Hello from Sunday night
Otherwise known as the Midsummer Family Love-fest!
Chloe and I got out of town to the Okanagan, 460 km out of Vancouver, to visit my daughter Kerstin and her family.
And especially to meet this new little member: Zoe Iris Gray, (Ziggy...naturally), who is four weeks old. She is the baby sister to Ever, (Binky) 4 yrs old, and Isla, (Bunny) 2.
The Okanagan is a beautiful, semi-arid part of BC, with an abundance of lakes, orchards and vineyards and since the weekend promised to be a hot one, we bundled up a picnic and the babies, and headed for the nearest lake.
Everyone was very tired Saturday afternoon. The beach will do that. (Although Charlie and Mouse stayed at home, so I've no idea what their excuse is...lol)
This morning Kerstie took us to the Sunday flea market. I just love flea markets, don't you?
Binky and Bunny stopped to inspect all the toys, but were just as happy to run around and blow dandelion clocks.
I just have to show you the treasures I found. I'm especially in love with the sock monkey, which seems to be a very old, well loved one, but at some point in his sock monkey life, someone gave him some tragic glue-on googly eyes. I'll soon fix that with some vintage buttons. Those tiny pictures are made with 1920's postage stamps, and the camp stove toaster is headed to England with me so Robbie and I can take it camping.
After the flea market and some lunch, we said goodbye to all our girls and headed back to town.We stopped at a local orchard store for some yummies for our trip.
We bought some handmade squeaky cheese curds, super salty and yummy...our favourite with some fresh basil and these couple huge tomatoes, which actually smell like fresh tomatoes, cherries, honey sticks, some organic bee pollen to keep us healthy, and, we were very bad, we bought that homemade peanut brittle and ate the whole thing on the drive home. (But we couldn't help ourselves...it was sooo moreish!)
Back at the car I picked up some tree dropped peaches. I wish there was a way to preserve their beautiful fresh green fuzzyness.
And so we took our goodies and drove out of the Okanagan and began to climb the mountain passes for home.
We stopped for some wild sage to make sage bundles and in the alpines for forget-me-nots and lupins, which are now at home, reminding us of our lovely weekend.
Thank you to everyone who left me a comment on my last post. I'm so grateful to you for visiting and for giving me the chance to meet you all. I'll draw two names via random generator tomorrow morning 10am (Pacific time), and post the results here and on yesterday's post. Good luck to everyone.Big hugs XXEDIT: Winner of the chickadee/bluetit painting is number 3 Patriciaand Winner of the towhee painting is number 37 Marion
Summer at home tour
EDIT: Winner of the chickadee/bluetit painting is number 3 Patriciaand Winner of the towhee painting is number 37 MarionIt's been an exciting few days of trying to figure out exactly what where home for the summer is.I sat in my studio and started to paint and came up with this image: The impossibility of my West Coast chickadee on the same bird feeder as my British blue titmouse. Both the same species of birds, both hundreds of miles apart. And that best describes my life, my friends, because Canada may be my country, but Europe is my home town.Most of you know that I was born in Prague and now live between Vancouver Canada and Oxfordshire UK, so this probably doesn't come as a surprise.
As far as I can remember life has always been like that...an adventure, and this site is a way for me to communicate that adventure with you.This is where I live for 7 or so months of the year: a 1920 Craftsman cottage nine streets away from the Pacific ocean. Where I have a studio in the loft, with a rather large green and oak trunk, which holds C's summer journals.
Chloe has been keeping summer journals practically since she could write. I looked at the journals yesterday. I flipped thru the pages and remembered us in Geneva, in Vienna, in Prague, in Venice, in Paris and in England. Every summer, ever spring, every school holiday and sometimes when there was no holiday but we said, "Stuff that for a game of soldiers, let's get out of here!" And we lived there. Really lived there. Rented an apartment, spoke the language, cooked the groceries we bought, entertained the friends we made, hiked the country, rented a car and ended up in Lichtenstein, got on the fast train to Prague and spent the night in Berlin (oops)...really lived.
I'm so glad we glued C's photo to the front of each journal as a reference to that year. These journals are put away now, safely, for her future, but each one is a treasure of summer memories.
