Firewood and frescos not pheasants
So there I find myself once again in the service of many for the pleasure of a few searching and probing the depths of the interweb thingy. Having hauled, stuffed, and stacked 6 cords (not many by old standards) of wood for winter retrieval, I went in search of a little coffee fresco. While inside the abode, the chill was depleted by the burn of the fibrous stove filler. However the inside was barren of the aroma I am accustomed to. Alas the coffee was warming in the garage. Out I went, yet again.
Now my garage is place of diligence and duty, and nary a day you will find a seat in there. But the divan idea was stirring in me. Not too divine a one, just what is required. Musing about the lack of said resting place, I searched and digested several large tomes looking for the ultimate definition. The divan and sofa are from the Turkish. Civilized, utilitarian, and complete. They have a specific social purpose in days of yore, so often missed in today’s interior landscapes.
SITTING, STANDING, LAYING, WORKING.
The close relationship with nature, a common feature of the Turkish; people reveals itself in the sitting habits. It had been customary for a Turk to sit on the ground, as he can sit anywhere that can be regarded clean. He does not need any additional device. When sitting on the, ground, he pulls a leg under him. If he is at home, he can sit directly on the wooden flooring or on carpets or kilims spread on the floor, on cushions or ultimately on a divan. The sitting posture on the divan is the same as sitting on the floor.
With the Divan or Sitting Platform one can sit on either to rest, to enjoy a brief break, for a chat with a friend, a meeting, to warm up a bit, or to do some work. The divans are placed beneath the windows, both in the rooms and in the hall. Apart from the divans along the two window-walls of a room, some can be found on either side of the hearth, along the hearth wall. Thus, a sitting space is provided all around the room, except along the entrance wall. The projections of the halls provide an even better view of the street and the landscape and provide a sitting space with plenty of light. The whole base of the chamfered bay windows is covered with a divan, creating a wider sitting space. This is a very intense living area where women sit and embroider, chat with one another and frolic with their children playing by their knee-side.
The divan is a platform slightly raised from the floor. This height was very suitable for smoking the long pipes which were very popular during the last century one end of which rests on the floor. Turks sit either with one or both legs gathered crosswise under the body or on both knees. All these positions require a wide sitting space, which explains the width of the divan. Mattresses stuffed with dried rice stems are placed on these platforms. The relations between the proportions of the divan, the windows and the wall are very well established.
Resting your arms on the leaning cushions, you can comfortably look out of the window. A young girl can easily reach for her piece of embroidery in the nearby cupboard and carry on with it, a man can reach for his book on the sergen and read. Writing is also done sitting on the divan. Formerly, divans were called "sofa", in Safranbolu.
Where is the regal in today’s decorating ideas? It’s cold and calculated like a James Bond flick. Flick, like that is all it is these days. A mere 104 minutes and they travel the world. None of the intrigue, plot, or character development if the previous 23 or however many celluloid strips have been expose to the light of 007’s Walther PPK. How could anyone save the planet and in fact mankind in so few minutes? I recall a score or so flicks before this with Bond languishing in luxury at every turn of the box office turnstile.
With only one uninterested co-star, and not much star there either, this flick is less than 007 out of 010.
Cafe Fresco, on the spidery connexions is found prominently; wait for it, in Cambodia!
Cafe Fresco
361 Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Open 7 a.m to 8 p.m. For delivery call 023 217 041.
As rated the best in the world by the proprietor. Trained in Italy no less and no more. Get it delivered! To where? Your table? And ooh la la, open late!
Firewood and Frescos
Mark Hull
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