Displaying posts from October, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!

If you’d like to send us photos to include in next week’s “pets on furniture” post, please ensure your photos follow our basic rules: First, the pet must be on a piece of furniture. And said piece of furniture must be clearly visible in the photo, so both pet and furniture takes centre stage. (Think of it more of a photo of a great piece of furniture…and your pet happens to be sitting on it). And second, the photo must be of decent quality. For example, if it’s REALLY dark or fuzzy (camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks!

“Attached is a picture I thought I might send your way. This is our new kitten, Finn, and he seems particularly fond of our dining room chairs. Hope you like it!“
– Adriane

“This is Solomon pondering the meaning of it all from the arm of my sofa. It’s been dubbed “Doily Sofa” after my desperate attempt to repair a week’s worth of sudden and obsessive claw sharpening, (his, not mine). You do kind of question things in general while sitting on the floor sewing tea-stained doilies to a couch. But it did work, Solomon never scratched it again. And in the meantime, it’s opened up an entire doily universe to me. I had no idea how many people out there have been repurposing all those little crocheted snowflakes.“
– Amy

“This is Bosco, in a moment of actually being a good girl for once. She is on our well worn, but still beloved leather couch.“
– Rachel

“Just in time for Halloween. My halloween cat on his pumpkin chair. We found the chair at a consignment shop. Matches Big Charlie perfectly. At least that’s what he thinks.“
– Rachael

“…so i’m sending in my sweet puppy, apple. she’s 5 but still acts like a puppy, forever and ever i hope. she follows me everywhere i go. that is, unless she’s sitting on that couch. then i’m not sure that she cares where i am at all. the couch is really only allowed for special occasions now because i think she might love it just as much (if not more) than me. 🙂“
-Amanda

“Our dog Gertrude (Gertie) is featured in this photo. She is our fun loving miniature schnauzer who gets away with being bad sometimes because she is so cute. In this picture I caught her one morning sun-bathing on the couch.“
– Kristin

“Submitted for your approval, 2 pics of my dear cat, Mister Boots doing what he loves to do best (besides prowl and hunt). He enjoys a rather idyllic lifestyle.“
– MV

“Here’s a photo of Boondock in my daughter’s mirrored chest in her Birmingham, AL loft. Boondock was rescued from the Birmingham Animal Shelter. My daughter picked him out because he was the ugliest cat there and she thought he had little chance of being rescued. As you can see, he turned out to be beautiful with a little tender loving care!“

Here is another photo of Boondock. The previous photo that I sent had a bad flash glare. I thought this one might be better. He loved hanging out in her loft in Birmingham and has turned into a beautiful, spoiled cat! Plus he has really cool orange eyes!
– Kathi

“For inclusion in your pets on furniture series. Here’s my rescue dog, Midge, enjoying a nap…err, being irritated that I woke her up from her nap to snap a photo of her… on a too small for her Victorian chair.“
– Libby

“I am submitting photos of my cats for your pets on furniture series (all formerly Marrakech street cats). I know the last two don’t really fit but don’t want any jealousies! The first two photos were taken by a Swedish photographer called Katerina Malmstrom.“
– Marilyn

“Here are two photos of our cat Marty-Pants sitting on a 60s mustard footstool, in front of a teal mid century clam chair. Thanks for considering it for your “pets on furniture” post, which I am very much enjoying.“
– Melly

“I know the piece of furniture it’s not clearly visible, but I could not fail to send this photo of my cat Amelie, she is 17 months old now, but in this photo she was just about seven, and this big chair in our office is one of her favourite spots.Hope you enjoy it!“
– Catarina
***note: although this photo does break the rules, I could not resist.

