19th Century Floorboards—21st Century Art

Hands Across the Sea—This piece is 36 inches X 20 inches and is painted on two antique chestnut floorboards, complete with knothole in the lower plank. The images are all World War 1 era, consisting of postcards, photographs and even stamps. Superimposed flowers are from digital photos of my gardens. After the images were laid down, there are several layers of thin painted stripes and a few different types of glazes and polyurethanes. I love the way this piece looks, but I also love the way it feels. If you close your eyes, you can't really tell there is any art on it at all. It feels like the beautiful old pieces of wood that it is. It has the lovely feel of well-worn and polished wooden floors. I encourage people to touch my art. Unlike so much of the fine art out there, mine is tactile as well as visual. The outer layers of polyurethanes and varnishes guarantee they will stand up without a lot of conservation.

On a Lighter Note: Buh Bye Llanview!

 

One Life to Live's opening banner, 1968.

Oy. Just checked the electronic TV guide for the synopsis of today's One Life to Live—completely forgetting the soap opera ended it's more than 40-year run last Friday. My favorite soap, All My Children, ended in September, and now the Buchanans et al are gone from the small screen. RIP, OLTL, 1968-2012.

I've watched soaps since the mid 1960s when I sat with my grandmother, mesmerized by The Edge of Night, the Guiding Light, Search for Tomorrow, The Secret Storm and General Hospital. Of all of them. only GH is still on, and rumors abound, it, too, will be gone by the end of the year. When I had my "important" career for all of those years, I taped episodes with my new-fangled VCR. Since I've been a stay-at-home worker, I've watched them daily, without fail. Not that I sat in front of the set, hanging on every word, but they were on in the background. I listened with half an ear, enough to keep up with the storylines. They were like meatloaf and mashed potatoes, my mother's hand-made afghans, my vintage collections—all comfort foods as it were. Their demise is just another break with my past—my late friend Andy shared my affinity with ABC soaps.

Times change, decisions are made, life marches on—sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, sometimes just for the sake of change itself. This is my heartfelt thank you, and good bye, to all the actors and writers of One Life to Live—thank you for literally decades of entertainment and memories.

And a note to ABC: I will never, let me repeat, never, tune into your cheap-ass reality TV show replacements, The Chew and The Revolution. Nevuh, lol!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Day, 2012

"Respect Starts at Home"—Portrait of my grandmother and a friend, circa 1923, 16" x 32" on hardwood. Among other details, the "checkerboard" consists of thirteen horizontal rows and thirteen vertical rows. Each row of white squares has one, and only one, differently, and uniquely, colored square in it. Those squares may be different from their neighbors but they all work together to make a harmonious whole.

Growing up in a socially liberal, non-religious home, shaped my beliefs and demeanor. I was taught to respect everyone regardless of their race, religion or their socioeconomic status. I was taught to give everyone a chance, to look at their actions above all else, before deciding if they were going to be part of my life. They are values that have served me well in my life—as rich and varied as it has been—through the ups and the downs.

I'm never reminded more of this than on a day like today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day set aside to remember our similarities as well as our differences, our need to work together, to put aside old and outdated, and just plain wrong, grievances. But the work is NOT done. From the way things seem today, this work will not be done in my lifetime. We can all be better people starting now. We can all make it better for someone else every  day of our lives. We can all pass a little less judgment every single day. We can all walk in someone else's shoes for a day. We can all climb that mountain. We can all work on making this dream a reality.

The full text of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, August 28, 1963, Washington D.C.:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Better Late than… Amaryllis 2012

 

Well, it's not exactly the deep, solid red that the box indicated it would be, it will only have three blossoms instead of the customary four, its soil came "planted" with thousands of tiny fruit fly-type gnats, and it's three weeks after its promised Christmas blooming date, but other than that, my 2012 Amaryllis is beautiful, lol. Sitting outside on my plaid-painted porch rocker for a quick natural-light photo, also visible is my quaint aluminum flower "pot" on the right, patiently awaiting Spring—and fresh plants!

