Gardening On The Cheap

 

 As I said in an earlier post, I have been
wicked behind **no, I did not say I WAS a
behind…sheesh. I will leave that to someone else to say that about me**
on my gardening this year. The weather (and my energy level) has
been amenable to my being able to do a bit in the garden and yard every
day so I have been spending at least 2 hours, usually 3 or more, outside
working.

  The day before yesterday I
took cuttings from nasturtiums, impatiens, wave
petunias, and several perennials from the garden. I know the impatiens and
petunias will root, the nasturtiums are pretty iffy (not had success with
it before), but if they do take I will be happy! If the root cuttings I
took take, I will have at least 72 new wave petunias in 2 colors,
80
new impatiens in 3 colors and 7 or 8 more nasturtiums. Yes, you read 72
and 80 is correctly. No, that isn’t a typo. D I took cuttings from 3
petunias and one pot of 3 impatiens to get all those cuttings. I can’t
wait til they root so I can get them in the ground. Petunias never did a
thing for me in my garden … very poor performers. But the wave petunias!
They have grown wonderfully in my gardens, adding color all summer, and
even happily self seeding to produce the next year’s generation
**I just have to remember
they were there and NOT PULL the seedlings up in Spring weeding!**
The fact that I can spend about $6 for decent sized plants and then take
enough cuttings to wind up with over 80 plants makes them an even more of
a necessity in the garden. I have a lot of perennials as my foundation
plants. The problem with perennials is that generally they have a shorter
bloom time than the annuals have. Many annuals will bloom continually
through the growing season once they start, while the perennials bloom for
a few days or few weeks and then work on storing energy for the next
summer’s bloom. No big deal except that it gets expensive and can be
tiresome to have to plant annuals
**depending on the size of your flower beds** . If you are like
me, the flowers become an addiction…er..compulsion…erm, they are like
potato chips: you can’t stop with just one or two, and that can be very
expensive. I feed my annuals “craving” with either doing
winter sowing
** check the link to see
what it is and how it works** or by purchasing one or two of the
plants I want a plethora of and taking cuttings. MUCH cheaper.
Indescribably cheaper.

Here are the basics for taking
cuttings from a “parent plant” to make babies:

 Buy a $2 wave petunia or other
plant **I get mine from a local woman who
has a greenhouse on her farm, or from the town Farmer’s Market on
Saturday… PLEASE support small, local businesses! Its the backbone of
the local economy! ** Use recycled items for
your planting to go even cheaper: yogurt or apple sauce cups, saved
planting containers, cups from the local fast food place you bought a
drink from, use your imagination. You can buy paper or Styrofoam cups from
the Dollar Store…most anything will work! They don’t need to be
deep…you will be just rooting the plants until you can transfer them
into their new permanent beds, pots or baskets. Some people do cuttings in
a bin like this one in the drawing. 

  The box consists of two bins.
The outside is a box with a lid that can be closed to keep the humidity
high. Inside this box is another bin that is filled with the growing
medium. The closed container helps keep the humidity high, which is what
the cuttings like best.

   Ideally you want to take
cuttings from the newest growth of a plant that are at least 2 inches
long. Use a knife and if possible make a diagonal cut. Take cuttings that
have at least one set of true leaves. Remove any flowers
**yes, this part WILL
hurt…you, not the plant. I can’t stand to throw away flowers! So instead
make a microwave flower press and save those blossoms for using in crafts
or decorating or what-have-you. Directions on how I made my microwave
flower press at the end of this blog**.

  Fill the
containers with sharp sand **i.e.
builders sand…available from the local big home store or small hardware
store for cheap cheap cheap** , screened compost
**big bits removed in other
words**, or of course, potting soil. Some people
swear by coarse sand as THE best use, and it does work well. I happen to
use whatever I have on hand. I w0uld like to build a “cutting bed” in
light shade so I can have a permanent place to drop cuttings in when the
mood strikes. Yet again there is another project that I want to do…more
ideas than time or ambition!

   Its not a requirement to
use a floral rooting hormone, but it can significantly reduce the time it
takes for the cutting to throw roots. If you want to try it without, go
for it!

  If using the rooting hormone,
dip the cutting end of the plant into the hormone and shake off the
excess. It only takes a small amount of the rooting hormone.

