The Lotus Eaters

Red Lotus, Old Farm House Pond, Village of Lewisburg, Ohio  © Doug Hickok


If you recall your Greek mythology and the story of Homer's Odyssey, the Lotus Eaters were a people inhabiting an island near North Africa who feasted on the Lotus flower and fruit. The plant was said to have a narcotic effect. According to Odysseus, when his ship ran aground on this island, his men munched upon the delicious Lotus plants. They soon felt carefree, being completely apathetic about ever leaving the land of the Lotus Eaters and returning home.

Though we did not partake of the fruit or flower of the lotus, we felt the same way about our family and their farmhouse in Lewisburg.

Watery and outdoor Wednesday.

During our stay in England we also visited student city Cambridge. Very old and very beautiful.
My first collage is of  students punting on the river Cam. Punts are  littleflat  boats and are mostly handled by students .When you walk around through the town there they will try to sell  you a ride.They will show you the sights of Cambridge by boat. It should be a lot of fun. On these photo's you can see a group of Japanese studends who were singing and laughing.  We didn’t have the time to go on one so we definitely need to go again. (I wish). On the left on one or two photo’s is St John’s college, I believe it to be the most famous of several colleges in Cambridge.



Cambridge has several colleges but St John’s has its own very famous chapel. I would more like to  call it a huge church and it is beautiful. I made lots of photo’s in here but today I am just showing a few among other photo’s of Cambridge.  Look at the glass stained windows which are all around. And the ceiling is a work of art, so very special. It looks like it is woven. I will show more photo’s of the chapel and Cambridge in the future. Especially the inside of the chapel is beautiful..

Please click to enlarge photo;s

This is just a little bit of Cambridge.
For Watery Wednesday go here:http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/
For outdoor Wednesday go here: http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

Half Price

Just in case you might be interested I have just put our 4 remaining neon framed embroideries over at the online store on sale.  They are now half the original price which is very exciting!!  Only 4 left though...

CLICK HERE to see...

xx
Anna

PS.  Please note, all of these embroideries are hand-made and will vary slightly in design to the one shown.  If you want to see a selection of what is left prior to purchasing just email us info@blackandspiro.com.au and we would love to send you some images.

The Next Newest Thing

Pulleys, Old Style Harvester, The Old Depot, Village Of Lewisburg, OH  © Doug Hickok


It was not so very long ago that farmers had to harvest crops by manually removing the grain from the rest of the plant. By the 19th century, machines were invented to do this mechanically, but they were ponderously drawn by horses or mules. By the early 20th century, self-propelled harvesters like this one made the work much easier and efficient. Now antiques, they are put aside to rust in weedy patches of fields, all but forgotten. These relics of by gone eras are reminders of man's ability to constantly improve upon an idea.

 Today, technology advances with such speed that new inventions are rapidly replaced by the next newest thing, in seemingly just a matter of months.

Monday Ramblings

I woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of heavy rain on our old tin roof.  My plans for a mindless day in the garden had to be cancelled.

If only I could have stayed home today because this morning I woke to the most beautiful, warm, sunny Spring day.  Isn't it always the way!  I was rather envious of Merv who arrived at around 8am ready to work in the garden for the morning.  There was just something in the air this morning.  Did you feel it too?

Next on our gardening agenda is planting 2 garden beds full of Dahlias, Zinnias and Daisies.  These should then flower right through Summer...fingers crossed.

Has anyone driven passed Black & Spiro over the last few days?  Did you see the divine, divine, divine pair of vintage concrete Swan pots we have sitting right at the front as you enter our front door?  I am having major problems trying to hold myself back from getting them picked up and delivered to our house.  They came from an old house in South Australia and I will admit that I am in-love!  I really don't think I could stand seeing them go to another home.  I haven't been like this over something in the shop for such a long time!!  I wonder where they will end up...my house or yours?

image 1 - via seboise, image 2 - via pretty stuff, image 3 - via pretty stuff

Mysterious Monday - Not What You Think

Window and Sky, The Old Depot, Village of Lewisburg, Ohio  © Doug Hickok


You might think this is a photograph of a cloud reflected in the pane of a window. But on closer inspection it appears to be an open window to the sky.

