Memories of Monet

Last month I ran off to Paris for a few days. I have been missing France desperately, so it was a wonderfully nostalgic trip. Many memories came rushing back as I visited some of my favorite spots. Among those is Le Musée de l'Orangerie. A number of years ago, I took my mom there to see Monet's waterlily panels. On the upper floor, L'Orangerie has two large oval-shaped rooms devoted to Monet's Nymphéas. Each room has four panels each; two shorter ones and two longer ones. Due to the size of the longer panels, I could barely photograph them. Obviously, flash photography is forbidden, so these photos are a bit dim. Below you can see the benches in the center of one of the mural rooms. It is so nice to just sit and absorb the calm beauty of the waterlilies. Thankfully, L'Orangerie is a relatively peaceful museum in my experience, without too much crowding or talking. I can still picture my mom posing for a photo next to the panel I have pictured last, which was our communal favorite.

Καλή Σαρακοστή

Two days ago was the religious holiday known as Καθαρά Δευτέρα (Clean Monday) here in Greece. Clean Monday is the first day of Lent (Σαρακοστή) in the Orthodox calender. Traditionally, people eat a special type of bread called λαγάνα which is only prepared that day. It is a flat loaf covered with sesame seeds on top. The loaf I bought from the bakery downstairs is pictured here, with a sesame seed close-up for good measure.

Since Clean Monday is a day of fasting and purification, people usually gather in the countryside to enjoy meat-free foods. Seafood is not off-limits, so octopus dishes and fish roe salad are among the local favorites. Kite-flying is another typical activity on Clean Monday. Due to my impending move, however, I spent the day cleaning and packing! I'd like to think that I saved the life of one lucky octopus in the process...except that I don't eat seafood, so that octopus would have lived regardless!

My little moon pie

Here she is: my little moon pie! I wish I could take credit for this amazingly beautiful newborn baby, but that goes to her wonderful parents. As godmother, I have bragging rights, though!

Welcome to the world!

My beautiful dark-haired goddaughter Caroline was born at 1:10 pm (CST) on Sunday February 15, 2009. Congratulations to her proud mommy and daddy. Welcome to the world, baby girl! I can't wait to meet you! See you soon!

Bonne Saint-Valentin!

Je viens de rentrer de Paris et je suis vachement fatiguée, mais je voudrais souhaiter une Bonne Saint-Valentin à tout le monde avant que la cloche ne sonne minuit!

A hundred hearts and lots of Etsy love!

Yesterday I noticed that my Etsy shop now has one hundred hearts, meaning that one hundred people have marked me as a favorite! Many thanks for the Etsy love, and to all who have featured me in their treasuries and blogs in the last seven months. Just a few days ago, Robin (from DakotasStall) featured my "Galazio Gridwork" fine art photograph in her lovely treasury with brick walls as the theme. Also, last Friday, Liz (from lavenderlizard) showcased my fine art photograph "Tuber and Trefoil" as part of her Fabulous Friday Finds blog series. Her sons choose a random word, and she searches Etsy for items that best exemplify it. What a great idea! Last Friday's word was "potato," and she selected my photograph of a heart-shaped potato! Check out her blog for more details: lavenderlizard.blogspot.com

Lady in the limelight

Last Thursday the 29th of January was my sweet friend Ria's birthday. She invited me to her birthday festivities which were held at a charming μεζεδοπωλείο by the sea. It was a windy and rainy night, but inside, the atmosphere was warm with friendship, live ρεμπέτικο music and tantalizing μεζέδες (appetizers). Dish after dish of delicious Greek food was brought to our long row of tables. Just when we thought we could eat no more, new platters appeared before our eyes. And the wine flowed freely...so freely, in fact, that Ria's glass was knocked over and spilled all over the table. She instantly dipped her finger in the spilled wine and dabbed it on my neck for good luck (για γούρι). It was then my turn to do the same for her, since apparently the good luck doesn't work if you dab yourself! That custom was a new one for me!

In honor of her birthday, I made Ria a special pair of earrings to fit her Aquarian personality. I paired hammered fine silver beads with lime green lampwork glass beads that I purchased from two of my fellow Etsians. The larger green beads were made by Patricia (from PatriciaLubin), and the smaller green beads sprinkled with silver were made by Ellen (from edooley). The birthday girl adored her gift. I hope she feels like a true lady in the limelight every time she wears them...

Looking for little lovelies?

