Thursday, October 29, 2009


Maira Kalman is back to enchant us again.

It is amazing how quickly a month passes.
Click here for her full post
or read on and enjoy a few nuggets.

Scroll to the bottom for a link to an interview with the artist.

This post is perfect for the all the talk about the health care bill.


This is the Congresswoman from my neck of the woods:
Rosa DeLaura from New Haven.


the artist

Sunday, October 25, 2009


For anyone interested in American Decorative Arts, especially furniture,
It is a fabulous resource.


"Furniture Study is a working library of approximately
one thousand examples of furniture and wooden objects
- American made and made for the American market -
ranging in date from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries."

On Fridays the Furniture Study is open to the public.

Soon after your arrival at the Gallery,
you will walk outside to Chapel Street,
then into the depths of a non-descript building on York Street.
It was all quite exciting...as we did not know what to expect.
In the temperature controlled basement the furniture was lined up on
platforms in an orderly fashion: arranged in chronological order in groups of
chests, tables, chairs, desks, clocks, sideboards, wood turnings,
fireplace equipment and looking glasses.

My friends and I had the most amazing private tour.
The curator had placed 5 chairs on display to begin the discussion.
Starting with information on the origin of the collection:
a donation in 1930 from Mr and Mrs Francis P. Garvan, collectors from NYC,
to a quick review of periods from
colonial to federal to neo-classical to revival and finally to modern.

Photographs are not permitted to be published
so I decided just to listen and enjoy the tour.
The collection's focus is on learning.

I encourage you to travel to New Haven for your own tour.
Listen to an audio slideshow here if you cannot visit.
Did I mention that it is free. You can make a donation if you like.
And lunch afterwards - there are so many good restaurants in New Haven.

I cannot wait to go again with my sisters.

Here is an example of how the Furniture Study was helpful to one family:

AH: What’s the most interesting thing that has happened in your job since you started?
KCh: A person called up about a group of chairs that he had grown up with. The caller’s family was originally from Connecticut, and he wanted to compare one of his chairs to our side chair from Wethersfield, Connecticut, in order to ascertain if it was from the same maker, the same set. The family came en masse. Our chair still had its original upholstery, and the needlework—from the mid-1700s—was in pretty good condition. So we put them together and measured and photographed. We were able to share some information from the accession documents and our comparative files on forms and makers. It was so rewarding to share this with them—it turned out to include not only information on the chair and its provenance, but also aspects of the family’s own genealogy. They retired their own chairs once they saw the difference in condition between a chair under our care and one in active use. The caller decided to hire someone to remake his chairs so that he could give one to each family member. All this was inspired by their visit.

Read the whole interview here :

And Thanks to EB of Diligent Joy for discovering this hidden treasure trove.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

My daughter's school is 350 years old this year.
Yes, that's right - the little school house built on New Haven Green in 1660!
Here are all the kids on the football field
for a fun shot with terrific color on the trees as backdrop.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Gotham Book Mart was famous for its literary eminences. A December 1948 party for Osbert and Edith Sitwell (seated, center) drew a roomful of bright lights to the Gotham Book Mart: clockwise from W. H. Auden, on the ladder at top right, were Elizabeth Bishop, Marianne Moore, Delmore Schwartz, Randall Jarrell, Charles Henri Ford (cross-legged, on the floor), William Rose Benét, Stephen Spender, Marya Zaturenska, Horace Gregory, Tennessee Williams, Richard Eberhart, Gore Vidal and José Garcia Villa. (Photo: Gotham Book Mart)

So many books, so little time
Years ago I read this wonderful quote at the Gotham Book Mart in Manhattan.
I loved that book store.

The shop was stacked floor to ceiling with books, manuscripts, literary papers
and was a haven for book lovers for 87 years
until its inventory was sold at auction.
There had been a series of unfortunate events that led to its downfall
But the generosity of one anonymous person, who bought the inventory from the landlords,
was amazing; he donated the collection, worth several million dollars,
to the University of Pennsylvania.
A great ending to a sad story.


Second and last owner around 2006.
The original owner died at age 101 in 1989.

