We love this modern trellis idea, installed on the North Wall of the new Art Museum annex in Fairmount, a center city neighborhood in Philadelphia. The creeping honeysuckle vine  has grown significantly since last year when the building was completed. Sadie and Lily walk in this area nearly every day. The new garage at the Art Museum is also complete, topped with a lovely garden, infinity view of Fairmount park trails, and a sculpture garden. Sadie gets to run off-leash on top of the garage. She runs around all of the new art works, Lily tries to catch her, but she can’t because her sidekick Sadie is a speedy demon.

MM & RY 2009

When Sadie and Lily crash from exhaustion, they really do crash. Here is Sadie sprawled out with the little chickie toy where she left it when she finally fell asleep for her nap. It’s right there, ready for her to grab when she wakes up. Every surface in our home is covered with a blanket like Sadie’s that signals to the dogs it’s acceptable for them to hang out in that spot. We call the blankets “fluffs,” and they are in a near constant state of laundering and rotation on the various furnishings around the house. The one in the photo is the Lion. There’s a giant lion image in the center of the blanket. We have a blue flower, a solid red patch, and a mexican pattern, and a green ivy print all in the mix. Sadie and Lily are known rule-breakers, however, so we have to remind them that they lounge in a pretty high degree of comfort when they break into rooms that are off limits (almost every day), jump on beds that have not been made (that’s Lily’s naughtiness), and climb onto chairs with no blankets (All Sadie, all day long).

MM & RY 2009 

Here is a glimpse of the last bit of our container garden remaining in bloom. There are some white begonias planted in our favorite pot, hand decorated by a dear friend years ago. It stands on a table on our roof, catching all the sunlight fall has left to offer. Sadie and Lily lounge underneath that table for much of the sunniest afternoons. They simply love the views and breeze, sounds and smells. We are eager to make better use of the space, but for now our starry pot is enough.

MM & RY 2009

Our Dovis mugs are perfect for morning coffees-big, hearty mugs. This is necessary because Sadie, of Sadie and Lily, wakes up every day at 6 am ready for a morning walk. The coffee is an essential part of the Sadie-care equation.

MM & RY 2009

We are working on a remodeling project that has extended for far too long. We made a decision to paint all the rooms white, with white trim. Our white on white theme does make the otherwise dark space much lighter in feeling. Yet, we are seeking some inspiration for how to add interest to our color story. If you take a walk through downtown Cambridge, Massachusetts you might come across this feature, that’s where the photo was taken. We will be posting photos of the project soon, along with other images to help guide our choices of surfaces, decorative touches, and objects of interest. The only rule for the project – everything must be dog friendly! 

MM & RY 2009

With the last few days of autumn ahead, we are always looking for flower inspiration from new places. There are still some gardens in full bloom, but most in our area are waning. Our neighbors are planting mums, marigolds, and winter cabbages in their containers these days. We have not had a lot of luck this fall with outdoor plantings. So we are seeking new ways to flower our daily lives. These are paper cut out flowers we discovered in a shop window not too long ago. We love the white on white simplicity. We also like how the lighting effect transforms the white to a light yellow glow. We might use this idea to make a garland in the next few weeks. Surely Sadie and Lily would love to see us under take a project like that. Think of the shredding fun they could have! 

MM & RY 2009

Lewes, Delaware is a two hour drive from Center City, Philadelphia. Here are a few photos of our recent visit to enjoy a sunny fall day with friends and family exploring shops, streets, and gardens. The town is located at the mouth of the Delaware Bay where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. Lewes Beach is just a few feet away from the town situated along Breakwater Harbor, a cove between created by a barrier beach that separates the two large water bodies. The town has many colonial structures, including homes, shops, churches, and a marina. 

MM & RY 2009

We gathered together a collection of our treasured household items, placed them on our favorite cooking spot, and snapped a photo. Here is what we have: first ivy purchased in Philadelphia; treasured cross-stitch from mom; just a tiny portion of the mini-pig collection scattered around the house; a working duck decoy from crisfield, md; a small sample of grandma’s african violet collection, now over 60 years old; blue glass items from the deep south; and some yellow ware and terra cotta. The pigs are going to be highlighted for the holidays – there will be a pig theme for days – can’t wait to get started. Let’s see, how many ways can a pig be used in the holiday season? Pig decorations, pig wrapping paper; pig greeting cards; pig shaped sugar cookies; pig photographs; pig, pig, pig! Oh yes, there are endless possibilities.

MM & RY 2009

Our favorite fall colors are in our hallway all year long. We fell in love with the leaded glass window in our hall door when we first saw this house. What is great about the window is that the light filters through in the afternoon to brighten our hallway. The bedroom it encloses is completely (well not always) off limit to our dogs, Sadie and Lily. That is because they have complete access to every other room in the house. This one room is ours to keep tidy and free of the toys our dogs like to leave behind every they visit.

MM & RY 2009

We took a long fall walk today. We passed by a community garden with birds like the one above adorning the entire fence around the space. We also came across this row home in Spring Garden, near Fairmount. We love the leftover signs of events, seasons, and holidays in the windows. We are fans of painted bricks too, even though not to many people we know agree with us about that. The color of this house matches the color of the day – gray, misty, cool but not cold. Here are a few more photos we took on our lovely gray day.

MM & RY 2009