Chest for Photographs, Josef Hoffman, 1902

We are slipping back into Lou life again. The plasters/painters finished the day we returned. Anne and I have been busy cleaning since. There was a lot of dust created from their work, but not all of it was from them. After cleaning, we began the process of returning our possessions to their rightful places. We have done some minor rearrangement of furniture, but the big redecorating changes won’t begin until this weekend, when we start putting stuff back onto the walls. There is still plenty more furniture and stuff to move first.

Anne went back-to-school. They were really clamoring for her. I went for a bike ride. Cycle Zydeco, our first multi-day bicycle tour is coming up fast and I am not in shape. It was a beautiful day. Not many trees are in bloom yet, but there is plenty of pollen in the air. I’ve been sneezing a lot since our return and initially attributed it to the plaster dust, but that’s now pretty much gone and the sneezing continues unabated. Our Gyrotonics instructor was suffering from her allergies during our class. I need to get onto yard work. Spring is coming fast!

This Viennese chest was conceived as a piece of miniature architecture. The chest combines the sinuous curves of turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau with the sturdiness and simplicity of late 19th-century English arts and crafts furniture. It is made with palisander and maple veneers, which is inlaid with metals.