The End...

As you might have noticed, I have stopped posting on Pigtown*Design. After more than 12 years, and 2,156 posts, I felt like I was finished with the blog. When it became more of a chore than a joy, I decided that I would move on.

I am on Instagram, where I post images of all of the things that catch my attention, such as architecture, design, culture, travels and current events... all of the things that this blog was about! 

I am also on Etsy, where I sell my wares, including antiques, textiles, paper ephemera and, of course, tea towels! 

I am working on another big project, which you can follow. As past Chair of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation, we have revived an old committee, The Dead Architects Society. Baltimore had a huge growth spurt in the first two decades of the 20th century, and a group of us are researching some of the architects active during those years. 

My research is on the firm, Palmer and Lamdin, and the two men as individual architects. Their houses are quirky and unique with a European flair. They are responsible for the look of three inner suburbs of Baltimore, as well as houses in other neighbourhoods. I have set up a website to catalogue as many of their buildings as I can locate.

I want to thank you for all of your support over the years. You will never know how much I appreciated your readership, your comments, and your participation in the blog. It has been such a fun journey and I've gained more than I could ever have imagined when I started the blog after I returned from living in the UK. 

Thank you so very much!

Year of the Dog

Because Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar, it isn’t a fixed date. This year’s Chinese New Year begins on Friday, February 16th and lasts for about two weeks. Most cities have some sort of Chinese New Year celebration and it’s a lot of fun to participate. There are twelve zodiac cycles, each represented by an animal, and this year’s is the dog. There are also five element cycles and this year’s is Earth. The Earth Dog is persistent, meticulously attentive, with good fortune in wealth.

Since it’s the Year of the Dog, I thought I’d entertain you with some recent pictures of my sweet little Figue, who continues to delight and entertain me! She has her own Instagram account, where you can follow along with her cuteness.

It is only recently that Figue has decided she loves being under the covers.

She usually goes in head-first and then I re-arrange her.

Figue and her Christmas hedgehog.

My wonderful faux fur blanket from Halcyon House was not chosen to match the dog.

Honestly, I can’t tell you how much she loves her little critters from ZippyPaws. She has hedgehogs, cardinals, bunnies, squirrels and these pigs.

Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin)

Gong Hey Fat Choy (Cantonese)

Congratulations & Prosperity (English)

Antiques: The Ultimate in Recycling

I am working on an article about antiques, so I have had to really think about the role they play in our world and in my life. When I moved back to the States, I thought I would only be here for a year or so, but twelve years later, clearly that didn’t happen. I needed to furnish a house from scratch, as I couldn’t imaging living in an empty house. I started haunting antique shops, junk shops, yard sales, auctions and thrift shops in the hope that I could cobble together a decent living situation.

What I didn’t want to do is go to Ikea, Pottery Barn or somewhere similar and buy a house’s worth of furniture. I knew it would not be the best use of resources in any sense of the word. If I did move within a year, I’d have things that I could sell at a reasonable percentage of what I paid for them, and if I stayed, I’d have pretty decent things that I hadn’t paid an arm and a leg for.

Slowly, over the course of a year, I found pieces I liked, starting with an almost brand new Ethan Allan sofa that someone who lived in a smaller row-house than mine, couldn’t fit through their front door. This is the sofa that I ended up making a slip-cover for… a year after I learned how to sew! That’s Connor in front.

Then I found an old steel barrister’s book case, and decided it was the perfect place to put my sweaters.

An old dresser from my mother’s house, and an inexpensive mirror from a yard sale were what I needed to fill a corner.

When I think about the things in my house now, very few of the furnishings are brand new.

I like being surrounded by the stories of the items that I collect – after all, you’re really not going to have a story to tell about going to CB2… I can’t imagine living in a brand new house, surrounded by all new furniture. Or even having a new dog! But that’s probably because of the way I was brought up, and that’s my sensibility. What’s yours?

Oh, Canada… 1,551 Miles Later

Home! Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. Ontario and Quebec. Niagara Falls, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal and New Baltimore. Lots of adventures. Many great people! 1,551 miles. A bit of a whirlwind, but lots of fun.

One of the highlights of the trip was looking at local architecture in each of the places I stayed. Some was good, some was ghastly, and some places had a selection of both.

I had gone on the trip with the intention of buying on both sides of the border, but I didn’t actually buy anything! There were plenty of things I could have purchased, like these amazing huge demi-johns for dirt cheap, but I couldn’t imagine lugging them around for the next 1,000 miles, and then the logistics of storing and shipping them left me cold. I actually saw a lot of these from late 1800’s versions up to contemporary versions.

Here are some of my favourite shots from the trip.

Practically the only place at Niagara Falls without tons of people!

So many new buildings and so much construction in Toronto, but some wonderful little places tucked in-between.

Abandoned steel-hulled ship

The Textile Museum of Canada in Toronto. Stunning exhibit on Japanese textiles.

Literal front-row seat to the Hare Krishna parade in Toronto.

Driving the Trans-Canada Highway.

