Thank You For Giving

With 60 degree temperatures outside and yellow leaves still clinging to branches, it's hard to believe that most of us will be sitting down at the table with our family and friends tomorrow for that much anticipated meal of all meals.  For Bubble & Squeak, 2011 has been an incredible year, but one that would not have been as rewarding if it weren't for you, our readers.  This Thanksgiving we want to take a moment to thank you all for your support during our first year in the blogosphere. Thank you for all of the wonderful comments we've received in person and online.  We blog because we love to, but your comments keep us going every day.  Thank you to all of our guest bloggers for sharing your dreams with our readers and for letting us into your homes. You've taught us that cabins come in many shapes, sizes, and locales, but the thing that makes a cabin a cabin, are the family and friends within.  And lastly, we want to extend a very special thank you to our own family and friends. Your faithful love and encouragement over the years keeps us motivated and we're truly thankful for all of your support.  

We know that you're in for a very busy weekend, but we hope that you can find a moment to thank the ones in your life who have loved and supported you along your journey.

Happy Thanksgiving from Bubble & Squeak!  

1. "Wild Turkey Female" from "The Birds of America" folio collection by John James Audubon

1.  Barbour
2.  Redwing Wabasha Hand Sewn Boots

1. Autumn in Scotland

2. Drawing Room at Sandringham House, Norfolk, UK

1. Jacques Garcia

2. Antique Louis XVI Style Leather Dining Chairs Available at Blend Interiors

1. The World of Interiors

2. Still Life with Turkey Pie by G. Vervoorn

1. Festival Linen Napkin by Sferra Fine Linens

2. Pewter Pheasant Sauce Bowl by Vagabond House

1. English Country Interiors: Inside Cotswold Homes
2. "The Wild Turkey" from "The Birds of America" folio collection by John James Audubon 

1. Bedroom at Skylands by Martha Stewart

2. Andrew Reflector Wall Sconce Designed by Mark Maresca for The Urban Electric Company

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It's All In The Wrist

10 October 1996

With each bump in the winding road we leap in tandem with the ladders and buckets in the bed of Grandpa's old truck.  I remember the day he bought this old thing.  The salesman who sold it to him said it would run forever, and it has.  The smell of country air fills the cab with thoughts of the last time I made this journey.  It was twenty-four years ago, and I was barely tall enough to see over the dashboard.  "Hey kiddo, have you ever been apple picking before?"  "No," I said.  "Well, pay attention 'cause you're about to learn a couple of secrets.  First, it's all in the wrist.  You've got to twist them off, not pull them.  Otherwise, you'll get a face-full of branches.  Second, stay away from the rotten ones, or you'll end up with a fist-full of applesauce.  And lastly, but most importantly, do NOT drop them into the buckets, lay them down gently.  Grandma refuses to make pies with bruised apples."  "Okay," I said, trying to imagine what an apple with a black-eye would look like.  

A crash from the buckets in back brings me back to the present just as a tiny voice beside me pleads, "Don't bruise the apples Daddy, Nana won't make any pies!"   

1.  1966 GMC Pickup

2.  Ramsey House Plantation, Knoxville, Tennessee

1.  Trashness

2.  19th Century Dutch Hand-Hammered Brass Pot

1.  Martin Pierce Bronze Hedgerow Hardware

2.  Martha Stewart

3.  Bars Quilt Cupboard by Jim Rose, available at Ann Nathan Gallery

1.  The World of Interiors

2.  Ina Garten's Deep-Dish Apple Pie

1.  L.L. Bean Braided Wool Rug

2.  The World of Interiors

3.  19th Century Chinese Wooden Bowl, available at Pagoda Red

1.  The World of Interiors

2.  Folding Travel Clock with Leather Case


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Greener Pastures

We heard a rumor that Spring arrived this week, but Old Man Winter just won't give up.  We're so ready for our second favorite season of the year to begin (second only to Fall) because there is a real feeling in the air that something is about to happen.  Each evening the sun stays up for just a little bit longer, spring bulbs are starting to pop up in the most unexpected places and branches that have remained dormant all winter are now exhibiting signs of life.  This is the time of year when we pack up our sweaters, open the windows to let the fresh air in and give the house (and our minds) a good cleaning.  Here's hoping that this April's showers bring you plenty of figurative flowers.

