Holzkollektion

We have this at work and I love it.

Must own.

At Nova 68 it's described as a toy. A wood and tree identification kit? A toy?

Anyway, I took my students to the Westmount Group and as Jeff Carter spoke about choosing a species of wood, he took out a box of antique wood veneer swatches- 4x6! My one criticism about Holzkollektion is its size- 1.5x3.5. You can't really see the grain of the wood. Ahh well. Unless I find a better kit of swatches... Holzkollektion will do.

Via

Durham Fair

Remember:
Bring cash
Bring water
Bring hand sanitizer/ wipes
$5 Parking- Make a left at the junction of Rts 17, 77, 79
Wear sunblock/sunglasses/hat

Be prepared to get dirty.

Fun Stuff:
Animal Pulls- We watched the horse pull from atop a hill.  We happened to have an umbrella because I thought it was going to rain.  It worked out great because the sun came out suddenly and we were able to use it for shade.
Kiddie rides- Simona's Firsts: Ferris Wheel, Rode two rides all by herself , together we rode a kiddie dragon coaster
Goats, Chickens (never seen so many different kinds in my entire life!), Alpacas, Cows, Sheep, etc.
Live Music


Good food
Turkey leg and lemonade
Buffalo Wings
Gelato

Never got to the lobster roll or fried dough!  Bummer

For next year:
Come at night. Three day pass.


Makes me want to pursue my dream of owning a small farm!  One day...

Beach Donut

Disgustingly good.

Beach Donut Shop
344 E. Main Street
Clinton, CT 06413
860-501-1865

Thanks Peggy.

 via

Sable Horses and Roberto Dutesco

I've had this love for horses since I was a little girl.  Well OK- most little girls love ponies and horsies yada yada yada but I really did and I still do.  Don't laugh!  I especially loved wild horses.  Horses that roamed the land free in herds- gritty yet majestic. They are such beautiful, powerful animals and one of the items on my life's to do list is to see them in the wild!

Which reminds me of Roberto Dutesco's work on Sable Islands.  He premiered his photographs years ago and I always meant to go to his gallery.  (I feel like I always mean to do things and never actually do them.)  In any case he received permission by the Canadian government to visit Sable Island and document the herd of wild horses that reside there.  Just imagine a small strip of a sand bar off the coast of Canada.  Fresh water ponds.  Sand.  Grass.  And one tree?

I have to think, only magical creatures could live here.

via

The rest of Dutesco's work is also amazing, but I think his Sable Horses collection is the most impressive.  He was really smart about choosing the print format for his work.  Technology allows him to take high resolution digital photos and print them at an incredibly large scale.  The photos themselves have an amazing graphic quality which I admire.  It's really quite beautiful and I wish I could get my butt to go to his gallery already!


I love his use of scale and contrast.  Some of my favorites...
 

via

via

via

Chasing Wild Horses
A documentary of Dutesco's time on the Sable Islands.
The message: some places should be kept unspoiled.


Chasing Wild Horses - Clip 1 of 4 from Roberto Dutesco on Vimeo.


Chasing Wild Horses - Clip 2 of 4 from Roberto Dutesco on Vimeo.


Chasing Wild Horses - clip 3 of 4 from Roberto Dutesco on Vimeo.


Chasing Wild Horses - clip 4 of 4 from Roberto Dutesco on Vimeo.

Ice Skating in Durham

We MUST go ice skating this winter.

Peggy just told me about a great spot in Durham for ice skating.  Less than 10 minutes away from the house!

 via

Short Films

Makes me feel all warm and cozy inside

Arrow's Nest



Her Morning Elegance


;)

Penny Round Tiles

Read an article in This Old House about ceramic penny-round tile.

Absolutely love it.

Nemo Tile and Mod Walls have really fun colors and great websites.


It's always nice to read these articles.  Peggy and I joke around about our lack of mid-range/ low-end product knowledge.  Working in high end res really spoils you.

Sources from the article:
Nemo Tile
Waterworks
Mission Stone Tile
Daltile
Auc-Tile
Mod Walls

Great book-Must buy

Contemporary Classics: Furniture of the Masters (Hardcover)
by Charles D. Gandy, Susan Zimmermann-Stidham

Merida Meridian

I read the article in Architectural Digest featuring Will and Jada's Malibu home and noticed their living room floor was covered in leather.

WTF?

Really?

I guess I can understand the appeal, but how's the maintenance on leather flooring? Curious. Very curious. I need to do more research.

More recently I've come across ads for Merida and Meridian. Hmm OK. Recycled leather. A little better?

I'm wondering if it's a fad.

Sebastian Mariscal

I'm blog vomitting.


Daria mentioned the Wabi House to me. Really funny because the architect is Sebastian Mariscal, a Mexican born architect/developer, who I've admired since I read an article in Residential Architect magazine.


Whenever people ask me if I have a favorite architect. No one really comes to mind in particular. There are the icons of course but there are architects whose body of work, practice, and way of life I admire very much. I'm going to have to start a list...

Lexington Modern

So. I've been harboring secret wishes of buying a pair of Hans Wegner Wishbone chairs to replace the 80s art deco chairs... Wait. Let me explain! I bought those damned chairs in a fit of hormonal lunacy when I was eight months pregnant with Simona. We had just bought our house and I thought Oh my... I'm going to need dining chairs (for our non-existent dining room)!

PSYCHOOO.

So I bought SIX white lacquer art deco chairs. Good grief. I feel the need to explain why I own such questionable chairs. Seriously, I was literally out of my mind. By the way I bought them on craigslist from this nice lady who lived 15 miles away. It took me two trips to get them all to our tiny house driving our Civic.  AND I packed them all into our car by myself.  Let's just imagine that for a minute.

Ok. That was a rant.

Yes. Secret wishes- of buying from Lexington Modern. Does this act equate to buying that Louis Vuitton knock off from Chinatown? Or is it totally cool to buy a reproduction of an iconic piece of furniture from a reputable company? There is no way in hell I could afford an authentic Hans Wegner... right now. Yeah sure, later in life I could probably swing it, but do I really want to sink almost a grand into one chair?!?!  Do you know how much an architect REALLY makes? Salary.com it! 

Lexington Modern doesn't offer different finishes, however, and I would really love a Wishbone in oiled walnut.  I've seen oiled walnut at around $1,400!

So the question is:

authentic vs. reproduction?
$885 vs. $199?

via

via