Scandinavian Chic giveaway, Bats

Scandinavian Chic is giving away lithography by Cecilia Carlstedt, a 20 x 28 called Judith. Go over now to enter/comment. This lithograph is divine, so beautiful. Carlstedt's work is full of fine detail and unexpected pieces. You can find more of her work and more gorgeous pieces at Wonderwall.


Also, I love the blog. I've been following several Scandinavian home blogs, and I'm looking at our house and wondering how to incorporate it. In one blog, I saw concrete floors, which I might not enjoy, but a concrete countertop on sleek, handle-free bamboo cabinets? Yes, so much.


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I'm not over my love affair with the octopus yet, but today I bring you something quite different and far too cute for words: Bats.

When I bought my first house, it was in the Rhode Island countryside, across from protected wetlands, and sat on an acre of land. I was surrounded by much larger properties: horse farms, sheep farm, Christmas tree farm, a greenhouse. There was a pond not thirty seconds' walk away, with lots of ducks and a little waterfall at one end.

And, as I discovered on my first night there, bats. Lots of them.

It was summer, and there were gnats in the air, and the sun was going down, and I was having a beer on the steps, thinking about where I might put a garden. And suddenly -- there they were. Barely seen shapes flitting through the dusky light.

I can't say how many evenings I would go out and stand in the middle, in the open area, and trust that they, with their incredible sonar, wouldn't hit me. I could actually hear their wings, and nothing else. It was like satin rustling above and around me. Exhilarating and wonderful.

I never put up bat houses, as I assumed that, with the dense forest all around, they already had plenty of homes. And god knows, there were enough insects. I have no idea what kind of bats they were, but I'm glad I had the experience.

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You know I have to do this, right?

Haiku: Bats

Thin leathery wings
Shouldn't be able to fly
Between night and day.