 

Sitting in the livingroom for this shot, a small framed portrait of my aunt Hoohoo during the 1950s is to the flowers' left. My vintage gold German angel is to its right—the ever present "do it, don't do it" pair that sit on my shoulders, lol.

Now posed downstairs in front of Dagmar Bumper Bullets No. 2. The patterns and colors of the Amaryllis are picked up by this piece's repeated  textures of a 1956 Cadillac's grille reflected in its chromed "Dagmar" bumper guards.

It's Getting Crowded In Here

My Chinese Evergreen plant, Aglaonema, can be traced back more than fifty years. This was my grandmother's plant, and I remember it as a child in her front hallway. She died in 1969 and by the early 1980s when my aunt Hoohoo died, it had seen better days. I brought it home and took it out of the dirt and placed it in water to strengthen the roots—where it sat for more than TWENTY years. With my career and other life choices, I just never got around to planting it in soil. It thrived for a while, it almost died a few times, and finally around 2004 I potted it. It had been reduced to three single leaves and a massive root system. Within a year of being potted, it had begun to grow into actual stems and now has "trunks" more than an inch thick. It has sprouted 5 baby plants and I've repotted it three times. I can honestly say that it's never been healthier or larger. I know my grandmother smiles down at this one! 

My lush fern next to it is almost 10 years old, and has had its ups and downs as well. I put it outside on the porch a few days too early in the spring three years ago and it was touched by frost one night. I had to cut all the dead fronds off, and it has now come up from the roots and is beautifully full again.

I like to mix-and-match my indoor plants in their pots. Plants grow next to each other in nature, so I don't see any need to have plants growing by themselves in individual pots. This is a large curly spider plant—Cholorphytum comosum bonnie, a Schefflera arbicola, and a large-leafed philodendron (barely visible on the left), all existing together happily. This grouping has been together for approximately five years, and I've had to trim the baby "spiders" off for new plants fairly regularly. I've also "topped" the Shefflera several times and created new plants. The long single leaf sticking out on the right is last year's Amaryllis. It has a few healthy leaves, but didn't send up a flower stem this year, and isn't part of this group. 

I think the key to planting like this  is to group plants that like the same lighting and soil conditions. You don't want to place a water-needy plant in the same pot as one that prefers dryer soil, for example, or one that prefers shade with one that requires full sun.

Hanging in the window is my lipstick plant, Aeschynanthus radicans. I've had it for almost ten years and have had perhaps a dozen "lipsticks," or flowers, during the entire time. It has nice dark green and full foliage though so I keep it around. My Thanksgiving cactus is on the lower left, and is still blooming, and what is left of my violet garden is on the right. I had six African violets growing together for several years, but they all grew so large and were falling out of the pot that I had to remove them. I now have two older ones and a brand new one planted together in the center of the hand-painted pot, and am watching them as they once again begin the move towards the edges, and freedom, lol!

2013 Lincoln MKZ—Theirs/Mine. Close/No Cigar!

 

2013 MKZ concept vehicle just shown in Detroit—the first fastback Lincoln since the 1949 Cosmopolitan Town Sedan!

The glass roof, arched roofline, full width taillights and letterspaced L-I-N-C-O-L-N on the trunklid were previewed on my MKE below. What I don't "get" on this car, is the matte black panel below the rear window on the trunklid. I 'm guessing it's supposed to make the rear window look larger, but it's an odd fake touch to me. I would have worked out a different solution.

 

B R E A K I N G   N E W S — Just introduced at the North American International Automobile Show in Detroit, this Lincoln MKZ concept vehicle is a thinly disguised peek at their production version due in the Spring. I'm still digesting the details, and trying to decide just how much of the car is "show" and how much will be on the production version. Overall, I'm struck at the difference between Cadillac's design direction, which borders on macho and performance, and Lincoln's, which seems to be smoothly futuristic and efficient. Of course, both are full luxury automakers, and both will offer all the electronic bells and whistles necessary in today's market, but the way they're going about it is striking. In all of my 30+ chops of new Lincolns in the past 18 months, I didn't quite get "there" with the MKZ, but parts of mine have shown up on this concept. 

