floods the ground floor - we do not have central air downstairs - and only the bedrooms sport those cooling vents which in resent years have become a life savior of sorts for me. My declining hormones must be the reason 
for it, since my rhetoric question:
Is it hot in here or is it me?  is regularly met with a shrug of the shoulders of my certainly better half.
My vain self will not admit nearing menopause since I feel the age of matronly changes will do me any good, it will push me finally over the edge and afterwards there it will be:
 I am getting old!
But it's only physically I am telling myself. My mind churns out ideas as it never has before and the days could not be long enough to let me realize all my ideas.
But I digress! Back to the heat: I discovered after 10 years of living in our house that there is a fan hidden in our steaming attic. A great big thing living in the wall to the side of the house. I had seen it, but the existence of the central air unit up there as well had me under the impression it was defunct....What a mistake. I discovered a turning knob in my husband's closet, a space where I rarely reach into and since then I go upstairs with guilty pleasure, open the latch to the trap door to the magic attic and let that fan blow. A cool breeze descends downstairs and I guess the dog enjoys it as well since he lies on the marble tile floor in the hall and lets his ears flap. I would not mind joining him there!

After a short while my husband would go up for one reason or other and suddenly the humming would stop and the fan turned off...
Well, up I'll go eventually and turn it on again and the discussion follows like this:


Me: Honey, please leave the fan running, it makes such a difference downstairs.
Him: There is no breeze downstairs. Con Edison will love you, lets turn it off.
Me: Just for a while now, ok?
Him: The children will wake up, its so loud, I know your sense of hearing is not the strongest. Let's set a time now! How about ten minutes?
Me: It's 10:30 in the morning, they certainly could wake up.....


His phone rings and he is off to his home office, and I hear the kids traipsing around upstairs. Fan or no fan: They have woken up!


So we compromise for a while. Later I go upstairs to bring in laundry up and to feel a little relief in my air conditioned bedroom and to my dismay I realize it's not nearly as cool as I expected. Looking up the thermostat I see a whooping 77 degrees. Windows open, there is no breeze whatsoever.


My husband promises the evening will bring cooler air and just leaving the windows open will cool it down enough to sleep quietly.
Enough air condition already.
At bedtime I cannot sleep, I turn, stick my legs and other body parts out, toss to the other side. It's not helping. Out I go, close all the windows at 11:45 PM and switch on the air condition. My husband apparently sleeps soundly through all the commotion.
Down to 74 degrees I feel the relaxing cool air caressing my face, cooling my raging hormones and eventually I drift off.


My husband knows little of feeling the heat, he is resistant to cold as well and proudly
proclaims himself unaffected by natures extremes.
I love on winter days to have my freezing fingers warmed by his forever warm hands.
But the summer heat is different. Nothing can make me feel so good as the cooling breeze of a fan...

Image

Until autumns walks softly on falling leaves I will be in need for it's assistance.


Final note: I explained my hormonal imbalance to my husband and my dependency on cool air for my sanity. Now he tolerates the fan use a little longer, perhaps for fear of  further female outbursts... 






Image by V.Zlotkowski and as indicated.

There will be rain

Well, it looks like our weekend plans have to be postponed. The emerging hurricane is on it's way and a gray and rainy morning arose today.

Peaches, berry crumb cake and sunflowers...last weekend!

To lift my spirit I rescued the dying sun flowers, which had been on my table since last Friday's visit to the farmer's market. They had began to hang their pretty heads and finally this morning I arranged them on this footed cake stand where they bring in all the sunshine I miss today!

Today's morning latte and sunflowers sunny side up!

And while I was contemplating my day ahead I walked slowly through the garden to discover many of my Dahlias in bloom, and before the storm will wash them out, perhaps break them, I took some pictures...

I love these colors. The hydrangeas inspire a wonderful palette of muted pinks, blue greens, mauve and cream.

I do not recollect the sources from these last four images, I take no credit, but they are beautiful!


Hope you all stay safe this weekend!


xx
Victoria






All pictures by V.Zlotkowski except the last four interiors.

Hollywood Regency Side Board-White Trelllis and Mirrored Doors

We absolutely love this new hollywood-regency-styled console from Davenport.  Hand-made in the USA, it features a lovely trellis pattern and mirrored glass doors.  Shown here in white, it is also available in custom finish (black would be really pretty too).

The dimensions are 84"L x 19" D x 36" H.  The price is $3500.  Lead time is roughly 8 weeks...

You can find it here.

dark garden.

black patent underbust edwardian corset

photograph by nicoline patricia malinaand, styled by aldi indrajaya









lace overlay sweetheart longline corset

photograph by nicoline patricia malinaand, styled by aldi indrajaya





"fitria yusef is a socialite, fashion stylist, business owner and

the writer of 'little pink book: jakarta style & shopping guide.'"







darkgardenuniquecorsetryblog.com

wastland escape. elise morin and clémence eliard.

