Instant Ruins

One of the things I’ve always been drawn to, and have taken loads of pictures of, are ruins nestled in the overgrowth. This old church is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Say you’re building a country estate, like the fellows at Willowbrook Park in New Zealand, and you want to add some ambience in the form of a rustic ruin. Ruins are becoming increasingly hard to lay your hands on, what with them being plundered by the likes of William Randolph Hearst, who used them to enhance St. Donat’s Castle in Wales, and San Simeon in California.

What is a poor builder to do? You can’t just go to the local Home Despot and find one. You will need to call Redwood Stone, of course. It’s really incredible what they can do, including winning prizes at the Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows in 2009. Here’s the drawing they submitted for Chelsea 2009, and here’s the finished product, in situ.

I am just wild about these pieces and am wishing I had the time, the space and the money to build one in my garden! Which is your favourite?

Books on Sunday: A Variety

After a good jaunt through the farmers’ market and an interesting breakfast at a place right across from where the Ace of Cakes is filmed, I headed to the Book Thing.

Much randomness at the Book Thing today, but a good group of books. First up is Tales of the Unexpected by Norwegian/Welsh author Roald Dahl. If you think that Roald Dahl is just the author of kiddie books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or James & The Giant Peach, this book will show you otherwise. These are short stories, each with a twist to the tale. I can’t wait! When I first moved to Wales, I worked at an antique store/haberdashery called “Tails and the Unexpected”. It was great fun.

I found the October 2009 issue of The English Home magazine. Of course, there are loads of gorgeous houses in there, any of which I’d love to have. Since I know this isn’t in the stores here in the States yes, someone must have brought it back with them from the UK. Dee Hardie is familiar to anyone who has been a reader of House Beautiful for a long time, as she was one of their essayists. I found her book of stories, Hollyhocks, Lambs and Other Passions. Mrs. Blandings, this one is for you, if you’d like it! Here’s a nice story she wrote for a local magazine some years ago. One of the real prizes is an early edition of Patrick Dennis’ Auntie Mame. I’ve seen the movie, know the songs, and now I can read the book. Some of the greatest actresses have played Mame, including Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur. I love the pink and black cover! A final little book and something I am sure will be a quick read is The Diana I Knew by Mary Robertson, for whom Princess Diana was working when she became engaged to Prince Charles. The two women kept in touch until Diana’s death, and this should be an private glimpse into a public life. I also took a bunch of books back to Book Thing, which I sometimes use like a personal lending library. I keep the books I really want and return the rest.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

It takes me seven minutes to walk to Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles, a major league baseball team. Camden Yards is the first of the new old-style baseball stadiums, and was built on the site of Babe Ruth’s father’s tavern. On the eastern side of the stadium is an old warehouse which is 25 feet wide and a quarter-mile long. The architects wisely incorporated the old brick warehouse into the stadium design. One of the other great things the city did was to site the football stadium right next to the baseball stadium, both in the downtown area, just blocks from the Inner Harbour. The two stadiums (stadii) share parking and other facilities.

As close as Camden Yards is, I don’t often get there for a game, not for lack of interest, but for lack of inertia. Last night, the Redhead and I went to a game, and what a game it was! The Orioles won 16-6, and one of our players hit for the cycle, only the fourth Oriole to do so.

Much to Connor’s consternation, there were the most amazing fireworks after the game – for about 15 minutes! They were just incredible and so close. Some of the simplest summer pleasures are the best ones!

Art Cars

One of the things I like most about Baltimore is that you never know what you’re going to see when you turn the corner. Today, I was taking a lot of clothes and household things to the Goodwill and saw a man, who was clearly an artist, buying up all of the naked Barbies in the store. When I went back out into the parking lot, it became clear to me who this man was… he is the owner of one of the many art cars you see in Baltimore.

Because Baltimore is home to both the Maryland Institute College of Art and the American Visionary Arts Museum, there are probably more art cars here than in most cities. According to Wikipedia, “An art car is a vehicle that has its appearance modified as an act of personal artistic expression”. Art cars are usually driven by the people who own them. One of our friends has a 1970’s Lincoln Continental, which is about 25 feet long, and he’s painted it with black chalkboard paint and lets people draw on it with chalk.Today’s art car actually had a theme: Adam & Eve in the Garden. There were hundreds of dolls, plastic figures, musical instruments, Mardi Gras beads, thermometers and more stuck on the car.

