Finally.
There’s a decidedly nippy quality to the air in Santa Barbara. I won’t go so far as to say it’s cold, but it has that bell clear, cinnamony, tartan scarf, pumpkin latte feel to it.
These beautiful leaves were gathered from my garden just 2 weeks ago when the temperatures were still flirting around 80 degrees.
The colours were stunning. The Instagram photos don’t even do them justice, but alas, I can’t lift my big camera just yet.
Patience, patience (limp noodle)…everyone warned me.
BTW, you know one thing I’ll add to the “Post-Shoulder-Surgery Tip List” from last week??
#11. A glass of red wine helps before physical therapy. It helps a lot.
I just learned that yesterday. My genius is a slow, steady affair. It doesn’t like to rush in all at once and cause a big spectacle.
and just in case there are any doctors reading this-I’m not condoning drinking wine while still taking pain-killers.
(anyway, those are like sooo gone)
Actually, that’s not entirely true. I’m saving my very last one for the check up with my surgeon on Monday. He’ll be putting me through my paces to see how much progress I’ve made with my arm extensions 
(hold me)
I’m down to only 2 Alleve a day, but let me just say-the physical therapy is no day at Butterfly Beach.
On the sweet side, meet ‘Leon’
He jumped up and gave me some tender, loving company yesterday afternoon while I was getting iced at the physio clinic.
Look at that face! He feels my pain.
May we also note it was the first day I wore trousers with no elastic at the waist. Hallelujah
So, basically, wine had to be served.
But, where were we?? Oh yes, we’re drawing very close to the holidays now.
Grab your helmets.
In just a few short days, the time between Thanksgiving, Hanukah & Christmas is going to pass so fast it’ll peel our faces off.
So, how about taking just a little time for yourself and curling up with a good read?
The calm before the storm as it were.
I finally finished “Empty Mansions” and would definitely recommend it.
‘ “We are all a little peculiar” as she would say…’ a friend of Huguette Clark
Although it would be more than a stretch to write reclusive American heiress Huguette Clark’s eccentricities off as mere peculiarities, after reading this new biography by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. I don’t know that anyone would come to the conclusion that she was crazy either. Sadly, many of her extended and long estranged family (all descendants of her father’s children with his first wife) tried to prove just that-or at least, that Huguette was not of sound mind towards the end of her (105 yr.!) life. After nearly two years of litigation concerning the $300million+ remaining fortune, the lawyers, family and various participants reached a settlement just two months ago.
I won’t spoil the ending for you, but the story of Huguette, her immediate family and some of the people she chose to have in her life is indeed a head-shaker.
Of particular interest to me, and no doubt many other locals, was Huguette’s stunning Santa Barbara mansion below.
“Bellosguardo” presides over the last ocean cliff separating Montecito from Santa Barbara, capturing panoramic views of both the mountains and the sea, to no doubt breathtaking effect. The estate was built by the preposterously rich, copper mining Clark family in the 1930′s as a summer residence and is “The House on the Hill” of our little hamlet.
It’s actually so close I can walk to it from my house. My doctor’s office is just to the left of the bird refuge/lagoon you see on the lower edge of the property. Huguette built the refuge as a tribute to her deceased sister.
The entire estate, as well as a large ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, passed to Huguette when her mother died in 1963.
Neither of them used the house in over 60 years.
Not once. Zero. I used it as much as they did.
Some years back, Ty Warner, owner of the Beanie Babies, Four Seasons Hotel NY, The Biltmore & San Ysidro Ranch and whose private residence is extremely close to Bellosguardo purportedly offered Ms. Clark $100 million for the property. She politely declined.
Huguette was a child-like woman who owned several vast homes yet chose to live in a small, spare hospital room (in very good health) for the last 20 years of her life. Until the day she died she seemed to prefer the company of dolls to humans, but was unfailingly polite, charitable and kind to everyone she came in contact with. She loved music, cartoons and everything Japanese, yet never visited Japan. She was an accomplished artist, loyal correspondent and friend, devoted daughter, loving sister, and generous patron of the arts.
This last known public photo was taken on her honeymoon in 1928 at the age of 22. I believe she was probably much prettier than the photo would suggest, but she was extremely uncomfortable being photographed. No Selfies for ‘Hugo’ . Privacy was everything to her.
Everything. Howard Hughes was Kanye compared to Huguette.
She and her husband would be separated only 9 months later and divorced within two years., yet they remained friends until he died.
STOP me before I tell you any more of the story! gawd.
Those who knew her best said she was shy but not at all unhappy.
Personally, I think she just wanted to live in the world completely and utterly on her own terms and had the limitless resources to do so.
Apparently a recipe for a very, very long life indeed.
Is that so crazy??