Even though I used a 4-window greenhouse instead of the new concept's 6-window, there is something about the overall geometric shape of the windows and arched roof of my MKE and the MKZ concept car that are very similar. I'm glad to see L-I-N-C-O-L-N letterspaced on the rear trunklid of the real car, too.

I was "designing" fastback Lincolns as long ago as 1988!

 Another fastback, glass-roofed MKZ, my Sportback from 2010.

My fastback MKZ coupe from early 2011.


 Another of my fastback MKZ renderings, this time a sedan from 2011. I emphasized the fastback with a horizontal triangular sixth window, and Lincoln has demphasized theirs with a slimmer, more vertical sixth window, but the idea of a sleeker, fastback Lincoln is very similar.

My Lincoln MKL from 2010 used a 6-window greenhouse very similar to the new MKZ concept.

Now I'm Just Bragging, lol. Acura NSX Concept

 

With the exception of a few details, the just-released Acura NSX concept looks exactly like the rendering I was commissioned to do for Automotive News last month! I checked out almost every car magazine I could find at the time, and now that I've seen the real car, above, I really have to say that my rendering was the closest of any of them. Working with Mark Rechtin, the AN editor that attended the press briefing, was a great experience and as you can see below, completely worthwhile!

 Front page rendering I created for Automotive News, December 12, 2011

• Original post, here. 

I Wasn't That Far Off—Cadillac ATS Revealed!

2013 Cadillac ATS, revealed today for the North American International Automobile Show in Detroit next week. Official press photo, above,

B R E A K I N G   N E W S — The production version of Cadillac's new small car, the ATS has been revealed. This is Caddy's rear wheel drive BMW 3-series fighter. Rendered earlier in the year for Automobile magazine, I used Cadillac's Platinum concept for the base. I made it smaller, gave it rear wheel drive proportions, and shortened the rear overhang and rear seat area. If I had only moved the door handles into the side swage, and used the extended headlights from my even earlier Seville rendering, below, I'd have been 95% there! 

My rendering of what I thought the ATS might look like, commissioned by Automobile magazine for its July 2011 issue.

If I had incorporated the exaggerated headlights from my rendering of a future Seville I did almost 18 months ago, September 2010, I'd have been that much closer to the production ATS. Enlarge the image to see how I extended the headlights along the fender top past the halfway mark of the front wheel, exactly like the production ATS. Which came first—my Seville headlights or the production ATS, lol? Original Seville link, here.

This profile of the new ATS shows how they stole my Seville's headlight design, lol. Just kidding Mr. Welburn, you've done a GREAT job with this new compact Cadillac!

• Ed Welburn is GM's VP of Design, and has a very cool list of GM's top designs, here.
  

Iridescence is Irregular and Irresistible

The vast majority of seashells you'll find on New England beaches are white, or off-white—it's probably the same throughout the world. I've been drawn to the iridescent orange and yellow ones since I was a child, though. They tend to be smaller, harder to find, and "prettier" to use the term I used as a child. Above, shells collected on my past few walks along the beach. I hadn't picked them up in years, and I was instantly transported back to childhood.

Yellow Throated Warbler: Surprise Guest!

© Jerry Connolly 2012

B I R D   W A T C H I N G — Behold, the yellow throated Warbler! Supposedly a Southeastern Warbler, not venturing up north to Connecticut (especially in Winter!), this pretty little bird has joined the "feed lines" at Pink Gardens.

