fairy house tour (part 1)

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Salley Mavor

Last week, I drove with my husband and a friend to Old Lyme, Connecticut, to see the eagerly anticipated Wee Faerie Village on the grounds of the Florence Griswold Museum. It was the last opportunity to see the display, because this year’s exhibit closed yesterday. I’m told that they coordinate the building of a new village every other year, so the next event should be in the fall of 2014.

Even with cloudy skies and cool temperatures, we enjoyed strolling around the property, following the numbered mushroom signs. Over thirty fairy dwellings were created by artists from the area, including my favorite, Nevergreen Caverns, made by the museum’s education director, David D.J. Rau.

Three hollow logs are stacked on a larger stump, with each space furnished with fairy comforts.

I found the burned wood markings charming…

as well as the mushroom roofed balconies.

It was well worth the visit! I will show more pictures of other houses in my next post.

An Irish Sojourn

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Salley Mavor

Rob and I just returned from a magical visit to Ireland. We traveled with a group of Celtic music lovers who were brought together by Boston’s WGBH. The Learning Tour – An Irish Sojourn was led by WGBH radio Celtic music host Brian O’Donovan, who took us from county Cork and up the eastern coast to Dublin.

This is just a sampling of what we saw on our trip–there will be many more pictures to show in the weeks ahead. There’ll be more doorways, windows, storefronts, landscapes and moss!

Turkey (windows)

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Salley Mavor

As promised in the earlier post of Turkish Doorways, here is a selection of window pictures, which I took on my recent trip to Turkey. My traveling mates learned to be patient while I stopped to click photos around almost every corner. What is it about windows and doors that makes me stop and look? They frame shapes, patterns and textures that reflect the style and culture of a place, as well as bring a mood of mystery as to what’s on the other side.

Turkey (doorways)

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Salley Mavor

I’ve got this thing for doorways, so about half of my pictures from our recent trip to Turkey are of houses and doors. The window pictures are still to come. This tour includes everything, from palaces to run down neighborhoods to ancient ruins.

Oak Bluffs cottages

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Salley Mavor

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went in our motor boat across Vineyard Sound to Oak Bluff’s harbor. We took the launch ashore and walked the short distance to see the cottages in the Martha’s Vineyard Camp-Meeting Assoc. Campground.

The 300 or so mini cottages look like gingerbread-styled play houses, all nestled closely together, with barely a path between them. The cottages have an interesting history, with their plots originally holding tents for religious revival meetings started in the 1840′s.

In the 1960′s, cottage owners began to have fun, painting them bright colors. The early Methodists who formed the campground had a long “Do Not Do” list. I’m sure that they would be appalled at today’s collection of flamboyant cottages.

The original canvas tents were built on wooden platforms. Then, wood sides were added, with canvas tops. By the 186o’s tiny prefabricated “Carpenter Gothic” wooden houses were built in place of the tents. Today, 320 cottages remain, with 52 winterized and occupied year-round.

I’ve been here many times, but found new inspiration looking through the camera. Here are a few of my favorites.

cruise to Cuttyhunk (part 2)

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Salley Mavor

Continued from cruise to Cuttyhunk (part 1).

The next morning we took our dingy to the Cuttyhunk dock and walked through town.

We went to the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club for breakfast.

On the way we came across this “Bed and Breakfast” garden.

I love this flower bed.

There was an incredible view of Vineyard Sound from the dining porch.

We walked back through the village a different way.

With just a few short roads and no gas station, golf carts are the prefered transportation method.

From the hill on top of the island, you can see the Elizabeth Island chain going north toward Woods Hole.

We walked down to the dock, took our dingy back to our boat and motored home. What a wonderful getaway!

North Fork, LI (more houses)

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Salley Mavor

OK, this is the last of the Long Island pictures. I took tons of photos of houses and it was hard to cull it down to a few. Happy Forth of July! I’m off to see our playful science-focused parade in Woods Hole and then tonight we’ll watch the Falmouth fireworks display from a boat.

North Fork, LI (doorways)

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Salley Mavor

Here are more pictures from my trip to Long Island, this group focusing on doorways.

North Fork, LI (driveways)

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Salley Mavor

The North Fork of Long Island has water views, marinas full of boats and wine vineyards planted where potatoes fields used to be. But, I didn’t take pictures of those places. Somehow, I’m drawn to where people live and took these while walking around neighborhoods early in the morning.

North Fork, Long Island (porches)

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Salley Mavor

Last week, Rob and I spent a few days at the North Fork of Long Island, NY. We didn’t venture far from the ferry dock at Orient Point before a “restaurant” sign led us to the Orient General Store, where we had some tasty sandwiches.

Rob and Salley at Orient General Store

I took a ton of photos, mostly of houses in the area, which I’ve divided into categories, this one focusing on porches. I’ll be showing others in the next few posts.