Or is it?

This visual riddle exemplifies the aphorism, "Life is an illusion".

Mosaic Monday

A few weeks ago I posted  lots of flowers from the garden of this beautiful estate Hinton Ampler in England.
I said  there was so much to see inside, everything so beautiful, like all this china of Sèvres, and Minton and Wedgwood and I don’t know what other beautiful brands.
So today I am showing just a little of what was in those cabinets for mosaic Monday, as always hosted by Mary of The little red house.http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

Please click to enlarge photo's





One of the many beautiful rooms.




This is just a little of what I saw and admired there. I will post some more of the interior in the future.
Riet

Red-Eyed Gargoyle

Gargoyle Statue, Village of Lewisburg, Ohio  © Doug Hickok


We associate gargoyles with towering medieval cathedrals in Europe. These stone sculptures were designed as waterspouts to transfer rainwater away from buildings, or used sometimes as grotesques to scare away evil spirits.

So it was a little surprising to find, on our second, most recent road trip to Ohio, a pair of tall gargoyles guarding the entrance to an old Victorian home in the little town of Lewisburg. These two ferocious lions came equipped with glowing red eyes as well. Perhaps this is an intimidating sign to neighbors to beware of trespassing, or simply another version of local mid-American kitsch.

With my commitment to unadulterated journalistic reportage, I decided not to use the red eye function on my camera.

Irene Passes by Charleston

Storm Walker, South Battery, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Fortunately, Charleston was only brushed by the outer bands of Hurricane Irene as she passed up the Atlantic coast last evening.


 Today, our thoughts are with everyone in the path of this destructive force of nature.

Pink Saturday.

Some weeks ago I got an invitation from my friend Madelief for a bloggers get together and an afternoon tea.. It was going to be held in her beautiful garden. Of course I accepted and let me tell you, we had a wonderful afternoon last Saturday.

Madelief is the owner of this beautiful  blog called Madelief.

Look what she surprised us with. A beautiful set table , lots of pink here ,  and  the goodies were  made and  baked  by herself. All so delicious. And of course pots and pots of tea.

Let me show you a few photo’s

Isn’t this a beautiful setting, the garden round that gorgeous table.







There even was a greenhouse.


The other bloggers were  Ingrid, Jolanda, Anita, Lia, Fleur and Saskia. All  lovely ladies which I never met before.
As I said we had a wonderful afternoon with a lot of  talking and laughing and getting to know each other. It was so much fun to get to see the faces behind the blogs.

Thank you dear Madelief, you were a beautiful host . I will never forget this fantastic afternoon. It was so much appreciated.
Riet.

Pink Saturday is hosted by Beverly of "How sweet the sound"

Blue Cleat

Blue Cleat, Union Pier, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Large cleats such as this one help hold massive container ships to the piers at Charleston's various marine terminals. Vessels from around the globe arrive to load and unload cargos of all sorts. If only good will traveled as easily...


Hope your weekend isn't as stormy as ours is predicted to be!

A Day for Daffodils

It seems my Daffodils have flowered right on cue.  Back in Autumn I ambitiously planted 50 Daffodil bulbs in our garden and although not all of them have surfaced, we have quite a few in flower today just in time for Daffodil Day.  To support this very special day click HERE to make a donation or to find out how you can contribute.


On that note I am signing off for this week.  I'm yearning for a weekend in my garden.
xx
Anna

Window Boxes

Flowers in Window Boxes, Tradd St., Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok



An assortment of blooming flowers adorn the front of an 18th century house along Tradd Street. Charleston has a 12 month growing season, so it is not uncommon to find beautiful surprises like these window boxes almost any time of year.

Alphabe Thursday.

Alphabe Thursday is hosted by Ms Jenny Matlock. This week we need to find words with the letter S.
For me it was the word Summer.
As we are nearing the end of summer I am thinking it was not such a super good one. We didn’t have  much sun and had  a lot of showers .
During our stay in England we visited the most beautiful gardens and they all said SUMMER.  I think you agree when you see these photo’s.


 PLease click to enlarge photo's.

