Views from My Desk Chair

Wow, people. I am getting desperate (in the creative department). Here are two views from behind my desk & the chrysanthemums are on it. Julie is lounging nearby (as always). Since the snaps are so limited due to tech, I grunged'em up but good. I tweeted another shot yesterday a.m. & said that though in an urban area, this is indeed from my apt. I lucked out nearly 22 years ago. (I moved in Thanksgiving weekend, 1989.)

If you know Ruth Orkin's photos of an American girl in Italy, you might remember that she took pictures out her New York City apartment windows for 30 years. Another (mainly) from-where-I-live tumblr I enjoy is by Jennifer Ehle. Her photographs of the countryside in & around her home are lovely, some very painterly. She also has a wonderful, cheeky sense of humor. Do take a visit.

Now, I must get some errands done but I hope some of you excellent photographers will let me know if you have some shots from where you sit. And if so, might we see a few? Here's hoping.

PS: I put up the viral video of starlings on the GG blog in case you've not seen it yet.

Keep the Peace on Thanksgiving

...are you fighting yet? Wait a few hours...it's early. If someone is getting on your nerves, picking a fight, get outta there. I mean out of the house/apt. Even if it's your place. Take a walk & look for materials to make centerpieces, wreaths, swags, or little art installations. If you come up short on the flower-y/greenery/berry front head on to a market. Most of them have floral foam & wire if you want to make a more formal centerpiece arrangement. (Beg for a little bit of foam or wire, if that's what you really want. Of course, offer to pay.)

I saw some pretty Lady apples, Seckel pears, & teeny white pumpkins a few days ago for little money. Arrange on large platter or plate (runner/large placemat/tablecloth/pillowcase), tuck in sprigs of holly (or pine) the neighbor gave you, search your cupboards for a bag of whole nuts that are now, I assure you, stale. Arrange.

Personally, I like Emily Thompson's delicate wreaths & have made similar for years & endured teasing by unimaginative people with scads of cash. A dangerous combination. If all else fails, garland thyself. A crown implies power beyond words. Most people are not going to pick on someone wearing a crown (it would seem especially in America from all the breathless Royal Wedding Reports on the evening news). All of these ideas work for any holiday, in any country. But for fellow Americans & their guests, a special happy Thanksgiving from Julie the Cat & her obedient servant.

Here's the link to Design*Sponge labels Thanksgiving & flowers. (images via Design*Sponge)

Fresh Flowers for Tough Times

For those of us residing in the State of Penury, here is an excellent idea by Sarah of Blossom and Branch, via Design*Sponge. It's a definite upgrade from our parsley-in-a-creamer. This is Sarah's second post in a twice-a-month series, Flowers A-Z. Take a look, you might be surprised by the ingredients.

That is from Julie's site today. I loved this idea so much that I scooped it up & placed over here. A relief from the gray & watery rumination chez nous.

I've looked on-line but not in the shops for prices per bunch/stem. I sniffed by them in the market in years past. My bad. It's very much bricolage in the French usage sense. Scent memories of cycling & walking past fields of decaying brassica on the outskirts of Strasbourg might have something to do with my aversion. I don't think that classy Design*Sponge would have anything on their site if that were the case. We shall see.

Week's End - Tricolore Window

...a pull of the curtains* (for now). I'll be be offline for awhile; perhaps by a miracle, it will be less than three weeks. I saw this photograph in Robert of Toronto's Antibes flickr set & thought, there it is, a bricoleuse arranged that window. Please go here to see the full photograph because the detail in the Provençal fabric is marvellous.

I will leave all feeds on for everyone's blogs to come through while gone. That means, I cannot monitor whatever the Dept. of Worlds Collide & Troublemaking-in-Style [right sidebar] gets up to. I cannot bring myself to unlink. (But I will check in from elsewhere, when possible, to see what's going on, you devils). If I can come back & see comments & read your blogs tonight or tomorrow, I will surely do so. [Friday morning update: I'm taking off the feature that shows only 10 blogs...it might shock you how long since you've updated! (hint)]

More crazy thunderstorms announce their most-unwelcome-presence in Washington, DC...ciao-for-now, amici

*le drapeau tricolore: the French flag
[impromptu flag by Robert of Toronto/used by permission]

Je suis une bricoleuse

Update: 5 August 2010. Oh hello, wee self above. And you who are reading this...Yes, I'm working on it & separate pages. I promise. But you see, things have changed. Now, a medical mystery intervenes. Between weird & tiresome medical tests, I really will write something more. xo

Very little is ever "finished." The reason for being and/or use of an object is not fixed, in my mind anyway; I don't like limits. This unfinished oil hangs in my bedroom; it's me as a four-year old. Honoring my long-time aesthetic 'use what you have/find as art,' a friend framed it at his Washington, DC studio.(many years ago) He used a formal, rather grand wood for the canvas--though unfinished & of no artistic value. Sitting for the painting was of great value to a young girl who did not feel very important at all. Choosing & gathering the flowers for the bouquet in the painting remains a delightful memory. (Flowers are serious business!) I do not recall why the painting was not finished. It doesn't matter to me now, if it ever did. I prefer it this way.

This blog is not ready to go "live," for sure. I lack a working camera & have only frustrating dial-up (yes...a long story). Having spent over a year looking at other blogs, especially ones dealing with design, gardening, & art, this feels ridiculous. I thought a blog "kept" by my cat would help me learn & be ready for DSL. It's mid-September & DSL has not arrived, much less a camera.

A birthday approaches & so I will go ahead with a few posts, adding some widgets, burning some feed. Subsequent posts will not be this long. I have yet to write a little 'bricolage manifesto.' Still, I'm going to lighten up on myself: things aren't great, work is overwhelming & severely underpaid (but very important to those involved). I deserve a little fun & more latitude than I have set for Giulia Geranium. So anyone who reads this, I hope you'll bear with me. I have something to say. Oh, & though bricolage is this blog's title, I love looking at new things & hope to acquire some of it someday. Hence, the beautiful blogs, links, & sites mentioned here. Someday, I'll find out how to edit this site without GG's stuff showing up. Today, it just isn't that important.

Ciao.