Late January seems to be the time that Cupid fills his quiver and prepares to work his magic. Those who are in love begin thinking about that special gift they can give their sweetie for Valentine's Day. In honor of all those fluttering hearts out there scrambling for shopping ideas, I posted some new fine art photographs for sale in my Etsy store today! Have a peek and check out my latest offerings. You will find images of heart-shaped potatoes, blushing pomegranates, a glowing cherub, and much more! Enjoy!

Something windy this way come

Living on an island makes one very vulnerable. Having grown up in the US and always landlocked on at least three sides, I never fully understood what it meant to be at the mercy of Mother Nature's whims. Sure, there were some blizzards and thunderstorms when I was a child that made life inconvenient for a few days at a time. I even lived through a fluke ice storm when I was in graduate school that had power lines down for nine days. Despite it all, there was always mobility of some sort. There was always a way to get from Point A to Point B.

Even after four years here in the Dodecanese, it never ceases to amaze me how omnipotent the wind is. It can literally seize control of everything. When these violent gusts decide to kick up, there is no way to resist. There is no fighting Mother Nature, particularly now that we have pissed her off after so many years of pollution, carelessness and overdevelopment. Poseidon joins in her rage and the sea seems to swell with anger. Waves and whitecaps take the place of the once calm blueness. The cerulean sky morphs into a solid roaring white blanket, making it impossible to even hear oneself think over the distracting sound. Storm shutters bang, foreign objects go flying, and television antennae almost snap in half. All one can do is duck and cover. Airplanes do not come or go from the island. Ships are grounded at the harbor. Parcels are neither sent nor received. Grocery stores fail to be restocked. Gasoline tanks cannot be refilled. There is no way in and no way out. No mobility. Life comes to an obligatory standstill.

Guardians of the garden

One of my favorite things to do is spend time in the garden, where I also photograph all of the jewelry I make for my Etsy shop. Maybe getting my hands in the dirt gets my head out of the clouds and brings me back down to Earth again. It also brings back very fond memories of my mom. During the great building renovation of 2008, my whole garden here was destroyed and had to be rebuilt. The landlady and I spent forever measuring and mixing cement and hauling soil around. At last, we finished the structural work and I got to planting.

Here are a couple photos of the guardians of my garden: my two cats and one trusty garden gnome. The photos are a bit dim since it was uncharacteristically cloudy the day I took them, but the essence is still there. The cats came with me during the initial move. The garden gnome I brought back a couple of years ago after visiting family and friends in the US. The ordeal he caused at the Cleveland airport was phenomenal. Due to the sheer weight (it is a wrought iron statue afterall) and some underlying guilt that it would somehow be wrong to check a garden gnome in my luggage, I decided to carry him on. After waiting an eternity in the security line, the solid outline of a garden gnome appeared on the luggage screener's monitor and set off red flags. It was actually quite hilarious to see the hooded figure on the screen, but they pulled me and my bag, then called over the head security guard. He conferred with his colleagues and after much deliberation, they agreed that it was "a blunt object that could be used for bludgeoning." I actually laughed. Not a wise thing to do in the presence of airport security, but I honestly couldn't help it. An innocent garden gnome had somehow become a vicious weapon, and I was the carrier of said weapon. My only options were to abandon him (ethically wrong, don't you think?), mail him to myself (with no packaging materials and no time to hunt for the post office), or run back through security to the front desk and beg someone to pull my bags, shove the gnome in and then run back through the endless security line again. Shoeless and silly, I opted for option three. Thank goodness one of the harried ladies at the ticket counter gave me permission to beg a baggage handler. She said if I could convince him, it was okay by her. I will never forget the kind man who went out of his way to help me. I stowed the gnome in one of my check-in bags, ran back through security and made it just in time!

New look, new year

Although it feels like I dropped off the face of the Earth, I am still here and slowly getting caught up after being seriously smacked down by whatever funky bug my students gave me. There are many new fine art photographs waiting to be printed at the lab and posted on my Etsy site, so please check back often. We are still in holiday mode here, with many people away and shops and services functioning at a bare minimum. The island economy survives on tourism, so the winter months are even more low key than usual. Tuesday is the religious and public holiday that marks the end to the Christmas season, so we should be back up to par by the end of the week.

I am in a purple mood, so I decided to share a photo of a special gift I made for my sweet cousin last month made of amethyst, rose quartz and freshwater pearls. Although I normally work with Sterling silver, I decided to make this bracelet for her using gold filled parts to better suit her taste.