1.  Welford Park

2.  Dayna Decker wood wick candles

3.  Tommy Ton's Street Style

1.  English lead planters, Lincolnshire, England

2.  Caravaggio, Narcissus, 1599

3.  White Narcissus

1.  Filoli House, Woodside, California 

2.  Anchor Division

3.  Frank Roop

1.  Pink Magnolias

2.  Perrier-Jouët champagne

3.  Miles Redd

1.  Thomas Jayne Studio

2. Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877

3.  Col. Littleton, purveyor of fine accoutrements in the Americana tradition
4.  Thomas O'Brien

1 & 3. Martha Stewart 

2.  William Yeoward Fern pattern stemware

1.  Steven Gambrel

2.  Aries terracotta urn at Treillage by Bunny Williams

3.  Semper Augustus Tulip


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A Call To Action...

Contrary to its name, the Living Room is a rarely lived in room...and we're blaming the baby-boomer generation for this sin.  How many of us grew up in households where we were forbidden to enter into the living room, for fear of our mother's wrathful storm? During the 18th and 19th centuries, the living room (or drawing room as it was sometimes referred to) was THE social gathering space in the home where ladies spent hours embroidering and gentlemen spent hours watching the ladies embroider.  Skip ahead 100 years and our parents, albeit unknowingly, have artificially changed our communal instincts and forced us to take refuge in the kitchens, and dare we say, basements of our youth.  We, for two, will not stand by this unnatural migration.  At our cabin, we want our daily regimen to revolve around a grande "old school" living room where we lounge about sipping tea in style or entertain guests in a glamorous setting surrounded by our favorite finds without fear of mucking anything up.  So, now's the time generation X, Y, Next or whatever they're calling us these day, to stand up and take back the living quarters that were so forcibly stolen from us. It's okay...step into your living room, remove those plastic cushion covers, flop down on the sofa and take it all in...it's the civilized thing to do.  
(P.S. We still love you Mom.)

1.  Spring at the cabin

2.  The perfect cup of tea

3.  A Minneapolis penthouse by Andrew Flesher

1. J.K Hotel, Florence, Italy

2.  RL Restaurant, Chicago

3.  Vintage round bench upholstered in blue velvet, Jayson Home & Garden

1.  J.K Hotel, Florence, Italy

2.  Kotsuis and Hohhuq – Nakoaktok, Photograph by Edward Curtis, c. 1907

3.  Leather club chairs, French, c. 1930's

1.  Silver plated shoe cufflinks, Paul Smith

2.  Astor Courts, Rhinebeck, New York  (check out that fireplace!!!)

1.  Easton Square, London drawing room by Michael S. Smith

2.  Oriental Salon at Axel Vervoordt's Castle, Belgium  

3.  "Cinnabar" glazed garden stool, Pagoda Red

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The Plan, take one

In our absence, we've been busy planning, drawing and dreaming.  We've come up with a rough (although it was drawn in CAD) plan.  And to get this whole thing started, we're sharing the first couple of rooms.  The drawing below shows the Entry, Foyer and the combined Living Room and Library.

Keep in mind that this plan will be evolving and changing over the life of this project, as suggestions come in from our readers and as our own ideas change. Every journey needs a beginning.. right!?  What you're seeing above is the front entry with a coat closet. As you enter, you'll step up into the proper foyer with a graceful staircase to the left, and a powder room to the right.  Ahead, you enter the living room and adjacent library, each with it's own welcoming fireplace. The living room and library will be separated by a deep coffered archway. More on the design of that and other details later!

Below are several images we've collected as inspiration for this project (our apologies in advance that we didn't record the source of each image.  Going forward we'll be better about this).  Of course if you're at all familiar with the scale of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire's entrance to Chatsworth's private rooms, the scale is impressive and possibly a bit too grande for us, but the general feeling is something we're attracted to.  It's casual and elegant.  P.S.--We're keeping our fingers crossed that some variation of that red tufted sofa makes it way into the real cabin some day.

The Foyer:

The Living Room & Library:

Because this whole blogging thing is new to us, we're just beginning to see how this is going to pan out.  Layouts may change over the next couple of weeks in an attempt to make things better, but the concept will remain the same.  We'll be posting the latest drawing/plan of the cabin with a few inspiration images and the following posts will address different aspects of that plan.  For example, above we've included  an image of a red tufted sofa, so the next post we have lined up will address tufting...chairs, sofas, ottomans, etc...  All in hopes of inspiring our readers and helping us to understand our future cabin's identity.  

Until next time...

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