Tag: Home (page 14 of 19)

July 27, 2013 / 0 Comments

A Saturday Art Class

My Mom is a beautiful calligrapher. Her teacher was running a painted canvas class today, where you would paint, using a variety of techniques, onto canvas that you will later go back and work on top of by placing calligraphy on it.

These were two pieces that we had worked on, drying in her teacher’s backyard. What a great way to spend a Saturday. Taking an art class with your Mom, what could be better? And, since my Mom is the calligrapher and not me, I am planning on commissioning her to put a couple of quotes on my pieces. So, I will have a piece of art to treasure!

July 24, 2013 / 1 Comment

Winging My Way Home

By the time you read this today, I will be up in the air, winging my way home. I ended my day yesterday with a quiet moment in the cupboard, surveying my home of 3 years, before I silently turned off the lights and locked my door for the very last time.

I handed over my keys, had a mini send-off in the hallway with farewell hugs and waves and walked down the stairs and into the sunshine. It feels surreal. A good surreal though. I feel as if I had run through an emotional gauntlet and somehow managed to come out the other side, there was a heady mix of highs and lows.

After a full day of traveling, I will be home in time for dinner with my parents. What could be better?

I might be radio silent for a few days while I enjoy being home and taking a little time to breath! I’ll catch up with you soon!

Jennifer x

July 15, 2013 / 1 Comment

Your Theme Song

I love music. I think I know what the soundtrack to my life would contain, but I am sure there are some hidden musical surprises in there that I wouldn’t have expected to pop up. And as new music continues to be made and produced the soundtrack to my life continues to evolve.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting on the couch, with the window open, the breeze blowing in and wafting the curtains around, while I sat busy working away on my macbook. I would occasionally look up when people walked by, just taking them in as they chit-chatted or watched their kids charge ahead of them on their bikes with colored streamers flying from the handles.

Our cottage is on a side street, so we are quite used to people cutting through with their music blaring, but this one particular evening a black Range Rover pulled up across the street and a very tough looking guy jumped out. He was bald, both of his arms were full tattoo sleeves of Maori design and he was extremely buff, as his biceps were bulging out from his shirt sleeve. He looked like someone you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of. But appearances can be deceiving and I don’t judge a book by its cover!

His windows were rolled down and as he waited in line at the ATM he bobbed his head to the next track that was beginning to blare out of his stereo. Now, I would never have put him down for it, but this guy was “Old School”. He bobbed and weaved his head to The Stylistics. This must be his theme tune, because last night, he just so happened to pull up again, with them blaring out of his speakers and this exact same song playing. Now, I’m an “Old School” girl, so it made me smile, you just can’t beat some good old beach tunes on a Summer afternoon!

So, here’s to Mondays and Summer and a good soundtrack/theme song to your life!

June 30, 2013 / 0 Comments

The Last Day of June

We feasted this morning on fresh homemade cinnamon rolls with lashings of cream cheese frosting, flecked with vanilla beans and sunbeam shards of orange zest. While the steam from our coffee cups oozed into our nostrils, tantalising our taste buds with the first perfect sip to come.

The weather is beginning to turn summery here as we sit on the last day of June. I long for my toes to dangle over the edge of a pool or feel the rush of the waves hit my ankles as I stand at the shoreline watching the horizon for the shrimp boats I know so well coming back into port. There will already be people waiting at Shem Creek to collect from the boats.

These are the days that I truly miss home. The slow steady heartbeat of the South, the pace of Charleston life, the long lazy Sunday afternoons that dwindle into twinkling candle filled nights. The sweat that has already soaked your collar long before you open the door to the humidity of Summer.

Today, felt like a Charlie Parker kinda day and that is who crooned us through breakfast and coffee. This week, the beginning of July, places me at a crossroads and shall bring about some new changes one way or another. Mr. Michie ever my sounding board stands by me as I take this venture. Here’s to good things coming and here’s to Sundays, may the hold all the promise of the weekend that has been and the hope for the week that is coming.

June 22, 2013 / 0 Comments

Rebound

Long Bin Chen

While going through the blogs I read, I had a couple of posts from Colossal to catch up on. I love this blog. It always has such interesting art. It is an extremely popular site and very well read. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the title of one of his current posts. I saw the words: Halsey Institute and I blinked and I blinked again.

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art is a superb gallery situated within The College of Charleston, my alma mater. I interned at The Halsey Gallery before moving on to intern at The Gibbes Museum of Art. It is a space that has a special place in my heart. I had the opportunity among other things to hang work for exhibitions and work alongside artists, it was a very interesting insight into the museum world.

They were featured on Colossal for a new exhibition that is currently running there. It is called Rebound: Dissections and Excavations in Book Art. It looks stunning. The Halsey Institute is well known but to see it on such a big Art site, pleased me to no end for them! I only wish I was at home to go and see it myself and then I would be heading downtown for some good iced tea and a little stroll!

Francesca Pastine

Guy Laramee

Brian Dettmer

Colossal’s write up:

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston in South Carolina recently opened an immense exhibition featuring five contemporary artists who create sculptures and installations using various books and printed materials. Reboundfeatures new works by Guy Laramee, Long Bin Chen, Francesca Pastine, Doug Beube, and Brian Dettmer. You can see many more exhibition views on the Hasley Institute’s website. The show runs through July 6, 2013.