  Stick your cutting into your
growing medium and lightly mist your plant-to-be. The soil should be moist
but not soggy. Put the cuttings in semi-shade/part sun and do NOT let them
dry out. Most soft wood cuttings will root in 7-17 days. When you see new
green growth on the cuttings, they are rooted! Put them in bright sun a
few hours each day for several days to get them used to the harsher
conditions. Keep the soil moist but not wet. Then transplant and don’t let
them dry out totally.

  I can’t wait until my petunias
and impatiens all root. I want to put petunias up under each of the trees
by the street *4 trees* and in the gardens by the top of the drive way *2*
and the rock garden, as well as along the front of the house.
Good thing I took so many cuttings. I hope they all root! I will give a
report in a days.

  Here is a far off view of the
8 trays of cuttings I took. There are some additional cuttings in pots on
my porch.

 Today I planted several
packages of different sunflowers: mahogany, yellow, dark red. I love
sunflowers! They are such happy flowers.  The bees love the blooms,
the birds love the seed. I planted different sizes…from ones that are
14″ tall to ones that get 7′ tall. Yeh I am late planting, but in two
months they will bloom and hold bloom for at least a month, so that works.

  I also planted some morning
glories to see how they would do.We will see!*shrug* I have an oodle of seeds and I want LOTS of color outside, so why not plant the seeds and see what they do.  Tomorrow I am going
to plant some perennial herbs and flowers to get a start on next year’s
bloom. There are a couple of annual herbs I want to get a start, too, since I found seed packets of some things I wanted to have in the ground: lemon time, lemon grass,sage *perennial*, summer savory, among other things. Plant report to follow *when there is something to report*.

                                                                                                                                
~Kathie

…How Does Your My Garden Grow…

 

 I have finally gotten “into the groove” with my
gardening this week.

 Side bar: Pass your mouse over the images to see the name of the flower. Nifty lil HTML trick in Frontpage!

    It might be
because that freebie table and chairs I picked up this week is making me
feel bad that my gardens out front look like heeyyyyeelll. You would NOT
believe the amount of thistle that is coming up in my gardens. It has to
be coming in with the mulch from the landfill. Or some jerk is coming in at night and throwing thistle seed into my beds to drive me absolutely loopy. And itchy.

     I am about a
month late starting the heavy gardening chores.

     At least a
month. Probably more. I feel like I will never catch up. I never do all those cool things one is supposed to do in Fall to prep the beds for Spring.

     *sigh*.

     I helped
Michael a wee bit, but he has been hard at weeding and mulching the beds, starting WAY before I hitched up my britches and got busy.
The gardens at the top of the driveway look terrific due mainly to his
attentions. He weeded and
mulched the beds, which are a rough kidney shape and about 24 feet x 7 feet. I
went in and thinned out a few plants that were getting out of control and
pulled out a few things. Each bed contains
a similar assortment of plantings for symmetry: a
Japanese lace leaf maple (newly planted 2 years ago and about 4 feet
tall), Fall blooming perennial mums, hollyhocks, Maximillian sunflowers,
Black Eyed Susans, tulips, anemones, Irises in yellow, white and pink,
gold euonymus, creeping juniper, tiger lilies, Easter lilies, a spiky
ornamental grass, Echinacea, some self-seeded sunflowers *probably sunset
sunflowers in Fall colors*, Nasturtiums, balloon flowers, and some other things I am sure I am forgetting. I try to plant as many perennials
as possible and then I fill in with annuals for all-summer blooms. Most of
what is there I started from seed or small plants I purchased. There is
a satisfaction that comes from starting plants from seed or from cuttings
that doesn’t come from buying them. For one thing, it is a whole stinkin’
lot CHEAPER to start from seed or cuttings. Example: I bought one large $5
pot of impatiens that contains three different colors. Tomorrow I am going
to take cuttings from the pot of that contains probably 6 large plants and will likely
have 40 plants plus in about 2 weeks when the babies take root.

  Not bad for five bucks, eh?

  I am going to do the same with
a large container of fuchsia colored wave petunias, 4
quart sized Nasturtiums, amd 4 dahlias I bought from a local gal that
has a greenhouse on her farm. Trimming the plants for rooting cuttings
will encourage bushier, fuller growth of the plants, too. All in all
its a win-win situation to root cuttings from existing plants. I plan to
run up-county to the same farm and pick up a couple of sweet potato vines,
a couple perennial mums and a few more dahlias to fill in bare spots. Her
quart plants are only $2 and are a nice size, healthy and grow
wonderfully in my gardens because they are locally grown from the get-go.
I also get to do one of my favorite things: support a small, local
business.

