I've been trying to design a comfortable living space out in the patio, which has no shade and is a barren expanse of concrete. I yearn for something like this, wicker and roses; or a space tented with sheer fabric and colorful with Turkish kilim pillows. I want an arbor of wisteria, a well of shade as cool as of water. The burble of a little fountain, the mumble of kindly bees, the fanning emerald wings of hummingbirds.
I want a place outdoors to sit and write, a blue cafe table under the olives. The kind of nook I made myself before, between doghouse and fence, covered in expansive potato vine. Something with matchstick blinds, something to keep our Shiva garden statue happy and the St. Francis birdbath. And, of course, the birds.
What will it be? The trick is making shade where there is none. Longing for shade trees, for the cottonwood that shaded my childhood. For the branch that I climbed onto, where I sat, looking at the moon, hearing piano music from the open windows at the neighbors' house. I know so little how to conjure tree. How to create a cool oasis in an expanse of burning sand.
image: Porch Sitting Union of America
why am i thinking greece?
ReplyDeleteand that clean pure vibrant blue and white?
i'd paint my patio white! and then . . .
i would be tempted to do a sail like shade with a blue tarp.
you know those inexpensive ones. they're weatherproof and they're the right color... and then I see wonderful big pots sitting in the sun and shade filled with red geraniums or even other exotic magenta sun tolerant beauties. and a simple modern fountain nearby for the cooling sound of water.
i'm loving greece right now.
but matchstick blinds are lovely too. makes me think of the balcony porch in that wonderful old movie with clark gable and sophia loren... 'it started in naples!' love it!
Lovely Greek ideas. And the house wall is blue, and we've had a blue and white Greek flag flying above the Shiva. And I was thinking red geraniums too! You must be psychic... or Geminis just think alike!
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