My week in pictures

On some weekends I look back on the just passed days and I wonder what I have been doing. These are the weeks where I routinely cover all the necessary spots, drive more then I walk, run errands, pass out meals on accord and, washing the piles of laundry my family regularly produces, makes one day look like the next anyway.
And yet I still look back with satisfaction: This is our regular life, peaceful, all the steps are needed and I wish I could record the fleeing moments, the days we often look back and do not remember.
I take pictures all the time of things I love, things I want to remember, things which fill me with joy...so here is the week which just has passed.
Do you record the passing of time in your life? 

In Patricia's studio

Sunday began with a visit to my dear friend Patricia of PVE, who again took part in the annual
Studio Tour of the river towns on the Hudson, Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley and Irvington, NY. A wonderful institution which I have been looking forward to visit for a few years now. It was again more then inspiring to see so many artists displaying their works of their own creative year.

Roses, given to me by Beryl

My wonderful friend Beryl, whom I see not too often due to her traveling schedule and her life split between India, Ireland and the US, came over for a Sunday afternoon filled with stories and laughter and later shared dinner with us all. Together we cuddled up on the sofa and watched 'Call the Midwife'  and 'Mr.Selfridge', TV series we adore. We both have  worked as midwifes in our lives and being addicted to the BBC masterpiece classics, the last one is just a delightful must. Sunday nights are booked for time being...

Country home

Monday, Tuesday: Spring has finally arrived in our part of the country and I absolutely adore this little country scene of a red painted tiny house not far from us and its lovely little garden, tulip filled and adorned with something like a remnant of a mill stone. 

I pass it often and each time I smile and thank the owners in my mind for this moment of beauty in my day.

My miso soup

Miso soup is something I make regularly, its super healthy and quick to make, at least once a week. I use Brown Rice Miso Master Organic, using water, some carrot slices, broken up wakame (a type of seaweed) and scallions, simmer this for 5-6 minutes and then add some firm tofu (do not boil) and my miso paste, stir and eat. Sometimes I add a teaspoon of raw almond butter and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Yum!

Rolling out the green carpet

Wednesday: A part of our front lawn needed replacing after two years of fighting a nasty infestation of fungi and weeds. We care for our greens organic, but this was something we could not seem to manage anymore, after the winter everything was pretty dead! So we decided to take the plunge and get roll out grass and it looks splendid. Now I water the land twice a day for a good 1/2 hour. I think we will eventually need a sprinkler...

Unbelievable green

Which reminds me that we also have planned a second Zelkova tree to match the one planted two years ago. It is a fast growing shade tree, resisting common tree disease and we had gotten this one free of charge by the  town after the large, earlier existing tree needed to be taken down. At the time we felt bereaved and were happy to learn, that upon request the town would replace a cut  town tree. They did it within a few months and actually an arborist came and discussed the options with me. I was very impressed. Together we decided on the Zelkova serrata. (Japanese Zelkova) And although this tree is not the flowering beauty I had originally in mind in front of the house, I am very happy with this quiet beauty now growing. So, a second one will be planted, hopefully this autumn.

Pink explosion

 Decorative cherry blossoms?

Thursday, Friday: These amazing clusters of pink blossoms can be found on some trees along the Aqueduct, a historic walkway above the Hudson between Yonkers and Croton-on -Hudson. It is a well preserved path, sometimes narrow, sometimes wide, tree covered and leading along parks, back yards and quaint neighborhoods. Walkers, joggers, bikers, kids and dogs share the space and it is almost like a secret garden, where, on a weekday morning, only the initiated find themselves alone with the birds... at least the lucky ones not to be in an office at that time.

I walk with my friend Paola, I walk with Patricia, I walk with my husband and alone, and apart from the exercise it is a wonderful place to brainstorm plans for the future and hatch out ideas which would perhaps otherwise never see the light of day....this place always opens one up in unexpected ways.

I meditate while walking. The most wonderful experience.

My thirsty boy

Saturday: Seeing my youngest boy out and about on his bike, the trampoline and with his friends playing soccer and basketball after the long winter months is priceless. 

Today is soccer practice, tomorrow another game and hopefully the boys win another round, the team has been doing great so far.

Picking up my son's lunch sandwich

I also chatted with one of my older sons in Berlin, such a lovely thing to have Skype and to see him, all into his studies and plans for the future. 

I enjoy the little moments, the connecting moments, the time we can spend together, even if it's thousands of miles apart, sitting opposite each other, sharing a cup of coffee and stories of late.

