Summer and Beach house hues

We are home and ready for 2013

rested 

and looking forward to what the year holds for us

It is going to be a good one!

 I can feel it in my bones

 We spent our summer break in Vermont 

at the beach house,

 where friends pop in and out

some stay over night, or a few days,

others  take the boardwalk home..

Friends from up country that visited us here for the first time, remarked that our home  was not "typical" beach house style

which surprised me..

what is typical beach house style?

old weathered painting~market find

not much has changed since we moved here in 2000
 13 years ago..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I still tuck a little olive branch on arrival behind the Oath of Hippocrates Plaque 
found years ago in Skiathos~Greece

actually, it was the first purchase for our beach house.

the olive trees, that is another story...

  
I still collect old chrystals
and hang them from the iron chandelier 
  

For us personally, 

we like to bring the colors and textures we see and feel outside here on this beautiful stretch of the coast, into our home ..

unplanned, yet in a way expected.

 old hand colored engravings in white washed frames

 the table cannot be moved,

 not a inch..it is cast on site 

from cement and sea sand..

always adding old hemp and linen of course..

 in fact, of the few items added continuously,
stones, shells, etched pieces of glass
driftwood and pebbles for paths 

 are allso the faded linen covered books
collected at  Hermanus Village weekend markets

  gift from me to our books..

new etBLANC bookends, slip cast from the originals

 found at Amboise ~ Place du Marche.

also et BLANC: French ladies plaque in Baroque frame
for the curves of the frame 
remind me of a breaking wave

shells and driftwood ..

 as for the necessary..

 simple, open and practical arrangements 
  to make it comfortable 
 for all who visit to help themselves
and to be at home here

linen and cotton throws for sudden cool sea breezes

easy and uncomplicated 
to focus on what matters when we are here,

nature, time to relax, to listen, to hear...
to do nothing important,  yet most fulfilling
making it VERY important indeed

 

 shell project: collecting shells on daily walks to string and add to the outside shower...

collected from here: 

BREKFIS BAAI ~ VERMONT

with kelp waving back and forth in the sea

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

visiting our friends

just over an hour's drive further south 

to the most southern point of Africa

 happy  colors of the trawlers lying in the harbour at Struisbaai next to l'Agulhas

so random moving side to side with the tide

This image appears different every day..

since it depends on the time they arrive back from sea,

how the light falls on the blue sea and the changes in the sky

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I adore how the fishermen choose 

the bright colors for their boats..

I can just imagine the contemplation when standing there at the local hardware store..

choosing what will become recognised

 by family from ashore..

 waiting for the catch of the day

time to pause...

Cape l'Agulhas

 Dd and our friends, each with their own thoughts,

below them the very tip of Africa
 where two oceans meet

The Indian  and the Atlantic Oceans

time at the beach house allow for

impromptu meals with friends...

sharing the catch of the day at a harbour cafe

and the best of all, even after years, 

the excitement on arrival , 

the smell of kelp and taste of salty sea air,
the cry of the seagulls,

the cool breezes from the sea,

 the colors, oh the colors

will always make us go back again, and again ...

Boardwalk to Brekfis Baai

to the natural hues we see here

 so many different shades
sea colors of blue and washed,
lime stone and caramel 

foamy white and pale,
misty, grey,  green,moody,
even charcoal  and loud 
unpredictable in it's sameness..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I guess blue and white are the  "typical" beach house colors...true

then we have never had the typical beach house..

 for us it is in all it's hues taken from what we bring in as we collect from the source...bit by bit

inevitable that colors echo what is outside

and

the gifts bestowed on us from visiting  friends
 fit in perfectly with the hues here

                         LUNA porcelain t light holders

this is our beach house...

always the same, hues may brighten or lighten

but most importantly

we leave here, refreshed, loved and lucky - oh so lucky in a GOOD way


"Luck or chance is fortune (whether bad or good) which occurs beyond one's control, without regard to one's will,intention or desired result.  In the prescriptive sense, luck is a supernatural and deterministic concept that there are forces (e.g. gods or spirits) which prescribe that certain events occur very much the way laws of physics will prescribe that certain events occur."
~ wikipedia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ must be the physics of the Ocean with all it's mystical  force and spirit in it's depths that calms us as we open ourselves to it's offerings, smells and movement.
 Never the same, yet always  majestically present .

therefore we are influenced
 by it's complete palette of hues...

wishing you all a truly blessed

and lucky( in a good way)

  2013 

Colette 

more posts on our beach house:
*here,
*here,
*here,
 *here    
and *here