You Pick Two

So, I went to Planter's Palette on Saturday, to pick up my free flowers, won by liking and sharing a post on Facebook. I don't have a lot of faith in those "like and share for a chance to win" posts, even though this one was from a business I know and support. I have to admit, when I saw my name, I had to look, look again and then a third time because I didn't really believe it was me. "I know that name. Wait..." I figured I'd stroll up and have a choice between a couple of preplanted containers that I could just plop onto the deck. I've been mentally arranging all my pots and what I want where. I'd been planning to go to PP anyway as I need begonias for the front pots and more potting soil for the ones I'm keeping. This worked out fine. 

Imagine my surprise when Diane told me I could have my choice of two (!!!!!) preplanted containers. These are designed to be broken apart and the flowers used to fill in or form your own containers at home. TWO of them! And look at my choices. There were at least 2 dozen on this display and I get two (!!!) free.

They are regularly priced at $25 each container.

These are huge; maybe 5 gallon pots. If you bought the plants separately contained in them, you'd be spending way more than the $25 price tag and I get two of them.

It took me a good 15 minutes, but I selected these two.

I really like that dark-leaved plant. No clue what it is, but I like the juxtaposition of the dark with the light.

I mowed the lawn and did a couple other things and didn't have the energy to break these up. I got my begonias, a couple of sweet potato vines and another white geranium. The one I've overwintered all these years is not doing well. I'll combine the two in the pot.

I've never been a big fan of the spiky stuff in containers. Designed to raise the visual height of the plantings, to me, those items seem to be more fluff than flowers. I'm not sure whether I'll save the ones I have in the pot I received or if those will be given away. I have to see how things fit. I did, however, fall in love with these.

With the sunlight shining on them, they just glowed. They are $6.00 each, but if I could have afforded it, I would have purchased one in every color. This is the kind of thing I'll happily put in a pot of flowers. Kitchy, yeah. I got a green and an orange one.

Something else I wish I could afford is one of these.

However, the littlest ones, like the one with the hands sort of over his eyes, was $50. One of the small ones would be so cute in amongst the flower pots on the deck. They are heavy. The little one weighs a good 5 pounds, but oh the cute. 

I was wandering about and found these statues.

I really like the piglet. I didn't pick one up to see how much it cost. After the $50 of the dragon, I decided I didn't want to be disappointed by finding out the pig was $40. 

So now comes the stuffing of the containers. I promised a cousin that she could have all my extra pots. That may come in fall. I'm really thrilled. What a wonderful way to start Saturday.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Opening Tomorrow

I get to go amazing places and non-amazing places with my job. One of today's locations was a repeat of the space from back in March, those balmy days in March when it was in the 70's and we were starting this crazy project. We're back in the same spaces and people seem to be reasonably understanding about it. It's one of those, "When it's done, it will be wonderful. It's just the getting to the done part that's awful."

Anyway, today's trek started at the National Hellenic Museum at the edge of Chicago's Greektown Neighborhood.

The museum is located at the corner of Halsted and Van Buren, just off Chicago's downtown, just west of the Kennedy Expressway. You can see the Kennedy from the west side of the museum. We had to invade their space and stick 2 more monitors in the building and I had to inspect the south side again. The previous visit was to an empty exhibit space. It's not that way right now.

We could see, yesterday, when we walked by the museum on the way to lunch, the staff doing the finishing installation of this exhibit. It opens tomorrow, Friday, so there is much scurrying about to get things ready.

The Beetroot Design Group has imagined monsters from Greek mythology and put them in a black, red and white color scheme. The result is, I think, fantastic, and hugely playful.

Look. A cyclops, with sheep.

How about a phoenix rising from the flames?

Or maybe you'd like a minotar, kneeling, wondering what you're doing in the middle of his maze. He was just eating his hay and you've walked in and disturbed him. (That's Gene and our client in the background waiting for the machine to call in.)

  

There are giant panels of painted artwork, too big for me to get into one frame of the camera. 

And pieces which would fit on a pedastle in one's living room 

I would buy a miniature of this piece. It's a black cat. I really love the bold colors. 

Each piece will be accompanied by the name of the monster represented, a poem and a brief few paragraphs about the monster. My Greek and Roman Mythology class, so very long ago, failed me, for I couldn't remember the monster in the painting nor the cat. The minotar and the cyclops are very familiar by virtue of their use in other art and stories. 

As much as I love the cat, these are, hands down, the stars of the exhibit, for me. 

Look at these. If this doesn't bring a smile to your face, you're too far gone. Chickens, flying chickens. You can see a graphic representation panel of all the monsters they have designed at the lower right. It's 35 feet long and 7 feet high. It was fun to just stand there and admire the images. These are representations of the Stymphalian Birds. Dealing with them was Hercules' sixth labor. According to the myth their feathers are bronze and they can shoot them like arrows. Their beaks are like swords and they fly at anyone who comes to kill them. Their poop is highly toxic and will kill people who touch it. They were terrorizing the town of Stymphalia and needed to be eradicated. 