Canadian House of Parliament in Ottawa

Marking the 150th Anniversary of Canada with porcelain roses, fleur de lis and feathers representing the English, French and First Nations people who lived in Ottawa at the time of the nation’s confederation.

I remember seeing this on other trips and I call them “The Butter People.”
It is meant to represent the flow of man’s emotions through time.

Expo ‘67 exhibition at the McCord Museum.

Combining business and pleasure, visiting the Rare Book and Architecture Collections at McGill University. Such fun!! (Such a dork!)

Making a pilgrimage to visit the resting place of Sir William Osler, MD. And his massive book collection. I published a book about him a few years ago, from a 1934 manuscript we found in our archives, so I feel a special bond with him.

Street performers in Montreal.

Visiting the Centre of Canadian Architecture to see a book about Hall Pleasants Pennington, who designed the house I recently wrote about. More on this later.

Long stretches on the open road with gorgeous scenery.

Very excited to go to Hudson, NY again, but very disappointed that NOTHING was open! And no hours listed.

Hard to tell, but Figue was really excited to have me home. She’s been a Velcro baby for the past few days.

All in all, the trip was great and I had a lot of fun. I don’t mind long drives, so the hours spent sailing along good roads through beautiful country, contemplating life, were just what I needed to do to decompress.

2016 Wrap-Up

You might have noticed that I’ve cut way down on blogging this year. After more than 2,400 posts, and ten (!) years of blogging almost full time – for years, I wrote five times a week – I have found that it is hard to find the time to devote to blogging. I love the community of it, the friends that I’ve made and the experiences I’ve had. But the thought that I had to find a topic, gather images, do the research and then the writing, just got too overwhelming and so I made the decision to slow down. In 2017, I am going to aim to write once a week, and I hope that you will still follow along.

I thought I’d share with you some of my favourite posts of the past year, most of which were crowd faves, too!

First up, the new dog. After losing Connor about 14 months earlier, I found adorable little Figue, a Yorkie mixed with some other things, possibly including poodle. She is so completely and totally different from Connor as to be an entirely new species! She is silly and funny, and fast as lightning. She adores riding in the car, sticking her head out the window, and barking like mad when I stop!

In the spring, I took my longest vacation in ages – two full weeks in the UK, with stops in London, Wales and the Cotswolds.

The weeks were enlivened by wonderful visits with family and friends, and the discovery of G&T in cans!

In September, my friends at Halcyon House Antiques hosted a pop-up shop for me, which was loads of fun.

I had made some tea-towels as a one-off for the pop-up and the idea has turned out to be phenomenally successful and I had to hire someone to help me hem the towels!

I am so lucky to have friends with an amazing cutting garden, and every other weekend during the summer, I get a bucket full of flowers. I have such fun arranging them in the myriad vessels in my collection, regardless of whether vase it the original purpose or not!

I want to personally thank you for reading Pigtown*Design, and hope that you enjoy it. I always love to read comments and try to respond to each one. Thanks!

Think & Thank

When I was in the UK in March, I spotted a beautiful memorial window at the Chester Cathedral. It was in the cloistered area of the church, which would not originally have had glass windows. But clearly, after the First World War, when so many young men in the UK were lost to war, families installed windows in memory of their loved ones.

This phrase really struck me, and I have been trying to live according to it: Think about others in what I do, and Thank those who do things for me. And, I might add, be thankful for all that I have. In comparison to some people, I don’t have much, but in comparison to many people I have very much.

So, I am thankful for all I have, my good life, great friends, a loving family, a safe place to live, a job that I love, volunteer work that keeps me fulfilled, a little dog who makes me laugh, interests that keep me busy and readers who follow my blog.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and those you love.

My Portobello Pop-Up and Other Things

Whew! The past few weeks have been super busy, and the next few aren’t letting up at all.

First up was a trip to the coast, just before the arrival of Hurricane Hermione Herman Hermine. Although we missed it by a day or two, the waves were so rough, that it was hard to be in the water and the high tides covered the beach. That said, my Burkini, in reality, a top to toes sun-guard suit, worked perfectly. Despite being on the beach all day, I didn’t get burned at all. I really try and stay completely out of the sun.

A few days later, I headed down to a cottage on one of the many rivers close to Baltimore to spend time with my family and cousins here from England. One of the stars of the trip was my brother’s new puppy, Phoebe.

Of course, in the middle of all that, I am prepping for my Portobello Pop-Up, starting on September 16 at Halcyon House Antiques. I am sorting through amazing china,

polishing tons of silver, cataloguing dozens of pieces of Wedgwood,

and researching back-stamps on china.

I am working on both designing and sewing my tea-towels, which are also available on my Etsy shop. I love the original illustrations from Alice in Wonderland, and have used them for some of the designs.

I also love maps and the Maryland flag, as you may have gathered, and have used some of them for the tea towels as well.

One of my favourites is one I did of the Cape Cod region. If you’re visiting someone there, these make perfect house gifts. I did one for our family’s gathering this weekend and marked the house with a star. Of course, I can customize these for you.

If you’re in or around Baltimore while the show and sale is going on, I hope that you will stop in. I will be there on the Fridays and Saturdays.