Thank You (Again!)

To say that the past few weeks have been an emotional roller-coaster would be an understatement! Things in Baltimore were bad on Monday night, although not as bad as the media makes them out to be. The damages are confined to a few neighbourhoods, but some of the damage has been bad. However, when dawn broke on Tuesday, much of the city was determined not to let this define us. People took to streets that were not their own to help clean up the glass and debris. Others took food and bottled water to the front lines where the police were patrolling.

Photo by my friend BRYAN P. SEARS!

Schools were closed, so artists and coffee shops opened their doors so neighbourhood children would have a safe place to go and something to do. People like paper artist Annie Howe made art with a Baltimore theme.

And there were thousands of stories like this one:

…At the front of the building, Simon'e Diehl swept up shattered pieces of glass and picked shards out of the law firm's window box. She isn't an employee of the firm. She is homeless, she said, and came from the nearby Weinberg Housing and Resource Center to try to clean up.
"I figure it's my city," she said. "We should help these people. It's our city. We live in it."

Someone doing a small kindness for someone else.

Thank you for all of your texts, FB messages, e-mails and calls making sure I am okay and offering your support. It means the world to me.

Sad for the City

When I started this blog, one of the goals I had in mind was to show people that Baltimore is not just “The Wire”, and that there’s so much more to us than corrupt politicians, thugs doing drugs and non-stop violence. From where I stand, the city is full of good people doing good things to make this a better place for all of us to live.

Last week, a man was arrested and by the time he got to the police precinct, he was near death. Questions were asked, but they weren’t answered. It’s not the first time something like this has happened, and unfortunately, it probably won’t be the last.

More than many other people, I understand the issue of police violence. Several years ago, I was assaulted by a policewoman for taking a photograph. She wanted me to give her my camera and I refused. She beat me up. It was ugly and unpleasant. I moved from a house and neighbourhood that I loved. It made me think of the police in a very different way. They were no longer my friend.

All week long, there were peaceful protests and vigils around the city. People of all races and economic backgrounds came out to make their voices heard because what happened was wrong. On Saturday, after a massive peaceful protest in front of City Hall, several groups split off and went on a rampage. Of course, that’s what the media focused on. In the ensuing panic, much of Baltimore was shut down, including several major arteries into the city.

The chant “No Justice. No Peace.” is being shouted, but smashing store windows, bashing in car doors and throwing bottles at people who have absolutely nothing to do with the case or the police doesn’t help accomplish justice for anyone, in my mind.

I am sad for my city and hope that changes will come about, sooner rather than later. To me, Baltimore is still Charm City.

Actually, I love it.

My Friend’s Castle

When I lived in Wales, I worked in a 12th century castle.

But one of the friends with whom I worked, actually had a family castle, which I was reminded of the other day, when someone on the Facebook group, Country Houses of the UK and Ireland posted some images of it.

Fonmon Castle is not a huge castle, but it’s a castle, none-the-less! It’s been in Pen’s family for about 600 years and her brother lives there now. She lives on the property’s Home Farm in a fabulous house with stables. Like many other families with homes like Fonmon, they’re now renting it out as a corporate retreat or a wedding venue. I remember going to a garden show there, which was pretty amazing. Click here for a little video tour.

Most unfortunately, all of my pictures of Fonmon were lost when my computer was stolen, but there are some good ones that I’ve found!

Here’s the detail of the ceiling which you can see in the images above.

This is the old kitchen, with racks of ancient pewter plates and mugs. It’s used for informal dinners.

What could be better than blue and white china and old books?

I remember being amazed by this rich colour on the walls. Shame about the weird door on the landing though!

And how about this kitchen?

I am so lucky that I had the chance to visit this charming castle and get to know the family who owns it. That’s what I miss about living in the UK.

April & May Flowers

Spring has finally sprung here in Baltimore and it’s been lovely. Usually what happens is that we get a day or two of 80° temperatures and everything blooms and leafs out within 48 hours. We had one day of that, but it’s been cool otherwise, so the flowers are lasting and that’s a huge treat!

There are lots of flower-related events happening in and around Baltimore, including my favourite, the Ladew Garden Festival.

This is always the best show and sale, with the added bonus of being held on the gorgeous grounds of the Ladew Topiary Gardens, one of the top gardens in North America. Vendors including Halcyon House Antiques and Pennoyer-Newman (that’s where Snow Bunny came from) will be on hand. Click here for details.

On Friday, I went to a lecture at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore given by Laura Dowling, the recently fired resigned White House Florist. Although people were dying to know what happened, she was very circumspect about it and didn’t reveal a thing. Her floral style is very natural, and while she was talking, she made the most beautiful hand bouquets.

Her advice was the start with one large flower that would be the centerpiece and keep adding flowers, foliage and berries on the diagonal, until you deemed it complete. If your hand wouldn’t fit all the stems, tie it off and continue to add flowers. When you’ve finished, trim all the ends and add more twine for a rustic look, or wrap ribbon around the stems for a more elegant feel.

She loves covering floral foam with small fruits like kumquats, or vegetables like baby carrots or fingerling potatoes, and then adding flowers to the foam. Here, she used double daffodils.

The stunning municipal gardens at Sherwood Gardens in Baltimore are in full bloom now and all of the masses of tulips are out. Today’s cool weather will help keep them around for a while longer. These aren’t at Sherwood, but at a stoplight on my way home from the office.

