Folk Art

It is wonderfully curious how many similarities there are between folk art traditions. Being curious about Canal Art, I did some Googling.

First I want to show you some Russian Lacquer work pins. They are similar to the three I found on Friday. Two of the three I found are signed. Scroll down to see the selection of pins. Click on an individual pin to see an enlargement of it.

Canal Art is very similar to tole painting in the US. We tend to think more of tole painting on metal but it is still tole painting if it is done on wood. Here is another website with lots of information about canal art.

Bauernmalerei is the traditional folk art of Bavarian Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Rosemaling is traditional to Norway. There are three main styles of Rosemaling but within the three main styles there are variations and hybridizations.

All of these art traditions have shared qualities and I am certain a little research will produce much information about other folk art traditions. Just as certainly, they will have similar qualities.

I have had training in rosemaling and have picked up Bauernmalerei.

It is a rainy Saturday. The rain began during the night and has continued on and off since. It is hard to complain about the rain because it is so dry and we need it so much.

Yesterday I acquired three Russian lacquer- ware pins. I am certain they are quite ordinary but I like them.

Yes, Penguins

I had completely forgotten about Christine and penguins. Maybe with her password "gentoo" I should send this book to her but I am still in love with it.

I did a little research. I am not certain that I can identify these penguins more specifically than they are probably South American penguins, Humboldt, Megallanic, or Galapagos. All three species are similar in appearance.

Another Gorgeous Day

What more can I ask for? The sky is blue and it is going to be a pleasant spring day. The other morning I saw a rabbit sunning itself on the east side of a small hill in the park. The birds are beginning to sing as I leave the house about 4:30 a.m. The spring peepers and frogs and peeping and croaking their songs. On the way to the grocery store yesterday morning I saw a pheasant, 3 wild turkeys, and a goose.

A couple weeks ago we went to a sale where I picked up these two books. Unfortunately Amazon.com does not have pictures of them. But I took pictures. :-)
I am not certain I can find very much information about either one.
Cross Stitch Designs for All Seasons
My copy is also copyright 1983. I wonder why this one is listed for more than 90 USD. I paid 3 USD for mine. The 1984 copyright has a lower range of prices.
Cross Stitch Designs for the Home

Right now, I have the third of three angel food cakes in the oven. I will use them to make dessert for the family dinner that concludes our tutoring program for this school year. I will miss the children but the truth is I do need a little time away from all of them.

Spring Is Wonderful

I am still amazed by our gorgeous, early spring. The cherry is blooming and so are the creeping phlox. I should have put something beside the creeping phlox to give you an indication of their size. It makes a beautiful carpet, especially in the spring but the flowers are small. I like the stars in the middle of the pink variety but then I like the periwinkle variety too with its dainty center.

It was very interesting yesterday; we got a telephone call from the Wilder Found- ation. It is a very highly respected human services non-profit. The woman calling wanted one of us to partic- ipate in a survey about public health issues. Because it was the Wilder Foundation, I said that we would. The person in the household with the birthday closest to the day, yesterday, was targeted. That was Roger. Some of the things he talked about were quite interesting. Just this morning I read an article in one of the local newspapers about homelessness in the area. A Wilder Foundation study on homelessness was cited in the article. I wonder when/if we will see the Wilder Foundation cited in an article in the future dealing with public health issues.

Still in the Garden

Yesterday was a repeat of Friday. I took off more winter mulch and dug up more spring weeds. I also dug out one each: chive and snowberry sprout. Although I could tell some weeds had grown overnight, I know that I just missed these two the previous day. My body feels somewhat worse for the wear and my hands definitely look beat up. This morning I did a little hand washing with the hope my hands would look a little better after soaking in the soapy water.

It happened again. Our neighbor goes into his backyard to talk on his cellphone to his friend Dan or to another friend about Dan. The topic of conversation is generally our neighbor's stock trading strategy. I am not certain if he goes outside because it is quieter than in the house or because he does not want his family to hear his conversation. I cannot remember how many children they have but there are a least four of them. It could be noisy in the house.

Next time, I think I will bring the radio outside and hopefully there will be an opera on. I can turn the volume up high. If someone complains, I can innocently claim to just be affording our neighbor a little privacy, with the accent on the second syllable.

In case he is outside because he does not want his family to hear his conversation, we thought that in addition we could make an occasional comment that would carry across the fence, a somewhat related non sequitur à la Gracie Allen. Or we could be a little nasty and ask each other why his wife takes in daycare children if he is making such a killing on the stock market.

Oh My Goodness

I just checked back in my blog archives. My first post was 17 April 2009. I posted a picture of a white crocus. It looks like it is at its prime. This year, the crocuses?, croci? have bloomed and are gone.

The chives, snowberry, and yarrow have escaped and are running free in the garden. After taking away some of the iris covering, I turned my attention to the unruly plants in the garden. The worst of the lot is the chives. Although I know more will show up, for the time being we have just the primary plant. While I like the snowberry with its white berries, its growing habit is very untidy and it is way too aggressive for our garden. We took it out last year but left behind some of the roots. Surprise, surprise, the roots are sending up new shoots. I dug them out but know more will return. Last but not least is the yarrow which sent some feelers out into a Siberian iris. For now, I did the best that I could to remove them but will dig up the iris after it has bloomed and remove the yarrow from it. At that time, I will dig out some of the yarrow clump.

Following this, I turned my attention to less targeted, general weeding. I wonder how long I will keep this up. It was surprising to discover how warm the soil is.