Chickens. That's what theses are. I laughed. It was so fun to stand under them and just watch. When you heard the air conditioning come on, which you'd probably not hear at the start of the opening due to people noise, you could watch a very faint sway to the birds as you stood looking. It was not hard to imagine a flight of millions of these. I think I would be laughing too hard to do much about them. 

I am sorely tempted to return to the museum to see the final installation. I also have to admit that I'd pay money for a cat and a chicken. I love art that's imaginative and this certainly is. If you're a reader from the Chicagoland, NW Indiana, SW Michigan or SE Wisconsin area, do come and see this. It's delightful. 

Beverage:  Water

Deb

A Golden Lady

Many years ago, at the Printer's Row Book Fair, I stumbled upon this reproduction print.

The scan doesn't cover the sides completely but you see most of this. This print is of a photo of the Statue of the Republic and Peristyle which was in the Court of Honor at the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago beginning in May 1893, and running to October 1893. The fair was designed to honor Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas in 1492. Although the area where the fair was located was dedicated in 1892, due to construction and other issues, it wasn't opened until 1893.

The fair is known for things like the forerunner to the zipper closure, Juicy Fruit Gum, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer and spray painting. Frederick Law Olmstead, America's premier landscape architect at the time, designed the 650 acres which encompassed the park. Over 700,000 people attended the fair and marveled at things like the fully electric kitchen and the world's first Ferris Wheel. That particular ride was moved north to Lincoln Park and then to the St. Louis World's Fair. After that fair, it was destroyed.

Chicago received benefits such as the land where the fair was becoming Jackson Park. The Museum of Science and Industry, one of the crown jewels of Chicago museums was, originally, The Palace of Fine Arts. The Museum gives guided tours of its building detailing its original role in the fair and the innovations which came from this event.

One of the most visible remnants of the fair can be found at Hayes Drive. I have long admired this statue.

If you notice, it bears a startling similarity to the statue at the exposition. It's supposed to. Daniel Chester French, an extremely prolific American sculptor, designed and built the original statue. The original statue at the exposition was 65 feet tall and was at the eastern edge of the fair, facing west. The current statue faces east. A pier, located behind the original, was a point of entry for many visitors. They "rode" to the fair entry, located under the arch in the top photo, on a moving sidewalk, the first of its kind. Most of the buildings at the fair were constructed with plywood and a building material called "staff", made of plaster of paris and hemp, insulated with straw. The walls were then whitewashed which gave the exposition the nickname "The White City". When the exposition was over, the buildings were torched. It was a great event in Chicago and people came from all over to watch the city within a city burn to the ground. The statue was dismantled.

The statue was supposed to represent the resilience and strength of a country that had come through a Civil War. Plus, immigrants from all over the world, were flocking to the open arms of the US. Six years previous to the fair, the Statue of Liberty had been dedicated in New York. You can see the influence of that statue in French's design.

In May of 1918, on the 40th anniversary of the fair and the 100th anniversary of Illinois becoming a state, this statue was unveiled. It's 24 feet high, of gilded bronze, and stands on a specially built pedestal. French assisted Henry Bacon in reproducing his original design. French and Bacon went on to design the Lincoln Memorial.

When I have to come to the south side of Chicago on business, I make sure my drive takes me by this statue. Chicago has a huge number of public statuary but this is my favorite. Even on overcast days, she gleams. I'm not sure what they do to keep her gilded but, whatever it is, it's a wonderful job. If you'd like to read more about this statue, go to this link. Another extremely good source of information about the exposition is Erik Larson's book, Devil in the White City. It's an extremely well-written and deeply researched story built around the fair.

Some day, I hope to redo the room where the litter boxes are and this is one of the pieces I want to frame and put on the wall. Some day.

Beverage:  Lady Gray tea

Deb

Richmond

Richmond, Virginia is an old city. Living in the Midwest, we can often overlook the fact that when we consider "old", say early 19th century, the east coast has places 200 years older than that. The locality we know as Richmond is a case in point. There was a settlement in the vicinity in 1609. The present city was founded in 1737.The James River runs just south of the downtown. Carole lives in a suburb and commutes about 15 minutes into downtown Richmond.

It's rather ironic that, in 2001, we visited Richmond for her post-high school graduation Civil War battlefields vacation. We stayed at a luxury hotel right off capitol square in downtown. (The hotel is still there. I forgot to photograph it when I was there.) This was the view from our hotel window in the morning.

The white speckles on the tree in the foreground are magnolia blossoms. The actual capitol building is in the upper center.

We were in Richmond to visit the Museum of the Confederacy. At the time, they were mounting the biggest exhibit assembled to date, of Robert E. Lee memorabilia. We knew nothing of this museum, in fact, the article where we noticed the exhibit called it an "unknown gem". Given the feelings provoked by the Civil War, a museum dedicated to the Confederacy could be a lightning rod for all sorts of ideas. As 'Northerners', we have our own feelings about this time in US history. Carole had done some research on the war and felt that Robert E. Lee's personal conflict was not as examined as it should be. She really wanted to see this exhibit, so we amended our travel route and added Richmond to the itinerary.