  Today I pulled out probably 100 waist high thistle plants from a flower bed *yes, it really was THAT bad!* along with some evil vining plant that a neighbor I once had called wet weather moss.  I need to look it up and see what its official name is. PITA is what I call it, personally *Pain In The Arse*.  Michael will mulch the bed for me once I finish weeding it. While I was weeding I moved around some plants, planted some of what I had purchased and found that I have a lot of space to fill up. Oy. I don’t have much money to spend so I need to get hold of some annuals that will put color in those beds til I grow/buy/trade/steal (hehehe kidding on that one…mebbe) perennials for the large spaces.

   I also cleaned up around the 40 feet of peonies I have in my yard. They are SO pretty when they bloom. Tomorrow I am going to put in stakes and run some twine to help keep them from flopping over. I put in a bunch of Nasturtium seed under the peonies for summer color when the peonies are done *if the seeds come up!*.  I want to also put in something else there that is blooming now. Its a long stretch of plants that need color. I took one of the perennial mums I bought and split it in four pieces and put one of them at either end of the peonies. We will see how they do since they are new plants to me.

  So think of me the next two
days as I endeavor to finish weeding several flower beds before the
weekend’s rains hit. The gardens need the rain, but drat…its a holiday
weekend! I could use the time to do more yard work. My veggie bed hasn’t
been touched yet, and it honestly is totally a thistle bed. I HAVE to get
them up before they set seed, and its going to be a close race. Michael
has been working on my herb bed…YEAH! I bought basil *oh yeah…I am
going to take cuttings from those too* , parsley, thyme and lavender from
Patricia (farm gal) also*. I want to toss some seeds in the beds and see
if I can get some stuff to come up …namely calendula. *shrug* Yeah it is
terribly late to start seed but if I plant them and they flower and I let
them set seed, I may have volunteers for next year.

 I hate to make lists but I will
put down a few “plans”. Tomorrow we will tackle the herb bed and finish
that (or revisit it in some cases where the thistle is coming back after
all Michael’s hard work).  This weekend is the Herb Festival at
Leakin Park in Baltimore. Next weekend is the Darlington Herb Festival
in our county. I may just go to both and fill my herb bed back up. I lost
quite a few of my plants so its time for new rosemaries, lavender,
chamomile, lemon thyme, and well, heck, EVERYTHING. The bed just went to
pot last year. :^(

  Friday my plan is to tackle
the veggie bed. I picked up some tomatoes, and eggplants from Patricia
also. Hey…$2 for 6 good sized plants! Can’t beat that! All I need to do
is pick up a couple Roma tomato and yellow tomato plants and my tomatoes
are good to go. Then I can plant my cukes, lettuce and beets and pick up 2
zucchini…or 4. We love zucchini and will grill and eat it every day when
they are in season! What we don’t/can’t eat I shred and freeze for making
zucchini bread come winter. Oh and I can’t forget hot peppers! We love
them. I will even get a few sweet pepper plants this year, though I tend
to not have good luck with them. Worms. ‘Nuff said. p

    I will let you
know how the gardens are a doing after the de-thistlin’ and weeding and
plantin’. Hopefully we will win the battle with the thistle and get lots
of plants in the ground.

   I might even get brave
and photograph the thistle hell that is my vegetable bed.

   Lord how embarrassing.
*turns red*

   So how does my garden
grow right now? Not with silver bells and cockle shells but with dock a plenty and thistles so many.

                                                                                                 
~Kathie

Free…Free…Thank Heavens Its FREE!!!

This past week I was thinking about how we
needed a decent table and chairs for outside. I then as quickly dismissed
the thought because the money isn’t just available for something. Before
the idea left my mind I peripherally thought “Well, maybe I will be able
to pick up something at a yard sale or on
Freecycle.

Yesterday
while I was reading email an offer came through on my local Freecycle for
an outdoor iron table and chair set. I sent off an email saying if it were
still available I could pick it up right away and included my phone
number.

Almost
as quick as the email went out I received a phone call back. The table and
chairs were mine should I want them.

Why yes, thank you very much, I will take them.

Isn’t that table fair on screaming for a pot of flowers smack dab in the middle?

