Corner View - Light

Winter light?

Dust storms over the central valley?

Rainbows?  I wasn't expecting the last two!  For more Corner Views, check out Francesca here.

The Kitchen Reveal - Ta-Daaaa!

Remember my post about orange and grey?  And my kitchen project???????

So ask me if I feel sheepish?  (This was the original situation:  all white walls, an alcove bench upholstered in an orange windowpane check that I would NEVER EVER have chosen for myself.  We inherited a red formica table with the house that was really too big for the space, and which tipped right over if you put too much stuff on one end or the other of it.  There was a dead wall that never really seemed happy with anything that I hung on it.  And instead just collected refuse from whatever other household project was pending.  Oh did I mention the seriously grimy also inherited pendant lamp?) 

I DO feel sheepish!  It's taken me over six months to show you this!  I started painting in June!

Shall I say it was a story of stools and art walls?  My original idea was for those aluminum stools on the left.  But they didn't go on sale until November!  I tried to make do with CB2 stools spray painted colors that were not grey, because the right grey was not to be found.  But I do prefer the gleam of the aluminum, so I'm glad they ultimately became available at the right price, and now with four stools a small group can gather on either sides of the counter for pancakes and coffee.  Ikea pendant - a cliche, but so pretty and ingenious (inexpensive!) and it echoes the "stripes"of the stool backs.

And the art wall??????  SO HARD!  This one went through four iterations before it settled into this.  I did enjoy making my poufy pinboard which Mr. Paradis frowned upon.  He thought it was not in keeping with the clean neutral spirit of the room.  A little too granny chic.  So says he.  (But there are hints of orange in it - subtle ones.)  I WAS and AM very thrilled to bits to incorporate Suzanne's wonderful panthers, who's happy tangle I get to gaze upon daily.

Well.......I was inspired by this.  Which actually, I find a little TOO grey now.  And I'd still love to figure out a way to showcase white dishes in this room.  But living in an earthquake zone......I might have to spend a little longer brainstorming and testing.........especially with my quarry tile floors.

The bottom picture looks a little curvy cause that's the angle of the door frame.  Well.  It's done for now!  Maybe some very light blinds eventually.  But mostly I'm just enjoying having easy access to my window and opening it REAL WIDE!

Sepia - Spring Whispers

This is a very old postcard that I brought back from France once.  It speaks of spring, doesn't it?

Happy Weekend

from my talented neighbors, their animal friends - and me!

More Sunshine? More Sunset Boulevard?

Thanks everybody for your nice comments on the walks.  So glad you liked them!  Shall we resume the sunny adventure?

Anybody ever seen the Laurel Hardy Movie, the Music Box?  These are the stairs it was filmed on.  It has changed a little since then.

At the bottom of the hill, you will still find "pink palaces" but on "the Flats" they are usually inhabited by many families, not just one.  A native of L.A., like my neighbor Bobbi, might tell you that in Los Angeles, it has always been that way -  the rich people live in "the Hills" and the poor people live on "the Flats".  

This sweet little alleyway is named for, I'm guessing, a Latino family.  Along it are teeny little houses with yards full of roses and songbirds.  

When you come out in the end you find yourself in a very colorful world.  Angelenos seem to take great pride and pleasure in their cityscapes.  

Whether by accident or by design, "color is better".

This is a very latino stretch of the roadway.  But then think about it - "Los Angeles"?  Why shouldn't it be?

I am not always crazy about graffiti, but (since the discovery of those groovy German spray paints in fab colors - I guess), the standard of graffiti has unquestionably improved.  I like this one alot.  The graffiti seems slowly to be morphing into mural art - very consistent with the Mexican tradition.

Don't let this fool you - you're still in L.A.

Despite the New York style security system.

Coming along this stretch always puts me in a celebratory mood.  What's cheerier at the end of a sunny week than a long neck bottle of Dos Equis and a big pile of tortilla chips?  (CRUNCH/SWOOSH.)