The exhibit was incredible. Lee was a much decorated and respected general when the war broke out. It's well-known that he chose to go with the Confederacy because Virginia, his home state, seceded from the union. It did not make him happy. He fought against people he considered friends. I remember seeing letters from Lee to friends where he talked about his anguish. I believe there were uniforms, weapons, paintings and Lee's death mask. We came away from the exhibit with a new-found appreciation of just how much the war took a toll on Lee personally. And we found the museum to be simply a repository for items from that conflict. They don't really get into the whys or the ramifications of the war. They present what they have as 'this is what this is'. It really is a gem of a museum and I would urge you to go visit if you're close by.

It's a three block walk from the Virginia capitol building. The park surrounding the capitol is very nice. In 2001, I took this photo as we walked from our hotel to the museum.

The steps lead to a statue of George Washington. In 2013, the fountain is still there.

The steps still lead to a statue of George Washington.

There's a small statue of Poe sitting off to the side. I don't remember seeing this before.

We did not take the capitol tour in 2001 as we were there for one specific reason. There is a new entry to the capitol building and it advertised tours. I didn't take the tour either as I was in downtown for two specific reasons; to see where Carole works and to visit the museum again.

I'm a big one on maps and certainly appreciate when an area is presented visually.

I entered the area of the capitol from the upper right of the map and walked to the lower left. Carole can see the building from her office area.

There is so much history here. I encountered this memorial plaque as I was walking to Carole's office.

This talks about the fires set by Confederate soldiers in April of 1865 as the Union army closed in on the city. Carole mentioned that several of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, were meeting in Richmond at a time when the British army was approaching the city. Thanks to some fast thinking, the army was delayed just enough to get those men out of Richmond and to Charlottesville, 70 miles west of Richmond. Had they not been warned to leave, the Revolutionary War might have been a mere skirmish. It's easy to forget that part of Richmond's history as so much was tied up in the Civil War. To rectify that, Richmond developed the Richmond Liberty Trail.

This is painted on the sidewalk. This is self-guided and goes all over downtown Richmond. There is no real beginning to the trail. I must have seen a half-dozen of these on the sidewalk in my walk. Further research indicates this trail overlaps with two other walking trails, both self-guided. It's so easy to forget that the US history here predates items with which I'm familiar.

I wanted to visit Cold Harbor Battlefield while I was there. In 2001, we visited Tredegar Iron Works, which is the 'official' starting location for Civil War tours in Richmond.

But, on Wednesday, when I set out, I copied one direction wrong and ended up in an area that didn't seem right. After driving around for an hour, I never did find the battlefield and felt that I could get myself horribly lost so, when I found I-95, I headed back to Carole's. It was only when I was looking through our 2001 trip that I found the battlefield map we'd picked up. I should have brought it along.

When you combine the history from Revolutionary War days with Civil War days, there is a lot to see. It appears Carole is going to be settled in this area for the foreseeable future, perhaps this is now her home. With enough visits, I can maybe get around to all these places. And the walking is good for me.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Weekend Project

Well just "ewww". I fished the two deck chairs and the table out of the storage container last night. I haven't had them out in a couple years. It was much, too much, of a hassle to move everything to get these out and then put them back in.

But with the deck painted and flowers growing in pots and actually feeling better, I want to be outside now. That space is more inviting. I was going to fish these out last weekend but got involved in other things.

They are pretty dirty. Empty, dirt-filled flower pots sat on both of them. I found the chimney to start a fire, if I'm ever inclined to grill on my falling apart Weber grill. I found the brackets that go over the deck rails, if I had money to fill the pots that sit off the rails. I really need to recoil the hose and reorganize the contents of the container so it's easier to find things. That's not going to happen now.

The weekend's task is to scrub these off so they can be used. If Zeke comes around to mow the lawn while I'm home, I'll ask if he could power wash them. Otherwise, where did I put that scrub brush?

The other thing I need to do is buy gray spray paint and repaint these two plaster animals I got about 10 years ago in Canada. They have seen better years but they are whimsical and I like whimsy. They just need a fresh coat of paint for more weather protection. That's a pig on the top and a chicken on the bottom. I get an expense check next week and I also want to paint the front steps. I think next weekend will be a painting weekend.

And three out of the 6 pots in which I planted seeds are doing well. I'm unsure if the other 3 will even sprout. I need to water them all tonight as we've gone almost a week without rain. Our next chance is next Monday. I should also rotate 2 of the pots as you can certainly tell these are set against the north side of the deck.

I'm not sure if I should try to replant, at this late date, those other pots or just let them be. Who knows what might happen if just left to their own devices. The biggest plants are the sunflowers. To the right is a mix and those small plants in front are asters. The white pot is supposed to be poppies and nicotania is in the pail at the bottom.

Once I add the chairs, the table and the statuary, this will be a comforting space to be in.

Beverage:  Raspberry Earl tea

Deb