Oh poor me. It means more flowers in my yard *gigglesnort*

Not only did I score the
above table and chairs but two of these chairs:

One of the above chairs has a place where the wicker wrapping on the chair is
raveling, but that is easy and cheap enough to repair. The iron and wood
table and chairs just need, should I decide to do so, a quick sanding and
staining to spiff it up and protect the wood.

All of the items are from Pier One, one
of my FAVORITE places to shop. I can’t believe I got these free!

I also got to meet a nice local
gal and that was a bonus.

Today Brenna and I sat under the
big spruce tree *and I mean big…the tree is a least 200
years old and 6 stories tall* where we placed the table and chairs.
It was the perfect day today: mid 70s, low humidity, slight breeze, sunny.
Brenna did math. The dogs rolled in the grass, played chase, watched the
bikers, joggers and walkers pass by on their way to and from the walking
path, and generally did doggie type stuff. Donna brought Becca over and
then we all sat and had a drink or a frozen ice while their two dogs
played with my three.

The table is a hit! An appreciated blessing! And a need that has been filled! And pretty speedily filled at that!

So look on the Freecycle site and
consider joining a local group. Let your trash be another’s treasure! Help keep the
landfills from filling up with items that others can use. Be a blessing
when others have a need and be blessed when you have a need that another
can gladly fill.

~Kathie

On Mother’s Day, Teapots and Tea

 


I never posted about Mother’s Day, so belatedly…

  
We weren’t supposed to even be in Maryland on Mother’s Day. We were
supposed to be in Nantucket, and again to revisit my slight disgust at the
situation, we weren’t, due to my van having a ginourmous repair bill.

 
Ok byatching about that over.

 
So here I am on Mother’s Day: no cards, no gifts * I planned to pick up
some stuff in Nantucket for my mom, Michael’s mom Jean and my
sister-in-law Debbie.

 
Of course I realized this sad state of affairs on Sunday at about 12:30
a.m. **yes I was up that late…night owl here**.

 
Yargh…what can I make quickly that won’t look cheesy, will be
appreciated and not LOOK like I made it quickly.

 
sidebar: Debbie if you are reading this stop laughing !
Myeh  :^p

   AH BRAIN BLAST! **a la Jimmy Neutron**
I had picked up fixins for making sterling silver jewelry for 
Valentine’s Day gifts. A migraine killed my plans to make stuff up for the
three gals mentioned above. This  is perfect! AND I could put them together after
church. Time crunches really blow chunks.

   Ok I am revealing I attended high school in the 80s with that turn of phrase.

   Moving right along.

  
In my snuffling about Michael’s and Joann’s ETC. I acquired charm photo frames, hearts, sterling silver chain and
beads, among other do-dads. My plans were to make a bracelet for my MIL, a pin for my SIL, and a
necklace for my mom. Yeah. I can do this.

  
So I did. But I forgot to take pics because I was in such a hurry to get
the jewelry done in time for supper at my MIL’s house. :^p And get a nap in if possible.

   I don’t think I got the nap if I recall.

   My mom gave me her necklace back to use it for sizing for the photos **and to add the photo to her necklace**.
The time I allowed myself *aw hell, its more like there WAS no time!*
meant I didn’t have time to finagle the sizing and quality to print out
the pics to insert into the little frames.  I did print the pics once
and BOY did they look like crap. Ok…so there is something that I need to
do with the sizing for the tiny size, DPI, resolution…blah blah blah. I
am going to research it today and figure out what I was doing wrong.

  Here is a pic of my mom’s
necklace. It is the plainest of the three items I made. On Deb’s pin I put beads and
hearts along with the little photo frame charm and on Jean’s bracelet I did the
same. On my mom’s necklace I had just added the hearts and frame charm. Since I have it
back I can add some beads to it and decorate it up. I didn’t have time to figure out what to
do on the necklace…but now I have the time so I will see what I can come
up with.

No, my family does not include people of color *unless
you include our Native American blood. That  is the image that came
in the charm package. I saved it to use for sizing. :^D

  
So that took care of the other ladies in our family.

  
Michael and Brenna **as well as many others** know
my fondness for teapots and tea. Generally on holidays and other special
occasions someone will pick up a teapot or something “tea” oriented for
me.

 
I am starting to run out of places for them.

 
Don’t care. I still like them. :^D

 
Target has some really cool looking teapots **along with
their other cool home and decor items**. They are quickly matching
Pier One for the YUMMY factor their home stuff has.

Teapot and four cups from Target. Now I just need a tray
for serving.

 
So that was Mother’s Day in the Jones household.

