Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita - Matera, Italy

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Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita  - It's easy to see why this tops the list of our recommended hotels.  The design was carried out to perfection...honoring the rustic history while adding luxurious modern day amenities.  The sensuous ambiance and spectacular location perched high above the ravine make it ideal for a romantic get-away, an inspiring yoga retreat or a fairy tale wedding, –be it an intimate ceremony for two or a grand affair encompassing the entire hotel.  

What makes a place special to us is that oft intangible quality - the "spirit of the place" - the synergistic result of just the right elements coming together in a most magical way...Le Grotte della Civita has this in abundance.

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A Scottish Rose

Gardener's Cottage, Culzean Castle, South Ayrshire Coast, Scotland

Meet Tricia Rose.  

She's the lady behind the wonderful linen company -Rough Linen- based in San Raphael, California.  I happened across Tricia's website not long ago when I was looking for custom linens and I was intrigued with the story of how her company came to be. I identified with her love for rustic linen and how she treasured the simple linen pillowcase made by her great-great grandmother in 1840 Scotland.

Just this past summer I learned that I too have ancestors from Scotland via my maternal grandmother. Previously, I had always heard that my roots were English and Swedish on that side of the family, so the connection to Scotland came as quite a surprise.  

Upon receiving the lovely story Tricia had written (see below), I suggested that we locate some images of Scotland and Tricia supplied me with the specific areas her family had lived.  On my very first search, a name familiar to me seemed to jump off the screen.  Then followed one serendipitous turn after another leading us ultimately to an amazing discovery. . . My family hails from the same region as Tricia's!—Southwestern Scotland in "Burns Country. " 

In fact, with my daughter Alex's diligent research (she admits to being quite obsessed now) it turns out that a long line of our ancestors lived in Kilmarnock (Ayrshire) -just 15  miles from where Tricia's grandmother lived in Saltcoats and 17 miles from where her great-great-grandmother lived in Lochwinnoch!  Imagine my surprise and delight!  

Providence is leading my family to Scotland it seems and 

we can't wait to see what she has in store for us there! 

Please scroll down to enjoy Tricia's story in her own words... 

Ayrshire coastal path

"My grandmother lived in a small, solid stone cottage with views of the sea from the back dormer windows, and some of my most vivid childhood memories start there.  There was a range in the back room, and built-in "presses" (cupboards), and an old-fashioned built-in bed, cosy on winter nights.  We loved staying with her, loved the soups she made, the stories she told, and the songs that were sung around the fire while my grandfather read and my aunts and grandmother sewed and knitted.  There was a sense of order and industry in that house, the sweet smell of tea brewing, ticking clocks and the mysterious barometer only my grandfather could fathom.  Roses and vegetables grew in the little garden, the shed smelt agreeably of burlap and turpentine and no matter how cold it was, inside we were warm and safe.

I had the task of packing up the house when my aunt died, ten years ago.  My brother wanted my grandfather's tools and books, my mother wanted his walking stick and poetry, my younger brother the barometer, all of which I lugged to Australia.  What I wanted were the linens, the thick blankets and Paisley shawls.

In the very back of the big linen press on the landing I found one solitary homespun pillowcase, edged with drawn thread work, and adapted with a casing and drawstring to form a bag.  It was the very last of my great-great grandmother's own work, grown on her farm in an era when it was still common to set aside a field for flax for the women to spin and weave in winter - the long northern summer days and reliable autumn dews made a small domestic crop worthwhile,  though large scale production couldn't compete with slave-grown American cotton.  I brought this bag with me to California and used it to hold my lavender.

I sometimes wonder what conversation I could have with the long line of mothers and daughters who stretch back like popper beads, each utterly familiar and intimate with the next, but unknown by the third or fourth generation.  Would my great-great-grandmother be pleased that I treasure her work, or would she be surprised that I value so highly something so basic and functional?  How would she regard the linens I make from fabric with the same texture, weight and weave as hers, now unusual and highly sought-after, when to her it was rustic and plain?

linen curtain panel

Rough Linen was born of my own nostalgic appreciation of traditional comforts and crafts.  I love it next to my skin, the faint scent like dry hay, the weight and strength of it.  I love that I don't have to iron it, but can let the texture be, and I love the soft natural gray-taupe colour, which softens down to a silvery sheen with wear and washing.  And I love that at my advanced age I have a new project that has connected me with mills on the other side of the world, and with the women I have taught to sew in my own community, and designers and customers from New York to Sydney, and which satisfies me heart and soul. " 

 —Tricia Rose

flax blossoming

Scotland
A - Kilmarnock
B - Lochwinnoch
C - Saltcoats

A semi-marbled double Scots Rose

Culzean Castle, South Ayrshire

The Dower House at Dean Castle, Kilmarnock 

Robert Burns Oak Tree

Dean Castle, Kilmarnock

Muirshiel country park, Lochwinnoch

The Beith Auld Kirk

Lochwinnoch Reserve

Looking towards Saltcoats

Image credits via links provided under each photo.

linenandlavender.blogspot.com

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Paris is mad!

