Elle Decor May 2009

How exciting!
The Laura Fair Damask Collection for Golden Rabbit enamelware is featured in the May 2009 issue of Elle Decor magazine!
(thanks MC for the image!)

Craving the sun

and when it comes...even the most mundane tasks radiate with beauty.

Rain or Shine?

Being terribly susceptible to moods changing with the weather, I believe it is trying to kill me this month. As Robert Frost said..."...You know how it is with an April day,

When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March..."I think I dared to speak...

Patience

My mother gave me a book about 10 years ago that I read every so often…Simple Abundance. I would not describe my mother as a very touchy-feely person, she was very strong, protective, and realistic, but she had a depth and grace that went beyond words. Today I opened the book and this is what it said…

“Whatever we are waiting for--peace of mind, contentment, grace--it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart...While you are waiting patiently, take comfort and joy in the simple springtime rituals of rejuvenation.”

Funny, I was just talking about being impatient yesterday. All things come to those who wait, right? I hope you find that place that helps you wait patiently…

April 2009

Spending the days…

dreaming of warm weather no more…it arrives and with it the miracle of life.

leaving the house in the dust…Italian driver’s license safely in hand…driving aimlessly all over creation….including a visit to Gubbio.

watching bees, butterflies, and birds pollinate every thing in sight.

getting my hands dirty with paint, lovely women, flowers, and architecture follow.

discovering new color schemes.

listening to the devil beat his wife…rain and hail falling while the sun shines.

fishing in old streams next to medieval stone bridges.

taking care of myself with long, lazy walks led by little Ciccia Maria and stumbling upon new views.

March 2009

Spending the days...

cutting the trees to have wood for next year, stocking up for another winter and hoping it is not as long as this one has been. We begin pruning the olive and fruit trees.

watching the landscape surrounding us change before our eyes. Almond trees bloom first, then the ornamental plum, and small lavender flowers on climbing vines. March winds bring us clear, vibrant blue skies.

eating frittelle, fried rice with lemon peel, on March 19, San Giuseppe day. The day for fathers...the day the pigeons migrate over the mountains on the way back to Russia. Feeling like you are on the top of the world, valley on one side, castles on the other with the fire in between.

watching dogs frolic in the wildflowers and margherite that scatter the lawn, a shame to cut them, but thankfully they grow back the next day.

thinking the weather is always unpredictable as snow arrives in the front yard on the first day of spring. March winds so strong they whip through the cracks in the windows…we thought winter was over, a good excuse to make warming tortellini in brodo.

yearning for the sun again, but getting a thunderstorm.

working on new projects, giving me the excuse to study the beautiful paintings and frescoes of local hero Piero della Francesca. Full of Tuscan color and vibrancy, they still should not take away from the fact that I need to study for the written driving exam…in Italian!