The Potager or Ornamental Kitchen Garden

A Potager at Château de Villandry, France

Designed to feed both body and soul, the potager or ornamental kitchen garden is the ultimate combination of parterre and vegetable patch.

Fruits & vegetables, flowers & herbs, are artfully arranged in symmetrical garden beds that are surrounded by low clipped box hedges.  These individual plots, separated by sand or gravel paths,  are precisely placed to form striking geometric patterns.

Embracing Canada's 30x30 Nature Challenge

Will I become happier & healthier by participating in Canada's 30x30 Nature Challenge?

Will my well-being be increased by adding a daily dose of nature to my routine?

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that all these good things will indeed be coming my way!

It's not that my crystal ball is extra shiny this spring, it's just that I'm already convinced of the restorative powers of nature. I believe that devoting thirty minutes a day for thirty days will give me a boost and so it will, even if only because of the placebo effect!

Happy Easter Bunnies

I have bunnies on the brain this Easter

Vintage Bunnies

Chocolate Bunnies

Cartoon Bunnies

Beatrix Potter Bunnies

Kitchen Renovation: Updating a U-Shaped Layout

I'm sure that the thought of undertaking a kitchen renovation has given pause to many.  After all, the kitchen is known for its potential to be one of the most expensive areas of the home to update.  Add to that the inconvenience & time required and even the most stout-hearted homeowner must become trepidatious.

I knew that careful planning was in order. To start with, I needed a clear understanding of the benefits that we already enjoyed as well as  the problems that we expected this renovation to solve.  In other words, I needed to identify The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly!

Now I've had years of experience analyzing & architecting computer systems but experience reviewing a kitchen, not so much.  Let's face it, developing a critical eye can take years and though I was capable of doing the research I was unwilling to pay for the mistakes I knew I would make along the way.  So I took a practical approach and consulted with experts.

Tanya Collins (Tanya Collins Design) and Richard Heller (Richard Heller Renovations) helped me navigate the renovation perils and revealed wonderful options that I never would have discovered on my own.  I could write a whole article on the benefits of including experts on your renovation team (and probably will at some point) but right now I'll return to the task at hand, analyzing the state of the old kitchen against my family's current requirements.

Here's what we came up with.

Friday Flowers: Cornelis van Spaendonck - Still Life with Flowers, 1789

Welcoming the weekend

with beautiful blooms

and a wonderful surprise 

Still Life with Flowers, 1789 by  Cornelis van Spaendonck

Anyone who's read my post A Passion for Porcelain knows about my love for Sevres Porcelain and will understand my delight in discovering that the artist, Cornelis van Spaendonck. was also the head of the porcelain works there from 1785 to 1800.

No wonder I was drawn to this image!

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Friday Flowers: Cornelis van Spaendonck - Still Life with Flowers, 1789 by Tatiana Dokuchic on 2014-04-11 A wonderful bouquet to greet the weekend.

Find Tatiana Dokuchic on Google+

Reluctant Renovator: Are We There Yet?

It's been eighteen months since we embarked on 

our renovation journey 

(Reluctant Renovator: And so it Begins) 

and I've finally gotten around to asking myself if "we're there yet".

I have a sneaking suspicion that, for me at least, when it comes to our home renovation we're never actually going to arrive, simply because my "there" is a tad too Utopian.

Far from being frustrated, I'm actually very content with this idea of a never-ending renovation journey especially since I'm now enjoying some major accomplishments.  All this to say that it's a excellent time to take stock of what we've done, where we are, and where we want to go from here.

First things first though ...

Friday Flowers: Severin Roesen - Still Life, Flowers & Fruit

Thought this beautiful bouquet

was a wonderful way

 to greet the weekend

Still Life, Flowers & Fruit by Severin Roesen

If you're still craving a Friday-flower-fix (can one ever really get enough of fantastic flowers?) you can always check out my Pinterest boards,  Beautiful Blooms and Botanicals.
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Friday Flowers: Severin Roesen - Still Life, Flowers & Fruit by Tatiana Dokuchic on 2014-04-04 A wonderful bouquet to greet the weekend.

Images: Severin Roesen via Widimedia

Find Tatiana Dokuchic on Google+

Spring Clean Your Blogs: Reap the Rewards of Renewal

It's Spring!!  It's Spring!!  After a particularly trying Canadian winter I'm more than ready for this season of renewal and since Mother Nature still hasn't gotten the spring memo for my neck-of-the-woods I'm expending my new found energy on a much needed blog cleaning.

Truth be told, I really enjoy this creative process and so I thought I would share some of my enthusiasm.

First off, I'm really not talking about the little maintenance tasks that you should be doing all year round. Ensuring that your links are still working & your pictures are still posting are best dealt with on a regular basis otherwise they become a bit of a slog.  If you have fallen behind, and who doesn't on occasion, you may want to take some time to get those in order before proceeding.

Now on to de-cluttering!

The older I get the more I value a well curated space be.  Since this appreciation for restrained elegance is constantly at war with my natural magpie tendencies I have to compromise.  I find it helps to take a step back and try to look at my blogs with fresh eyes all the while mumbling "... less is more ... less is more".