Celeb Crush

Emma Watson in oils by Mark Demstreader... She really is lovely.

Yellow Brick House

Located by in the valley of river Vilnia that gave the city its name, the park and the city have a rich history with the oldest written records dating back to 1323. The Puckoriu escarpment in the park has rare rock formations from the Ice Age. A large munitions factory on the site dates back to the 17th century.

It seems that in Vilnius private residents can buy pieces of such storied land, and when the current owner of the site - a banker and collector of antique books - bought it, a single bright-yellow building stood on it. On further examination, the owners found out that the building was part of the cannon foundry and it was built of valuable, historic Vilnius-made bricks.

The yellow house itself was not as big as the four-member family wanted their home to be, so they decided to build their new home of glass and erect it around the historic brick house. The exposed brick adds a tactile sexy feel and softens the potentially cold atmosphere of the glass structure. A sensuous curved opening, cut for the staircase that is outside the brick house, adds another focal point that works beautifully with the square elements around it.

Text and Pictures from The Cool Hunter.

Il Buco Italian Restaurant in Athens

Inside this....


Is this...





Designed by the Athens-based Sotovikis and located on the third floor of a neo-classical building, Il Buco has views of the Acropolis. The restaurant consists of three separate spaces clustered around the cocktail bar.

Sick Day

I am taking a sick day. I think this is perhaps the second proper sick day that I have taken since I started this job in 2009. The office has not stopped calling. I was in a mind to go to work for an hour or two to calm everyone down and get things on track, but I thought better of it and I am still buttoned down under my down feather duvet doing what needs to be done - getting better.

Yesterday, after going home at about 10pm to start nursing myself back to full strength, I read and finished an entire book. I was most impressed with myself. I was hoping my body would be most impressed to and be all better today; or at least show a mild semblance of all better. I'm as pale and a sheet. It is not attractive. Thank goodness I am alone.

Where is my tea?

Guerilla Marketing...

Someone just sent me a link to some rather creative guerilla marketing campaigns...

On the Road...

N9 to Uniondale

Over Easter weekend someone very special and myself decided to take a road trip around the Western Cape to no where in particular. We were definitely going nowhere slowly, very slowly... with a flask of tea.

There wasn't really any set plan expect places to stay, organised very last minute, but off we went on Good Friday, April 22nd to see what was waiting for us...

The beginning of Route 62 heading toward Montagu from Roberston - we decided to have a little stop off by the Fort, which is an old stone building above the hole in the rock, and climb over the ridge to see what was there. I'm so glad we did. It was like a secret garden. I'm too jealous of its beauty to share it.

Ronnies (Sex) Shop on the side of R62 is a big attraction. It used to just read Ronnies Shop, which is actually a pub, but one night - apparently - his friends decided that if they painted the word 'sex' in front of 'shop' he'd do better business. Inside the pub there is writing all over the wall. If you ever go, remember to take a marker.

Side of the N9 heading to Uniondale, just outside of Oudthoorn. It was time for tea and rusks.

Sunday Morning in Uniondale at The Town House Guest House. After a fry up breakfast and a delicious dinner the night before it was great to just sit in peace for a little while on the stoop before heading to out next destination. Right after this moment of tranquillity I stubbed my toe with almighty gusto and was left with a plastered up toe the rest of the trip.

Prince Alfred Pass heading to Knysna from Union date. When we first saw the sign saying 84km to Knysna we wondered what we were going to do with the rest of the day. This was before we realised that we would be doing the majority of the 84km at 20km per hour. It was absolutely beautiful and at the bottom we stopped for 'sexy scones' and tea. We got out the car where ever we could and marvelled at the beauty.

Seafood Platters all round at Quay 4 on Thessen Island in Knysna. After that cocktails by a fire place while watching the sunset before heading to our last destination.

The Island in Groot Brak is exactly that, a tiny island in the middle of a groot brak. Sunset was specular, and we were kindly invited for tea by an acquaintance whose house was right on the waters edge. We spent the evening messing about on the beach and walking until hunger got the better of us.

On our drive to Uniondale is was suggested - by some fellow wanderers - that should we find ourselves in Groot Brak it was most definitely advisable to go to the Transkaroo Restaurant for dinner. We noticed the restuarant on our drive into Groot Brak the evening we arrived and decided it was going to the location of our last dinner on the road. We went all out. Three courses which we shared between us so as to sample as much as possible and Chopper the Cat, was a most delightful companion through out the night.

Route 60 from Swellendam to Ashton - where R62 started - on the way home. The drive home was behaving awfully. People we driving terrible slowly, the traffic was heavy and the scenary was dismal. So we cut across country back to where we started from. Thank goodness. After the rain, the mountains and fields were dramatic and sun peaking crisply through the clouds was stunning. With our bellies full of pizza and one last game of Uno at a little cafe in Swellendam, it was a good way to end a road trip.

