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Ursula Brooks Design

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Ursula Brooks designs interiors of homes with colorful textiles and a mix of modern and antique pieces. She has connected me with a few amazing resources like Amadi Carpets, and Badia for Moroccan poufs and furniture pieces.

A Mini Interview With Ursula

1)Where do you like to eat?
Since discovering Lindy and Grundy Butcher shop I now like to cook meals at home using their grass fed organic meats and poultry. I also like The Hungry Cat in Rustic Canyon and R & D which is kid friendly on Montana ave.
2) Are you a mermaid or forest nymph?
I'm both mountain and mermaid. I grew up a mermaid at balmoral beach in sydney with a windsurfer in the boat shed that I shared with my brother. We used to compete I'd do acrobatics on the back of his board while he chased other windsurfers across the harbor. Now I live in California I'm more a mountain girl. My friend gave me a parks carparking tag for Christmas and I use it 3 or 4 times a week
3) What is your favorite way to spend an afternoon?
My favorite way to spend an afternoon is to pick up my daughter Tilly, come home and play records while she paints and knits and I cook. I like slow roasting things that fill the house with flavors. That is heaven to me.

4) What book is on your night stand?
On my night stand right now is Christine haag's Come to the Edge. It is a memoir and a beautiful love story. I'm also reading Waldorf Education.. A Family Guide by Pamela Johnson Fenner and Karen rivers


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To Bee Or Not To Bee . . .

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One of my biggest worries the last couple of years has been the disappearance of bees. Below you can read more about this epidemic. One solution I have found in this dilemma 
is to place a hive in my garden to try to attract a colony that needs a home. Stephen Steere
builds hives from reclaimed wood and uses natural paints to beautify them. These hives can be placed in the garden and eventually a homeless bee colony will find them. I am experimenting now will let you all know what transpires. 


The Story: To Bee . . . 
"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man," said Albert Einstein."
As a child growing up I have fond memories of my mother dressed in her beekeeping suit going to forage for honey for my brother and I. We would eat the honey comb and delight in the sticky mess. She raised bees for years, and because of this I always had great respect for the little insects. Among the things that wake me up in the middle of the night Bee Colony Collapse is right up there with the Smart Meter situation. Most of us don't realize that 90% of the wild bee population in the US has died out, and therefore so have the wildflowers that used to bloom in  various areas. There are many theories about what is causing this epidemic like pesticides, molds, diseases, GMO fields, cell phone towers, etc. It's hard to stay optimistic but there are things we can do. We can plant plants and flowers that attract bees like clover, sage, buttercup, thyme and lavender. We can stop the use of pesticides. We can also set up bee hives like listed above or even just plain wood boxes with holes drilled into them. We must save the bees . . . in order to save ourselves 





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Creative Women . . . Indeed

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Creative Women is an incredible company that works with the women of Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Mali, Bolivia, Peru, Senegal to create beautiful linens, towels, textiles that at the same time promotes equitable trading values. I am a huge fan of their products. I have tablecloths and napkins in the blue striped that are so lovely and  functional. Now I'm coveting the new bath towels. 

Ellen Dorsch the founder states "I founded Creative Women because I love beautiful things; I want to make a real difference in women's lives; and I'm fascinated with travel." 

This is one of the wonderful things about being global today. 

                          
                             
                             

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Woodland Fairy House

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This is such an incredible story: A man in Wales fed up with high mortgage rates and the destruction of our planet decides to build his family a home using all natural items with only a chisel, chain saw and axe. It took him four months to build and cost about $4500. Simon Dale who had no experience in building houses believes "building from natural materials does away with producers" profits and the cocktail of carcinogenic poisons that fill most modern buildings." The house has solar panels and is heated by a wood stove inside. 
More on his philosophy on his site:


 

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