The Date: A Retrospective

Yesterday started out most innocently with a morning Barker walk in Midtown and an invitation to breakfast at the new NooN on the ground floor of 1010Midtown. Since we would have Barker with us, and there is no outside seating offered, we decided in advance to get takeout and sit in the lovely gardens of the Federal Reserve Building, which is about a half block away. It was warm, but there is always a marvelous breeze blowing down Peachtree....and our warm baguettes of proscuitto, parmesan and butter accompanied by iced coffee were to die for! YUMMMM

After a very light lunch, we walked up to the High to see the new and of course stunning Monet exhibit, plus the accompanying and complimentary Richard Misrach digital photography show. The other current exhibit at the High is Evolution: Five Decades of Printmaking by David C. Driskell.



I was in heaven!!! I could have spent ALL afternoon there, just admiring Mr. Driskell's work and also attempting to figure out his layering process for each piece! You can hear Driskell describe a couple of his woodblock prints here. I tried in vain to find a pic of his "Jonah in the Whale" 1967 which was one of my all-time faves, but it was nowhere to be found on the net. Maybe you can find it....if so, please leave a comment and let us all know! In the meantime, I'll share these pics with you:

Temptation in the Garden, 1999

The Herbalist, 1999

The Jester, 1999

I dawdled just as long as I could, soaking up every last little bit of Driskell's marvelous prints, and then we hurried back to the condo, taking Barker for a quick walk, and then meeting up with our friends Dee and Bill, to take in Every Little Step at Midtown Arts. What a great documentary!!! C and I had seen A Chorus Line in Miami Beach during its original run. Was it at the Theater of the Performing Arts? We can't remember! Anyway, I do recall how captivated I was by the story, the Marvin Hamlisch tunes, and the dancing. Wow: could they kick! Dee and Bill have not seen A Chorus Line, but they were as enthralled as we were by the movie. So, it comes highly recommended!!!

Then we headed to Apres Diem for a glass of wine, and on to Nam for a sumptuous dinner. We began with the seafood net spring rolls and the traditional Vietnamese spring rolls, and then Dee and I ordered the Flounder special, while Bill had the short ribs, and C ordered the Shaking Tuna. We all came away very happy! We enjoyed spending time with our 'condo friends' as we don't often have the opportunity to get together, and we all obviously enjoy one another's company.

So yesterday was a fun, fun day! I have spent several hours this afternoon dyeing in the studio. It is very hot and humid: great batching weather, and I am taking advantage of the gifts of Mother Nature! I hope to have a few pics to show in the next day or two!

Enjoy!

PEACE!!!

Here, There, and Everywhere

We spent a couple of days at the condo, and woke up the other morning to this incredible sky:

you can see Stone Mountain jutting up in the middle of the horizon. C tells me that the dew point is right there at the level of the clouds, whatever all that means! I just know that the sky was very pretty and I was glad that I had the opportunity to view it!

I had a wonderfully successful trip (read: $$$) to Knitch where I purchased cashmere yarn for fingerless gloves for myself and also a scarf for moi. Later we met up with some condo friends to enjoy a Preview tour of the new Terracotta Army exhibit at the High. What a great show!!! It boggles my mind to think about the incredible technology that the people of such early times had. The detail of their work is amazing. I particularly enjoyed the etchings on their containers. If you are local and have a chance, please make a point to see this exhibit! It was decidedly cooler when we departed the High, and the wind was whipping down Peachtree as we walked to a wonderful dinner at Tap. I enjoyed their roasted salmon on a bed of spaetzle: YUMMMM! C and our friends had the mussels.........I'm afraid that no mussels will ever compare to the incredibly fresh Penn Cove mussels Gerrie and I enjoyed while in Coupeville last summer, so I don't even bother to try them.

The next morning we had a huge surprise when we went out to walk Barker: the temp had dropped at least 20 degrees from the previous morning AND the wind was still blowing fiercely. But Barker does require a good morning walk (and so do we!), so we were all better for it! We stumbled upon a yard sale (what? 34 degrees and a Yard Sale?). This group of SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) students had decided to postpone their Saturday sale because of the threat of showers (see sky pictures above) and were holding their sale in the frigid Sunday morning air! I could have purchased almost every piece that they were offering, but I was trying to control myself. I did score these wonderful concrete pieces made by Tina Han:

My first thought was how lovely they would look on our condo walls, as they are in the right color scheme (some of our pillars and our ceiling are concrete) and they are just so cool! Then I started thinking about printing with them....and how lovely the dye/paint colors remaining on them would look when they hang on the walls. Tina has started a website, which you can view here. She is a very talented sculptress and a warm and friendly young lady.

As we were leaving the yard sale, one of Tina's guy friends approached us to offer a cd of his band's music. I never did catch his name, but he told me that he is the songwriter and also plays the guitar for the group. I love the cd jacket:




We came home to enjoy another choral offering at our church: The Lanier Chamber Singers presented their concert: "My Heart Rejoices". This group is composed of professional music folks from the area, and they are quite phenomenal, performing without accompaniment and all having fabulous voices. C and I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to hear them several times throughout the year.

Before I head out to my sewing room, I thought I'd leave you with a few pictures of a Pileated Woodpecker that has been hanging out around our house for the past few days. We often see and hear these great birds nearby, but aren't always so lucky to view them so closeup.


These pics are a bit grainy because I set the camera speed up and also had to zoom in. But they are still pretty good shots, for me anyway! If you go to the link of the bird, you can hear his/her call.....quite distinctive and amazing! I do love them. When they are courting, they often do a dance around the base of a tree........very fun to watch!