I’d like to dedicate this post to Seymour, one the strays I’ve been feeding for over a year. Seymour had serious eye problems (they were very goopy) and I decided I had better get him to the vets before winter came (Friends of Abandoned Pets, a local rescue organization, agreed to help with costs). He went in on Wednesday and the news was very grim. He had FIV, or AIDS in cats, and a very severe case. This would make it impossible for him to be adopted and he would not live a full life, so we decided to have him put down. He was such a sweetie, and really good-natured, so it was really hard knowing he would not have the life he deserved. (I must also point out that Seymour was owned by a complete asshole down the street who didn’t give a damn about his cats. I learned a couple days ago that he was recently evicted. 18 cats were found in his home, and 3 dead ones. Lesson to be learned here – if you can’t be responsible for pets then DO NOT HAVE THEM).

That was a very very sad day for me, but the next day something magical happened. A “feral” cat I’ve been feeding for a few months who never let me get more than 20 feet from it, suddenly let me pet her (yep, seems she’s a female, so I’ve named her Eleanor), and it turns out she’s a big baby and loves cuddling. She’s locked up in my bathroom right now (it’s REALLY cold out) and FOAP has agreed to get her in to see a vet as well. If the vet visit goes well I will be responsible for finding Eleanor a new home.

This story better have a happy ending.

… about a getaway destination. No 5 star luxury for me this time. Just views and friends and water and maybe some fishing. If I’m lucky there will be power and facilities. If I’m even luckier there won’t be. Lanterns and wood stoves and solar panels. I’ve been real estate stalking again. First house here and the others here and here.

So too much rough and not enough luxe? The first one at least has electricity but these next two? Just what you can pull from the sun… if you need it. I love the idea of a boat in with only what you can carry in and out. I think I’d spend the first day cleaning though. Actually the second day. The first would be swimming and exploring.

WINKS – weekend links. Here we list what has come in during the week, things we’ve found and things we think you’ll want to see. If you’d like to see your blog or website featured email us and if we think it fits with our readers we’ll link you. So what’s in this week?

• Alischa from Bespoke Press“I wanted to let you know about a super exciting project we have launched today. Its called the Bespoke Letterpress Illustrators Project and in a nutshell we have commissioned 10 young emerging illustrators from across the globe to illustrate a 3 colour illustration for us – they are now part of a select team of Bespoke Illustrators and we hope to be able to help promote them and their emerging careers through the lovely land of letterpress. We are also having an online sale as well as running a competition for one lucky winner to win the complete collection of all ten prints! That’s Au$650 worth, or US$560 worth of letterpress loveliness!” These are gorgeous! You can find more information about the project and the giveaway here. My favourite? The Smell Of The Sea by Inês Fernandes. Entries close soon but you still have time.
• New from Gecko Stickers – side tables, lamps and candlesticks. Acrylic meets sticker. Taking the decal up a notch



• Dear Santa, I’m letting you know super early that I’d really really like this Coral and Turquoise Beaded Hat from Pagoda Red’s warehouse sale. I’m a sucker for ethnic pieces in the home and this will go very nicely on the hall table. Thanks Santa!



• Loving these quintessential French architect lamps. The Lampe Gras, designed by Bernard-Albin Gras, can claim the distinction of being not only the original architect lamp, but the favorite of the godfather of modern architecture himself, Le Corbusier. So the spiel from Brook Farm General Store goes. LOVE these. Want these. Available in the bricks and mortar store in Brooklyn, NY, or shop online.



• In contemporary design, less is more. That’s the idea behind the Minimal Beauty Collection by MGS. Simple shapes, stainless steel and sexy. Can faucets have you salivating?



• Lovely crafty goodness for your little ones (or even you) by Madeleine Sargent at Made by Mosey. I’m smitten with her Flutter Mobiles but her hankie quilts and bunting are too cute too. Etsy store here.

It’s been a bit of a rough week (more on that on Monday), but I’d like to end of the week on a good note. Some photos from the portfolio of one of Sweden’s most established international photographers will do quite nicely (and since we’re on such a Swedish kick). “Though Magnus Marding is an international photographer in every aspect, there is also a very distinct Nordic touch – a certain cleanness, intimacy, simplicity and timeless yet modern beauty“. Exactly.