Right now I'm about five days away from switching city for country, pavement for meadow.The quirky 1920's cottage in Vancouver for an equally quirky 1950's cottage in Oxfordshire with a name rather than an address, West Cottage, five fields away from the Thames, where my love is at the moment.Switching my beautiful blue/green ocean...
for my beautiful blue/green river.
Where I always stop for tea and dream up new art, new techniques, new media...
Like enamelled copper, pottery, stone carving and lino cuts.
Where my vintage mini and land rover wait for me to join Robert's one-of-a-kind cars and our friends at races and car shows.
Where I hound car boot sales and come back with way too many treasures to cart back to Vancouver at once.
But this summer is a special summer. I'll be going to Prague first. Back to the heart of my home, my spirit, my wandering Bohemian nature. I'm going where the light is pink and my grandparents sleep in the warm earth. Going to visit family and friends, to speak the language, to walk the streets, to touch the city and connect with my home.
And then, then I'll fly back to London, and Robert will pick me up and we'll drive thru Oxford...
and we'll go home.
And we'll stay at home till the weather turns and the early autumn fogs start rolling over the meadows and all the wildflowers turn to seed...
...and the wind will change direction and we'll feel it and see it in the willows, and I will leave my river...
...and return to my ocean.
Do you remember a couple of posts back I said I would give away this image (below)? Well, I decided to give away both the chickadee/titmouse and the beginning of this post and this towhee image below, plus a few of my greeting cards, and any other silly and wonderful goodies I can think of, to two random generator numbers, so, if you like, please leave me a comment and I'll draw the name on Monday morning and post it off PDQ before I leave on Tuesday, (so please leave me a way to get in touch to get your addy). Also, I'm off to visit with my daughter Kerstie and my three granddaughters for the weekend (and this requires hours of driving), so might not have a chance for replies till a bit later, but, since we're probably all bloggers and you all feel the same thrill, am every so grateful for each and every comment and connection. :DAlso, sending out a great, big, THANK YOU to Kelly who invited me to take part in this lovely blog tour. Please pop over to her site. You'll love her warm and gentle nature as much as I do.Here is the updated blog tour list for everyone to visit these lovely gals.
Wednesday, June 18th
Thursday, June 19th
Friday, June 20th
Saturday, June 21st
A downtown community garden
Vancouver is a small city for a major city...as far as cities go. As a matter of fact, it really has nowhere to grow geographically but up. The whole Lower Mainland is a bit stuck in a triangle between the Pacific, some pretty uninhabitable mountains and the US border, and is so arteried with water, either ocean or river delta, that land is at a premium.The other day, I had an appointment downtown. Now getting downtown is sometimes a bit of a "take a chance" game to get over bridges and thru traffic, and I found myself with an extra half hour to spare to walk around a little.
I love this temperate, ocean-front climate, and it sure allows for easy green spaces. Most downtown streets have boulevard trees. Most courtyards and corners have lawns and flowers. There are plenty of rooftop gardens, and apiary installations and even a wild meadow roof, so no surprise that against this beautiful skyline I walked thru a community garden which has beautifully designed Garden Paving all across it. It very much reminded me of the past when my dad used to take my brother and me to the park every evening, no matter how important work he had.
The big surprise is that it is on a very valuable street corner and completely open and inviting to the public.
No fences, no gates, no signs which say, "these fruits and vegetables are for the gardeners only". Completely open and inviting, with benches and paths and beds full of loveliness.
And this could be because Vancouverites, (as a general rule), are a friendly bunch, or because gardeners really do want to share, but here, on this street corner next to a major hospital, next to alleyway homelessness, within a hub of a transient community, it could be because these gardeners recognise the need for giving, for fresh fruit and vegetables, clean water and the smell of roses. Because gardeners sometimes just garden for happiness, not for profit, and, because some big corporation hasn't got its permission/funding/fingers into this valuable little street corner yet, there's time for gardeners to share.