I had also time in between, while waiting in the car in the school pick up line to read the latest in Architectural Digest, beautiful homes I would like to share with you to, this being a Design blog....

AD magazine

This is the bedroom of Vogue Brazil style editor Donata Meirelles, designed by the South American tastemaker Sig Bergamin... Ahh. Such delights in color. Pick up a copy, this or any other, I usually have a moment at the bookstore....

The best of everything

Now I am sitting on my deck, feet up, sipping on a green machine juice, freshly made and I will read some of the  New York Times, Wall Street Journal and have another look at Gwyneth Paltrow's latest cook book, It's All Good.

Indeed!

This has been my week, nothing breathtaking, but just a quietly fulfilling one, with all the good things in life:

Family, friends, health, good food and work.  I am so thankful!

Wishing you all the same, happy weekend!

All images by V.Zlotkowski apart the last via AD magazine.

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The future

We have been living in our house for a dozen years now and we have changed little in the grand scheme of things. Our house is colorful, spontaneously adapting to continuously arising problems, typical of old, but not so charming homes. 
This house is filled with many makeshift fixes, waiting for the break through renovations, which might never happen. My desire to change clashes often hard with the necessities at hand and the limits in our budget. Which cannot be helped.  The hoped for changes at home reflect my personal, I have departed quite far from who I used to be, even four, five years ago. 

Departed from once so harmonious ideas of how to live in this space. Less is now more appealing. Different rooms and different colors, different pieces would reflect so much better my different needs and who I am today.... They should be the fitting background to my stage in life, on which I perform daily.

I do not want to change everything. But some essential things. I admit, much more essential to me.
I do not always see eye to eye with my husband. He is in no hurry, least need for any change. He is happy with most around him and tells me to get occupied with other things, so I will stop nagging. His preferences lay elsewhere to begin with. He does not see peeling wallpapers or mildew in the bathrooms, he is seemingly oblivious to many things in need of improvement. Oh, my happy man!

Repairs we have to defer to later, due to other pressing issues and needs. And my reading of design blogs does not help at all. On the contrary. Regularly I read about massive improvements. No blogs are written about the lack of it.  Oftentimes it leaves me drained lately. I have to remind myself that these renovating mavens are a minority among the many folks, just living their common lives...making ends meet.

The irony of being so interested in design, but being incapable of acting on it sooner then later, is not lost on me. I am a dreamer, but this often comes close to self inflicted torture. I am certainly in no need for extra motivation.
There are endless scenarios which play out in my head, from better bathrooms to a modern kitchen, finished guest quarters in the basement, which has been a stepchild to us, playing evil mental games of let's pretend. I am so tired of it. 

Shall I surrender to the facts of life and remain silent from now on? I have to pinch myself to stay focused on the things at hand... To take every day and make the best out of it....
Are these the rantings of a suburban housewife with no other problems? I can assure you, it is not. I am busy with many things, some even involve making money. 
Am I sure I am the same person talking of Thanksgiving only a few days ago? These reminders are not forgotten, but there is this, the darker side, something else which needs to be voiced as well. 

Clouds over the Green House

There is a new roof coming after all. Soon. And I try to make the best of it, hoping to sneak in some changes, hoping it will pass muster. And the budget, of course. Why does everything have to be so expensive? I am not talking about the fancy stuff anymore. Contractors take much more then I do per hour. There would be no chance for me at all, if I would insist on these charges.

At Perch, New Orleans

I have been thinking hard about all that, feeling partly guilty of being so difficult and partly virtuous about me and my, hopefully, more self-controlled complaining, bitchy self.   
Now I have concluded I should try a different route. I'll will begin with myself. Begin to change on my end, free of cost and with a little more hope of success. Not the bathrooms, for I am not capable of such handiwork, but with the closets, the clutter. The stuff. 

The endless magazines, which have held my dreams and for that reason I could never part with them. As if I would loose the actual things, I so desire, by parting with these pages. The hoarded bits and pieces, which will never make it into once dreamed up projects. Unfinished THINGS, resisting for years and years under the bed and in dark corners of the basement, waiting to be discovered. All which have filled me with restless desire and pain. Constant, highly unpleasant reminders of unfinished business. They have become memories of past yearnings, ideas, with which I should have parted long ago. They have become millstones, which drag me under water. I realize that so many THINGS are connected to our 'selves', our being us, which led me to believe they are me. I am thinking about these, who loose everything through terrible events, or the cards of life, dealt to them. These unfortunate ones, might they actually gain eventually some wisdom, which is still avoiding me? Or are they simply endlessly suffering and missing things? 
Perhaps I'll learn finally to look inside myself for those THINGS, I desire on the outside?
I have read many books, stories of mindfulness and the practical help books, the un-clutter your space books and the ones pertaining to the 'un-clutter your mind'.
Where is that knowledge in my head? It takes more then reading, experiencing it on my own has always been the best way for me. Unfortunately I seem not capable of changing by theories and thinking about it alone. Learning for me is by doing. I do not want to loose the peace in my four walls, and the fine balance with my husband, who lives rather happily in the house, which is our home. 

