Posted in elle decor, garden, house beautiful, lonny, outdoor rooms, summer, veranda, tagged landscape, landscape design, outdoor entertaining on June 18, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Longer days and warmer nights invite us to spend more time outdoors…breakfast in the garden, dinner on the veranda, cocktails under the stars, or perhaps a midnight dip in the pool…may these tranquil and beautiful outdoor rooms sweep you off your feet (and into a comfy hammock or chaise lounge!)
photos from Elle Decor, Veranda, House Beautiful, Lonny and The Gifts of Life
Posted in concord, garden, photography, summer, tagged landscape design, nature, stone, iron gates on June 14, 2013 | 8 Comments »
Perched high above the Concord River, there exists a secret garden brimming with irises, peonies, columbine and rhododendron…this intricately laid out network of paved stones and steps offered me a beautiful view of the terraced gardens and riverscape below…with every twist and turn, this magical place had a story to tell…a garden with an old soul if you will…I’m so glad I took the time to listen
Wishing you a wonderful summer weekend!
below ~ the Concord River and surrounding landscape, taken on my way down the hill
photography by danielle boudrot for a thoughtful eye
Posted in flowers, garden, photography, summer, tagged flowers, gardens, peonies on June 8, 2013 | 11 Comments »
Plucked straight from my brother Gary’s garden, these ethereal white peonies commanded my attention this morning…a perfect muse for a summer day!
Wishing you a lovely weekend!
photography by danielle boudrot for a thoughtful eye
Posted in literature, photography, summer, tagged concord, henry david thoreau, nature, photography, summer, walden on June 5, 2013 | 4 Comments »
Yesterday, while en route to Concord, a large black bull caught my eye…he was just one of the many cows and bulls grazing (or reclining!) in the warm afternoon sun…what a picturesque sight to behold!
“At evening, the distant lowing of some cow in the horizon beyond the woods sounded sweet and melodious, and at first I would mistake it for the voices of certain minstrels by whom I was sometimes serenaded, who might be straying over hill and dale; but soon I was not unpleasantly disappointed when it was prolonged into the cheap and natural music of the cow. I do not mean to be satirical, but to express my appreciation of those youths’ singing, when I state that I perceived clearly that it was akin to the music of the cow, and they were at length one articulation of Nature.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, excerpt from Walden, chapter four titled Sounds
photography by danielle boudrot for a thoughtful eye
Posted in summer, tagged beach house, country house, gardens, gwen frostic, interior design, photography, summer, water views on May 31, 2013 | 5 Comments »
“The sun is higher…the days are longer…and the magic of spring has touched every living thing…each, attuned to life…is ready to rise in a mystical kinship with beauty…” ~ Gwen Frostic
Wishing you a wonderful weekend filled with the sights, sounds, scents and tastes of summer!
photos from Elle Decor and The Gifts of Life
Posted in garden, paul wiseman, summer, veranda, tagged california, gardens, interior design, landscape design, renovation, restoration, sustainable materials, water views on May 23, 2013 | 6 Comments »
With Memorial Day weekend just around the corner, I thought you might enjoy a sunny visit to designer Paul Wiseman’s Northern California home. Thoughtfully restored to maintain its original foot print and floor plan, this 1912 gem has been updated using “green” materials that have the appropriate sensibility for a historical restoration in the 21st century. These sustainable materials, such as custom bronze casement windows with energy saving glass, a zinc roof and LED lighting, reduce long term maintenance while preserving the unique character and spirit of the architecture. What a brilliant coming together of modern technology and beauty! From the breathtaking water views to the perfectly edited interiors, this house has it all! Please enjoy!
Wishing you a wonderful long weekend filled with sunny skies and a lovely breeze!
Above and below ~ photography by Matthew Millman for The Wiseman Group
To read more about this masterful property, pick up the 2013 May-June issue of Veranda!
Below ~ photography by Laura Resen for Veranda
Posted in flowers, photography, summer on August 24, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Wishing you a blissful summer weekend awash with aromatic gardens, dappled sunlight and soulful breezes!
Posted in color, garden, summer on August 23, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Posted in photography, summer on August 20, 2012 | 3 Comments »
hundreds of bees and butterflies are enjoying the sweet nectar of our buddleja…I photographed this beauty today ~ first at work, then in flight…
Posted in ferdinand hodler, literature, paintings, summer on August 13, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Yesterday’s summer rain recalled a favorite chapter from E.B. White’s One Man’s Meat…his poetic telling of an afternoon thunderstorm at the lake is a timeless summer story ripe with imagery and childhood memories…hope this brightens your Monday afternoon!
“One afternoon while we were there at that lake a thunderstorm came up. It was like the revival of an old melodrama that I had seen long ago with childish awe. The second-act climax of the drama of the electrical disturbance over a lake in America had not changed in any important respect. This was the big scene, still the big scene. The whole thing was so familiar, the first feeling of oppression and heat and a general air around camp of not wanting to go very far away. In midafternoon (it was all the same) a curious darkening of the sky, and a lull in everything that had made life tick; and then the way the boats suddenly swung the other way at their moorings with the coming of a breeze out of the new quarter, and the premonitory rumble. Then the kettle drum, then the snare, then the bass drum and cymbals, then crackling light against the dark, and the gods grinning and licking their chops in the hills. Afterward the calm, the rain steadily rustling in the calm lake, the return of light and hope and spirits and the campers running out in joy and relief to go swimming in the rain, their bright cries perpetuating the deathless joke about how they were getting simply drenched, and the children screaming with delight at the new sensation of bathing in the rain, and the joke about getting drenched linking the generations in a strong indestructible chain. And the comedian who waded in carrying an umbrella.” ~ an excerpt from E.B. White’s One Man’s Meat, 1938
1) Landscape at Caux with increasing clouds ~ Ferdinand Hodler, 1917
2) Thun, Stockhornkette, In clouds ~ Ferdinand Hodler, 1912
3) Lake Thun ~ Ferdinand Hodler, 1884
