Monday, August 20, 2012

"Alas, poor Yorick!..."
ram skull picked up at a swap meet yesterday for five bucks
(just gotta keep the Jedster away from it!)

my take on these much more beautiful shadows and our front gate

violets for Lucy
Last year the old dear I worked with at the op-shop gave me a clump of these from her garden. It was a stinking hot day and by the time I got home they were almost dead. I stuck them in the ground anyway, kept up the water to them over Summer, and almost a year later, yesterday in fact, I've discovered my first violets...

I remember Lucy Violet telling me that Tom would bring her a bunch of violets wrappped up in a damp hanky when they were courting. I have wanted violets of my own ever since. And now, I've got them. Special.

Sticking with gardening, I've finally hunted down

or Air Plant

(pic from The Golden Treasury of Natural History by Bertha Morris Parker, 1952)

Here's mine, sitting pretty in one of Pippa's lovely modern macrame's

and I say hunted, because these things are as rare as hens teeth here in Perth. Rare that is, if you prefer yours without goggly eyes and fluro hair...air plants with hideous attachments are in good supply, I assure you!

I've been housing house plants




And beginning a new collection

remember these?
I'm sure I had some to cut out from for school projects...

This one's my favourite


"a history of homes from the most primitive and crudely dug pits to the ultramodern homes of the present day"

Paul E. Blackwood 1963

Its cover was enough, but then inside,

this!
on page forty-five, and one of the ultramodern homes Mr Blackwood refers to, The Kaufmann House (a.k.a. Fallingwater). Designed by Frank Llyod Wright (dur!) and built 1936 - 1939. And here's the real deal

image from, and more info here

For all its chalky, psychedelic purple haze, I really like Robert Doremus' drawing of it, don't you?

x







23 comments:

  1. Hi Kylie,

    I like your little collection and that they are all the same colour tone.

    I can just see Tom now, holding the little bouquet of violet, so sweet. Your violets are looking very healthy.

    p.s. I am having a sick day! Too much wine,that will learn me :(

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  2. What sweet violets! I am very impressed with all your greenery. I can barely keep a cactus alive. x

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  3. My Mum did macrame in the 70's - that photo of yours took me back over 30 years in an instant, to our brown and orange lounge and the hook in the ceiling above my Mum's 'macrame corner'. While we watched TV, she did her thing - you cannot even begin to imagine how many macrame pot plant holders hung about our house...it was her passion..she got so into it and her designs became more and more complicated. I wonder why she lost interest....must ask.

    I love the Kaufmann house. It's fabulous.

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    1. Oh in case you wonder why there was hook in the ceiling - my Dad put up a hook and pulley system for her to suspend her works in progress and make it easier to work on.

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  4. Wow that house looks amazing and what a gorgeous location i bet its a very restful and creative home. My grandad always had violets in his garden there one of my favorite flowers there so pretty and delicate. As a child we used to get little purple violet sweets they were called and they were tiny to but they smelt just like the real ones they only cosy about 2p back then to ;-)) Enjoy your real ones, dee x

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  5. Ahh, i love fallingwater. Terry a big fan, has visited the place AND her had the lego model lol! Glad to see you have violets popping up, theyre heavenly. Have you ever tried a proper palmaviolet sweet/lolly? They are divine! I wonder if they make them from actual violets? Hmm? Off to google... (ps ladybirds in the mail) x

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  6. Your front gate is amazing, and your violets are so pretty. My mom always had violets, but I've never grown any. Now I want to.

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  7. Lucy Vi will be impressed that you have your very own violets and I too love that print of fallingwater house, gorgeous colours. melx

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  8. God I love your style, its so clean and graphic. I wasn't such a horder and clutter menace I love to paint my walls white and start again! That book is amazing too, the colours and picture of The Kaufmann House, really nice drawing style. Thanks AGAIN for the inspiration xx

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  9. So exciting that you now have violets of your own in the garden! They are such beautiful, delicate flowers and it is hard not to smile when you see them :-)

    Can't really explain how much I love the ram skull: amazing!

    Jem xXx

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  10. I remember those books. I had the bird and space one.
    And you're becoming quiet the gardener.
    x

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  11. Ooo an air plant! I was just thinking about more indoor plants for here too. I love your front gate shadows too :)

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  12. Your posts are always funny Kylie! I love the air plant too...sans goggly eyes :)

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  13. What a pretty shadow your gate creates! That sweet drawing from the magazine is just like the real thing. I love it xxx

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  14. ewwwwww ramms skull.......so the lady who gave you the violets was Lucy Violet???? how cool!

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  15. Loved this post Kylie - I could comment about everything in it - as I went down the page it was one great surprise after another. I had air plants (on a tree outside) in my last home in SA. I adored them and yours brought all the memories back again. I can also remember How and Why - of course l had a ballet one!

    But the main reason for me being here - your parcel arrived today!!!! I am so thrilled. It survived the trip perfectly and I can't tell you how much it means to me - the frame is exactly the same as the one I had when I was small so it is like having the same print in my bedroom again. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! xx

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  16. My goodness that macramé hanger has brought back some very old memories. I had one like that hanging in my bedroom as a child, it had a spider plant in it.
    I love violets, so delicate.

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  17. Love your little violets Kylie,ours are flowering too.Very cute house plants esp. the wormy cactus one,looks like it has personality.

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  18. Your violets are so pretty, I am glad they survived.

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  19. Thanks for the feature! You gotta love air plants and macramé together! :)

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  20. ooh i am just catching up on your recent posts. it is always a joy. i love the idea of house plants and your little collection of vessels on the cabinet are gorgeous. my Nonna LOVED violets and I remember my mum telling me to pick her a big bunch to take home with her. We had masses of them growing at the side of our house...I picked a HUGE bunch, it took me so long to pick and I can still remember her hopping on the train to Melbourne clutching those violets for dear life. thanks for the little trip down memory lane.
    PS big claps on your frill in the prevous post. its very cute!

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  21. hens teeth.... hee hee... oh gosh, i'm so gonna use a translation on that next time i'm in a position to say anything in the style of...
    n♥
    wonderful vintage books, kylie..!

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  22. This is where I first saw Falling Water but then coincidently my sister added a picture of the house to her pintrest wall. I took this as a sure sign I needed to create my own interpretation and I'm really pleased I did. Expect to see more modernist meets nature projects. THANK YOU for starting off this channel of work, Katxx

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