Monday, March 31, 2014

Get ready to be jealous.....BODIE and FOU★ Le Blog | Effortless chic | French Interiors | Inspiring Design

Get ready to be jealous. Take a look at this beautiful home in the link below. Now if only I had more than 415 sq ft (the 15ft is really important :-). Enjoy or just be jealous and annoyed .....


BODIE and FOU★ Le Blog | Effortless chic | French Interiors | Inspiring Design: A soothing, modern country style home

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Say hello to this little guy and a little more about his creator Sir Terence Conran....



Sir Terance Conran was born in Kingston Upon Thames, (american readers google this).  He studied in London at what has since been incoporated into Central St martins, where he focused on Textiles and other materials.

Conran's first professional work came when he worked in the Festival of Britain on the main South Bank site. He left college to take up a job with Dennis Lennon's architectural company, which had been commissioned to make a 1/4 scale interior of a Princess Flying Boat.
Conran started his own design practice in 1956 with the Summa furniture range and designing a shop for Mary Quant. In 1964, he opened the first Habitat shop in Chelsea with his third wife (he wasn’t just busy designing apparently) Caroline Herbert, which grew into a large chain selling household goods and furniture in contemporary designs. In the mid-1980s, Conran expanded Habitat into the Storehouse plc group of companies that included but in 1990 he lost control of the company. His later retail companies include the Conran Shop and FSC-certified wood furniture maker Benchmark Furniture, which he co-founded with Sean Sutcliffe in 1983.

The Conran store used to have a presence here in New York both a stand alone store and then in the basement of ABC kitchen and home. That was a great closing down sale im telling you!  However it is sad that it is no longer represented here in NY (apart from JCP which is somewhat of a weird coupling but im not complaining when you get to have amazing british design at amazing prices)






Another example of Conran's work at JCP.  Go check it out.  There is some amazing pieces.....



He has also been involved in architecture and interior design, including establishing the architecture and planning consultancy Conran Roche with Fred Roche in 1980. Projects include Michelin House (which he turned into the restaurant Bibendum) and the Bluebird Garage both in Chelsea (London not new york, a lot less gay and prettier :-). This used to be one of my favorite places in London to eat and shop (when you felt flush, kind of like a whole foods with a fancy restaurant and cafĂ© attached)http://www.bluebird-restaurant.co.uk/

Conran currently has a design company covering brand and interior designers and architects, working on projects all over the world. Terence currently designs furniture for Marks & Spencer, JCPenney, Content by Conran, Benchmark and The Conran Shop.Terence has written over 50 books that broadly reflect his design philosophy, selling over 25 million copies worldwide. The majority of these books were published by Conran Octopus,  a division of Octopus Publishing Group, a cross-platform illustrated book publisher founded by Sir Terence and Paul Hamlyn
Check out conran.com for more information and too see more of his great work and here is a look at his M&S range.  Another great British institution that i adore!






Conran Lighting and Accessories, Spring 2014 from Conran on Vimeo.



Isn't this thing I put on top of it cool?  Its a magnifying glass set up that is usually used for making fly's for fly fishing.  You know the intricate colored thing that they put on the end of the line when fishing to attract the fish.  Its currently magnifying a beautiful feather.  Love it! 

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Its almost spring....get in the garden



Hi ! So i get an email from my wonderful neighbor saying that google is getting rid of a bunch of boxwoods this sunday morning.  Madeleine like me is thrifty (cheap) so we went over and managed to gather as many as we could and bring them home.  Fate would have it that a very friendly cabbie let us load up his boot and he didn't seem too worried about the dirt, which is a rarity!


Here they are, a little bedraggled but who isn't after the winter.  The main thing is to get them in the ground and cozy until true spring. Its going to drop again monday so don't want them to get frost damage.


A good deep hole for now and then a good covering of dirt to keep them cozy.  Box wood don't actually like to be too deep as they have shallow roots so maybe next weekend i will uncover a little bit, if the weather does change.  Then they will get a good feed and a prune before they start spring growth.  Should really have been pruned at the end of summer/beginning of winter but they are pretty hardy and slow growing so can put up with a good deal.  Nice boot shot i thought as well...

Recommended Monitoring for Boxwood

Late Winter
Remove leaves from center of plants where they tend to collect.
Prune out winter damaged branches. Thin crowns as necessary. Sample for
Phytophthora root disease and soil nutrient levels and pH if decline symptoms are evident. Apply horticultural oil to suppress psyllids and mites.

Early Spring
Fertilize and amend pH based on soil test reports. Apply fungicide soil drench if Phytophthora root rot is present. Monitor for psyllids, mites and leafminers. Treat as needed. Excavate mulch from root collars and add finely ground pine bark mulch to root zone as needed.

Mid Spring
Monitor for psyllids, mites and leafminers. Treat as needed. Monitor irrigation and soil moisture levels to prevent water stress and suppress root disease.

Early Summer
Monitor for spider mites and treat as needed. Monitor irrigation and soil moisture levels to prevent water stress and suppress root disease. Sample for nematodes if this pest is suspected.

Mid Summer
Re-apply fungicide drench if Phytophthora root rot is present. Monitor for spider mites and treat as needed. Monitor irrigation and soil moisture levels to prevent water stress and suppress root disease.

Late Summer 
Monitor for spider mites and treat as needed. Monitor irrigation and soil moisture levels to prevent water stress and suppress root disease.

Fall
Apply finely ground pine bark mulch to root system as needed. Fertilize and adjust pH as specified in soil test report. Erect burlap barriers to protect against desiccation on exposed sites. Apply irrigation as necessary to ensure adequate soil moisture before soil freezes in order to minimize winter injury. Apply systemic insecticide if desired to reduce the level of sucking insects and leafminers next year. 

Heres a handy PDF of this info if you so need it..


Yes an action shot.  Photo credit my amazing downstairs neighbor Madeleine.  I take any opportunity to wear plaid and get muddy.


In they go.  Heres a little more basic info on boxwood .  Not the bad edging on the little path to the right of the photo.


So they look a little brown and old but finger crossed i can get them back to life. I finished up the brick edging as well on the little path to nowhere, and also got to see all the great bulbs coming up, well the ones i didn't chop in half.  Im not the most cautious digger!  I think once they are cleaned up a little more and come to life we should be good. The 2 little guys on the left of the photo were planted last spring (i think) and are doing really well so hope fully this will look great.  Stay tuned....
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...