June, fantastic friend and co-resident of our large 19th century home, is an avid and experienced life-long bird watcher. She was certain this special little bird was showing up every afternoon, and on her latest trip to the Audubon Shop in our town, to buy bird food, she mentioned it to the proprietor of the store, Jerry Connolly. He told her it was probably a different type of Warbler, that many people are confused by their coloring, and that real Yellow Throats wouldn't be this far north. She invited him over to see for himself. He showed up later that afternoon, and lo and behold, the little winged cutey patootie showed up on cue. Jerry set up his tripod and in a few minutes took these shots. Pink Gardens is now somewhat "famous" and we've had a steady stream of bird-watchers' cars coming down our out-of-the-way little private road and long driveway.

• For more on the Yellow Throated Warbler, including its "song," click over to the Cornell Labs' website.
• For Jerry's store, click over to the Audubon Shop of Madison, here.

 © Jerry Connolly 2012 

© Jerry Connolly 2012 

U P D A T E : Word is spreading faster about our exotic little friend than free hair gel at a Flock of Seagulls concert. We now have a "staging area" for all the birdwatchers showing up at Pink Gardens! Our brightly-throated friend is taking it all in stride, showing up every 20 minutes or so to chow down more suet. I should be charging admission, or maybe I should put some of my art out on the porch with price tags on 'em, lol. Check out my photo of the photographer/watchers!

 The watchers being watched, lol.

WIPs—Cardboard Quilts' Early Layers

M Y   A R T — I've begun the "painting and papering" phase of my next series and thought I'd post a few of the works-in-progress, or WIPs, as the kids say, lol. These are all of my "trademarked" cardboard quilt construction. The pre-cut cardboard squares are assembled in three overlapping layers for strength and texture. I'm covering these base layers with pre-printed patterned paper that was originally meant for scrapbooking. I've mentioned on this blog before that this huge book of patterned paper reminds me of those large books of wallpaper I loved to peruse as a child. These pieces will probably eventually receive top layers of vintage portraits. My typical pieces might have 7-8 layers of paper images and 10-20 layers of painted stripes and squares, all mixed with layers of polyurethane and wall joint compound. These pieces will be in the 15-25 inches high x 25-36 inches wide range.

The "theory" behind these pieces is just to show how I see things. By using pre-cut cardboard squares—culled from boxes of advance books where they're used as packing spacers—and preprinted paper, I'm using mundane everyday items. I'm using these colors and textures next to each other, on top of each other, some relating to each other, some standing proudly alone. When I view the world, I tend to see most everything as simplified colors and shapes and how they relate to the simplified colors and shapes around them. I'm always cropping sights I see—editing them, adding to them—it's just an automatic thing on my part, the way my brain works. Probably why I tend to wander around a lot, lol.

Happy New Year, 2012!

Madison's Sculpture Mile includes this very enthusiastic hand stander! I walk past this amusing sculpture almost every day, and I have to admit, it makes me walk just a little bit faster and just a little bit farther!  

Note: I just realized it was lame of me not to find out the name of the sculptor of this piece. I'll walk over on Monday and report back!

Harry & David's Pears were a holiday gift this year from my great friend, Mary. I don't believe I've ever had tastier. You can see I barely got the package photographed while there were still pears left in it. I feathered the background because I really should have vacuumed the carpet I placed the box on, lol.

My dark salmon-colored Thanksgiving cactus has finally bloomed. Better late than never! And while I'm mentioning being late, my Christmas Amaryllis is still a week or two away from blooming. Stand by!

December Morning Shadows

 

Stark early morning winter shadows pattern this 19th century portrait of one of my great-great-granduncles. Click on the image to enlarge—it's cool the way the shadows frame his eyes (I think you need to click twice these days to see it full size, or perhaps click on "open in new window." Blogger keeps changing their image formats). The original frame and matting are quite damaged from an almost 100-year stay in my family home's attic. I've restored the frame and matting of the portrait of his father, but I like the originality of this one. I think it's just as important to see an antique in original condition, as it is to see one in perfectly restored condition.

