Some Thanks and Blooms

So how is everyone doing? First of all, my thoughts are with those who have been affected by Covid-19. Facing the uncertainty of what will happen next is tough enough but I can't even imagine how hard it must be to also have to cope with being ill or losing loved ones, or your job! Many thanks to all the health care providers. There aren't words sufficient enough to express the gratitude owed to them for their sacrifices and dedication throughout this time. Also, a big thank you to those who deliver the goods and the mail, who stock the shelves and everyone involved in helping those of us who are staying home, your efforts are greatly appreciated.     

Over the past couple of weeks I've been staring at my computer wondering if Burt and Ivy were too inappropriate for the current situation. Then it occurred to me that whenever I'm taking photos of them I automatically start grinning like a fool. For skeletons they can be ridiculously cheerful. So, as a brief distraction from the global misery and in the interest of being silly, here are Burt, His Madness and Ivy modeling the makeshift masks that they will definitely not be wearing out in public.  

Actually, HM looks more like he's planning to rob a bank than going to the grocery store. He has definitely been watching too many YouTube videos of people making masks out of underpants.

Speaking of leaving the house, in early March, before our governor issued the "Stay At Home" mandate, HM and I visited our local art center's "Rooms of Blooms" exhibit. Every other year for the past decade florists from the area have been filling the Tudor-style mansion with unique flower arrangements and exotic blooms rarely seen outside of botanical gardens. This show comes at a time when the snow is finally starting to melt so this little preview of spring is very welcome. 

This year, Alphonse Mucha, Master of Art Nouveau, was the show scheduled to be in the main gallery. I first learned about him from this Dover publication, found many years ago in a used bookshop. Then a couple years ago, while visiting Prague, HM and I came across a large exhibition of his works at the Central Gallery. Needless to say, the combo of Mucha's art with beautiful flowers sounded like a match made in art history heaven. 

Unfortunately, in this instance, it was about as satisfying as a scoop of ice cream on a piece of cheesecake topped with whipped cream. Good in theory, but too much in reality. The show was a selection of Mucha's advertising and commercial works from late 1890's Paris. He is probably best know for his posters publicizing the French actress, Sarah Bernhardt. To be honest, the quality of the prints in this collection varied a lot. Many, like the one above, had faded from their original colors, which would have been deep and vibrant. The late nineteenth century had seen huge advances in printing technology and the artists working at that time took full advantage of it. 

This is a photo of the same print as above, I took it in a Mucha museum a couple years ago. There is always the possibility that the other print was simply done in muted colors but I haven't been able to find any evidence of that. It was interesting to see that both museums had chosen almost the same color to paint the walls of the exhibition space. 

Mucha created illustrations for magazines and books as well as advertising art for everything from bicycles to baby food and champagne. This piece was actually pretty close to the original colors he would have used at the time. It features all the hallmarks of his style, a flat perspective, bright colors and a female subject with elements from nature. Although it's hard to see, in this drawing a young woman is holding a beer and wearing wheat, hops and poppies in her hair. He may not have been the first artist to create this image but it persists in advertising to this day. 

His commercial work eventually became so popular that he started making posters just to sell for decoration. These were usually produced as a series of several prints and featured different young women in lavish, floral or celestial settings. I'm very grateful when these types of exhibits come to small town art centers, like The Paine, but the prints in this collection were so faded and washed out they failed to depict the artist's true work. Plus, I'm kind of a geek for curatorial notes and they were impossible to read due to the over abundant bouquets. Then there was always the looming possibility that HM would accidentally knock over one of those giant plant stands! 

One really nice touch was these little arrangements that were scattered throughout the mansion, little floral gems set here and there. I can't imagine going into any flower shop and finding something as exotic as this little bouquet of roses, proteas and orchids.

I wouldn't have minded hanging out here for awhile, but why only one glass?

Over in the great hall fantasy tables were set up by various florists, bakers and event planners. This year it looks like the theme was tropical wedding receptions. 

The displays in this room are generally an exercise in outdoing the competition and it usually produces some humorous results. These didn't disappoint, even the Tudor lady in the painting looks rather amused by it all. 

Can't you see her stepping out of her portrait to take a seat in this chair?

It's been fun to watch them become more outrageous as time goes on. There is a competition among the participants but in reality the whole thing is one big promotional event. Each visitor gets to vote for their favorite and in turn they get bombarded with emails and catalogs for the next year or so. That's ok, it's worth it just to walk around all the flowers and plants and help to support local businesses. So that was a few highlights from the Rooms of Blooms for 2020. Posts with photos from previous years can be seen here and here.   

 Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is staying safe. Eventually, the world will get through these times but until that day comes, His Madness and I will be keeping our kitties company and thinking we will probably never take anything for granted ever again.

See you soon! 

Spenser's Sofa Situation - Part One

Every winter it's the same story. There's a whole list of projects I plan on tackling "after the holidays" but never get around to doing them. One of this year's tasks was to replace Spencer's sofa. His Madness and I have been on the hunt for a new one forever but apparently its irreplaceable! Not really, but it's been around for so long that the second set of slipcovers are falling apart!

Spenser's sofa is in our sunroom, facing the TV so he's rarely its sole occupant, just the most dedicated one. Who needs catnip mice when you can power up the iPad and watch Netflix?

Apparently, he likes to take the occasional selfie there, too. HM noticed this among the photos on his iPad. We're still trying to figure out how he managed it. There must be some keyboard equivalent to the shutter button only known to cats or maybe he ran into directions on the internet.

Anyway, back to the sofa. A decade ago I started making slipcovers for the parts that were worn out. After doing the pillows, it looked a little boring, so I added some black along with a black and gold stripe, an embroidered dragonfly pattern and finally the paisley into the mix. That was better overall but definitely way too much for a small room with green walls and a red rug.

I thought the patterns went great together but there's only so much everyday wear and tear fabrics can handle. It's all looking pretty shabby again and we are back to the search for a new sofa.

In the meantime, the question is whether to re-make the latest worn out parts with the first material or look through my fabric stash for something more neutral.

Or blue!

Who am I kidding, there are no neutrals in my fabric stash.

   

Actually, it probably doesn't matter. I'm pretty sure they're all totally oblivious to everything in the room but the electronics.

Squirrel!

Spencer and his peeps.

Alone at last. Wait, is that a mouse?

Run Minnie!

Thanks for stopping by!

Flowers and Sand

Recently, the sun did a glorious job of illuminating my dining room table. It's a rare occurrence, first of all, because the only windows in this room face north and secondly, the sun rarely shines here! This accidental, very Stonehenge-ish , multi-colored moment was all thanks to a bunch of grocery store flowers and a decorative cloth I picked up a long time ago from Buddhist monks.

This little table cloth (for lack of a better term) reminded me of some photos I took almost a year ago of Tibetan monks creating a sand mandala and meant to do a post on. I bought this one many years ago from another group of monks from the same monastery. For being people who don't go in for worldly possessions, they offered an excellent selection of merchandise and even took credit cards.    

        

 Other cultures have always fascinated me and I'm not sure if it's simply curiosity or just plain nosiness. Anyway, last March, The Mystical Arts of Tibet tour stopped by our town and His Madness and I visited the monks who had set themselves up in the conservatory of our local art museum. They were there for a week to create a sand mandala, peddle their merchandise, play music, dance and bring spiritual healing, inner peace and kindness to east central Wisconsin. 

The monks were from the Drepung Loseling Monastery first established in Tibet but exiled to India when the Chinese Communists took over in 1959. The photo on the table is of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Yellow Hat School of Tibetan Buddhism. That's one of the actual hats they wear for ceremonies on the far right and I'm so sorry we missed seeing that performance! This day I was there mainly to gawk at all the fabrics and marvel at their patience. They were about half-way through the sand painting when I took this photo.  

Looking out at the courtyard from the conservatory there was definitely a contrast between the rich brocade fabrics and jewel-toned sand with the winter landscape. Being more familiar with other forms of Buddhism than Tibetan, I have to admit the courtyard seemed pretty zen to me.   

Creating the mandala and then deconstructing it is meant to represent the impermanence of all that exists. (Personally, that is something I try not to think about.) It's these rituals that set Tibetan Buddhism apart from the other forms, such as Zen. Looking at their schedule, they performed quite a few rituals each day. I must confess that I was most intrigued by the actual materials and tools as well as the whole process of creating a sand painting and would've loved to give it a try! 

I couldn't get a good photo of those little bowls of sand, this is a cropped section of the first photo with the two monks. Apparently, it's not regular sand but white stones that they specially grind into sand and dye with opaque inks. The sand is applied using metal funnels called chad-pur. It's supposed to be dense enough to stay in place. Can you imagine taking out hours of work with one sneeze! That may also explain why they wear sleeveless robes in winter. 

