Barrington Court Somerset England

I am often drawn to old architectures and gardens. Again, this was another exciting visit with Andrew to the old era, a known garden in Somerset, England.

The Manor house that stands at Barrington Court is believed to have been completed by 1560; its design combines pure Gothic style with a French Renaissance influence. The delightful garden was designed in 1917 using planting plans by the famous landscape gardener Gertrude Jekyll, the gardens are laid out in the Arts & Crafts style.

The formal parts of the Gardens are divided into a series of walled 'rooms' including White garden, the Rose and Iris garden and the Lily garden. The kitchen garden has apple, pear and plum trees trained along its high stone walls.

I didn't get to have my afternoon tea at Barrington Court!

click on image to enlarge

for more info on Barrington Court

www.nationaltrust.org.uk

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Stourhead Gardens

Cameron Highlands

Knightshayes Court

LIFE: Making a Memorable Wedding Entrance!

Oh My God!

This is for sure a memorable
wedding entrance!
A traditional wedding with a liberal twist!

WHERE do I get my flowers?

Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers
feed also the soul.

~ The Koran ~

Fresh flowers have great fragrances and they are beautiful to look at. Flowers do make your soul feel good!

Since ancient time, flowers have been used to express love. Today, we send flowers for celebration such as weddings, birthdays, new offices, graduations and retirements; or get-well wishes to someone in the hospital or someone lost a special one.

Floral arrangement is an art. It is a serious art in Japan especially. I often enjoy getting my flowers from the flower market and make my own arrangements, but it is very time consuming and humanly impossible to make your own floral arrangement each time you have to send someone flowers. Time is limited living in a city such as Manhattan, so one has to know a florist whom you could call and count on when needed to send beautiful flowers.

Bloom Flower in Manhattan, takes floral arrangement very seriously. And all the flower arrangements are so dramatic, artistic and captivating. Below are just a few floral arrangements from Bloom Flower. For more details go to www.bloomflower.com or call 212 832 8094 and ask for Kim Terrone.

click on image to enlarge

TRAVEL: Pantre Pant, Jamaica (Caribbean)

Jamaica is a perfect place to escape from New York City especially in the winter time. There are many daily flights from NYC, 3/12 hours you are landed on a totally different land (takes 6 hours to LA from NYC). Most people visit Jamaica for the beautiful beaches. There are indeed a few beautiful mountain resorts.

I had the opportunity to visit Pantre Pant a few times, one of Chris Blackwell's private properties in Jamaica. The main house on this hilly land is a little English cottage built around 18th century. This hilly property is surrounded by blue mountains, hills rolling from one end to the other, tropical birds chirping and butterflies are everywhere, cows and goats roaming on the hillsides, the trees are so green and the air is so fresh. A great paradise to escape from the real world!

As I was walking around the property, I took some of these pictures ...

click on image to enlargeclick on image to enlargeclick on image to enlargeFor more info on Jamaica contact:
http://www.visitjamaica.com/

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Kelantan Malaysia
Hanoi, Vietnam
Okehampton, England

Living A Beautiful Life

Elements oF Style: Summer Window Box

Window boxes always get my attention. Some are beautiful and some are not so charming. I went for a saunter in my neighborhood this week and came across some of these window boxes.

A window box definitely will add warmth to your home and curb appeal, it helps to create focal point for a not-so-attractive architecture. A great window box needs to balance with greenery and flowers; a nursery or landscape expert could help you to create a beautiful window box. To compliment your windows, window box needs to have various textures, height, scale and of course colors palette.

Experts' Tips & Warnings on caring window boxes

• water window box plants often, as they tend to dry out quickly.
• Display window box where there is morning sun and partial shade during the afternoon. This will protect the flowers from extreme heat.
• Fertilized weekly with a water based fertilizer such as miracle grow.
• Pinch off spent blooms as needed.
  

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Architecture - Entrance Facade

Windows & Doors

Toothpick Architecture

Van Day Truex - The Man Who Defined 20th Century Taste & Style

Van Day Truex is widely regarded as the father of 20th American design. Under his leadership, Parsons School of Design became one of the most influential schools in interior design and fashion in United States, and his legacy as the Art Director of Tiffany & Co which "he transformed into a model of unprecedented style and grace."

1904 - 1979

" No one influences American interior design
more than Van Day Truex."
Albert Hadley.

I admired his impeccable taste and inspired by his timeless interior design. Below are some pictures of his interior works between 1940s and 50s, and they still look fresh in 2009!

An assortment of True designs produced for
Tiffany & Co

I recommend this magnificent book.

You can get it at

amazon.com,

Barnes & Noble or

Strand Book Store.

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Elsie de Wolfe
Mid-Century Furniture
Before & After

Sunset

" When I admire the wonder of a sunset

or the beauty of the moon,
my soul expands in worship of the Creator"
Mahatma Gandhi 1869 - 1948

~ Sunset in Manhattan, New York ~
my favorite Central Park

" Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly,
and do every day what should be done,
and every sunset will see you that much nearer the goal."
Elbert Hubbard 1856 -1915

~ Sunset at Angkor Wat, Cambodia ~
watching sunset with many other tourists ...


" What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which run across the grass
and loses itself in the sunset."
Crowfoot
~ Sunset at Oyster Bay, New York ~
at the sail boat sipping wine and watching sunset....

~ Sunset at Southey Farm, Devon, England ~
walking across the meadows, caught a glimpse of sunset ....

~ Sunset at The Strait of Malacca, Malaysia ~
on a cruise ship along the Strait ...

All photograph from

Christopher Ong