All summerflowers

Please click on photo to enlarge.

All these photo’s are made by me in the Great Dixter gardens.
For more S words go to ms Jennies blog.

Dishevelled Bathroom

I love this CRAZY bathroom.  Seems I am loving everything a bit dishevelled...


xx
Anna


PS.  This fabulous bathroom belongs to Johnelle.


PPS - I have just discovered that this bathroom AND that lovely dishevelled bookcase I posted a couple of days ago BOTH belong to Johnelle!  I didn't realise this at the time of posting.  How serendipitous!

PPPS - Well I seem to have really gotten my wires crossed.  Thanks to a reader I have been advised that this bathroom belongs to Jo Kornstein, a talented set designer in London. My sincere apologies for this mistake.
x
Anna

Cruise Ship Dilemma

Cruise Ship, Charleston Harbor, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


A large cruise ship is docked along a pier in Charleston Harbor. The recent frequency of cruise ship visits has elevated tourism in Charleston, but a debate now rages over the pros and cons of their presence. 


On the one hand, a fortune of tourist dollars is generated by the ships, but on the other hand the environmental impact of large boats in the harbor degrades flora and fauna, and the traffic generated around the waterfront disturbs local residents. 


The Charleston Board of Architectural Review is working hard to find a solution to the problem, the ever elusive balance between quality of life and profit.

Outdoor and Watery Wednesday.

Last week we went for an errand in an older part of our little town when we saw this beautiful little old dike-house. Very old as it was built in the year 1815 but it still looked so perfect.
 I must have seen it before but then I was not into photographing I think. I had my camera with me so here are my photo’s for Outdoor Wednesday .http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

Please click to enlarge photo's.

There are actually two families living here, so separate houses.


You have to go down the dike to get to the front door. See the steps?



As you can see there is an upstairs and a downstairs in these little houses by the steps on the side of the house. The garden is downstairs and maybe there was a stable once. 


Watery Wednesday.

Last night I received this photo of my granddaughter Megan on her first waterski lesson. I think she did real well.
She said she had so much fun on summer water camp.


For more watery Wednesday photo’s go here: http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

Dry Arch construction at Drimnagh Castle for National Heritage Week

Patrick McAfee demonstrating arch construction

Just a very quick post to promote some very interesting things happening this week. This week is Heritage Week 2011 from 20th to the 28th of August. Coordinated by The Heritage Council, Heritage Week is part of European Heritage Days in which over 40 countries participate each year.


Drimnagh Castle

 I was down at the lovely Drimnagh Castle today in the heart of Dublin City, where renowned stonemason, teacher and author Patrick McAfee held an arch building demonstration. This hour long demonstration was a very interesting look into the crafts of stonemasons and stone cutters, and you only need to tilt your head to the left to see many of these beautiful structures built centuries ago in various parts of the castle.

Patrick McAfee will be back for one last demonstration tomorow from 11-12 so if you are in the area I highly recommend popping in for a look. Admission is free and if you're lucky you might also get to have a free look around the fabulous castle.

This is just one of a number of events going on around the country this week, celebrating some of Ireland wonderful heritage and promoting many of the sadly lost and dying crafts that have built much of this country.
Be sure to check out what's happening in your area this week by logging onto the Heritage Week website http://www.heritageweek.ie/

Color in the Least Likely Place

Corner, Archdale Parking Garage, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Sometimes nice color is found in the least likely places, like the top floor of this parking garage in Charleston.

Spring Just Around The Corner...

 

Spring is just around the corner here in Australia.  I am really looking forward to some warmer weather and all the pretty flowers which are starting to pop up in our garden. 

I am also excited to announce that our Spring Vignette over at our online store will be live in just over 2 weeks.  We've almost sold out of our Winter Vignette however, there are still a few things available so make sure you head over there to grab any last minute bits before we close Winter.

http://www.absolutelybeautifulthings.com.au/

I will say that our Spring Vignette is going to have lots of gorgeous vintage items and an array of pretty floral cushions too...something to look forward to.

xx

Anna

image 1 - source unknown, image 2 - kate spade, image 3 - via pink lemonade design, image 4 - via mary ruffle