After a week of careful work, there was a consecration ceremony and then the whole thing was carefully swept up into an urn. Half of the sand was given to the people who came to watch for blessings of personal health and well-being. (HM still has some in a film can from many years ago when they were at the university.) The other half was taken to the river and released back to nature to spread healing throughout the earth. Luckily, there's no shortage of lakes and rivers here however they did need to cut a hole in the ice to get all the good vibes to wash around the globe.

There was an accompanying exhibit, Tibetan Portrait: The Power of Compassion by Phil Borges. It's a series of beautiful photographs that also include stories about each person. You can see his photos here. Both of these are definitely worth checking out if they come to your area.  

Burt and Ivy are still recovering from Mardi Gras but they will be back soon with more adventures 

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

As usual, I'm late getting out the holiday decor but apparently Spenser is on top of the situation.

When it comes to Valentine's Day there aren't many decorating options. Apart from the ubiquitous hearts, all I have is a string of lights, some kitchen towels and an assortment of empty, heart-shaped candy boxes. It took Burt and Ivy nearly forever to scatter a few hearts around and hang up the one string of lights. On the bright side, it shouldn't take too long to get it all down! 

This is embarrassing to admit to but I have a hard time tossing out empty, heart-shaped candy boxes. Sometimes I hang onto them for years. It's a silly thing to do and I try not to keep more than will fit into one plastic storage bin, along with the other valentine stuff. They're so pretty but hard to recycle.

My over abundance of empties (or trash, to be precise) is the by-product of the local Oaks Candy Store. The same family has been making hand-dipped chocolates, in the same building, since 1890. Who knows how long they have been supplying the hoarders in town with these retro boxes!

Occasionally I find a special one elsewhere, like this little gem that came from Target. It was on clearance after the holiday and the chocolate candy inside was really tasty.

You can actually strum the elastic strings but the best part has to be the pick!

Not all Valentine's candy comes in a fancy box and there is something to be said for the kind you can eat by the handful. M&M's are Ivy's favorite because they're colorful and not messy but it's not like they're going to melt in her hand anyway.

Since His Madness was up for baking some cookies, Ivy persuaded him to swap out the usual chocolate chips for her Cupid's Mix M&Ms.

Once they were baked, Burt shared his thoughts on M&M's versus chocolate chips in cookies. After a brief discussion a general consensus was agreed upon. 

While everyone liked the crunch from the M&M's, the chocolate chips tasted way more "chocolatey". The pink and white M&M's also failed to deliver aesthetically, so maybe the regular ones with brighter colors would've looked better? Guess we will just have to eat them up so we can try again!  

While the cookie were baking, Ivy decided to spiff up the coffee corner. As usual, it turned out to be more decorative than functional and with way more chocolate than beverages.  There are four different kinds of chocolate, no tea whatsoever to go in the pot, a jar of cocktail cherries, coffee and some spoons for stirring in the non-existent sugar. It needs some work. 

Or we could just face the fact that to us, this holiday is basically all about chocolate.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks for stopping by.

2-2-2020 and also Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog Day! Basically, I had nothing in mind to write about today but not making use of a palindromic date that fell on a silly holiday seemed like a real shame. In spite of its ridiculous premise, I do look forward to Groundhog Day. Not enough to jump in the lake through a hole in the ice or get up at dawn to look at a woodchuck, but more as an occasion to mark the half way point of winter  This morning, I happened to wake up just before dawn and to be honest, couldn't really tell which way the prediction was headed. I did think our magnolia was looking pretty all covered in fresh snow though. With luck, in a couple of months it will be covered in white blooms.

Before the sun was actually up, there was a lot of fog and that usually means a cloudy day. (It's not like there hasn't been anything but clouds in these parts for weeks.) Then the fog disappeared and it was a bright, sunny day! An expected but pleasant surprise.  

So, Backyard Burt, our local springtime prognosticator and rodent stand-in, has officially seen his shadow - from the patio, because it's a slushy, muddy mess everywhere else. This means we will have six more weeks of winter - as if that was a big surprise. Actually, it was 51°F. this afternoon but we know better than to take Backyard Burt, Sun Prairie Jimmy or Punxsutawney Phil seriously. Next week it could easily be -20°F. with gale force winds and three feet of snow. 

Whatever the weather turns out to be, we're halfway through winter and spring is getting closer!

Spencer, googling palindrome.

Thanks for stopping by!