Where I'm blogging from...

I've given up my desk for a spot by the air conditioner!


Extreme heat requires extreme measures.


My sidekick, Lola, the black Pom.

Sleeping in

We've had so many sleepovers at our house this summer...




The living room has become a crash pad for girls and animals.
It also happens to be the only room in our house with air conditioning...
Lately I've been thinking about sleeping outside in the hammock.

30-pound cat

Ok, maybe he doesn't weight quite 30 pounds, but Shoes is now officially as wide as he is tall. I think he's responding to the stress of the move by eating. (I am too.)

We're still working our way through stacks of boxes on the porch. And my husband and I are having an intense debate: He says we should go to Best Buy to get a new stove; I say we should buy a Wedgewood on Craigs List. Vintage stoves are so charming.

Until we get this settled, we're all living on take out!


(Pictures of Shoes when he only weighed 12 pounds.)
I'm dreading the lecture I'm going to get from the vet...

Dear Deer

I took this picture tonight on my way home from work. This young deer was out for a stroll a couple blocks away from our house. (It's a little blurry on my iPhone!)

We moved to a community on the edge of the Angeles National Forest. It's pretty common here to see deer, coyotes and black bears (!) walking down the street. A few years back, the town had to form a special squad to deal with all the bears coming down from the mountain late at night to swim in backyard pools and eat oranges and avocados.

Our neighbors warned us to keep our pets in after dark. I feel like I'm living in the wilderness!

A new place to call home...

After a year of apartment living, we put in a bid on a little cottage in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The house is tiny but the yard is huge -- and I'm really looking forward to starting a new garden.

We're hoping to find out today or tomorrow if we have the house.

Please keep your fingers crossed it works out this time!

(Collage by Little Gold Poppy.)

Cat Crisis

My giant kitty Shoes Lebowski -- you guys helped name him after I rescued him over the summer -- has been hospitalized with a complete urinary block, a condition that's deadly if not treated within 24 hours. We caught it in time, but he's not out of the woods...I'm so worried about him.

If you have a male cat, be sure to get educated about this horrible disease. Feed them moist food only (Science Diet is best) and filtered water!!

Sinatra and Strauss

Hello my dears, my mom on Friday gave me a box of my dad's old records, a mix of classical music, big band and jazz. We spent the holiday weekend listening to them, drinking wine and reminiscing. The music reminded me again of how capacious my dad's mind was. There were so many aspects of beauty he enjoyed -- music, art, literature. Some of the best conversations I had with him concerned all three. It gave me a deep appreciation of the different cultures of the world, especially those of Europe. Before I even set foot in Italy or Austria or France,
I was already in love.

Listening this weekend to Strauss' waltz, Vienna Woods, and Respighi's Fountains of Rome, I was taken back to my New Mexico childhood, when I first realized how big and beautiful the world really was. Music carries us places that words can't quite describe. It also evokes deep memories. I remember my father playing these records over and over on his old stereo.

As they pop and crackle now on my Crosley turntable, I've learned something about my father: With his overtures and waltzes, he had a flair for the dramatic and the romantic. There were no requiems in his collection, just grand happiness. Thinking of that now makes me happy.

I hope you're having a lovely week. I'm excited to get back to posting here more often!

My Dad

Dear Friends, as kind Liss informed you, my beloved father passed away last week after a long illness. I can't tell you how much I've appreciated not only the inimitable Daydream Lily and all the other bloggers who stepped in to keep this site going, but also all the expressions of affection and support you have left here. I feel so fortunate to be part of this wonderful community.

Before I resume regular posting next week, I want to share with all of you a few thoughts on my remarkable Dad. He was born in rolling hill country along the Kentucky-Ohio border, where his surviving sisters live still. For 35 years he worked for General Electric as an aerospace engineer. He held several important patents for his inventions, and if you've recently flown on a Boeing airliner, chances are he'd devised the engine seals that kept you airborne. He loved his family and New Mexico, where I grew up, but his private passions were painting and sculpture. My home is filled with his art and every time I look at one of his paintings or sort through his watercolor portfolios, I'm reminded of how his character combined, in equal parts, an engineer's precision and a gifted artist's sensitivity and intuitive insight.
I will miss that very much.

One of the benfits of being formally jobless during his last illness was that I enjoyed the unexpected blessing of being able to spend a great deal of time with my dad. He'd always loved our moments together and looking back at how much we both enjoyed just going out for coffee and talking,
I so wish we'd done it more.