I like that :D
Another announcement! A summer blog tour
I've been invited to take part is an exciting summer at home blog tour featuring some wonderful gals.It was the brainchild of my friend Kelly and her friend Julie and the line up is as follows:Wednesday, June 18th On Sutton PlaceStone GableMy Soulful HomeThursday, June 19th Country Design StyleCedar Hill FarmhouseLilacs & LonghornsFriday, June 20th Thistlewood FarmsAt The Picket FenceJennifer Rizzo Saturday, June 21stOur Southern HomeSouthern HospitalityDebbie DoosAnd ME! Right here, Saturday!And if you come have a peek on Saturday, I will give away this little announcing Towhee on Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet , (after I finish him up.)And now, as a thank you for sticking around, here is something I spied today:This guy has been left double parked.
Oh, wait...that's better. :D
Etsy shop
OMG, my heart's a flutter. I finally took the plunge and published that Etsy shop I keep going on about after sitting on my writing desk and staring out of the skylight at the city for about an hour.
Finally I said to myself, "As soon as a seaplane takes off the water I'll get to work on the shop." Then one took off straight away. So I reasoned that that was way too soon and now it has to be a different sea plane to count. Then a second one took off followed by a third one. Boy, I can procrastinate for Canada!So I made myself get off the desk and open my drawers full of paintings and chose three and photographed them with shaking hands, rushed off to a Dr.'s appointment, came home, sorted out the photos and published the shop!
So with butterflies and trepidation, I'm going to proudly say, "Lots more paintings on ephemera to come. :D "GulpThanks for hanging in there with me. XXXXXXXX........Ohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVuuHqeCLBA
hello from Sunday night
It's been a lovely weekend round here.Our weekend actually started late Friday afternoon, when, after a seriously long day of appointments, C and I found ourselves out at the river delta in the late afternoon and decided to take a look around.It wasn't long before we found a beautiful little vintage shop in a little community.
Where I found these incredible handmade Steampunk robots, and this ray gun!
While C found a vintage Hudson's Bay blanket in great shape.
We didn't get out of the shop empty handed...lol. I immediately bought the blanket for our collection and I also scooped three vintage Bowie records, (you know, true love lasts forever :D )Then I remembered a little agricultural island with an organic farm nearby and so we found the rickety old turquoise bridge which led to it crossed over one arm of the Fraser River. (PS, I live way in that distance, just at the foot of those mountains!)
We found the farm.
An organic nursery, with a little general store selling local handicrafts.
Homemade jams, jellies and honey.
And they had freshly picked strawberries and this year's first crop of new potatoes for sale. I was really excited about the potatoes and strawberries because I had invited 15 people for supper Saturday night.
Saturday morning C gave me a hand cleaning the house and we ran a few things to the Salvation Army. I had it in mind to make a fabulous Eton Mess for desert but only had six vintage, crystal finger bowls to serve it in and so we looked around for some similar pressed glass bowls to have enough for all our guests.We found loads! At $.69 each!
With so many people, I decided on a BBQ featuring pulled pork, baked ham, those lovely new potatoes with butter and parsley, and a huge green salad from my garden.By the afternoon, the kitchen was clean and two heads of garden butter lettuce, some red lettuce and some herbs waiting...
Bedrooms were clean and decorated with the new blanket...
The James Bond bathroom...clean, with fragrant hand soaps at the ready, the stairs to my studio cleaned of papers, books and other detritus that naturally collects on stairs...
Wine glasses ready, wine bottles open...
Dining room table prepared...
Everything shiny and bright...but where are our guests?
Here they are!
the Eton Mess was absolutely delicious, and the youngins went to hang out in my studio and catch up.
We all had such a lovely time and talked and laughed into the evening.Sunday I put away the cleaned silverware and my new glass bowls, figured out how to photo transfer onto glass, and spent some time in the silversmithing studio. (Evidence of creativity on Instagram)
And big bonus for me: lovely memories, vases of fresh flowers and a clean house. :D
My kind of Eton Mess:One cut up angel food cakeAbout ten small macaroons (crushed into big chunks)A ton of fresh berriesAbout 200 ml of whipping cream, whipped but not too stifflyAbout 150 ml of crème fraîchePut the cut up angel food cake on the bottom of a platter,pour most of the berries on top, reserving a hand full for the very topmix the whipped cream plus the crème fraîche together and pour over the cake/berries on the platter,sprinkle the remaining berries and the crushed macaroons as a final layer.Serve immediately so the macaroons stay crisp.Yum city!