 
Now let’s talk about tea.

 
Tea. So MANY kinds. So much yumminess.

 
I have become a tea snob. Lipton tea bags? Gak. No thank you. Now, Lipton
has some TERRIFIC loose teas but the teabags that seem to be synonymous
with a cup of tea in the US? Gak x2. I cannot stand that taste of the
regular old Lipton tea bags. I love Lipton’s loose tea that is called
Lipton’s Yellow Label Tea. I get mine from Indian grocery stores, and
occasionally one of the local grocers will carry it.

 
There are five main kinds of tea: herbal, white, green, oolong, and black.

  
Starting with herbal “teas”
herbal infusions are technically a tisane, **also spelled ptisan** or infusion, and not “tea” in the strictest sense of the word. Derived from fresh or dried flowers, leaves, seeds or roots,
usually by pouring boiling water over the plant parts and letting
them steep for a few minutes. They are often used in medicinal preparations and as part of whole food diets or natural healing. Herbal tisances make splendid beverages by themselves or
mixed with camellia type teas and are as many and varied as plants
themselves are.

  White teas are young leaves (new growth buds)
that have undergone no oxidation; the buds may be shielded from sunlight
to prevent formation of chlorophyll. They have a mild flavor not
unlike green teas *IMO*.

  Green teas are leaves in which the oxidation
process is stopped after a minimal amount of oxidation by application of
heat, either with
steam,
or by dry cooking in hot pans, the traditional Chinese method. 

   In oolong teas oxidation is stopped
somewhere between the standards for green tea and black tea.

   With black
teas, the tea leaves are allowed to completely oxidize. The Chinese call
it Red Tea because of the color of the water after steeping tea leaves.
This is my personal favorite. The various flavors of black tea are created
by the blends that are combined or by the addition of essences, oils,
leaves, buds, etc. to help create distinctive scents and flavors.

   Black tea is by far the most popular and
widely consumed tea in the United States.

 
My favorite tea I have ever found is made from Lloyd’s of London. I
purchased some from a local store that carried it for a short time, and
now I can’t FIND it anywhere.  If you have seen tea from Lloyd’s of
London PLEASE let me know.

 
I love Ceylon tea, Irish Breakfast Tea, English Breakfast tea. Each tea
has its own depth, it’s own nuances, its own subtle flavors. The best teas
are ones that you can savor and enjoy. I have found some local places that
sell incredible loose teas and I love to get small samplings of various
ones to try. This morning I stopped in

Shamrock’s in Bel Air and bought 1/8 lb each of two different
teas to try: Chanticleer and a Ceylon Orange Pekoe. **side
bar: I just made a cup of the Chanticleer. It is REALLY good! Its a black
tea with a floral overtone. Looking on Baltimore Coffee’s site, the
original source of the tea, the tea is spiked with sunflower petals. VERY
tasty!**

 
So you want to try a tea without making a whole pot? Or you just want to
make one cup from loose tea? No problem! There are handy-dandy tea bags to
spoon loose tea
into
that work wonderfully! The brand I purchase is called T-sac. I have seen them at various kitchen or culinary stores, and places that sell loose tea or herbs also carry them.  I 2 boxes at a time and keep them on hand.  No  need to tie, iron or otherwise finagle the bags, you simply scoop a spoonful of your tea or herb *also good for cooking with herbs in them, by the by* into the t-sac and let the bag flop over the top of your cup or pot. Best thing I have found in years for making cups of loose tea. I will use several of these with a tea pot. No twigs or leaves in the pot or cup. The bag can simply be lifted out of your fresh brew and placed it in your trash, or better yet, recycle bin. sidebar: tea and coffee leavings are spectacular in the garden! Much better than in the local landfill.

 
The best “regular” black tea bags I have found, hands down, are
Red Rose
Teabags.  They are made from an excellent grade of tea,
not the “bottom of the barrel” tea leaves that comprise many bagged teas.
Seriously…try the regular Red Rose Tea. You will be really surprised at
the taste. If you are a Lipton drinker, you may wind up relegating those
bags to the back of the cabinet to use up for iced tea or for a guest who
requests Lipton Tea bags.

