Saturday, October 24, 2015

How can it be …

… with all the time in the world, I cannot write as often as I would like? –  is a question I often asked myself and until a couple of days ago had few ideas about how to solve my problem. It then occurred to me to ask another question: if I can Instagram as often I do, could I write shorter posts for the blog with similar frequency as I post on Instagram. Not that the two media are comparable, really, but … why not give it a go?


As the parent of any eight-month-old whippet will attest "time for oneself" is a much-cherished delusion – a fantasy as hard to relinquish as is the idea that living rooms are anything other than canine playrooms  …


… that whippets allow one time for breakfast 


… do not sulk if you tidy away their toys and do not complain vociferously if one looks at them 


…or even that privacy any longer is an option. My clever, beloved Barnaby Warboys has learned to open doors and I have photographs to prove it. Publish and be damned, he says. 


Barny is the reason I have little time and there is no-one more amazed at it than I: to a great degree our life is changing in ways we hadn't thought of before he became our family. For example, neither of us want to leave him for weeks on end whilst we go to Europe so we have decided that vacations in this country are going to be more the norm and we are looking either to build or buy a second place where he can run and explore like the whippet he is and we can spend weekends as a family together and with friends.


Our taste runs more to the contemporary and something as starkly rectilinear as above and below from Rocio Romero in a wooded setting seems perfection to both of us, especially if more softly nestled in grasses and shrubs. 


Inside, I would like to see something as comfortable and contemporary as the room below by Thomas Hamel. There would be nothing by Eames, nothing mid-century-modern, none of the so-called "design classics" and certainly nothing from IKEA (how the hell it became so popular in blogland beats me). In other words, the formulaic way of furnishing modern architecture as boring as a trawl through a DWR showroom, is not for us. 



A cabin in the woods? Possible, but without any rural references in the decor – neither of us are farmers, cowpokes, or blacksmiths and take the lead from Henrietta-Lucy Dillon de la Tour du Pin Governed who, in her Memoirs of Madame de la Tour du Pin: Laughing and Dancing Our Way to the Precipice I am sure does not mention furnishing her log cabin during her exile in America with any reference to the forest or its denizens surrounding her.  I know, I know, a complete non sequitur.



I want to mention again how we both feel that after all these our living room – in fact, the whole place – needs refreshing and seeing how our floors look without the carpets and rugs which are at the cleaners having whippet tracks removed, I'm leaning very strongly towards the idea of having our wooden floor stenciled. The one advantage of bare floors in warm months is that they are cool to bare feet but, if plain wood, they are visually boring. The stenciled floors in The Parish-Hadley Tree of Life: An Intimate History of the Legendary Design Firm have examples that awoke my interest anew. 

So, my attempt at writing quickly was interrupted by nibbled toes, nibbled fingers, outraged barking when I refused to play, but as persistent as my pup is, I have my Instagram-ish post for the day. 

Maybe, till tomorrow? 



Photograph of Thomas Hamel's room by Matt Lowden 
Photograph of Bunny Williams's room by Scott Frances
Both photographs from The Parish-Hadley Tree of Life: An Intimate History of the Legendary Design Firm 

9 comments:

  1. Poor Blue, whipped by a Whippet. You have traveled enough for now. You'll never get the time back with the boy so face it, you're toast. You need to start looking for a babysitter that you can trust with your life and get dear Barnaby to love them. It is the only way you'll find peace and be able to go anywhere.

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    1. We have a sitter who loves him and with whom he feels at home. She moves in and lives with him whilst we are away - I am the problem. I am the one with separation anxiety!

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  2. The Romannovs and Yves Saint-Laurent knew how to decorate a log cabin.

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    1. To be honest, I'm looking for something a little simpler than a Romanov dacha. Incense, icons and chenille are not for me.

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  3. So love your writing, and the photo of Mr. Whippet opening the door is absolutely hysterical. Hugs to both men and dog.

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    1. Hello, Daniel. How are you? I wish you might meet Barny - you and he would get on well, I think - two gentlemen together!

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  4. What a wonderful picture of Barney; upright or on all fours, he is opening many doors for you! A vacation house is a wonderful project and I hope you will work it out just the way you wish. Since having ours, I feel I have a double life because despite going there once a month, the freshness it provides continues. It's an entirely different world. I'm convinced that it's heathy for body and mind and that goes for Barney's too!

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    1. gésbi, thank you. Barny is my constant companion - no door is a barrier to him. It's a mixed blessing but when those curious eyes look around the door as if to say "what are you doing? Is it interesting?" I lose my heart all over again. A house in the country will be of great help to all three of us. Glad to hear from you!

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  5. Desiring a weekend retreat I bought 58 wooded acres with two falling down preCivil War log cabins. After not coming to terms with the remodeling I built a new log cabin with all the comforts. Now I'm going to tackle the old cabins. Life is full of expensive surprises. Good luck on your search for a nice place. Ann

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