Coca Cola, Rachel's wonderful drawing challenge
Well, this was an interesting twist for me.I don't drink coke. I can't imagine filling my body with ten teaspoons of sugar and huge amounts of caffeine and DNA destroying potassium benzoate. :( (but I hear it's great for getting rust off of metal)I actually don't drink any pop at all, so it was a bit of a stretch to come up with something coke related.The first thing I thought about was pop art, Andy Warhol, as in: "You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."So, ubiquitous as it is, I didn't really want to disseminate the whole coke image.I thought about buying a can, dumping the pop out and using the aluminum for some art... recycling the rest...making more cans of coke available...but then again I ran into the problem of personally not agreeing with contributing to the cola market.What to do...what to do...Then I got an idea!
I searched out the biggest pieces of sea glass in my collection and tried a few photo transfer, and it worked!
The funny thing about photo transfers, is you have to draw the image, then scan it then cut it up and transfer it then remove the paper backing then clear coat it...
That's like seventeen steps when you could simply have drawn the darn thing on the object in the first place...lol.
But it's much more fun this way, isn't it?
So who knows if this glass came from coca cola bottles, but then who knows if it didn't? I'm taking artistic liberty here ;)I can see there being a few more photo transfer pieces of sea glass in my life.When you have a chance, drop by Rachel's and check out some other fantastic coke related art.
Vinci's Gallery and Caffé , a discovery
The wonderful thing about being in the arts and having a flexible schedule is that I can drive C to her morning internship appointment, hang out at Sbux for an hour, pick her up and drive to my afternoon appointment and we get to spend the day together.How fun is that?Well, C's appointment ran a bit longer, (she's been sent to a publishing company to learn the Helix computer software), and that left us in an unfamiliar part of town with about 30 minutes to grab some lunch.I told C that I remembered a small, quaint cafe which used to be in the area millions of years ago and so we decided to try to find it. We didn't, but happily we found this lovely little gem of warm lights and soft pillows and beautiful, bold paintings.
Everything about the Vinci's Caffé is fresh and thoughtfully presented. We especially appreciated the lemony water and Bon Maman jars upcycled as glasses.
We ordered ham and cheese croissants and decided on a nice table at the back of the restaurant away from the glare of the day.
And faced this lovely painting which slid sideways to reveal an office! How cool is that? :D I asked the most likely culprit, Sandra, who just happens to be the owner and resident artist, if I could take some photos and share.
I passed Sandra's easel on my way to the washroom. I can't tell you how much I love the idea of painting in one's own cafe/gallery. (sigh) Someday?
The back hallway leading to the washrooms and back exit had more beautiful paintings as well as giant canvases yet to be painted.
We enjoyed our lunch so much here. Not only were the croissants fluffy and warm and buttery, but eating them surrounded by huge oils and a warm glow was exactly what we wanted. We'll be back.
Extra Extra and the effects of the sky
My two favourite photo challenges Wordpress and Photo Friday:
Walked under a look-out over the river and found some sunlight magic! :D
So, I play with dolls!
You know how things happen? You visit a friend and she's made a wonderful jointed paper doll.Then, just by coincidence, you visit a second friend and guess what? Yup! Another beautiful doll.Then you visit a third friend and, holy smokes...she's got an exquisite mermaid going on!Well, it doesn't take much more and you decide you've got to have a mermaid/flapper/jointed doll in your life too!The internet...gotta love it...has a multitude of jointed doll pattern out there. I chose this one.Made myself a mermaid. Naked of course. Hey, if I was a mermaid I'd so not want to be dragged down by seashell bras and be made a slave to dry people conventions.
Sat her up against my most favourite Nick Bantock's "Man Descending" on my office desk.Next I decided to make a flapper. Same pattern. Dressed her in jet beads and fringe. Stood her up against Man Descending.
Man Descending looks pretty happy to me. :D