On the Fourth Day of Christmas

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere I go. Except at my house.

This is my super-busy time of year at work, fundraising for the kids at Woodbourne, and arranging all of the donations of the Christmas presents for them. We shot a video on Saturday, which will be on-line shortly.

I recently found an old picture of Christmas at the house where I grew up. We had a great time decorating the house, because we always had a large party on Christmas night.  We had two columns on the front porch and we wrapped them in ropes of pine. The front door, with its fanlight window, was always decorated with a huge wreath, and sometimes even more. This particular year, I made a huge della robia-style piece, with magnolia leaves, apples, oranges, lemons, and a pineapple as the centerpiece. It was on a huge piece of foam and I remember that it was a warm winter and everything started dripping!  Looking at this picture, I realize that I should have divided the roping and hung it so it was facing down on both sides.

Inside, we wrapped the mahogany columns with pine, too. The large fireplace in the living room had pine roping draped on it, and my mother always used bright red candles in the candlesticks. The image below is my favourite shot of the house. I love the way the light is hitting the fireplace. Just out of view is a long window seat where we used to pile down pillows, and read or nap in the sun. There were little pieces that my parents had collected on their travels, scattered around the house. These pieces only came out at Christmas and included things like nativity scenes from Spain, tiny angel orchestras from the UK and much more. We always hung a tiny mobile of Santas from the large chandelier in the hallway. It danced in the breeze anytime the front door opened. While you all can’t see the house decorated for the holidays, I can.

On the Third Day of Christmas

The holidays are a great time to take a tour of a local historic home museum. Most are decorated for the holidays by either the gardening committee or the house committee and are done up beautifully. It’s a great place to get some decorating ideas for both inside and out.

While the scale of many older historic homes may be vastly different than yours, you can scale things down to a more livable size. Here, in the cozy hunt dining room at Ladew House and Gardens, just north of Baltimore, the committee has played off the teal walls of the room with different shades of blue, including turquoise accents on the mantel and in front of the fireplace as well as on the table and sideboard. It’s not traditional, but it livens up the space, which has a very low ceiling.

In the parlour, the mantel is accented by magnolia leaves and boughs of fir and holly, taken from the estate’s extensive gardens. On a visit to Ladew several years ago, I remember seeing copper trays filled with stones and balancing dozens of paper-white narcissus bulbs, just coming into bloom. Of course, since they’re one of my favourite winter blooms, I adapted this idea for my own home.

I am sure that there’s a historic home or two, or more, in your area that’s decorated in winter finery for the holidays. Check it out!

I’ll Take This… Keds Kicks

I was reading the WSJ Weekend this morning and stumbled over these great Keds kicks, made for the Ace Hotel’s Opening Ceremony shop. Naturally, they’re not shown on the website, but they’re brilliant.The toiles have been altered by Richard Saja, about whom I’ve written before. Love the stripey ones, too!

On the Second Day of Christmas

Being that the gift is a partridge in a pear tree, might I suggest that you not give people some ghastly gift basket from Harry & David or Hickory Farms? Regardless of how much someone might like apples and pears, or salami and cheese, these are the kind of presents you give to people whom you do not know at all.

But there is merit in giving a gift of food which you have made yourself. My father used to make the most amazing lemon curd and package it beautifully and personally deliver it in the days before Christmas.

• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 3/4 sticks (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces

Whisk together zest, lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and a pinch of salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Add butter all at once and cook over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface, about 10 minutes. Immediately pour curd through a fine sieve into jars and cover immediately. It will keep in the fridge for a week after it’s opened.

Another great idea using lemons is Limoncello, which if you start immediately, will be ready at Christmas. The longer it steeps, the better, and it’s not like people are going to chug down the bottle on Christmas night.

• 2 750ml bottles of pure grain alcohol or if you’re a sissy like me, 100 proof vodka
• the zest of 17 lemons – I use my fancy Microplane grater.
• 3.5 cups of white sugar
• 5 cups of water

Zest the lemons, put them in a glass one-gallon jar with the alcohol and let it sit for 45 days. Then mix the sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Let the mixture sit until completely cool and then mix with the alcohol and lemon infusion. Let that mixture sit for 45 days. Then filter the mixture 4 times using #4 coffee filters. Bottle the liquid and put it in the freezer. It’s excellent alone, with club soda as a spritzer, or over ice-cream.

Failing these, a good box of chocolates is usually appreciated!

On the First Day of Christmas

Since I don’t currently have a true love in my life, I thought I’d just use the twelve days conceit to talk about different holiday-related design, decor, and giving  ideas.  By the way, I never, ever say gifting. It is incorrect and sounds very jarring. You are given a gift, not gifted a gift. {end of rant}

So, on the first day of Christmas, we’re going to talk about hostess presents, since there are so many parties at this time of year. I went to the most marvelous party on Saturday night (thanks again, Susan!) and took my delightful hostess two of the French Ivory fish knives.  They can be used for cheeses or fruit, or just jam on your toast in the morning, or they would look lovely set on a table for two.Another great thing to do with miscellaneous pieces of good silverware is to include it along with a gift of food. A jar of gourmet olives can be paired with a great silver or silver plate fork. You can find one-off pieces of silverware at any thrift shop or antique mall. If you tie a big beautiful bow on the jar and add the piece of silver, you’ve got a very nice and thoughtful hostess gift. Another great idea is to take a cup and saucer and make a candle in the cup. Again, any and every junk shop has a ton of these and many are quite good-looking and can be picked up for a dollar or two. It’s easy to find candle-making materials at a craft store, or you can even melt your half-burned candles and make a new one by adding a fresh wick.  Make sure you top up the candle, so it doesn’t have a dip in the center like the one below does. Another wonderful idea is to find a really wonderful expensive and lush bar of soap and put it on a beautiful dish. You know I am a big proponent of thrift- and antique-shopping, so I always pick up gorgeous orphaned plates when I see them. Tie up the soap and plate or bowl with a huge ribbon and a lovely tag and you’ve got a simple present for less than $20 or even $10! While I’ve used all of these ideas in the past, these images came from BBC Homes & Antiques Magazine’s December issue, kindly sent to me by the thoughtful House of Beauty & Culture!

