Thursday, November 19, 2009

something to collect...





there is something i find incredibly appealing about vintage bags like these. there is passion, mystery and sophistication in their designs and style. i like to daydream where it was first spotted - in a window of a fine department store a few weeks before the holidays started, a little boutique where the sweet smelling owner always wore a tight bun and buttoned sweaters....- and who it was who carried it clutched in hand or under arm. they are gorgeous and they inspire me to find some of my own to give new life to. have a blessed friday.
paz, k
pretties here

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Helen






Thank you to those who have left notes.
Warmly,
-L.

Monday, November 16, 2009

More Postcards from Hong Kong


1. My favorite breakfast here: a mug of warm, fresh, black sesame soymilk, ripe pomelo, papaya, and banana, and delicious, soft sesame raisin toast. (The softness comes from a special Japanese flour.)
2. Totoro, the movie. I am probably letting my eldest daughter watch it a bit too much.
3. Vacation reading.
4. The gentleman upstairs likes to garden on the roof. I am assuming these are his gardening shoes.
5. Our beautiful kitchen maiden.
6. Garden fellows: tea, a pipe, and conversation.
7. A view.

My youngest still naps twice a day. In turn, this trip has been about exploring the world closer to home: sort of a domestic tourism, seeing how everyday things can still be totally new and different. Like spying on the French family downstairs as they eat at their outdoor table, or photographing the postboxes, or venturing a taste of a Japanese kiwi: yellow and red inside.

At first, it was a bit hard to adjust. My oldest, when offered the chance to ride in the grocery "cart" at a local food emporium, turned pale and unreadable when she saw that it meant riding toward the bottom of the cart in a little chair that faced my legs. She wanted out of that right away: the world had suddenly turned completely unrecognizable for her. I thought it was funny when same daughter, a ballet enthusiast, attended a ballet class at a local school, and received a report card. Straight Bs the first day and a proper "thank you, Miss Kim" expected for the effort.

Still, it is nice (and a bit of a relief!) to see them adjusting and carrying on--same kid rhythms, almost as if being halfway around the world is merely incidental. Absorbed for a moment in something new, and then off into their interior worlds, their hungers, their alternating distress and laughter.

Thanks for visiting.
Warmly,
-L.



Friday, November 13, 2009

tessa...







maybe tessa kiros is old news for you but I just bought my first kiros cookbook apples for jam. heavenly reading. now, if i could write a cookbook this would be it - some magic, tasty love and lots of fun. have a dreamy thursday.
paz, k

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Postcard from Hong Kong





We are in Hong Kong visiting my mother and aging grandparents.

I am struck again by the incredible natural beauty of this place, especially the endless green mountains and the sea. When we go to visit my grandparents, the girls stand on the veranda letting the sea breeze ruffle their damp little heads.

I am once again struck by the importance of place. How without it our memories simply drift, unanchored. To see one's children perched on this same balcony I spent so many summers myself, mesmerized in similar fashion by the sparkling sea, is to feel something brimming and aching. Sameness and striking change jostle one another at this feast table of Moment.

What place calls to mind a similar experience for you?

In beauty,
-L.



Wednesday, November 11, 2009

palace in the sky...








a friend down the street just had this magical house built for her 3 boys. wow! it is incredible. clearly my kids had no problem invading.
what lucky little boys. what memories they will have. did you grow up with a treehouse?
happy thursday. k

things to come...

before i melt,
come look at me!
this lovely icy filigree!
of a great forest
in one night
i make a wilderness
of white:
by skyey cold
of crystals made,
all softly, on
your fingers laid,
i pause, that you
my beauty see:
breathe; and i vanish
instantly.
walter de la mare
melting here

hi...

happy wednesday! hope there are big pools of sunshine in your day. paz, k

sunshine here

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

something to collect...

I've had my eye on some antique cutting boards. I think they would look lovely in a row on a kitchen wall. They have so much texture and there are stories in those stains and imperfections. I found this pair from bonny neiman antiques. do you have favorite cutting boards - with memories embedded in the wood?
have a wonder filled tuesday.
paz, k

Monday, November 9, 2009

monday marvels...

five favorite children's books...
all of tasha tudor books are wonderful. her illustrations are real marvels.
"We had a small post office in those days. Valentines
came by Sparrow post."


this was one of my favorite books as a child.
it was out of print for a long time but was recently published again.
"It's not that I do not like people," said she,
but one gets a bit shy when one lives in a tree."


a simple classic appropriate for the long winter days ahead of us.
"The postman said it looked like snow. The farmer said it smelled like snow."

perhaps a favorite for everyone. love this book.
"Then he looked up into the tree. And what do you think he saw?"



this richard scary book is delightful!
"Sometimes the bus is crowded. The polite elephant always offers his seat to a lady."
oh, there are so many more favorites. thanks for sharing these with me today. what about you? what are your favorites?
paz, k

Sunday, November 8, 2009

sunday afternoon...

it was warm and sunny today. what a relief. somehow though we managed to eat up the day indoors. we made pretend passports, painted and my son started reading stuart little. the adventures with books begins...
hope your sunday was sunny, friends.
paz, k

Saturday, November 7, 2009

loving...




victorian art collage - from the art institute in chicago. paz, k