 
To make the perfect cup of tea, boil your tea to a rapid boil. The best
water to use is, of course, filtered water sans chlorine or bottled water. Fill your
cup or pot up with the boiling water, and let this stand for a moment to warm
the container thoroughly. Discard this water. Place your bagged loose tea or favorite tea bag in the
cup and pour the boiling water over. Set your timer for a minimum of 3
minutes, up to a maximum of 5-6, depending on how strong  you like
your tea, and the type of tea you are brewing. Herbal, green or white teas
keep at 3-4 minutes or they will get bitter and unpalatable. Decaffeinated
teas require more tea per cup to get a decent strength. Remove your bag or
loose tea without squeezing. Squeezing draw out the bitter tannins. Drink
as is or add your favorite sweetener and/or creamer.

 
So jump on the tea bandwagon. Its yummy. Green tea is great for you, as
are many herbal teas. Summer it coming! Try some tasty herbal teas…Celestial
Seasonings has some great ones. Try Raspberry Zinger, Orange
Zinger, Red Zinger, over ice. Add some ginger ale and grape juice to an
herbal tea to make an awesome cooler during the hottest and driest days of
the summer.  Remember when making iced teas to make them 2-3 times as
strong as for hot. The tea will considerably weaken when poured over ice.

 Let
me know what your favorite tea is.  Don’t care for tea? Step out and
try something different! You may just surprise yourself and find a new
beverage to satisfy your thirst each day.

                                                                                                                   
~Kathie

Night Day at the Museum

So this past week was supposed to be a trip to Nantucket. That got blown out of the water when my van needed more than $800 in repairs. *wincesighsmallwhine* Michael decided to go ahead and take this week off anyway and we used it as a “local” vacation week. Two of the days we went to Chesapeake Beach; one day we watched Night at the Museum and Spider Man 1 and 2; another day we fished all day*upcoming blogs…I am all out of order*.

Friday was the day we planned to go to Hershey Park. Then.. dum dum dummm *insert ominous tones here XXX* along came storm fronts hailing from the midwest. Fifty-ish something degrees, scattered thunder showers, the occasional tornado…uhhh no. Not my idea of a happy-shiny occasion for going to a theme park. Oh and the fact that it is around $45. I don’t want to pay $45 to walk around getting wet, cold and dodging electrical storms.

Hershey Park: officially tabled until the weather is more cooperative.

Since we caught up on the Spider Man movies this week we decided to go to a matinee of Spider Man 3 on Friday. Great movie if you liked the first two! After the movie we had lunch at Don Pablo’s mmmm Mexican! But that only took up time until 3pm. That isn’t much of a vacation day, now is it?

And that is where The Walter’s Art Gallery comes in!

Now if you have read any of my posts of number you know I am an artsy-fartsy kinda chick. And I happen to LOVE museums of any ilk. Living near DC offers a plethora of museums as the Smithsonian has more than 20 buildings that comprise its collective. I have never been to Philadelphia even though we live less than 2 hours from the downtown area (not sure how I made it through elementary school and Girl Scouts without doing so), but we plan to remedy that lack this summer. I know there are several good museums up there. I also have never been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Actually I have never BEEN to New York! I also would like to remedy that in the near future.

Baltimore has two major museums: the Walter’s Art Gallery and the Baltimore Museum of Art. I grew up in Baltimore City and my mom took me to the Walter’s quite a lot, as well as going with school. Same with the BMA, add to the fact that I took art classes there quite a number of times.

The Walter’s is a smorgasbord for those who enjoy ancient art. They have artifacts from many ancient cultures and locales: Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Japan, China, India, the Americas. On occasion they have traveling exhibits come through. Two years ago or so we saw the Tutankhamen exhibit. SO COOL to see these artifact from the time of Moses in pristine condition. It really solidifies to me how man has, in general, a totally skewed view of ancient cultures’ abilities and accomplishments. The are too “primitive” to have done x, y or z. The were “unsophisticated” and “backwards”. Humph. The more we find out about ancient culture, the more we find out that us “modern” humans don’t know nearly as much as we think we do about the past.

One of the very cool things about museums is that you can generally, they are ok with your photographing the exhibits unless it is one that is on loan. You know I love that! So I set my Rebel XT up with an 85mm lens at 800 ISO and starting clicking away. All available light *which really isn’t great in a museum as they keep it set to do as little damage to the pieces as possible*, all hand held. I am pretty please with how the images came out.

No real significance to the images save the fact that I wanted to play and I love the art in the museum! Here is a sampling of some of my favorite images from yesterday (this is a pix heavy post, be forewarned!):

This is a statue that younger Walters commissioned of his daughter, Jennie. Its gorgeous. I didn’t take note of who the artist was though.