Last night at my book group - we have been meeting since 1998 -
well we were talking about a lady in the neighboring town who started reading a book a day
on October 26, 2008 followed by a brief review on her blog
and then she would start again.
Check out this NYT article
and now take a look at her blog.

So Many Books, So Little Time is more my speed.
I can't imagine reading a book a day.
Each time book group day comes around I must "power read".
since I fall asleep as soon as start reading in bed at night...
I wake up early on Sunday and plunk down on the cozy couch and read all day...
phew... I finish in just the nick of time too.
So glad I do finish (most of the time) because book group is rather dull if you can't contribute...
But there is no way I could read a book a day for 356 days...

simply too many books, too little time

So here, here to Nina Sankovitch!

and thanks to Nina's blog my reading list is chock full of new titles
and
will be a wonderful source for books to listen to while I create in the studio...

Last year I provided you with a run-down of my reading & listening lists here.
More to come from the last 12 months.

Monday, October 19, 2009

I was reading back articles in the Times this morning and came across this wonderful article about David Hockney - a favorite of mine. I encourage you all to read it and watch the videos that appear along side. Then, if you are in NYC in the next couple of months, you should check out his show of the landscape paintings. I remember being enthralled with him 25 years ago and tried to imitate his art with photographs and collage. It was fun - not as successful as his work but that's ok - I enjoyed it.

Check out the article here
28 of these paintings will go on view in New York in a two-gallery exhibition at PaceWildenstein, both in Midtown and in Chelsea, through Dec. 24.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

One of my favorite pictures: Miss Is on her hobby horse
I rode this horse too, as did all my siblings and many nieces and nephews.
We finally put him out to pasture a few years back.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009


I am back and still recovering from the long journey.
Here is my boutique space.
I had a lot of inventory, just in case.

A successful weekend.
Columbus School for Girls runs a wonderful boutique.
This is one of the most hospitable groups that I have encountered during my
many years on the charitable boutique circuit.
Met lots of new people and saw old friends
and visited with family.
Now for a rest.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

I am off and will not be able to check in for a few days.
First boutique of the season
at Columbus School For Girls in Columbus, Ohio, on Columbus Day weekend.
Rented a larger vehicle so that I could bring plenty of inventory to Ohio!
Stop by and say hello if you are in the neighborhood.
I have been burning the candle at both ends lately and I do not even have time
to come up with a few posts to schedule during my absence.
Until next week, I bid you adieu.

click here for a list of all the vendors,
from near and far
selling everything from
clothes to jewelry to picture frames by moi!
(silly me and my rhymes again)

Sunday, October 4, 2009

What's cooking? A project that is very exciting
but i can't give the details yet...
mrr design going big time...
Can't wait to tell you all...
until then, check out my ancient sewing machine.
and then this cool graphic from swissmiss.
I could not stop watching this.

How a Sewing Machine Works


Saturday, October 3, 2009



I have written about Ambler Farm a few times.
It is my second favorite place in town - same for Libby the pooch.
This is our walk- we do a figure 8 around the top field
and then head back to the barn and beyond.
Everything was a buzz at the farm today; Ambler Farm Day is Sunday -
the BIG fundraiser.

This is one of the favorite activities - the catapult - pumpkins are hurled into the fields
longest hurl wins something...
As you may recall, the Knit Wits, my knitting group here in town,
decided to create a scarecrow for Ambler Farm Day -
check out the earlier posts here and here
Today we assembled the guy - he is very big

I will post the completed scarecrow on Sunday.
I had to leave before he was finished.
I had a pitch meeting at a new wholesale account
and I got the business - yea!


Head on stick - I know, it looks a bit medieval
and, no, he wasn't beheaded.

Our inspiration below
scarecrow done in Atlanta


We have some very talented knitters in the group - check out today's show & tell
all garments knit by prodigious p. - just beautiful -
I am still working on my blanket project from last September
it will be done eventually...




Thursday, October 1, 2009

pink frames

for breast cancer awareness month
my monogram oops mammogram
is scheduled for tomorrow
when is yours?