"an undulating landscape made of 65,000 discarded CDs carpets the floor of the centquatre art space, housed in a former funeral home in paris. the collected CDs were sewn together with wire then draped over inflatable mounds."



dezeen.com

Giveaway time at Decorating Emporium

Decorating Emporium

 Elements and Julie Anne have just started a new store known as Decorating Emporium. To launch this exciting concept, they have an amazing giveaway this week so take a look at what they have on special! See that gorgeous blue links cushions in the picture...I have my eyes firmly set on that!

When making a comment to enter, please tell them you found this shop through Mrs B! Its just nice to know how far good news travel.

Happy Shopping everybody!

Mrs B xxo

Cute little bottles from Matilda's Market

Today I went to Matilda's Market at the Hawthorn Townhall. I really had no idea what stall holders would be there as I read about it briefly on  beautiful  A-M's blog and thought to myself Off to Market Again...Yippee! And of course, I met up with A-M again and I think we didnt stop talking, admiring and gooing over the most exquisite homemade baby items under one roof. I was also very fortunate in meeting A-M's friend Rachael who just happens to be the  organiser  of the whole Matilda's Market. To be in the company of such very talented women just makes my Sunday morning perfect!!!! 

I bought these 6 little gorgeous bottles for my kitchen shelf and both A-M and Rachael told me the best flowers to put in them are the 'weedy' type you would find in your garden. I would like to put herbs in them I think but these stems from a native bush we have look just as pretty. Oh...when Mr B saw the bottles, he immediately went to the local Italian supermarket and bought me the same 6 little bottles with the orange nectar in them. Now I have 12 and intend to use them for my childrens parties next week!

So, who watched The Block last night? Later I will post my impressions about the end result. All I can say that Amie and Katrina, you have both been wonderful throughout the whole series...good things come to good people. Keep Strong, lots of hugs and kisses!
Mrs B xx

nonlin/lin pavilion. marc fornes/theverymany.

"assembled from 27 components, the four metre-high structure can be taken apart and reassembled in different locations."







dezeen.com

casa de escrita. joão mendes ribeiro.

"portuguese architect and set designer joão mendes ribeiro has converted the former house of a poet into a writer’s retreat. the converted house now provides an archive, writing quarters and temporary accommodation for practicing writers."







dezeen.com

house r. bembé dellinger architekten.

"located in germany, close to munich, this home by bembé dellinger architekten not only features circular hole detailing on the exterior, but a jutting wall of glass that looks almost like an observation deck."











design-milk.com

max & co. duccio grassi architects.

"garments hidden behind semi-circular screens in a hong kong outlet can be glimpsed through jagged perforations. retail specialists duccio grassi architects, who are based in italy, designed the flagship store for clothing retailer max & co."







dezeen.com

sarah jessica parker. show and tell.

"You could say that your mid-40s are an age when you pivot—into an acknowledgment that you are no longer exactly young, into some sort of idea of the rest of your life. Pivot and, if you are part of the growing ranks of older mothers with demanding jobs, juggle: work, home, sanity. And who better to demonstrate the nonstop circus of modern motherhood than Sarah Jessica Parker, former ballet dancer and stage performer, current producer and actress repositioning herself after the long-playing phenomenon of Sex and the City, ubiquitous New York fashion icon, and devoted mother of three?"







vogue.com

reorder at the brooklyn museum. situ studio.

"billowing fabric mushrooms by new york designers situ studio have cropped up in the great hall of the brooklyn museum. pleated fabric surrounds the 16 columns that support the ceiling of the first-floor hall, located between galleries, a cafe and a bookshop. acrylic-stone benches and ledges encircle the base of each mushroom."







dezeen.com

Home Sweet Home...

Home Sweet Home

This is my favourite room. When I walk upstairs its the first thing I see, my gorgeous home sweet home cushion from Heartfire at Home. Linda is the owner of this beautiful blog and as soon as I saw this cushion, I just knew I had to have it and exactly where it was going to go!

You may also notice my other cushions on the green couch...they look okay for now but have been recycled so many times, on different couches. I still want the yellow and navy blue look but for now, they still look pleasant and I have to stop this cushion fetish I have at the moment.

So, that's all for now, Blogger is driving me crazy and will not let me set my margins correctly, pictures disappearing and unable to highlight text for links! I am just hoping it is one of those things and everything will be back to normal....very soon!

Oh! and of course I have been watching The Block every single night for the last 8 weeks! I actually got to see Amie and Katrina's home and Rod and Tania's on a day nobody else was there. All I can say is that both houses are just gorgeous and I wish all the couples the best of luck for the coming auctions.

Mrs B xx