English:  Post Card
French:  Carte Postale
Spanish:  Tarjeta Postal
Italian:  Cartolina

Today I ran across some old postcards I purchased several years ago.  I don't have an extensive collection, but as I thumbed through them, I was thinking how interesting it is that we human beings like to collect things.  From the bizarre to the mundane...Why are we drawn to certain things?

I'm not a big collector just for the sake of collecting and displaying items.  If I do own more than one of something, it is most likely going to be something that is functional, -such as my collection of pitchers.

I have no idea why I am drawn to them, all I can tell you is that I am inexplicably happy to see them on the shelf in my kitchen:  glass, pewter, stainless steel and porcelain.  Fortunately, they happen to meet my criteria and are functional as well as beautiful.  (Thus my rationale for the 15 I own and my guilt-free plans for more.)

My fascination with vintage postcards is probably easier for most people to identify with simply because they are a bit of history.  They reflect the lifestyles of the era and even world events of historical significance. 

Postcards are intriguing to me because people are confined to such a limited space for their message.  Much like when you know very little of another's language and are reduced to just the basics.  You are forced to reduce your communication -everything you wish to express to another person- to just a few lines of text.  This snippet, this brief peek into another person's life makes for a bit of a mystery leaving one much room for musing... 

What was their story?  Were they young or old?  Were they in love and pining for the other?  ...Maybe taking the opportunity while afar to express feelings not as easily conveyed in person? 

Were they away from home for school?...Visiting relatives?...Exploring the world for the first time? 

What was their relationship to the recipient?...Friend?...Lover?...Parent?...Child?

Some of the old cards I have date back to the times -the early 1900's- when it was just a penny to send across the country and a mere 1 penny more to send across an ocean.  The addresses tell a story too.  -Or should I say--the lack thereof.  Often, the earlier cards have just the name of the person and their city.  No street address required when the local postal clerk knows every resident in town!

True to form, I didn't want to collect just for the sake of collecting.  I wanted to come up with some way to use them.  One day it occurred to me I could make colored copies of the originals and construct beautiful unique gift cards. 

With that concept in mind, I was thrilled when I ran across some vintage Christmas postcards with wonderful coloration and charming homespun sentiments; --perfect gift tags!

I copied the Christmas postcards on to various colors of card stock and then with a simple hole punch and a bit of rustic twine, they became little treasures-  A personalized touch for virtually pennies.

Vintage cards have such interesting history to them, but I also like to buy new postcards.  Occasionally, I do actually use them for their intended purpose and I'll drop them in the mail here there as I'm traveling.  However, when I come across postcards with coloration I love or interesting art or architecture, I buy multiples of them to have on hand.  I find they add a wonderful artistic touch to the top of any package.  No need for an envelope or even elaborate gift-wrap.  --Just simple brown kraft paper, ribbon and perhaps a lovely "Venus" gracing the top.

I am inspired each time I look at the art and architecture captured on a few select cards I have posted on my memo board here at my writing desk and framed and sitting on my bedroom dresser.

One of the best places to find beautiful postcards is the gift shop of an art museum.  My inaugural post for linen and lavender showcased the work of Luis Melendez.  I purchased postcards of his amazing still life work at the Museo Nacional del Prado (Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain.)

I find the glorious colors of the food and drink exquisitely captured by Melendez to be perfect gift tags for complimenting a house-warming basket of goodies or attached to a bottle of wine for a dinner host.

Each time I'm in Firenze (Florence, Italy) I make sure to replenish my supply of some of my favorite postcards found in the Uffizi Museum and sold just outside at the Piazza della Signoria

The likes of Raphael, Michelangelo and Botticelli...

...and anything by Leonardo always ranks high with my daughter and me... 

Just looking at these postcards now re-ignites my enthusiasm for Signor Da Vinci and his work.  (Hmm.  Perhaps a future feature on this Renaissance man? --I'll save any further accolades 'til then.)

Over the years,  small flea markets in France --places like LÍsle-sur-la-Sorgue and other little villages and towns- have offered many opportunities for sifting through boxes and boxes of vintage postcards. 

Sometimes I become a little melancholy as I read about the life and times of the people who have long since passed.  But mostly, I find the cards enchanting.  They take me away to a time when life was much more simple and carefree...dancing the night away in the streets of Paris or discussing philosophy 'til the wee hours at Café de la Rotonde...

Okay.  I know that's only a romantic notion.  -A fantasy I've spun from a scene out of an old movie.  I know that these people had their trials and tribulations and "real life" too.  It wasn't all parties and late-night cafés with famous authors and artists at every other table.   But still.  Doesn't it sound fun?  Just a little time travel back to 1952? 

I'd love to see what prompted Bob to dash off the message to Mary:

(ahh!)--Wish I was there!

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