It’s certainly not going to win any awards for its gas mileage, but it certainly turns heads. While the artist and I were standing and talking, several cars pulled up and checked out the car.  Here’s where the Barbies are:Hundreds of babies and even more Barbies,Bears, which weren’t more than two inches tall, Buttons,and the Baby Jesus.This is why I love Baltimore. 

Object Lessons: Two Books.

One of the books I stuffed into my bag on Sunday at the Book Thing was Objects of Desire: The Lives of Antiques and Those Who Pursue Them, by Thatcher Freund. This book is the story of three pieces of furniture that were shown at the 1991 Winter Antiques Show in New York.

He traces the history of these three pieces from the time they were made in the 1700s and 1800s, through to the show. Once piece is a blanket chest, one is a card table and the third is a sofa table. Each piece is treated biographically and is a lesson in the history of the United States in its early years, as well as the evolution of furniture making in our country.

The one disappointment is the total lack of pictures - there are cover pictures of two of the items, but not a third. I would have loved to see detailed photographs.

That wasn't the case in Leigh and Leslie Keno's book, which came to me via Coterie who was visiting Baltimore a few weeks ago. It's called Hidden Treasures, Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture. Like Objects of Desire, The Keno's book also details the ins and outs of acquiring a special piece of American furniture and is filled with hundreds of photographs.However, it is a very personal book and talks about how the twins became interested in antiques during their childhood. It's also a behind-the-scenes look at the world of high end antiques, both at the Winter Antiques Show and at Sotheby's.

The twins take turns writing, often describing the same event from their different persectives, one as a dealer and the other as an auctioneer. The book is filled with pictures of the items they are talking about, so you get a good feel for the details of a piece.

All in all, both books were great reads and a good education!

Mona Lisa Mugged

A Russian woman who had been denied French citizenship hurled a cuppa tea at the painting of Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris over the weekend. Somehow, I don't think this will help her citizenship bid.

Luckily, Mona's well-protected and is surrounded by bullet-proof glass. For many tourists visiting the Louvre, Mona Lisa is the only thing they're interested in seeing in a huge museum full of uncountable treasures. Perhaps they should place the painting in the cafeteria or the gift shop so visitors can just stop at one central location.

Tote Bag Lady

It’s about 95 here, even thought it’s about an hour after sunset. A storm is brewing and Connor’s sitting at my feet. I was looking through my bag of books that I got at Book Thing yesterday and realized that I have way too many tote bags.

My new bag crush is the Seabag, made from old sails. I lugged some stuff home in a friend’s seabag the other day (tx y’all). I was on my college sailing team and was MVP my second year, so this bag really resonates with me. Some of the bags still have the sail numbers and the patches where the spreaders have torn through the sails. If you don’t know, sails aren’t made from canvas anymore, but high-tech fabrics like kevlar and dacron. I always sailed on boats with great names, including Ozone Ranger, Psycho Killer, Blind Squirrel and Planet Claire.

As I looked around a bit more, I saw more and more bags. I have a great monogrammed tote bag from Ballard Designs that I throw things in for work. I have a black leather tote bag in the same shape that I use in the winter.

I have my books in a cinnabar-coloured LL Bean boat bag, and then the things I bought at the Farmer’s Market in a Cath Kidston market bag that “Just a Plane Ride Away” a Texan living abroad, sent to me.  These are made from recycled soda bottles. You can just see the Cath Kidston pattern in the lower left corner below.I just did a post on my food blog about the different kinds of bags I see at the Farmers’ Market, and think that this tote is pretty great. These collapsible market totes have a great European design.

Tote bags are a great way to be “green”, so in addition to being good-looking, they’re good for the earth. What kind of tote bag do you use?

Tour de Baltimore

In response to some comments I’ve received, I have been thinking about doing a mini-tour of Baltimore and some of my favourite places for bloggers and friends. I am thinking about a Saturday in October, either the 10th or the 17th.