~
PS. I imagine this would make a great Book Club read. (even though I’ve never been in a book club)
~~
So, speaking of having an appreciation for the Older, Finer things in life…
Style Mavens Dawn Moore and Holly Palance have recently combined their considerable aesthetic forces to create a fun online shop for strictly vintage and antique home decor; MixxCentury.com
Both long time lovers of antiques, Holly and Dawn define their Mixx concept;
“By having Museum Bound (beautiful high-end pieces) and Recently Found (funky flea market finds on up…) and ONLY focusing on decorative arts and furnishings, we are for passionate home aficionados and trade professionals who don’t want to rifle thru jewelry, wine and real estate.”
“We are literally a one-stop for all vintage and antique home decor. AND we have our own point of view, both in theory and actual product-The Point of View Collection”
Visit & shop (all industry pricing 25-60% all year round) here: MixxCentury.com
I was thrilled and flattered to be featured as one of MixxCentury’s first “MiXXMasters” this week, along side such design luminaries as Timothy Corrigan and Jamie Bush!
For my short musings on Design and Mixxing it up click; HERE
( I know, right?? Shuhhup-Just act cool, like…oh me & Tim & Jamie, yeah. We cruised over to Vincente Wolfe’s place, there was a small party. Bunny W. and Newel Turner were there, natch…Peter Marino was in full Village People, but I was kinda tired so I left early…
~
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and remember…
Don’t stress!! It’ll get done, it will all get done.
It will all get done, won’t it?!!
~
Flash from the past; One year ago today; The Day After
~
I remember making silhouettes in art class back in elementary school and having my own silhouette done at a fair…
Linen napkin image via Remodelista
How do you do get the light at the front and dark right behind it??
via 
slim paley photo
Restoration Hardware
This image via Graham Moss is a nice example of how silhouettes can be used to ’modern’ effect.
Contemporary artist Kara Walker turns the traditional concept of ‘Silhouettes’ on its head with her cut-paper images that critically address gender, sexuality, race and power within an antebellum tableau.
Kara Walker
Slim Paley photo
Slim Paley photo
The question (which arose once before on my “Graffiti” post) as to whether these clandestine installations, both on public and private property, constitute ‘Art’ or not is an interesting one.
Unfortunately (actually, he probably doesn’t give a toss as it only brought him more publicity) Banksy lost many supporters after he harshly criticized the design of the new World Trade Center.
photo by Ara Guler
This was my Instagram photo of the moment we arrived, but in the space of a few minutes the mist lifted, the clouds dispersed and it turned out to be a stellar day.
Kykuit (Dutch for “Lookout”) is a stately stone home sitting high upon a picturesque knoll above the town of Sleepy Hollow. After getting off to a very rough start, the house was finally completed in 1913.
It was 1893, when John D. Rockefeller, encouraged by his brother William’s glowing reports of the Pocantico Hills, first bought the property. The family gradually acquired the surrounding land until they’d amassed almost 4,000 acres.
Impressive, if not too surprising, the original landscaping plan was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (of Central Park fame) More surprising was that John D. was less than thrilled with Olmsted’s efforts and in addition to taking much of the garden design upon himself, commissioned William Welles Bosworth to finish the grounds more to his taste.
Having a really great tour guide is like getting your hair done by the best gossipy celebrity hair stylist. Buckle up and get ready to dish the dirt!
A side view of the house reveals that Kykuit is much larger than it appears from the front.
I found one small image of the interior of Kykuit, but unfortunately no photos are allowed to be taken in the house-and I bonded too much with the guide to sneak any iphone pics ( hate when that happens)
“Surrey with the Fringe On Top”
What was it like to drive around in 40 ft long Cadillacs? Check the separate windscreen for the back seat!
A tour of the lower levels of the house features a pretty major art collection including works by Picasso, Lautrec, Calder, Giacometti, and Chagall. I must admit this was my least favourite part of the tour. I was underwhelmed, not by the art but the space, which isn’t very appealing. I couldn’t wait to get out and back up into the natural light, the gardens and the views, which are spectacular.
The 9 hole golf course within the the 250 acres of walled and gated property surrounding Kykuit is gradually being forsaken. It costs $100,000 per year to maintain…per hole.
The view from the front entrance.
and the leaves were starting to turn in Sleepy Hollow. Does this look like a great Halloween street, or what?!
The Old Dutch Church
A three minute jaunt uphill from the Kykuit Tour meeting area and you’ll arrive at the Old Dutch Church. One of the oldest cemeteries in the country, it’s chock full of famous residents, including Brooke Astor, Elizabeth Arden, Walter Chrysler, Andrew Carnegie, Washington Irving, and William Rockefeller. That’s some after-party.
The legendary characters of Washington Irving’s “Sleepy Hollow” are also buried here (including the ghost of the headless horseman who is said to ride nightly) We saw the tombstones of the Van Tassel family (Katrina from the story) amongst many other intriguing headstones, ranging from Teeny-tiny to Wow-Now That’s Impressive. I imagine the guided walking tour here is quite lively. No pun intended.
Nothing like a stroll through a cemetery on a beautiful day to remind you to seize The Moment.
For more information click 
B.D. & S.P. in Portugal.
Bo’s beau, John Corbett cheering her on
Prawns on fluoro ice.