I guess since I'm an artist, I'm able to find a little art wherever I go.  How about this color-block abstraction?  Any gangstas out there?  Am I missing some significance in shoes abandoned next to a "hoodlums" tag?  (They do make for a more dramatic art piece, no?)

Should I just leave that whole conversation alone?  

And concentrate on the sunshine?  Did you like Part II of the walk?  Where to next?

Corner View - January

In January of the New Year, 2012

I ate bread loaves bigger than my head.

Found this soft face gazing at me when I rolled out of bed.

Saw snowfall on the Sierra Nevadas.

It's already a new NEW YEAR.  Gung Hee Fat Choy!  (It's the year of the Dragon.  Any Dragons out there?)  Now, where has that month of January gone already?!  There's only one week of it left!

For more Corner Views, pop over to Francesca's blog, "Fuori Borgo" and see what you can find.

Monday Bites - Cocoa Loco

When it comes to dessert, are you a chocolat-ey person?

 via Bohemian Wornest, this and below

I have to say, especially if we're talking goodies at mid-day, I would almost ALWAYS go for chocolate.

Call Me Cupcake

If it's evening, after a big meal, something a tidge fruitier or, a nice panna cotta would go down a treat.

But have I mentioned how much I like CAKE?!!!!!!!??????  Why don't they serve more cake in restaurants in America?  

Something Special This Way Comes - It's Not Sepia

I thought I ought to share this with you now.

from the truly original Andrea at Paper Sparrow

These goodies have been "in the vault"

Crochet as fine art at Wood and Wool Stool

for a couple months now.

not sure where from....anyone know?

I was at risk of completely losing track of them.

by Desaccord, installation Chez Serendipity

A perfect melange of the refined and the humble I think.  Gives me warm fuzzy feelings.  You?

Maybe Some Sunshine? Part One.

On and off the Boulevard.  Sunset Boulevard.

There are so many great walks in this neighborhood, one of the oldest in Los Angeles,

called Silverlake.

Have I mentioned all the choices of stairs?  They were built back in the days

by the trolley car companies, to get the customers to their routes.

This one had been beckoning me for awhile but I had never taken it on.

Cuz it's a long way up!

Even further when you're looking back down.

Did you expect this at the top?

Or this?  I didn't.

More surprises on this walk.  I'll be back with more.  How'd you like it?

Street London - Kings Road at Christmas

I almost always go to the Kings Road in Chelsea to shop when I am in London.  It's fizzy, pretty, intimate, there are more than enough choices for shopping and there are many fewer crowds than you would find at Harrods, Oxford, or Regent Street.

I love the way the put little Christmas trees up the lightpoles and against the buildings.

Does your local l'Occitane serve champagne?  Why ever not?

I like the King's Road because a cozy pub is never far away.

Fashion trends spotted?  Hmmmmm......Girls dressed like lumberjacks or Ernest Hemingway?  (Actually it's a look I like!)  And of course dressing like Zelda Fitzgerald never goes out of fashion.  

60's Dolly Bird?

Deer, or (Fleet) Foxes (????)

School crossing guards?  Or maybe this isn't fashion but just a sensible old-fashioned way of ensuring you're seen on the roadway on your bike.  

And who can tell me more about the Asian girls' style (no pictures, sorry!) of dressing like "The Railway Children". Anyone dressing like this where you are?

Did I miss the Corner View again????????   Sorry we've had company!  

Stompin in Sepia

Will your other half dress "posh" when the occasion requires?   Mine, a refusenik, after the example of his Father, would not be found dead anywhere in a "Dickie Bow", never mind tails.  Might be why we stayed in on New Year's Eve in London listening to the the Guy Barker Orchestra at the Savoy Hotel until it came time for the fireworks.

Sadly the BBC2 are no longer offering audio downloads of that night.  Which is a shame, cuz that band was stompin and that band was S-M-O-O-T-H!

Instead, how about a little Judy Garland to warm a January night?

Nice!

Toodles Poppets!

What are your plans for the weekend!  Have you made it through Friday the 13th O.K.?

  

I'll be thinking of you - have a great one!