Our House at the end of our Street (VIII)

What do you get when you combine a terrarium and a kitchen? Sheer bliss. This is our favorite room in the house: our kitchen. Yet, when we bought our home in 2005, it was not fit for consumption. Fast-forward two years - floor-to-ceiling windows were installed to replace floor-to-ceiling vinyl (the latter being responsible for instant indigestion). And not a minute too soon. Today, this is where we eat, cook and do homework, plus discuss the day's trials and tribulations while enjoying a slightly voyeuristic view of the urban promenade...

And two gratuitous views into the dining-room, as the light was perfect....

Chateaux and Manors

While on the subject of location-scouting, I visited the 1st Options website, and then promptly needed First Aid. No amount of blood pressure pills, Spirits of Camphor, calm-your-nerves elixirs (or even hormone tablets) could prepare me for... Chateau Castelnau, near Le Fousseret, Haute Garonne, France:

Or... The Manor, Oxford:

 All images (and soooooo many more) at 1ST Options

Frozen in Time...

Extraordinary ice sculpture by set designer and art director, Rhea Thierstein for Vogue...

Photography by Tim Walker

School Room Convert

The entire top floor (elephantine proportions) of a classic Victorian school - formerly the gym and assembly hall. One of many unique locations in England filled with one-of-a-kind props, available for film and still shoots...

Via Rydeng and JJLocations

Lisbon

From the most sumptuous palaces to the markedly seedier precincts, Michael Eastman finds the most compelling corners of any city. This time... Lisbon.

Mirrored Door

Throne Room

Alter

Stage

Traffic Light

Three Doors

Facade

Open Window

Palace Stairwell

Open Door

All images by Michael Eastman

Our House at the end of our Street (VII)

My poor long-suffering desk literally groans with the weight of knickknacks and baubles. So much for me ever doing any productive work there. Instead, my computer is constantly on my lap contributing to varicose veins and lack of circulation. And don't even mention the dusting...

I must say I am feeling particularly nostalgic and sentimental about the house, as it is on the market. So, snapped these photographs (in a frenzy, lest I forget an inch) over the weekend in varying degrees of light...

Through the Looking Glass (XXXII)

Candy Bar from The Other America via here