That sunny window

This will surely be a departure not free of pain and some doubts, perhaps some regrets of leaving something behind, which I might miss later? I am a little scared of the implied consequences. But there is no change without loss along the way. What I hope to find is better balance of wants and needs in the long run. And a more clutter free existence. I feel, I can do that, but I still need to convince myself of my capability to pull through. To come out the other end with a different feeling and state of mind.
I am sure, I am not the only one suffering from imbalanced and painful hopes and desires, from dreams, we should wake up from not depressed but actually strengthened.
And to be at peace. This is my desire now. And in the future.

Our trees in spring

xoxo

Images byV. Zlotkowski

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10 simple accent trees for Christmas

.  There is definitely a "simpler Christmas" trend in the last several years. Simple is good and clean and when you add green to the mix you have the perfect Christmas accent, a small/miniature tree.  From plain to layered, there are lots of options.

 A little woodland whimsy with wooden beads.

 Grouped with a sign 

 Welcoming visitors, no need for ornaments

 A "tree" constructed from branches of boxwood, but easily done with any type of greenery. I would cut oasis in a cone shape and go from there.  For all I know you can get oasis in a cone shape!

 A  shaped rosemary tree with wood accents.

 Rosemary again with starfish for a beach Christmas.

A lovely tree with pinecones in a recycled wooden box.  Nice candlestick holders too. The black and white accents provide a great backdrop.

Love the bucket and bench  (it's all the texture and gray) but the simple ornaments finish everything off beautifully.  Who would think white card trees could be so elegant?

Did you make these 3 D hearts as a child?  They bring back happy  memories for me. With all the great paper designs available the sky is the limit for this idea.

 And finally a little colour for those who want it.

All links can be found on my Pinterest page.

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Border drama

After the rain dramatic light

Well, I am not talking of any horrible conflict, but rather of the dramatic going-ons in our neighborhood, where colors wildly explode and blossoms compete...

It's, of course, a peaceful battle and the only weapons, I can see, are planting tools and the leaf blowers, although these, in my opinion, should be on the international banned list, for they create so much unnecessary noise.  Oh, how much I prefer a good old rake...

The dog pulled me in excited sniffing mode from one tree to the next, but I still had enough time to take in all the beauty around me and the realization of spring's enormous potency.

It is overwhelmingly pretty and I love to see nature's progress.

Some of the neighborhood beauties

It has been raining a lot last week, something I am grateful for, it had been too dry over the last months.

This should be my dream studio

 In summer and winter I absolutely adore that little garden house under the big tree!

Come on, next big stone ahead

I can't help but look at some of the pretties around while I am on my walk with our old boy...

American & Canadian flags greet us every day!

And finally we turn the corner - we are home!

May joyful colors greet you wherever you are and the battles are peaceful ones around you! Happy Sunday!

All images by V.Zlotkowski

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Garden day

The day began bright and sunny and I was drawn to the buzzing, humming and twittering outside. I watched the birds and the bees, the budding plants and I was overall delighted with the progression of spring.

Something has to be said of the fresh green tips, the dark red, still unfurled, leaves of the maple trees, the just opened blossoms of the azaleas and the wisteria, climbing around the garage wall.

There were the sound of insects, birds busily flattering in and out of the hedges, looking for food, twigs and this and that to build their nests...

The lilac begins to green, in front of the, still standing, dried grasses from last year. A task waiting for me, to cut them, to make space for this year's growth.

In the afternoon all changed to kid's laughter on the trampoline, my son and friends sprung happily around and the sounds of

happy chatter rung through the otherwise quiet  neighborhood. These are the moments I so cherish!

My sweet young neighbors explored the blossoms and the garden at large, not missing a beat!

They discovered what I had found earlier this morning: The beauty of spring!

Wishing you all the joys of the season and a Happy Easter to come! May you all feel a sense of awakening and renewal!

Easter greetings to you all!

PS: Don't forget to see my other site here!

All images by V.Zlotkowski

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