Ho-Ho-Holidays

It’s a bit frightening to think that Christmas is in less than three weeks! I am not at all prepared and have much left to do. I did manage to do a little decorating outside with a lot of the boxwood clippings I bought during the Holiday Shop Hop.

Luckily, my family saw the light and we began choosing names a few years ago, which makes shopping loads easier. But it’s still a challenge to think of perfect presents.  I have a couple for friends and my mother already, but there’s still much to do, and no trip to NYC this year.

As always, I advocate alternative sources. I am a very tactile person and have a great need to be able to touch and heft items to see whether I like the way they feel. Descriptions and images can be very deceiving.

Having said that though, I have had some good luck buying from One King’s Lane and Gilt. I bought Bunny Williams’ and Mary Randolph Carter’s new books from them recently and got great deals on both. I know they will be treasured for years to come. How are your holiday preparations coming along?

Whither the Weather

It’s very odd, but on December 5th for the past dozen or so years, we’ve had some sort of snow on that date. We just got flurries this year. Funnily though, it’s never snowed on December 7th. I am fascinated with weather and clouds.

I was reading the Guardian this morning and saw that they had more pictures of the UK in the snow. One of my favourite places in the UK is Hay-on-Wye, the town of books… and wonderful antique shops. So when I saw this picture, I was enchanted. The Black Mountains loom up over the Wye River valley, which separates England and Wales. It’s a gorgeous part of the world.

WSJ Weekend

Much as it pains me to admit that I like any Rupert Murdoch product, I do find that I buy the Wall Street Journal Weekend edition and I even look forward to it. I happened upon it a few months ago and have been hooked ever since.

The news in the four sections and sometimes a magazine, is a lot lighter than the weekday editions, and the writing is just as good, with some writers who might not normally have articles in the weekday paper. The Off Duty section is wonderful with articles on Cooking and Eating, Style and Fashion, Travel and Adventure, Gear and Gadgets and Decorating.

This weekend’s edition has a terrific article about top tier wallpapers that can be ordered via retail outlets, 20 Odd Questions for Carolyne Roehm,  and recipes for faro, chicken in a pot and some great holiday punches. Ex-Domino staffers Sara Ruffin Costello, writing about writing notes, and Rita Konig, talking about her favourite places to shop in London, are in evidence, as is WSJ Magazine Editor in Chief, Deborah Needleman.

This month’s magazine features a terrific article about the London home of long-time rock-star idol, Roxy Music front man, Bryan Ferry.  The best line is this: The interior designer Nicky Haslam once observed that, whereas most rock stars liked to trash their hotel rooms, Bryan Ferry was more inclined to redecorate his. Ferry lives in one of the amazing houses where John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, J.M.W. Turner all lived and worked. It is very similar to one I showed here and in fact in the comments, Columnist links to the street where Ferry lives.Check out the links to the City Squire article for more delicious pictures of the house and a video of the making of a song on Ferry’s new album, Olympia, and think about picking up a copy of the WSJ Weekend next Saturday.

All images: WSJ

Snow in the UK

Believe it or not, snow is pretty uncommon in the UK, especially in England. There are parts of Scotland – the Munros in Scotland, and the Brecon Beacons in Wales, which do get snow and plenty of harsh weather – but the rest of the UK is mostly temperate. So this bout of bitter cold weather and lots of snow is pretty unusual, and very difficult for the citizens.

But the pictures I’ve seen from the UK are stunningly beautiful. It’s such a gorgeous country to start with, and with a covering of snow, even more so.  I remember flying back to the States, and seeing the whole country covered in snow. It was magical.

Do you see the tower in the picture?

Four Landmark Trust properties in the snow.

Scotland is just such a stunning place, and even more so in the snow. Tally Ho! It’s almost Christmas and this guy feels right at home! So unusual to see a guard anything but stern and straight up. I am sure his head’s warm! Moving the horses. I think this is a fabulous picture, don’t you? I was expecting a package to be mailed from the Borders (Scotland/England) and the person told me that he lived on a long driveway on a lane and that the lane hadn’t been ploughed and so he couldn’t get out. Stay warm.

I’ll Take This… Cottage in Somerset

Normally a large, renovated four-bedroom farmhouse in 1.5 acres would fetch up to £650,000, but this house is empty and the price has been slashed to £575,000 to encourage a speedy sale. It’s part of Low Ham, an ancient unsullied village and has two large reception rooms, a kitchen/dining room, (with an Aga in the corner!) study and a self-contained studio off the detached garage. I would totally have to do something about the colour in the bath! Aside from that, it looks like a great house, full of light and in a great location. Details here. I think this is what we think of when we talk about a charming English cottage, don’t you?