Baldur

Baldur also loves calligraphy, anything with odd lettering on it will attract my attention.
There are several framed bits of ecclesiastical hymns and psalms here, hanging as art.
Handwrought Mideastern brass trays engraved with Arabic script are another item you'll notice if you visit.
Baldur periodically spends an afternoon polishing metal.

Baldur

howvered -w =hovered

Baldur

I also sometimes buy letters.
Not correspondence, but sculptural letters that may have been a part of a business' sign mounted on the exterior of a building.

One of the trivets in the kitchen at Chez Baldur is actually a small bronze 'O'.
In the guest room there is a large 'ft' also of bronze, it weighs a good ten pounds.
Then there is the odd sheet metal letter that must have been mounted on the chimney of a 1920s Colonial home. It was a common decorative element to add your monogram to the outside of your house back then.
Unfortunately Baldur cannot decide which letter it is meant to be.
It may be a lower case 'r' or a 'j' or possibly an 'f' or 't'. It looks like Olde English script and is vague at best.

marius

Hearing of Baldur's zest for lamps and calligraphy (which btw were quite delightful reading), and knowing of beads and saytrs, my curious mind is inventing pictures of these treasures in Baldur's home. This created a question. Does Baldurs home resemble a museum, where all, or nearly all, spaces are filled with carefully chosen and loved artifacts/decor ... I'm not talking cluttered, just full? Or, is Baldur's home more open where a casual visitor might not notice all the unique joys in Baldur's life?

I've been to both types of homes and thoroughly enjoy each. There is a gay couple in a town near-by who operate a private dining experience in their Victorian "mansion" home. It is FULL to the brim of many antiques and curiosities - like jewelry made of human hair. Their food is also fantastic. One feels that every visit would reveal a new, previously unnoticed gem. In fact, Baldur might enjoy visiting their website, so here it is: http://www.jcwyatt.net/index.html

Then, we have friends who have equally interesting things to visually feast upon, however their items are placed in such a way that if you are not a keen observer, you might miss their interesting lamps, chairs, vases, framed art and so forth. I enjoy both. My guess, to answer this question, is that Chez Baldur would be more like the second home described.

Accurate or not? (And why is it that I want to know these thing? I have no idea.) : )

Baldur

Baldur has to struggle to keep the clutter at tolerable levels.
It is quite a challenge, as I also enjoy having empty spaces here and there as a calming element. Trying to keep the collection from overwhelming is rather difficult.
My collections tend to be clustered and follow the maxim that 'more is better'.
You will never see an item on it's own, everything is in clusters. The editing is rather intense.
In the foyer there is quite a collection of house plants on a console table in front of an overscaled elaborate mirror. The console table is very simple and Mission style, the mirror has a wildly overscaled gold leaf frame with carved leaves and sprigs of berries... it appears rather Medieval, Medieval as done by Busby Berkely. The shelves below the plants are heaped with art pottery and Arabic brass platters heaped with outrageously oversized glass gemstones. If you opened the drawers you would find feathers that fall from the birds we feed in the garden, beach glass and a few odd stones.
Other than this odd tableaux the area is kept bare. The walls are an odd mottled taupe color with a stonelike faux finish that your's truly applied with a sponge
Well there is also a satyr crouched over the front door keeping an eye on the house. He has a handful of dried mistletoe tucked in behind his shoulderblades.

Login

I viewed the jcwyatt website, marius. From the outside, the house would sit comfortably in any English country town ... a vicarage or a doctors house. From the inside it looks like a country mansion that has been opened to the public, in order to preserve and maintain it. I'm going back for another look.

Dragon

I have to ask, does the mistletoe Satyr gets kissed very often or is he perhaps there to inspire others to kiss?

I find myself fighting clutter on a regular basis. I have a terrible tendency to hold onto things that I just don't need to and occasionally have to sit down and think 'Why are you keeping this really?' I used to watch 'Clean Sweep' and think Thank God I'm not that bad but if I do get that bad how can I convince the Clean Sweep team to come up to Canada and remodel 2 of the rooms in my home
Fortunatly my honey is not a clutterbug like me and helps me fight my dragonish (+15 points) hoarding ways.

Baldur

Until last year the foyer floor had very soiled and threadbare wall to wall carpeting. Baldur pushed to have it tiled.
I do my best to avoid anything trendy and wanted something that would look rather timeless
The tile finally selected took everyone by surprise.
I selected 2" squares in a dull terra cotta orange and a dull deep slate grey.
We had a tile man come in and install it but I designed the pattern.
In the center is a diagonally laid checkerboard as groups of 4 tiles each, because each cluster of same colored tile is crisscrossed by grout lines the overall effect is almost an argyle pattern. Surrounding this is a single band of dark grey tile and beyond that is a bed of the terra cotta.
The grout itself is a rather beigish grey, it looked intentionally dirty from day one.
Because it's not done in harsh colors with high contrast it is rather serene.
That little floor would be equally at home in Victorian London, 1970s San Francisco or ancient Pompei.

Baldur

I enjoyed the site for the Wyatt house, the interior reminds me of my friend Frank's home.
May the gods preserve me from ever having a home that difficult to maintain. You really need a full domestic staff with something of that scale.

Baldur

The satyr rarely gets kissed, he is too high off the floor.

My daughter was quite the mistletoe maniac whe she was younger. She loved the idea and if you passed under a sprig of mistletoe she would bolt out of the blue to give you a kiss.
I should ask her if she has toned down at all.

marius

Dragon - very funny, "dragonish hoarding ways."

