Sunday, August 9, 2020

Palmier knot

First of all, I'd like to apologize for being behind schedule, and for having missed out on July completely! I will try to make up for it by posting another blog next weekend, which will include an in-depth how-to for the new "Palmier" knot I am featuring today. 

Life has changed so much for everyone in recent months. I can't remember any five-month period in over ten years of blogging that hasn't had an 'inspired by Hermes windows' post, a travelogue, or any kind of outing to take you along with me. 

The suspension of traveling, outings, and socializing feels almost too strange to be real, but has meant more time on our hands to dive into projects that are otherwise difficult to fit into our normal schedules. I've spent a lot of time exploring and photographing new knots for the app, and I've also found cooking, baking, and home decoration projects to be a grounding counterbalance to a life that seems to be essentially on hold. 

While working on the app, I very much missed the fabulous "La Marche du Zambeze" scarf that I lost on a trip a few years back (I'm becoming increasingly good at losing things when traveling!). So I googled to see if I could find a replacement and stumbled upon the website of Ardmore Artists www.ardmore-design.com, the scarf's designers. I discovered that they have a beautiful collection of scatter cushionstable linen, and napkins, that are all very much in the esprit of my lost scarf. The cushion covers I ordered arrived within a week (pics below) and I'm tempted to get a few more! You can also find their famous ceramic collection on the site, as well as furniture, small gift items and fabulous face masks  that you'd actually want to wear. I'm happy to be able to share a 25% discount offer (on your first order) with you: please email jon@ardmore-design.com to redeem.  

Hope you enjoy the blog and the new knot. Be well and safe.


I thought "Palmier" would be a lovely name for the new knot, as the overlapping scarf ends remind me of the graceful way that palm leaves rest on one another. 


With a "Parures de Samourais" 90 Silk Twill scarf


The "Monkey Bean" in Ash Linen is one of the lovely cushion covers I ordered from Ardmore (here). They ship worldwide and you can always email them if you have additional questions: info@ardmore-design.com


My relatively new "Plumes en Fêtes" bracelet with Parures de Samourais in CW05


PdS scarf as above, only this time highlighting the tasseled corners.



I feel very lucky that my daily exercise routine walking The Wiener Boys has not been affected by the pandemic. If anything, I tend to take a little bit more time now. I never set off without my (phone) camera, but now I often carry a pair of secateurs as well. I've come to love foraging wildflowers, weeds, and twigs, and then arranging them into bouquets and posies around the house. 


Here's the above, a few weeks later, on my kitchen shelf. While the colors have become a little bit softer over time, they've preserved wonderfully, and are still vibrant in comparison to their sun-beaten counterparts in the fields.
 

Over at Instagram, @merlinetmaurice and @lulilutinnytin identified the yellow flowers in the picture below as Immortelle (if only we could know its secret!)

Some may recognize or already know that my car is a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle). There are many obvious benefits to electric cars (you can find out more here), but one of the lesser-known facts is that you can activate the air-conditioning when the car is parked, which is something you cannot do with an internal combustion engine. On a hot summer day, I can set the interior temperature via my phone app to a cool and pleasant 20 celsius (70 Fahrenheit) when I'm within a few minutes of starting a drive. It is such a great bonus to get into a cool car in the summer and to pre-heated one in winter.


Opaque vases are perfect for foraged bouquets, as wildflower stems are mostly not that pretty. The empty containers of scented candles are perfect for that purpose, and when I buy candles I don't choose them for their scent alone, but also for the shape and color of their containers.  My favorites are Odalysque by Cire Trudon, which makes a great small "vase", and the Ritual's XL candles for bigger arrangements (love Precious Amber and Wild Figs) 


Palmier with a Fantaisies Indiennes 90 Silk Twill scarf


And since this post is as much about home decoration as scarf styling, I thought I'd share my "Geese Gallery" with you. Getting your favorite photos printed on canvas creates wall art that reflects your life and it is easy, fun, and inexpensive.  Those who have followed the blog for a long time might recognize the pictures below. I took them a few years back in the courtyard of a cloister in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter (click here to see the post)


Another Ardmore treasure: The fabulous "Bush Bandits" in Stone Linen (available here)



This post wouldn't be complete without trying the Palmier with the beautiful "Plumes en Fête"!  Here with a Hermes Clic-Clac H bracelet in Bleu Indiens.




9 comments:

  1. Hi Dearest,

    Loved the blog post today and wanted to comment, but, of course, I couldn’t. I still don’t understand why I can’t, but this is what I wanted to say:


    An especially fun post today, just chocked full of goodies. First, of all, the new Palmier knot is lovely, and I like the simplicity of it. Once the weather drops below 90, I’ll definitely give it a try.

