Doors of the World

Frank, at My Paint Box, is holding a Doors of the World day on Wednesday, March 12th. There is a list of other participating bloggers on his site. I found about it by a circuitous route, via An Aesthete's Lament, then to The House in Marrakesh and then to My Paint Box. Whew!

I always take photos of doors and have done so for years. When I lived in the UK, I had tons of images of doors and doorways, which are all now lost. I went through some of my photo albums and came up with the following doors. I hope you enjoy them.

This is a wonderful doorway into some gardens in Cirencester in Gloucs. in the UK. My cousins live nearby, and this is always a touchstone when I am there. The hedge along the wall is about 20' high and has been growing for years.


I am sure that lots of other people are posting this doorway in Rome. It's close to the Spanish Steps and is just hilarious! The windows are similar, which makes it even funnier. I can just imagine coming home and walking through this door. It would always make me laugh.


To me this door typifies the UK to me. A shiny black surround and then a beautiful shiny door. This is at a family friend's house in Norfolk, UK. There's a lovely millpond behind the house and when digging in the cellar, the family found a Roman helmet.


This is another doorway in Rome. We were walking down a quiet little street near Piazza Navona and heard a dog barking. We looked through the gate and saw this fellow. I love the way the light comes from the right side and brightens up the doorways.


A couple of years ago, I was in Oxford about this time of year. It was a bit rainy and foggy, but everything was glowing green. We were walking through the colleges and came across this enfilade of doors. The rain on the steps helps give the illusion of depth.

When I Marry Adventure, I know where I want to get married ... in the tiny church of St. Mary & St. David at Kilpeck (Llanddewi Cil Peddeg) along the Welsh borders. It was built in 1140. One of my American cousins living in the UK took us there and we all fell in love. It's surrounded by the most amazing, almost Disney-like carvings just below the roofline. But the door is spectacular with its iron strapping.

As I look at these doors, I realize that they all have a similar architectural look. Then it hit me - they all look like the door of the house where I lived growing up. It was a wide door, with long sidelights and a fanlight over the top. It had beautiful ironwork over the glass on the main door and the whole door weighed a ton! I wish I had a photo of the door...