The hours we spent together during his final year and, particularly, during this past month are something I'll treasure for as long as I live. I had that rare privilege of hearing my father assure me of his unconditional love and of his great pride in the woman I'd become. I vividly recall how my heart soared when he called my daughter Isabella, his only grandchild, "your marvelous girl." It was his last gift to me--and one of the most precious among so many.

After he died, I asked my mother for his paint brushes and I've arranged them in vases about the house, each one a flower of memory, a reminder of the gentle but skilled hand that once held it. In one of our last conversations, my father said to me, "You've always been my shining star."
I know now that, if I glitter, it is with the light he gave me.

a moment

~~

Dearest readers, Tina has asked me to let you all know her dear Dad passed away today. Please say a prayer for her and the family.

♥ Liss

White Cells & Blast Cells

Hello my dears, it's Tina here. I wanted to check in and give you an update on my dad, who is fighting leukemia in the hospital at the moment. For the past week, we've been keeping vigil at his bedside, watching helplessly as his body wages a war against a growing army of white blood cells. A week ago, his white cell count was 23,000 -- twice the normal rate. Today it topped 140,000, mixed with "blast" cancer cells. His hands and arms are covered with bruises. He stopped eating days ago, despite my mom's delivery of home-cooked food.

Yesterday, the hematologist gently asked him to open his eyes.
"Mr. Daunt, can you tell me what I look like?"
My father lifted his head, opened his blue eyes and answered: "You're a handsome man."

This horrible disease will inevitably rob him of his life but it has not yet stolen his sense of humor. And because of this I have hope...

Photo above by Dicky Jiang

Important PS: I am so grateful to the Liss, LenoreNeverMore and the other guest bloggers who have kept English Muse going. And thank you for reading. Love you. T.

Little dog love

I know this little dog looks very innocent in this picture, but she's a fierce beast. How long does it take to housebreak a Pomeranian (never?). And what about the ankle biting?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

The cats are out...

Our two cats emerged this week from under the couch...
They immediately took up residence on the windowsills. They seem to be recovering from our move. I am too.

There's only one way to fight these house blues: Decorate. I'm putting most of my rustic pine furniture from the old house on consignment. Tomorrow I'm starting my quest for new things for our new abode!

Loss & Life

Dominique Browning, the former editor of House & Garden, wrote so beautifully in today's New York Times Magazine about her struggle to rebuild her life after Conde Nast closed the magazine in 2007. I've read a lot of layoff stories since I lost my job at the Los Angeles Times in October, but Browning's captures the pain and devastation most eloquently.

She writes: "Just because something failed doesn't mean you're a failure. Just because something has ended doesn't mean it was all a mistake. Just because you've been rejected doesn't mean you're worthless and unlovable."

I know I've been talking a lot these days about my layoff. It's weighting especially heavy on my mind because -- like Browning -- we're selling our house to start anew. This is how it goes: first you lose the job and then you lose the life.

I'm not exactly sure how my new life is going to shake out. It will be different -- and maybe even better.

Ode to a house

It's official: our little Tudor style house is on the market.
If anyone out there is looking for a very cute place in Pasadena, maybe this is the house for you.

I would like to write a missive here about my layoff....I'm just going to say this: We spent nearly 12 happy years in this house. I'll miss the roses and the clawfoot tub.

Life goes on...

It isn't really home...

...until the books are on the shelves:




This is my favorite part of unpacking: arranging the shelves. I always start out with the intent to keep things minimal, even monotoned. But I am a magpie at heart. So there's more color to come!

PS: A few of you asked about the screensaver on my computer in my last post. It's a Japanese noren called "The Great Wave," by Hokusai. It came with my Mac, but I've now uploaded it onto flickr, if you want to use it as a screensaver too. Just click the picture below:



Hope you're having a lovely Sunday...

A room with a view...

Hello everyone! It's so nice to be back here blogging! I wanted to show you some pictures of our new home....

This is the view from the terrace. We have five huge windows that look out into the garden:


Here's Lola on the couch. Our angry cats have been hiding underneath it for a week now. Occasionally we hear the couch growl.


Here's the view from my desk (it's where I'm now doing this post!)


Here's a rare sighting of Kali, walking fast past our white brick fireplace...


I have lots of unpacking still to do. Thank you for all your warm wishes and emails. I hope to get caught up by this weekend! xo