Each year, there are a series of steeplechase races just north of Baltimore during March and April. Last weekend was the Grand National, and someone shot the second race, which our friend won, with a drone camera. It’s pretty amazing to see. I am hoping he does the Maryland Hunt Cup, which is the most difficult timber race in the world, on Saturday. There’s a great article about it in the Washington Post, here.

 

Grand National - Second Race from Circumvolo on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

Thank You So Very Much

I want to send my most sincere thanks for the unbelievable outpouring of love and support after Connor’s death last week. The e-mails, FB messages, Instagram messages phone calls and flowers have made me realize what an impact Connor made on so many people all around the world.

Even though I knew that it was going to happen sooner than later, it’s gutting me, and it’s hard to get used to days without the dog clickity-clacking across the hard-wood floors, waiting to go outside and generally being present in my life.

I think of myself as a glass-half-full person, and so am trying to think of the positive aspects of this experience:

• I can vacuum the rugs and know that they won’t be covered in dog-hair in hours.
• I can enjoy thunderstorms again.
• I can repair my window-screens without ordering the heavy-duty screening.
• I can have after-work cocktails without worrying whether Matt, the dog-walker, is available.
• I can wear black cashmere and corduroy without fear of having stray white dog-hairs on me.
• I have more cabinet space for my food, not Connor’s food.
• I won’t have to buy useless things to decorate him for the holidays.

As I walk through the house, I realize how many of Connor’s accoutrements have worked their way into the household – his rugs and blankets, his selection of pink pigs, only one of whom he really loved, the useless numerous remedies for his fear of storms and fireworks, and of course, his various food and water dishes. All will be packed away in anticipation of another dog, sometime in the future.

In a little farewell ritual this afternoon, I took a bunch of his hair that I had been accumulating and tossed it to the winds for the birds to take and use for their nests. Connor shed in clumps and when I’d pull one out, I’d add it to a cup next to his chair to scatter for the birds.

I am greatly cheered by the beautiful images I’ve taken of Connor over the past years, by the lovely paintings by Sam Robinson, and the sweet pencil sketches by Lady Rosie and by the touching and thoughtful comments, emails and messages you have sent. Thank you so very much.

Goodnight, Sweet Prince

Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince:
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!

This isn’t the post I thought I’d be writing this evening. My dear sweet Connor died earlier this evening after a stroke that rendered his legs unable to move. I am so glad I was there when it happened because he would have been terrified to not be able to move. He’d been declining for a while now, and had fallen a few times. His appetite wasn’t great and I knew he had been in some pain recently, which made me very unhappy.

I adopted Connor from the city pound soon after I moved back to Baltimore from the UK. He had been at the shelter for six weeks, waiting for the right person. His philosophy in life was “I wish I was somewhere other than here…” as he always wanted to get out. He leapt out windows, both house and car, got out onto roofs, took off at any opportunity and was nicknamed Houdini.

He ate my gutter-guards, my mini-blinds, a windowsill or two, and a door, but other than that, was pretty good. He shed like no-body’s business and even this morning, I was brushing him and letting his hair fly for the birds to use for their nests.

He’s been sleeping so much and so deeply recently, that he doesn’t even hear me come home, and he’s startled when he wakes. When he’s totally and completely sleeping and relaxed, his little pink tongue comes out. And that’s what happened this evening, with his beloved Baby with him.

Rest in peace, my sweet baby.

Architectural Watercolours at Halcyon House Antiques

Two things: You might know that I am the board chair at the Baltimore Architecture Foundation and one of the things I adore is old architectural drawings and watercolours, and even blueprints. I also love Halcyon House Antiques and would cheerfully move into the shop if I could! So when Halcyon House Antiques and its stylish owners, Stiles and Jonathan, told me that they were hosting a show and sale of architectural watercolours, I suggested that Halcyon and the Architecture Foundation partner up on the project. So we did!

The opening reception took place on Tuesday and the show will be hanging for another month or so. The shop is filled with the most beautiful architectural watercolours, drawings and models, as well as some significant pieces of furniture, brought in specially for the show.

Most of the watercolours were done in the 1800 and 1900’s and are drawings washed with colours. Most subjects are classical studies.

Some of the special pieces included this beautiful inlaid piece by David Linley, Queen Elizabeth’s grandson, whose work is collected all over the world.

Another piece, although not an architectural study, was this beautiful drawing room from the 1930’s, painted by Cecil Beaton.

One of the pieces I loved was this wood and glass lantern.

And this fabulous chair with the forced perspective of the trees,

which reminded me of the allée of trees elsewhere on the property.

And how about this chair? Can you say leopard!

Some of the architectural models included this pavilion,

and this bridge.

And in the center of the hors d’oeuvres was an birdcage, complete with a porch.

In addition to the framed prints, there was also a selection of unframed prints of various subjects, including this elevation and plan of the Maryland Institute College of Art.

One of the highlights of the events was a brief talk given by the eminent architect, and founder of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation, Walter Schamu, FAIA. He spoke on the training given to architecture students in the past at places like the Universities of Virginia and Pennsylvania and of course, Yale. Walter lamented that there wouldn’t be drawings like these of contemporary buildings that people would look back and admire in 100 years because everything’s done on the computer.

If you’re interested in the Architectural Watercolours Show, or anything you see here, please contact Eric at Halcyon House Antiques.