PEACE

Finding My Knitch

I completed a lot of knitting in the evenings this past week: one hat and two socks (for two separate pairs...pictures will follow later), so my knitting bag was actually empty and it was time to go find a new project. Roberta, my knitting Dr., had suggested that I knit one more pair of socks using the "magic loop" circular needles, and I know that she is probably right, but I just couldn't face another pair right now. I have been scared silly about knitting socks on double pointed needles, so I thought I might try to conquer that fear and learn a new sock technique to boot.

So, I dropped by Knitch in Virginia Highlands, which is about a 5 minute drive from our Midtown condo. Here's what I came home with:


This sock book, "The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook" by Lynne Vogel, is fantastic! I have learned so much in just the little that I have read! The best part, for me, is all of the sock variations that she offers...and even I, as a relative beginner, can tackle them and customize my socks! As you can see from my pic, I've really gotten into knitting with the double pointed needles, and I love it! I am finding them so much easier than the circular ones (sorry, Angie!), and I just adore the wooden needles: no more clanking of the metal needles! I added a little ruffle to the top of this pair of socks, and hope that they will be as much fun to wear as they have been to knit! I will get fancier with my socks as my experience grows...this book has so many variables to consider...plus wool dyeing! woohoo!!!

I also bought that cute little row counter - the little red thingy over on the left hand side of the pic. C asked why a pencil and a piece of paper didn't work just as well: well..............I dunno, I guess I just like hearing the little "click" everytime I finish a row (and remember to click it!). The adorable tape measure in the upper right of the pic is a gift from a friend several years ago and now resides in my knitting bag. Her nose grows as you increase the measurement!

We had a true Midtown weekend over the past 36 hours: we walked to dinner last night at Fresh To Order, this afternoon we walked to the viewing of "Flying the Secret Sky: The Story of the RAF Ferry Command" in the Rich Auditorium at the High Museum, then we walked to Evensong at All Saints Episcopal Church, and finally we walked to a lovely dinner at Pasta da Pulcinella. All were wonderful! Oh yeah: we also walked Barker around Piedmont Park this morning!

A bit more about "Flying the Secret Sky: The Story of the RAF Ferry Command": This film is phenomenal! It is a documentary about the "hundreds of civilian and military pilots who risked their lives pioneering global air routes during WWII. Among them was the filmmaker's father, Bill VanDerKloot" (who unltimately flew Winston Churchill from London to Cairo and then on to Moscow, via Tehran). The film footage is great, the interviews with the pilots and their families are phenomenal, and the accompanying soundtrack is engaging. It will be aired later this year on PBS, so watch for it!

.........and now back to my knitting!!

PEACE

Color!

As promised, here is a bit of a better photo of the t-shirt that I have been tinkering with:

I am pretty pleased with the outcome, and have decided to try my hand at some more. My motto is: the brighter the better..........my Daddy would be proud!

C and I found the lights we want for over the kitchen island yesterday on our drive down to Atlanta. Phew: we can now check that one off of our to-do list!

It was a lovely afternoon in Midtown, so we walked up to the High Museum to see the new Georgia O'Keefe exhibit. While it was interesting, I must honestly say that we both were a bit disappointed that there were so few of her works on display, and not one from her Santa Fe years. That said, I felt that my thirst for color had been quenched and my artistic was further inspired. I picked up a box of notecards that contained some of my favorites of hers included. Here are three:

"Yellow Cactus Flowers" 1929

"Poppy" 1927

"Red Canna" 1924

couldn't you just dive down into the center of this canna?

PEACE

Out and About

in Atlanta, GA........our home away from home.

Yesterday was another beautiful day in the southland. We've been in Atlanta for a few days of wonderful R&R. In the afternoon we mosied on up to St. Anne's Episcopal Church where the folks from "Work of our Hands" are holding their annual holiday sale to benefit Emmaus House and Holy Comforter Church.
Here's St. Anne's, a most lovely church:

While I was paying for my goodies, C had a guided tour of the fabulous nave with none other than Elizabeth Allen, wife of retired Bishop of Atlanta Frank Allen, who had once been Rector of St. Anne's. I have met and spent time with Mrs. Allen, so I was pleased when I met up with the two of them touring around the nave. There is an incredible mosaic surrounding the Baptismal Font and also a most marvelous piece of needlework in front of the organ, done by Doug Johnson, an old friend of mine from EGA. The stained glass windows at St. Anne's are just incredible. Here is the rose window with its incredible dove, viewed from the outside:

After leaving St. Anne's, we headed over to the OK Cafe for a very late lunch (or was it very early dinner?). Our friends Margaret and Jeff had told us about it and said that it is one of their favorite eating establishments in Atlanta.

C had the vegetable plate: corn muffin, black eyed peas, collard greens, cabbage casserole, and macaroni and cheese (only in the South is macaroni and cheese considered a vegetable!)


I had the very rare cheeseburger, with Maytage Blue Cheese:

Those are deep fried pickles on top of the tomato...I didn't really care for them, but then again, I love my pickles plain. The french fries were fabulous, but I only ate a few. And don't worry, I couldn't finish the burger........and barely touched the bun. But it was a yummy meal!

We headed back to the condo in rush hour traffic and found a kindred spirit in front of us on the road........check out those bumper stickers:



We avoided much of the traffic on the interstate by keeping to the surface streets and enjoying the Georgia Tech campus:


Last evening we walked up to the High Museum for a bit of culture. The new Louvre exhibit is open, emphasizing the Egyptian works that Napoleon and Josephine brought to the collection. It was very interesting and educational. I hadn't realized that Josephine dressed in flowing Egyptian style gowns because they favored her shape over the attire that Marie Antoinette had worn. Josephine also wore her hair in an Egyptian fashion. We enjoyed the new Impressionist Exhibit, and are hoping to go back and revisit both before they close.

Today we are going to the Balzer Theater to see "Gee's Bend".

Have a great weekend!

PEACE