It's Friday!

And someone special sent this to me earlier, so I thought I'd share.

The Burning House Project

Have you ever thought... What would you run into your burning house to rescue, if the event ever arose?

I think we've all thought about these sort of things. We think about them an file them away with other thoughts like 'what would I do if I won a million rand?'

Robert Holden's asked several different people this question and cataloged their answers. He titled it The Burning House Project.

In an interview with Holden he said

"It's a conflict between what's practical, valuable, and sentimental. What you would take reflects your interests, background and priorities. Think of it as an interview condensed into one question."

Here are a few:

One:
Hannah Queen

20

Blue Ridge, Georgia

Photographer

Hannah's List (above):
- Basket of family photos, old and new
- Macbook
- iPhone
- Wallet
- Cast iron skillet
- Leather bracelet with mustard seed charm, which was my grandmothers
- Leather bracelet, a gift from my mom
- L'Occitane Lavender Hand Cream
- L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes
- Lancome Teint Idole Ultra
- Letters & postcards from friends
- Favorite tea towel, which was a gift
- The complete works of Jane Austen
- Blue ball jar, filled with river rocks. Souvenirs from a perfect day.
- Minnetonka moccasins
- Favorite wooden spoon
- Two forks from old family silverware
- Twig spoon, a gift from a friend
- Not pictured, Canon 5d Mark II


Two:
Chris Adamiak

30

Milton, Ontario Canada

Maintenance Worker

Chris' List:
- My cats: Indy (left) and Scout
- My late 50’s Red Wing work boots (size 13 is hard to come by!)
- My paddle that’s been on almost a decade of canoe trips
- Engraved Zippo from my wife
- Custom James Mcgowan knife: I designed, he made into life
- Cyma Navystar watch from my Pop
- My wallet and contents
- WWII U.S. Bayonet from my Late Uncle
- 1940’s Shell bag
- My first edition “Song of the Paddle” signed by the late Bill Mason
- 1TB hard drive with 13 years of music and pictures on it

Three:
Frances Shelley

25

Austin, TX

Project Assistant

Frances' List:
- Fancy helmet (because I just bought it) and Bridgestone RB-3, not pictured
- Keys
- Canon Rebel G + Canon 50mm f/1.4: Camera setup I learned to shoot on
- Wallet: Poketo Arcade Fire Neon Bible limited edition
- GoLite Jam Pack: to carry all this stuff with!
- Library of diaries, started writing when I was 12
- Kindle: to replace all books
- Polaroids and Instax photos: irreplaceable
- "11” Macbook Air: the only computer I’ll ever need
- Snorri and Boyd (cats), not pictured

Four:
Laura Pritchett

24

Southern Delaware

Artist

Laura's List:
- The unglamorous but practical galoshes that I wear most often
- A painting I am (almost) satisfied with
- An irreplaceable blouse which has no tag and I have no idea who made it, but love
- The wooden clothes hanger from my grandfather’s closet
- The perfectly weathered belt I am rarely without
- Candid shot of grandfather and his car
- The last remnant of family plaid my grandmother brought back from Ireland
- Keys from my childhood scavenging
- 1957 edition of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook with my grandmother’s and mother’s recipe alterations handwritten in the margins
- The bit I trained two horses with
- Klein bag with my well broken in sable brushes
- The hatchet my great grandfather used to build his house
- The Ball jar that I keep all of my flash drives in
- Family Bible
- Moleskine journal I kept while traveling in Uganda
- First fabric sample produced by Tukula.org with my design for Ugandan tailors
- iPhone

Five:
Rohan L Anderson

35

Ballarat, Australia

Photography & Design

Rohan's List:
- Nixon Chrono Dive Watch
- Japanese bone handle knife (had it for 22 years)
- Led Lenser torch
- iPhone
- Nikon 50mm f/1.4
- 500gig Time Machine Back Up
- Macbook
- My glasses. Can’t see without em so may as well gram em! (yes they have real lenses in them)
- One of my Nikons.
- CZ 22 Magnum. It’s my favourite hunting tool.
- Barbor International
- G-Star Raw circa 2004? Love these guys. I haven’t bought G-Star since. I’m happy just to keep these as the best pair of jeans I’ve ever owned.

What would you take?

Daffodil's Second Day at Home

On its second day at home it had one flower. This morning it had 3 flowers! It's like it's growing in front of me. My poor 3 year old Hyacinth Urn needs to take note!

Some Modern Lines...

I'm not a huge fan of 'modern' architecture/design but I like the linear elements in these photos of Brazilian Home, designed by architect David Guerra...





More about it (and more pictures) on My Modern Met.