this old house's porch

One of the main features of our 1930's home that really sold us on our house for both my husband and me, was the screened-in porch. When we first looked at the house, we both were immensely excited with the potential of the space. It's not fancy, but we've turned it into a space where we spend hours of our free time during the warm months. We were lucky enough to receive lovely wicker pieces from my husband's side of the family - they were his grandparents' pieces, and I just adore them.

You'll find us on our porch for breakfasts on the weekends, dinners during the week, with a good read, and it's the perfect spot to entertain when we have friends and family over. There is almost always a nice cross breeze, making it the most relaxing & coolest spot in the house. It's free of pesky mosquitoes, which is a huge perk. Plus, our ginger tom, who is an indoor kitty, gets to enjoy the screened-in porch too. I think it's also his favorite room because he gets to watch birds, nap in the sun, and stay out with us in the evening. For us, it is the perfect screened-in porch, a totally peaceful place to put our feet up and relax in this old, yet well-loved house of ours.

eclectic mix of styles

a perfect reading corner, 

the blinds help with

privacy and to cut the afternoon sun

at night, everything is aglow!

traditional Northern Thai

lanterns we brought home with us

from Chiang Rai

my boys -

looks like something 

has caught Nino's eyes!

my little reading corner all lit up

within a budding grove, part 2

Every year, when lilacs bloom I am positively elated, because for me, lilacs stir up my own Proustian memory. Outside of my bedroom window, in the house where I grew up, were three immense lilac bushes. Now when I smell lilacs, I can instantly remember laying in bed at night with the window cracked ajar and falling asleep breathing in the lilacs' perfume. It was a perfect antidote for teenage angst, and I'm not sure if there's a better recipe for sweet dreams. 

One reason lilacs are so enchanting in addition to their glorious scent, is because of their almost lace-like blooms. The variety of lilac blossom shades is so wide ranging - from the purest white to deep and rich purple - and with so many variants in between, one would be hard pressed to find a lilac that doesn't suit your own aesthetic. Here are a few of my favorites that I photographed recently. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

pure white and elegant

creamy with the faintest hint of yellow

cool white blooms
with deep purples in the background

airy pink, as delicate as imaginable

a touch of lavender with
double blossoms

slightly deeper lavender
perhaps my favorite, though
it's too hard to pick just 1!

lovely pink lilacs

the name of the lilac pictured 1 above -
it fits perfectly, don't you think?

rather large blooms with a little bit
more saturated lavender - single blooms

a few buds still to open, showing
us various shades of pinkish mauve

blueish in color, 4 petals per bloom

also blueish in color,
but 6 petals per bloom

a little bit lavender, a little bit blue
double blossoms - divine!

a rich jewel colored lilac

eye-catching and regal, these purple
lilacs always grab my attention

within a budding grove, part 1

Lilacs are hands-down my favorite spring bloom. Their delicate little flowers are so charming, but their scent is to me pure heaven. Not but a mile or so from where I live is the most amazing lilac grove. Literally, hundreds of lilacs greet you with their visual beauty and their intoxicating fragrance and you enter the grounds. When I was there recently, it was a breezy day so their scent wafted in the air. Today's photos showcase the lilac grove and its surroundings. Check out tomorrow's post to see the lilacs up close!

light and reflections

Do you remember the movie "Pollyanna" with the cheery main title character? She strings up rows and rows of crystals from chandeliers to see the lights and rainbows created when the sun hit the prisms. I loved that movie as a kid and to this day enjoy seeing anything that sparkles seemingly spontaneously from the sunlight. Pictured below is the sun hitting a glass vase and "magically" creating speckles of light on the wooden floor below.

the little things that can be
so amazing

flowerful Friday

Simple spring flower cuttings from my garden make, what I think is, an adorable little arrangement. It's delicate and feminine. I wish you could smell the sweetness of these blooms!

Happy Friday!

scenes from the Green City Market

One of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday morning is to visit a local farmer's market. When I lived in Chicago, the Green City Market was just a short jaunt from my apartment. This market is a gold mine, an absolute treasure chest, for all types of wonderfully fresh produce and meat, artisan cheeses, pastries and bread, and beautiful flowers. There is nothing like being able to talk with the farmers and producers themselves to learn about their craft and the quality of their products.

a chalk board sign,
reflecting what is in season

 bold red radishes

potatoes galore!

cheese, anyone?

how incredibly green!

beautiful!

a typical scene from the Green City Market

a time for whimsy

As we all know, taste is a completely personal. Fortunately for my husband and I we share similar - though not exact - taste. We both do have a fondness for items with a little whimsy. We decided to commemorate living in our home for 1 delightful year by adding a new little addition to our garden. We went to the local nursery and as soon as we laid eyes on her, we knew she'd fit perfectly into our garden bed. We've named her Henrietta, which seemed to us to be a perfect fit for a hedgehog and one with such a cute and rotund body. 

little Miss Henrietta

potted plants to the rescue

We live in an old neighborhood; our house dates back to the 1930's. Like so many neighborhoods from that era, the houses are quite close together. We like to think that what we lack in side yards, we make up for in a truly beautiful neighborhood with unique houses, grand old oak trees, and lots of charm. The downside of teeny side yards is, of course, privacy. One of our kitchen windows looks directly at the back of our neighbor's house, and truthfully there are many other views I'd rather see. In the winter I try to mask the view with bundles of tied evergreens. Now that it's warm enough, I put several potted plants on the window sill and my potting table, which sits just outside the window. I think it makes for a lovely view, from both outside and inside!

from the outside -
a little bit French, non?

from the inside

Provence lace wrap

My current knitting project is slowly progressing and taking shape. I'm making a lace weight wrap using Cascade Lace Alpaca yarn in the color Provence. It is very thin yarn, and it took me a few rows before I really had a good feel for how to knit with this yarn. Now that I have the hang of it, I'm really enjoying knitting with this yarn. It's so soft, so light weight and completely itch-free. 

Each skein of this yarn is 437 yards, and I have 5 yards, so quite a bit of yarn! The wrap is approximately 23 inches wide, I cast on 138 for this width. So far, I've knitted 50 rows and because the yarn is so delicate and thin, this is a rather slow project. But, I'm sure it will be finished in time for autumn weather. Don't you think this color will look so nice in the fall? Stay tuned for the completed project!

this is 50 rows - so I have many
more rows to go!

a close-up of the yarn -
isn't it beautiful?

green beans, Thai style

Both my husband and I love spicy food, and having a Thai mom, I grew up eating Thai food very regularly. I inherited many traits from my mom, one is a preference to not cook from recipes. I think we do much better cooking with our senses. For this green bean stir fry, I pulled together some very basic Thai ingredients I keep on hand. The only ingredient I wish I had had in the fridge was fresh ginger. Regardless, the stir fry was delicious - with all of those well balanced Thai flavors so many of us love - spicy, sweet, salty and of course fresh.

the assembled ingredients: green beans, Sriricha,
Thai vinegar, Thai fish sauce, chopped cilantro,
red pepper flakes (use fresh chili if you have it),
minced garlic, brown sugar, and cashews
(use peanuts if you prefer)

everything cooking up nicely in my wok

the finished dish, with chopped
cashews on top -
delicious!

light and reflections

I think it's nice to see 3 flames all burning and flickering together, almost in unison. 

flowerful Friday

Recently, my parents surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet. The colors were beautiful - crisp whites, cool violets, playful pinks, warm oranges, and jade greens all filled the vase in a stunning arrangement. The flowers smelled heavenly too!  

I love this color combination

an abstract, dream-like version of the
same bouquet!

Happy Friday!