Max Beckmann

While I was in Madrid I spent the day at the Prado, the world renowned art museum. It was there that I fell in love with Quaippi. She is the common theme in Max Beckmann's artwork. She was also Max's bride.

Mr. Beckmann never went to art school and is regarded as one of the greatest figurative painters of this century. Like most great painters, Max suffered a nervous breakdown while serving in the first World War. He left Germany in 1937 and settled in Amsterdam until 1947 when he moved to the United States. He stayed in the United States until his death in 1950.

Winter Wonderland

I miss the palm trees of Florida, but when you wake up and it looks like this outside...you forget about palm trees...that is until you go outside and its 17 degrees.

Elsa Marie looks like a bunny running around in the snow.

The view of our winter garden from the Kitchen

The back of our house.

The winding creek behind our home.

Some of Mom's ornamental grasses and a birch tree.

My 6 year old has a fur coat

Sleepy time with Elsa Marie

Mum and Pup resting their eyes

Granny..Are you taking my picture?! You woke me up.

Cozy Pup

In Loving Memory

A Poem

I'm so sorry we had to part

I wore you with black, with denim, with a skirt

You were so good to me

in dry, in wet, in muddy, in heat

I left on that awful night

Next to the radiator I left you by yourself

Oh, when will be be together again

Back in the States

I just can't wait

In Loving Memory of Pumpkin Hunter

What's Black and White and goes all over?

Ok Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Vogue Living and every chic designer known to man...

We got the memo....

1 zebra rug on order for new Geneva home.

Thats one serious zebra..maybe he was on the roids?!

Love the look with a bold color.

That could have been a really tragic chair. Have no fear, zebra is here!

You know I would look uber tres chic rocking this skirt...Thats a whole Lotta Look.

The mixture of the ikat print chairs and the rug made me fall in love with this room.

Any Questions...

How could anybody leave this...

This is our old garden. We can only wish and hope and pray to the garden gods that the new owners of our family home, love and maintain this garden the way Mum did all those Springs, Summers and Falls...

Now....Our new garden, or should I say strip of gray grass?!

ok, close your eyes...imagine a Cottage Garden... screened porch with a rocking swing hanging from the ceiling, cobblestone winding paths with moss and thyme growing in between the rocks. Roses, hydrangeas, hostas, peony's, and lavender along the winding paths.

If anyone can make this happen...Mum can!! (and will!!!!)

This is what it should look like in a year...Mom get to work!!!

Lemonade

Well, Well...What do I say...

I'm back in the good old U.S. of A...and SINGLE. (Don't ask..lets just say with my PJ's still on, I hopped on a plane in the middle of the night)

Elsa and Mum are happy I'm back and Its SO good to be living under my roof. Freedom is relief, although I still don't have a job...so my shopping habit is STILL on hold.

I've spent the last month traveling around the Sunshine State with mum and Elsa on the ultimate road trip. Now we are back in the Chi trying to move our lives forward. Our family home that we built 18 years ago has a new family moving into it in March, so we are busy packing up or lives and starting a whole new one. Tears come and go, and we stop to look at old family photo's whenever we stumble upon them...oh how good we had it...and I took it all for granted. Thelma and Louise have been given TONS of lemons....so I guess we just need to make Lemonade! (maybe a lemon drop martini would be more appropriate)