{images and small write up was taken from the Colossal website}

May 27, 2013 / 0 Comments

Our Weekend

We have been quiet the past two days, just catching up on sleep. Today I am going to attack the house with a vengeance, so I can spend the rest of the week relaxing and doing a few projects I want to do around the house, which will be easier to accomplish with the house organised.

To start the ball rolling for breakfast we had rye bread with cream cheese and cucumber and avocado toppings. It was really delicious. Mr. Michie added some fresh chillies to his avocados, I am not that adventurous in the morning to have done that!

Yesterday we went grocery shopping, while picking up some potatoes, I spotted these:

a little taste of home, I couldn’t believe it! They are going on the menu this week, we are going to make baked sweet potatoes with something heavenly to go alongside it. After shopping we grabbed a sandwich for lunch and then took a long stroll. We headed over to the pond, but the baby ducklings must have been napping, because they weren’t out and about and their mamas were staying near the reeds keeping a close eye.

We sat on one of the benches and felt the sun on us, what a glorious treat that was, as it was supposed to rain all weekend.

We strolled across the common and through the woods to our other pond and watched the ducks swim around the lilies. After awhile we started walking again, through the woods, across the road and into the other side of the forest.

Heading down one little path, I heard some noise and stopped. I was extra quiet and for the next 15 minutes or so, I watched a little family of baby wood mice run around a rotting tree that had fallen into the woods. They were so cute and fat and furry. They ran in and out of the little holes chasing one another then running through the leaves. It was just the cutest thing.

We were greeted by robins and blue tits and wood pigeons. The sunlight dappled the path, it was just magic. I love sunny days where we walk in our woods, where life is all around if you just take a moment to stop and listen. It is pure and simple happiness.

We picked up some ice cream on the way home and had hot fudge sundaes with salted pecans, whipped cream and fresh raspberries. It was wonderful, the tastes of Summer wrapped up in a bowl!

May 21, 2013 / 0 Comments

Oklahoma

Oooooklahoma! Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain, you are in our thoughts and prayers today!

May 20, 2013 / 2 Comments

The Ducklings

We went for a long walk yesterday morning. Our first real walk of the Spring season and we meandered down to one of the ponds.

We sat on a bench and watched the heron, picking his way through the water. The male ducks came to greet us “Good Morning” in a gentlemanly fashion, quacking away at us, hoping we had some bread.

The mama ducks slowly paddled out from behind the reeds, with little brown and yellow fuzzy ducklings in tow. They were adorable to watch, some trying to keep up, others full of adventure were heading in the opposite direction of their mama, until she quacked for them to come back.

One little adventuresome spirit decided to stroll up and see us. He was just too cute! I wanted so badly to brush his tender little feathers. It was pure and simple happiness on a Sunday morning.

April 29, 2013 / 2 Comments

Custard Creams

A cup of tea and a nice biscuit, just go hand in hand in England. It seems wrong to have one without the other.

However, I quite often have one without the other and I drink my tea all wrong as I am mostly a black tea drinker and not a milk or milk and sugar tea drinker.One of the local coffee shops has started creating giant versions of some of England’s best loved biscuits to have with your hot beverage of choice. One of these biscuits being a custard cream. This homemade custard cream is absolutely divine and the perfect thing for a Monday morning breakfast!

I definitely needed a pick-me-up this morning as we have been up since just before 3am with Mr. Michie getting sick and I have left him at home and in bed today. I spent a good hour of early yesterday morning getting rid of ants that had invaded my kitchen over night. We discovered that their nest was in one of the pots by our front door that contained my climbing rose.

Unfortunately the entire pot had to go as the hive was just too large to contain, they started to spill out of the pot and they were inside some of the dead areas of my rose that were clipped down at the bottom. I am always sad to lose plants as I am attached to them. They bring me such happiness. But, there are more flowers by my door now, and that tub will really fill out in a week or so.

I also re-potted my orchids, so hopefully they will be happy with fresh bark and new pots, we will just have to wait and see. We made homemade pizzas last night with crumbled sausage, fennel and sauteed rapini. It was a really nice combination, It was light and tasted of Spring.

Mr. Michie also took me on a Saturday date and we saw “Iron Man 3”. We both really liked it. There is nothing better then watching a good movie, munching on popcorn and holding hands with your sweetie!

So, all in all it was a really good weekend, it just went by in the blink of an eye!

April 13, 2013 / 3 Comments

Home Again, Home Again

I arrived home yesterday after a crazy trip. Another lot of flight cancellations and a drive to Chicago, courtesy of my parents, I made it home!

I felt like I was in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, driving into the city; that or Adventures in Babysitting. It was truly an adventure!

There is something about going home for me. It just rejuvenates my soul. Getting to spend time with my family was wonderful and the fact that my sister and niece were able to come and we were all together, well that was just a blessing.

I sadly said my goodbyes, I never like saying goodbye to my family, but I realize how lucky I am. If I had lived during the Pioneer Age, I would probably have never seen my family again and only received letters that were weeks if not months old, my Mom and I always think of that.

But, I arrived home safely in Mr. Michie’s arms and am slowly getting back into the swing of things.

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