Architecture - Living Architecture

This is where I want to spend my holidays:

The Balancing Barn

Or maybe the Dune House

Or my favourite, the Shingle House.

What a fantastic concept from Living Architecture - high class design and materials, with buildings at one with their setting.  The result stylish, practical contemporary living, at a price most of us can afford for a few days at least.  And in the case of the Shingle House, just the place to write that novel I'm sure is inside me somewhere...

More details.

Poetry corner - A Marriage, R.S. Thomas

We met
under a shower
of bird-notes.
Fifty years passed,
love's moment
in a world in
servitude to time.
She was young;
I kissed with my eyes
closed and opened
them on her wrinkles.
'Come', said death,
choosing her as his
partner for
the last dance.  And she,
who in life
had done everything
with a bird's grace,
opened her bill now
for the shedding
of one sigh no
heavier than a feather.

Architecture - The Brick House

Modern architecture often disappoints or infuriates , with cost efficiencies driving physical production, poor use of shoddy materials and lazy design commonplace.   And yet it can all be so different.

I came across this building online recently.  

I confess I'd never heard of Philip Johnson, but his "Brick House" I find inspiring and, for a building with only three windows, all on one side of the house, astounding.  The vaulting is reminiscent of medieval construction.

Built as a guest annex for another of his creations, the "Glass House", the structure just delights me.  I'd certainly like to visit, if not live there.  It illustrates what happens when architects think 'outside the box'.  

50 Words for Snow

Ah, the start of December.  Autumn has passed and the days are short.

At this time of the year I often find myself in a slightly self-indulgent, melancholic mood and my music choices seem to either reflect this or at the other extreme - cheerful, breezy and foot-tapping.  My current listening is very much the former:

A beautiful, haunting album.  People tend to love or hate Kate Bush's music and I can see it's an acquired taste, but I absolutely love it.  

Book of the week - The Magic Of Reality

I'm a big fan of Richard Dawkins.  Although I can't quite bring myself to agree with his views on religion, I'm 99% persuaded.  I just can't get rid of that 1% of me that loves the routine and tradition of the Christian tradition.  Perhaps it's a legacy of my upbringing and culture more than actual belief?

Anyway, my book of the week is The Magic of Reality.  A superb, accessible, simple yet not simplistic introduction to the fundamentals of science.  Each chapter deals with the myths around one of the 'big questions', then goes on to answer the question using known science.  Fantastic.

My favourite things - Esther Horchner Tea Cups

A few months back I bought a set of four Esther Horchner tea cups and they're still making me smile now.

Made of beautifully white porcelain, and with matching tea spoons, they manage to make my mid-evening cups of Earl Grey even more enjoyable.

They're still available here: Esther Horchner Tea Cups