B T W :

Off topic from this family portrait, but still in the area of history, one of casey/artandcolour's readers, and fellow blogger, Steve Prestegard, has written a wonderful blogpost on the historical accomplishments of Cadillac. Besides doing a yeoman's job of research in both text and photos, Steve was kind enough to use several of my "what if" Cadillacs. Please click over to Steve's blog—I guarantee you'll learn something about Cadillac you didn't know. I did, and after a lifetime of studying the history cars, that's not really all that easy if I do say so myself!

• While Riding in my Cadillac, at the Presteblog, click here.
  

Preview: The Town I Grew Up In

And in which my family lived for more than 200 years

Yesterday I was taken to lunch by a friend in Guilford, the town I grew up in, settled in 1639. It's next door to where I live now, but I rarely walk or ride my bike the 8-9 miles to get there. It's an absolutely gorgeous, classic New England town. I forget how much I miss it until I go there. Madison is pretty, and it's a really nice town—I'm so fortunate to live here—but the center doesn't really have the historical look and feel that Guilford does. Guilford's center is an 11-acre town green, one of the largest in New England. Homes, churches and retail stores border it, and it's a protected historical center. I say "preview" in the headline because I was there only long enough to snap these quick photos. I plan on spending a few hours there next week and I'll take much more detailed and interesting photos then!

The First Congregational church is on the right in the photo above. I have a very small piece of the steeple my mother collected after the devastating 1938 hurricane. Each September, Guilford has a 3-day country fair, and my family and I usually sat on the steps of that church for the parade each year.

The stone Episcopal church is in the center of this photo. The Town Hall is the brick building on the left.

Private homes line the Green, along with restaurants, retail shops and churches.

Looking for all the world like the church it once was, the white building in the center of the photo once housed a playhouse, too. I'm not sure what it is today. I'll find out for the next post!

• Guilford's Chamber of Commerce website, here.
• The Wiki on Guilford, here.

Fabulous Cheese & Soap Arrive at Pink Gardens!

Last week, in time for Christmas, a fabulous gift package arrived from Sharon Springs, New York. Readers that watch the "Green" Network on cable, might be familiar with that town—it's the home of the Fabulous Beekman Boys, Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge! Their restored farmhouse, er, mansion, is called the Beekman Mansion, after the original owners of the property, and the guys have created a brand, Beekman 1802, to market their own farm products and  locally produced merchandise. In my package was their main product, a wheel of "Blaak" goat cheese, named for the fabulous ash-covered rind which is, indeed, black in color (and is edible!). Also in this gift package were two bars of goat milk soap and their most recent book, The Bucolic Plague. The packaging is tasteful in the extreme, with perfectly hand-tied string bows and recycled papers. The typesetting on the cards is beautifully done as well, with a combination of striking cuts of Futura and an old-style numeral, which I believe is Garamond. 

Photographed above with a simple colonial pewter candlestick and another Christmas gift, a pair of hand-knit socks. The socks were a gift from a friend of my mother's named Betsy, and I have several pairs of her knitted wool socks which I wear almost every day. The Beekman 1802 gift package was a gift of, shall we say, a dear Phantom friend of mine, lol.

 Seen a little closer, I think the socks match the aesthetic of the Beekman items, lol.

The wrapped wheel of Blaak goat cheese. I've since opened it, and it is absolutely delicious! It is a dry goat cheese, not the spreadable type, and the rind has a subtle flavor of its own. I'm going to be enjoying this cheese for a long time to come!

The two bars of goat's milk soap came in this cotton bag printed with the Beekman logo, each wrapped in the same sort of recycled paper and perfectly-tied string bow as the cheese. Josh is a graphic designer and advertising executive, and his experience and taste are evident in every aspect of the Beekman 1802 experience.

I absolutely adore my hand knitted socks, and as I wrote above, wear them almost every day. This makes pair number seven I believe! I think they would make a great addition to any Beekman 1802 gift package, don't you?

• For the Beekman 1802 website, click here.
• For the Wiki on the Fabulous Beekman Boys TV show, click here.
• For the Amazon blurb on The Bucolic Plague, click here.