This statue is called The Mourner.

I love the emotion that is conveyed in the draping of the cloth, the hand to the head, the stance.

This is a detail of a portrait of Mary receiving the announcement of her pregnancy by the Holy Spirit. The lighting on it was what impressed me. Painted on wood with oils. From the Mediaeval period I believe. It could have been painted last week…the colors were vibrant and beautiful.

This is a recent acquisition by the Walters’. It was owned by a family in New Jersey and kept in their home. From India, it is made of a technique similar to Paper Mache’. A form is covered with layers of cloth, bark or fiber that is soaked in dyes or rosins. As each layer dries a subsequent layer is added. The form is then removed and the finished statue is painted, adorned, etc. This is a close up detail of a close to life sized image. Absolutely gorgeous! I believe it was a bodhisvitta: someone who has reached enlightenment who returns to teach others.

The Archangel Michael, sans wings. A little smaller than life sized it once adorned the front of a sanctuary in a cathedral.

I kept thinking statues and paintings of him were of Joan of Arc.

Oops.

Guess I shouldn’t be thinking like that. His hair style and length is exactly like MY Michael’s!

Next…

This is a terra cotta statue of Joseph, believed to once have been part of a nativity scene.

The statue is close to life size…and the detail in it, especially considering it is made of terra cotta is really amazing.

I believe this dates from the mediaeval period.

This statue is about 12 inches tall and is an example of this particular artist’s skill in creating glass art. From the early 1600 or 1700s the statue glows when light is shone on it. Gorgeous!

This is one of the most beautiful examples of Mediaeval armor that I have ever seen. Made for a ruling Duke in Milan, I believe, the family name begins with M. It is part of he stamp work that is covering the full suit of armor. This photo doesn’t do it justice.

I can’t begin to imagine how many thousands of hours this took to be forged, stamped, hinged, and joined together.

Look at the lines of this.

A roman statue dating from not long after the time of Christ, this statue is just gorgeous in its execution, rivaling any modern sculptural example.

This is the head of a statue from Egypt, made during the Pharonic period. Even with the missing nose, the statue is elegant and compelling.

At one time there were details in place for the eyes, giving them lifelike color. It is believed this is the image of a priest or palace high official.

This statue is about 25 inches tall and is believed to have once held the mummy of, what else, a baboon!

The baboon was an offering to one of the various gods of the Egyptians.

In this instance, the baboon mummy isn’t included.

Wonder what the “gods” thought of their missing offering?

A gold-leafed funerary mask, this would have been placed over the wrappings on the head of the mummy. Then the mummy would be placed in a series of 2 inner coffins and a sarcophagus. These coffins and sarcophaguses were often gold leafed as well.

Man.

I personally will be happy with a plain pine box. My gold is waiting for me elsewhere!

This coffin still contains the mummy that was placed inside. Look how vibrant the colors and details still are after almost 3000 years!

Cats haven’t changed much in appearance in 3000 years have they?

This statue is about 8 inches tall or so.

Trivia: did you know that when a cat died in an Egyptian household, the members would shave off their eyebrows as a sign of mourning?

I don’t think many living humans still worship them as gods.

Cats believe this is a sad state of affairs indeed.

This is a detail from a life size marble statue.

I love the emotion conveyed in the pose.

This is a detail of a one of a pair of Assyrian or Persian carvings that once adorned either side of a temple entrance. The relief carvings are about 10 feet tall and mirror one another’s images.

Called The Genius, I can’t help but think of the kings that fought against Israel during the Kingdom period.

These are in absolutely fantastic condition for most of the relief and look like they could have been carved yesterday.

Think it would be a bit excessive of me to ask for one of these bracelets as a gift for my 18th anniversary next year? :^D

I believe this painting is of what would be called a “bawdy house” or “cat house”.

‘Nuff said.

I believe the painting speaks for itself, no?

I absolutely LOVE Celtic art and jewelry.
This pin is probably 3000 years old and is absolutely gorgeous.

Some years ago my mother in law bought me a kilt pin that looks very much like this.

This is a detail from a painting. The lighting on these were awesome.

And what’s not to love about little chub chub Cherubs?

Ok I think I will stop for now before I bore y’all to death. I took a ton of pix yesterday and these are just a sampling. I can’t wait until I start teaching art classes again. Research for doing so is fun and I will get to take lots of pix while doing so.

Til next time.

Katt