    Adored the foraged bouquets, which have such rustic charm and look so summer appropriate. They have so much more personality than a bunch of roses purchased from a florist who has stored them in a cooler for a week! I have happy memories of many hours foraging for wild flowers with my mother. We would pick armloads, then dry them, and she would turn them into big fabulous arrangements and put them in antique baskets, stoneware crocks and even old soup tureens.

    And Ardmore! I haven’t decided on the pillow covers yet, but thanks to you, those fabulous leopards ��will soon be strolling
    across the walls of my guest bathroom (as soon as they swim over from London).

    Love to all,
    Jerrine

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    1. Hi Dearest,

      So lovely to hear about the foraging excursions with your mother, they sound absolutely wonderful and what happy times these must have been. It also seems you inherited your artistic eye and taste from your mother!

      Your story reminded me in turn of blueberry picking trips with my mother in the endless forrest and woods in her native Finland. We'd bring gallons of them home, and spend the next day making blueberry tarts, jams etc. The joys of childhood are never forgotten <3

      Yay to the Ardmore leopards coming to you, but I think you'd have to add at least one cushion cover to keep them company.

      Much love xxx

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  2. Thank you so much for this post and for all your efforts on the Android app. Very exciting to read that it's nearly there!

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    1. Thanks so much for your kind comment and your patience regarding the Android app. Only a couple more days to go!

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  3. Dearest Tai,
    no such thing as being „behind“ - your blog posts are always a delight, whenever they pop up and I loved this one. Times are very different indeed- but they make us set different priorities, try out new things or long forgotten hobbies and allow more time for enjoying nature and your home- so beautifully decorated. Health presupposed and I sincerely hope that everyone is well!

    As soon as it cools down, I will try out this fabulous Palmier knot- with my latest addition from the AW collection:) So sorry to hear you lost your beautiful Marche du Zambèze. That hasn’t happened to me (yet), but you‘re talking to the Mistress of ruining and staining scarves:( I hope you‘ll find a replacement soon - and oh, the Ardmore artists’ items are all beautiful! The pillow cases look very tempting! In any case, the Flowers of South Africa may be a good make up for the loss.

    You are a genius working on Android, too! I‘m sure there will be many happy faces:)

    A cool car sounds very promising in this heat- sooner or later we‘ll have to add a BEV!

    Happy summer days and thank you for surprising us with your wonderful blog post!

    Love, Katja

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    1. Dearest Katja, - so very happy to see you back at the pond, you have been very much missed! It seems that the new/old ID did the trick, hopefully it'll continue to work. Raising my glass to the happy reunion!

      I trust all is happy and well with you and your family, too. Can't wait to see your new LDdA AW scarf in the Palmier knot once the temperatures allow for it. It will be a Rouge H feast for the eyes!

      Also great to hear about your family's BEV plans. I've had mine for three years and am so thrilled with it. DH switched last year and absolutely loves it, too.

      Chin chin, have a wonderful remaining summer and be safe and well.

      Much love xxx

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  4. Dearest Tai,

    No need to apologize for being tardy on blog posts! They are always a breath of fresh air, whenever or wherever!
    I haven’t been able to post a comment,either. Hopefully, this will pass muster!

    Your new palmier knot is fabulous on you! Truth be told, the closest I will get to a palmier is the French bakery! I look forward to seeing the knot in play on you and others here!

    Adore your cushions from the Ardmore collective! While we are home more during Covid SIP, these new little pops around the house can make a huge difference to our collective psyches!
    Foraging and fluffing our nests are the new normal and a rhythm I embrace!

    Stay safe and sane!
    Mwahs,
    T xx

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    1. Darling Trudye, - so very glad your comment went through, your words are always such a warm and fresh breeze of joy <3

      Lol re the Palmier, I really should try to come up with more knot names that have double or triple meanings ;)

      So happy you like my new cushions! I'm afraid they are a little bit addictive, I'm about to put my second order in. H is incredibly good at finding and commissioning new artists, and aren't we just lucky to be able to discover them through our loves for scarves.

      Stay safe, sane, happy and well.

      Biggest mwahs xx

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  5. Dearest Tai,

    Reading your posts is always a pleasure, regarless of when they show up.
    This one is no exception.

    Beautiful and inspiring photographs and even a new knot. Will give it a try, of course.

    Thank you very much for sharing the name of the company that makes the beautiful pillows.
    I very much like the one in neutral colours.

    Hope you and yours are well. Stay safe, you and all the ladies in thepond. Love, Manuela

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