Keeping Watch for More than Fifty Years

Though she no longer sits at the top of a Christmas tree for two weeks every year, this German angel has been keeping watch in my family since the mid 1950s. I leave her out year-round, and she now adorns the cone-shaped metal "horn" of my Edison Gem cylinder record player. She keeps company with the seated china-doll to the right, dating to the 1890s. That little vintage doll wears a non-original red and navy blue cotton dress sewn by my grandmother in the 1920s. She updated the aging doll for a new generation of little girl to play with—my mother. In the upper left is a gold and white 1:24 scale 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk, and a lavender 1:43 1953 Packard Caribbean convertible with a broken windshield. The little turquoise plastic jewelry container is an early 1950s piece and holds a few period pearl rings. I love having little boxes and containers everywhere, with beautiful little things in them to explore and become reacquainted with every so often! Just peeking into the photograph at the lower left, is a gray and red 1:24 Duesenberg SSJ supershort wheelbase LaGrande roadster, a scale model of Clark Gable's famous sports car of the Thirties.

Have a great day today, however you spend it and with whomever you spend it with! I think I can smell my scallion pancakes and shrimp egg foo yung already, lol! I may have more photos to post later in the day.

• Still fun to look at, this is a post from last Christmas, with a quick walk through my 1954 holiday TV Guide. Click to peruse this vintage magazine and smile! 

Randomness This Morning of the Eve

My friend Mary stopped by the other day with this gorgeous stem of orchids. This variety, 'though I can't remember the name, is my favorite. I love the pale chartreuse and deep maroon color combination, and the stems and flowers are so large and hearty looking!

I loved the choice of wrapping and ribbon, too.

This palm plant is really doing well since I brought it in for the winter. It's actually doing better than it did this summer outside. I think I might leave it in next year. It seems to be trying to play my piano, which is the wooden structure hidden at the bottom, lol. You can just make out a book of Mozart sitting on it and the red and gold silk runner on top of it under the flag. Other vintage items include children's games, top left, and of course, the hand painted GULF GAS sign from the 1950s.

Three dishes of an appetizer I made up the other day wait for the oven to preheat. I mixed equal parts ground chicken and ground unsalted sunflower seeds. I added a few herbs, spices as well as a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil, a little cheese and an egg to hold the mixture all together. I formed them into these mini meatballs, and baked them in a 375° oven. After turning them halfway through the baking process, and rolling them around a bit, they were left in the shape of a small meatball and were very light and tasty. I served them with a very simple peanut sate dipping sauce—basically unsalted peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, 5-spice powder, rice vinegar and water cooked until smooth and of a "dip" consistency.

This is part of a "lawn" I created this week for the 2-year old daughter of a friend or mine's Calico Critters dollhouse. I started with a new Ikea occasional table, and added felt, paper and polyurethane to create this garden path and flower borders. This photo just proves that I can't take a photo anywhere inside and not have a scale model car, or an unfinished piece of art in it. At the top you can see one of my new pieces, one of what I call cardboard "quilts." I've made 35 new cardboard quilted bases, in several sizes, and am working on them with bits and pieces of preprinted paper meant for craftbooking. All of the patterned paper reminds me of those huge books of wallpaper the local paintstore had when I was a child, books I spent hours perusing with my aunt Hoohoo, for just the right color and pattern for whatever room "we" were redecorating at the time. On the right is a 1:18 version of the 2005 Mustang prototype in silver with a red interior and black glass roof. You can also see three painted rocks behind it. I painted those when I was about 8 years old. They're white river rocks I picked up on a family vacation in Vermont. I've also painted other furniture and toys for children, or grandchildren, of friends.

• Vintage, floral child's rocker for my little friend, Deja. 
• Patchwork Hobby Horse for a little boy named Thomas.
• Dinosaur-themed vintage chest of drawers for Nicholas, age 8.