Beauty

One of the blogs that I read, listed to the right, is Otchipotchi. I don't remember how I stumbled upon this blog but I love it. The blogger is Paula, a potter living in Portugal, and I very much enjoy looking at all the wonderful things she makes. I took a pottery class in college. It was fun, but it didn't grab me as something I would do for a long time. There are days, however, when I look at what Paula has crafted and my memories take me back to the time spent bending over a potter's wheel trying to get this lump of clay to resemble something more than a lump of clay that's taken a few too many turns around a potter's wheel. In addition to the pottery Paula makes, her photographs are gorgeous. You can tell she's an artist by her point of view in everything. Plus, she has a cat. What's not to like about that? Artistic AND a cat lover.

On July 13th, there was a post about red currants as well as a contest. I wrote up a couple of lines and forgot about it. Imagine my surprise when, checking back a few days later, my name was pulled from the pile. I was so delighted, I actually squealed, much to Pilchard's distaste as she was asleep in the chair next to me. The box came yesterday.

Both Pilchard and Mija looked at the item and deemed it boring. That means, of course, it's been thoroughly inspected, sniffed and approved and there is nothing else about the item worthy of further consideration and I shall now lie down where I cause the most impediment to your photography. (sigh)

I am not sure what I was expecting even though the contest clearly showed the bowls. The box wasn't very big. Here it is relative to my purse. I knew Paula was sending a porcelain bowl and the crunched nature of the box had me more than a little distressed. It fit very nicely in my mailbox so had there been some of this intermittent rain coming in unexpected downpours, it wouldn't have gotten wet, sitting on the front steps behind the milk box.

I opened it carefully, rather scared at what I would find. Paula's signature in her blog is the word, "Enjoy". I was delighted to see this in the package. Look! It's not a very clear photo since I have to use my phone's camera, but there is the word on a sticker affixed to the main bulk of the wrappings. Such a simple word. "Enjoy".

My anticipation grew as I removed this packet from the box. Nothing felt crunchy. You know if something fragile is broken. You pick it up and it moves in ways it probably shouldn't. Plus, there is a sound, a broken sound, coming from the parcel if it's not intact. There was none of this.

I unwrapped further and the parcel dwindled in size. Wow, I won both of them. I guess if I learn to read, I'd see both were the prize. I thought she was drawing two names. These were small. It was so exciting to remove layer after layer of tissue and a layer of bubble wrap to finally get to the reward.

Ta da! Two porcelain bowls. They are beautiful. My phone camera really cannot do justice to how delicate, yet hardy these are. They have the impression of, I think, baby's breath in them. I'm kind of a dork for not remembering since she talked about making these and showed a bit of the process.

Here's one of them outside where the lighting is a bit better.

See, the impression of the flowers? See how small they are? They came to me all the way from Paula's studio in Portugal. She knows how to pack things. There's nary a dent or a chip or an atom out of place.

You can see a bit better, the imprint of the flower here. I'll bring the office camera home this weekend and see if I can take some better photos, more representational, than these.

They are beautiful, so delicate, yet so strong. I love how they fit in my hand. I feel as if they want to be used somehow but I'm not sure what I'd put in them. I've never had anything like this before and I want to care for it properly. Right now, they are just sitting on the top of the organ in the living room, sitting with other things that have meaning for me.

The girls don't go up here unless I've cleared it off for dusting. These are in no danger of being knocked off by wayward cats.

We like to surround ourselves with stuff. This stuff represents a part of us. I have a commemorative football from my Iowa Hawkeyes, a globe made of slivers of semi-precious stones and a nutcracker. All of these are gifts and would fall into the category of "stuff". They represent parts of who I am. What about beauty? How many times do you add something to your life simply because it's beautiful? These two small bowls represent beauty to me, a simple and delicate beauty I can often overlook because I'm busy.

I am so thrilled to have received these. Thank you, Paula, for the contest. I don't consider myself very lucky but luck smiled on me when you drew my name. Enjoy? Yes, I shall.

Beverage:  Raspberry Zinger tea

Deb