My plan is to meet up at Housewerks in downtown Baltimore for coffee and donuts and a good look around. From there, we could go to Second Chance, the other local salvage operation. Then we’d drive uptown to Gore-Dean’s spectacular location and see what goodies Deborah Gore-Dean has in stock. Then it’s on to the funky little village of Hampden for some lunch and a wander around the quirky little boutiques.

Finally, we’d head over to Book Thing, where we will all make a mad dash for the design/decorating section. Then, we’d head back to Housewerks to pick up cars because it might be easier to carpool that day, or arrange for a van service.

Before I begin working out the specifics, I thought I would try and gauge interest in this. Please let me know if you’d be interested in being part of the Tour de Baltimore, and if the 10th or the 17th is a better date for you.

Blogger Code of Ethics

A few weeks ago, I wrote about ethics and sponsorships after reading an article in the New York Times, and it created quite a lively conversation. I also recently had a conversation with some friends about this topic and everyone agreed that it’s best to disclose, so as not to muddy the waters with what's been given and what's been bought.

Today, as I was reading the Guardian on-line, I found a piece about a food bloggers' code of ethics, which I thought was very interesting, and could be revised slightly to encompass bloggers who write about products and services.

The Food Blog Code of Ethics is from a blog entitled exactly Food Ethics. Here’s the Code which they’ve written.

The Code

We wrote the Food Blog Code of Ethics after many heated conversations with fellow food bloggers. Those discussions inspired us to lay down some basic guidelines for food writing on the Internet because we couldn’t find any that already existed. These aren’t laws that we expect everyone to follow. These aren’t rules you have to accept as your own. We know they don’t apply to everybody. They’re a jumping off point to start a bigger discussion.

The Code is not intended to limit anyone’s freedom of speech. We offer these pages to advocate accountability, accuracy and honesty in the world of food blogging. The Code is designed as a set of guidelines, not a punishable set of laws.

1. We will be accountable

• We will write about the culinary world with the care of a professional. We will not use the power of our blog as a weapon. We will stand behind our claims. If what we say or show could potentially affect someone’s reputation or livelihood, we will post with the utmost thought and due diligence.
• We understand why some bloggers choose to stay anonymous. We respect that need but will not use it as an excuse to avoid accountability. When we choose to write anonymously for our own personal or professional safety, we will not post things we wouldn’t be comfortable putting our names to.
• If we review a restaurant, product or culinary resource we will consider integrating the standard set of guidelines as offered by the Association of Food Journalists.

2. We will be civil

• We wholeheartedly believe in freedom of speech, but we also acknowledge that our experiences with food are subjective. We promise to be mindful—regardless of how passionate we are—that we will be forthright, and will refrain from personal attacks.

3. We will reveal bias

• If we are writing about something or someone we are emotionally or financially connected to, we will be up front about it.

4. We will disclose gifts, comps and samples

• When something is given to us or offered at a deep discount because of our blog, we will disclose that information. As bloggers, most of us do not have the budgets of large publications, and we recognize the value of samples, review copies of books, donated giveaway items and culinary events. It’s important to disclose freebies to avoid be accused of conflicts of interest.

5. We will follow the rules of good journalism

• We will not plagiarize. We will respect copyright on photos. We will attribute recipes and note if they are adaptations from a published original. We will research. We will attribute quotes and offer link backs to original sources whenever.

Even though this code is for food bloggers, I think that it is a good basis for most bloggers who write about products, services and the like. I am very interested in your thought on this subject.

Southern Accents 1977-2009

It was announced at noon today that Southern Accents will be closing and that the September/October issue will be their last. However, it is anticipated that their website will remain active, unlike Domino's. I hope that their blog, Miss Gracious Living, will also remain active. I was lucky enough to be one of their Miss Gracious Bloggers, along with Joni from Cote de Texas, Patricia from Mrs. Blandings, and Courtney from Style Court.

It is such a shame that a magazine with a circualtion of more than 400,000 has to close. The magazine was full of beautiful houses and ideas that reflected gracious living in the American South, but without being stuffy and old-fashioned.

Many bloggers, myself included, have referenced their beautiful images and their terrific articles. I can only hope that everyone at the magazine moves on to bigger and better things, especially frequent Pigtown*Design commenter and on-line friend, Karen Carroll.