Newyork Blog: New York Times

Midsummer in the Forest

She had always wanted a home of her own, a sweet sanctuary she could furnish with lovingly chosen things that didn't cost the earth. She wanted to create a small visual feast just for herself and to have things exactly how she wanted. So she found an old hunting cabin deep in the forest and transformed it into her little haven:

once a neglected old hunting hut, now

transformed with Victoriana and white paint

she made every square inch count, from the

bookshelves under the eaves to the

wire-front cupboards

a downy sleeping loft under the rafters

the simplest of arrangements: foliage from the

forest tucked into clear glass containers of all kinds

those raspberry colored mud boots could not be

more charming on the little front porch

see the enchanting story of how she used salvaged, found

things to create her tiny Victorian cottage in the Catskills on

a shoestring..it's a fascinating story!

The New York Times

perhaps a midsummer's celebration

in the forest? what shall we

choose for dessert?

apricot ice cream with

nut crust?

violette cassis ice cream?

petits choux?

berry meringue tarts with mint?

rhubarb sables with strawberries

and orange?

recipes here at Marie Claire Maison

(in French, you'll have to get

Bardot in Blue to translate them, she just finished school

in Paris last month!!)

Feeding The Gypsy {King}* in Your Soul...

Sometimes....especially now when the darkness falls sooner and stays longer and the economic recovery is so not happening....you just want to take a little journey to somewhere simple and unaware of its sense of place.

Maybe you long to wander the highways and byways along the Mediterranean Coast again, pan bagnat in knapsack, exploring and hiking the wild, dusty hills and rocks along the sea, sleeping and eating at the first gite you find. You are in Gipsy Kings country (* Listen here to The Gipsy Kings), the cote sauvage of the sunny Mediterranean Sea.

Handprinted Linens by Idarica Gazzoni

When you arrive at your rustic lodgings, you are sure to find simple curtains like these drifting on the breezes there. You'll dress behind an old screen, you'll have un cafe et un petit dejeuner at an old table like this one. You'll walk on old, old tomettes (hexagonal tiles) on the uneven floor. You'll rest your head on pillows like these.

Sleeping in the sea air, you will rest well from your rambling and awake with the new dawn. With only your legs to carry you, you get an early start on the day after your strong coffee. The vistas await you.