a visit to Bow Street Flowers (and a poem)

Bow Street Flowers is in Somerville, MA. near the Cambridge border,

where there are always fun things to see.
On this visit a car covered with floppy discs. 

Remember those? Time warp. And it wasn't that long ago, in real time,

but in virtual time it is ancient history.

But we still have flowers. Right outside the shop, as I walked up,
I watched a woman come out and put her flowers in her bike basket.

I was so enchanted by that sight, I didn't even notice her fabulous pants 

until I looked at the picture she kindly allowed me to take before she cycled away.

If you've read my other Bow Street posts (here and here) you know that there is
much more than flowers in that small shop. Shelley has created a place 

of beauty, warmth and whimsey.
Every time I go there I say I want to live there, and that it's like
walking into a story book. Because it is.

I had one of those childhoods where I wanted to be part of
everyone else's family. I was always looking for a home. And now,
I have a lovely home (two, in fact) and a dear family,
but that lonely child hovers.

There are places that fill me with longing and love.

A little shop with rabbits underfoot

and flowers galore makes me feel complete.

I bring some of that home with me,

 flowers, enough for two arrangements.

Aji supervises.

I smile all day. It's the flowers, and more.

                          Dog-Days

A ladder sticking up at the open window,

The top of an old ladder,

And all of Summer is there.

Great waves and tufts of wisteria surge across

        the window

And a thin, bleated blossom

Jerks up and down in the sunlight;

Purple translucence against the blue sky.

"Tie back this branch," I say,

But my hands are sticky with leaves,

And my nostrils widen to the smell of crushed green.

The ladder moves uneasily at the open window,

And I call to the man beneath,

"Tie back that branch."

There is a ladder leaning against the window-sill,

And a mutter of thunder in the air.

                   --Amy Lowell (1874-1925)

around here, early summer

Every morning, I open a couple of windows for the cats. Having indoor cats has been much easier and better than I expected, but I do what I can to give them a bit of the outdoors. They love to nibble on wheat and oat grass, nap in the window sills and watch and listen to the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits. I'm sure they are smelling and hearing all kinds of things too.

This marvelous picture is from a video of a dog with his head out the car window. It's by Julie Andreyev, and is at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, in an exhibit of artist and animal collaborations. I went there to see the Turner and the Sea exhibit, which was wonderful. It includes maritime paintings by other 19th century artists, putting Turner in context. I particularly enjoyed the selections from Turner's sketchbooks and small paintings. When I was in college I went to London and saw his work for the first time. His skies and seas touched me deeply and influenced my own painting and the way I looked at art.

These are a couple of the small studies I've been doing,

 thinking about painting them big. Really big.

My favorite part of summer is sitting on the porch in the evening, 

reading and watching the light change.

I hope that you are enjoying early summer (or winter if you are on the other side of the globe).

Last night I went to see The Lunchbox, and recommend it if you like small, charming movies,

or, like me are obsessed with India.

be cool

 red and green, hot and cool

Brimfield

paint rag

shade

painting

sons

 I've added ice cream to the stay cool repertoire: 

Orange Italian ice (bonus points: it last a long time)

Lemon ice cream (bonus points: local creamery and vitamin c)

Vanilla ice cream with peanut butter mixed in (bonus points: calcium and protein)

All those bonus points negate calories and sugar, right? 

I mean they're practically healthy.

Also, a big bowl of fruit salad every day:
watermelon, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries.

Hope you find ways to stay cool this weekend.

Jen

summer pleasures

Books, baseball, flowers & art.

No Catskills this weekend. Tomorrow I'll go to Boston to catch the last day of an exhibit of paintings of Provincetown (Cape Cod). I learned about it from Urban Cottage Steve. If you missed the post, take a look here--he includes pictures of many of the paintings.

I plan to spend the rest of the weekend reading, weeding, and watching baseball. I'm a New York Mets fan (living in the land of the Boston Red Sox) and they are playing the big bad New York Yankees--a subway series, and I wish I was in New York taking the #7 subway to the ballpark.

There are many good, and a few great books about baseball. The best of them are human interest/baseball as a metaphor for life...and appeal to people who aren't baseball fans. This is one--about a season with a minor league baseball team. Here is one of my favorite Roger Kahn quotes: "You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat." Appropriate for a Mets fan.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Jen