Login, interesting to find that Wyatt house would fit in English Landscape. My "knowlege cabinet" of architecture is amazingly bare. Thanks for insight.

Baldur, thanks - I'm getting a better picture of Chez Baldur. Seems your taste is more towards "museum" with much to enjoy, all tastefully and carefully done. Very much enjoyed your description of foyer and tile flooring too.

marius

Thought you would enjoy that website, Baldur. Not sure how much time or upkeep is required to maintain the house, but Jim and Jeff are the only two employed there. They are an interesting couple, originally from New Jersey. Both shared the dream of living in a Victorian home but prices back East were quite pricey. So, an internet search led them to the home and business they now own.

When they first arrived, Jeff, the Chef, got a job to keep things going while Jim spent two years restoring the house. (Well, both helped, but Jim is the decorator.) After the three private dining areas, a bath, the foyer and stairwell, one upstairs bedroom and garden areas were completed, Jim got a "regular" job too until their business picked up.

Last I heard the town has graced their establishment with plenty of business so both were able to quit fill-in work and now run the business full time. Happy for them - they've worked very hard on their dream.

marius

And hope Baldur's daughter has not given up her fervor for mistletoe! Bolting out of the blue to give a kiss is such a delightful picture in the mind.

Baldur

Well it's a cold, rainy day in Primrose.
Baldur lit the fireplace and baked a coupl pumpkin breads this afternoon.
I used pumpkin from last year that had been cooked, pureed and frozen

Baldur

+e +of

Baldur

They are delicious, though still warm and should not have been sliced yet.

Robindcr8l

Baldur, you'll be pleased to know that I, too, keep mistletoe up year-round, although mine is much more conspicuous in the archway between the living room and the kitchen. I started it many years ago when my son was little and we hung it for Christmas. He loved the idea, like your daughter, of surprising people with a kiss when they clearly forgot about the mistltoe. He enjoyed it so much, (and so did we) that I thought, "why is this only for Christmas??" So even when we moved, I continued the mistletoe in the new house. He is 12 now, and still like the occasional surprise kiss for his mom! He's a pretty affectionate kid. I, on the other hand, have been a "non-cuddler" my whole life. (I learned about this in psych 101 in college. They have shown that even in infancy, some babies do NOT like cuddling and will cry til you put them down, while others love cuddling and will cry until you comfort them in your arms. I have no memories of my infancy, but am pretty positive of which category I was in.) Anyway, poor kid, he is stuck with this cold b***h of a mom, whose instinct is to cringe and slither away from affection. I stave off my instinct and pretend to love the hugs and kisses so I won't leave him ounded for life, but in the meantime I have to sort of chant in my head "he's your son, it's ok, he's your son, it's ok." Sounds ridiculous, I know. It's truly just my nature. I've not ever been abused or anything environmentally that would account for the aversion. I can't even stand it at work when someone innocently puts a hand on my shoulder to get my attention. And those friendly HUGS!!! I practically need a sedative to get through it. Probably why I never got married. Imagine having to be in the reception line as the bride and not wanting to hug anyone! I think I hide my aversion fairly well, because I know people aren't TRYING to invade my space and it's my issue, not theirs. But eventually, once someone has been around me enough, I will make it known how much I hate to be touched and most of them respect my silly boundaries.

Marius, I loved that website. Made me want to move to Missouri, so I could enjoy an afternoon glass of wine a couple times a week with you (but no hello hugging, please), and an occasional fine dining experience with Chef Jeff, who, I suspect, would be a hugger. What really excited me about that was the cooking classes. Only $40 and it included all of the supplies, etc! I want to go, but alas, it's TODAY! If only I didn't have to work! My son is interested in cooking, and I would love to send him for some classes, but they only have one school here that is totally a gimmick for kids to learn to cook. I think all they teach is like spaghetti or something, and the classes are VERY expensive. I want him to learn all the basic skills like measuring and chopping, but also about blending flavors, etc. Then I want him to cook our meals!

Well, enough diarrhea of the mouth for me. I must try to get a little more sleep before my shift tonight. So far only 3 broken hours, and I don't think I'll last til 8am tomorrow. Bye for now!

Login

Robin, I saw a documentary, several years ago, on the subject of family affection and hugging or not hugging. It featured subjects who could not bear to be cuddled. It wasn't just about humans but about apes and monkeys as well. The common denominator amongst the subjects featured was that they were not immediately united with their mother at birth ... some had been in incubators, others had simply been rejected by their mother. Without exception, none wanted that close contact with others of their species.

I know someone who was born prematurely and spent some time in an incubater ... he can't stand being cuddled.

Login

Baldur, your foyer floor sounds very Victorian, the tiles being the same size and colour of many English Victorian 'hallways'. Almost every Victorian house that I've been in, the hallway tiling has been preserved, even if the rest of the house is modernised. In parts of the country where there are still many older houses, the Victorian tiles are in evidence on the front step and on the pathway to the gate.

marius

Robin - I don't think your touch issues are odd at all. Will write more later, but in the meanwhile I promise you, Robin, when you show up for that glass of wine - no hugs. Period. And Login, that's a neat bit of info you shared. Had not heard that before.

Baldur, it is good for the soul to cut breads before you are supposed to! Also how wonderful to have a fire in the fireplace. Not cold enough for it here - but will be later this week.