All the buzz

Today my girlfriend Belynda & I attended a hen party at Rose & Thorn on the edge of Freestone in Sonoma after stopping for bread and sticky buns at the Freestone Bakery.

As you can see we were in the company of stars! These chicks were no less glamorous than their namesakes and definitely had the run of the place.

Earlier in the afternoon we'd had the pleasure of a stop at the Melissa Bee Sanctuary near the Russian River learning about how important bees are to us and how much we can learn from them. All the flowers were planted to attract the bees and help them thrive in a place as free from stress and disease as possible.

The log hive is completely natural and honey is not collected from it. Honey is what bees make to feed future generations and the folks only take honey when their hives have a substantial surplus. One of my favorite hives was made like the ones on Germany with a straw lining and they do not use plastic as it inhibits the queen from being able to produce drones to mate with and it's very important that she does!

It was so amazing to hear how by slowly opening the hives and keeping quiet it was not necessary to wear protective clothing and use smoke - in fact the bees were humming! They only bite if they feel threatened.

We even got to see the Queen make a regal appearance, but she doesn't leave her hive often so she was gently returned as soon as we made her acquaintance.

It's very important to have a water source near your bees but they'll drown if you're not careful so cork is often floated in pools or fountains so they can sip their water through it.

There are many different and extremely original types of hives.

Here Belynda takes a peek - this hive had the most amaziing sweet smell emanating from it.

Here we saw the German type hive carefully opened from the top and the cloth gently rolled back to expose the bees busy in their hive below. Honey is an antibiotic as well as a food and has many other uses.

If you're interested in future tours you may visit their website!

The tour actually began at 10am in Sebastopol at Beekind where they sell local honey for beekeepers as well as their own, beeswax, beekeeping supplies and seeds for flowers and herbs that will attract bees. The owner told us that when he put in his first hive he increased the yield in his vegetable garden by as much as tenfold!

We had a beekeeping 101 class where we learned about the roles of the different bees, mating, hive activity, how important bees are to us and how the planet used to take care of us and now it's our turn to take care of it.

Belynda appears to be fascinated as this comb was brought out for inspection. It's amazing that I think only one person was stung the entire day and she didn't let it hold her back from enjoying the rest of her day.

Here you can see the braver members of our group passing the bees for closer inspection. They (bees) have amazing noses and love to make honey from the same flowers - if for instance one comes back to the hive with sage blossom nectar than he tells his friends and they take a sniff and can follow his directions to go out and find some themselves - it's amazing how complex the hive and the life of the bee really is.

That's all the buzz for now!

Farrow & Ball Blue Black

I've been enjoying the surge of interest in all that is dark and dramatic and was so-inspired myself by Farrow & Ball's Black Blue paint that I decided to experiment with a wall in my bedroom.

I was able to order the paint (which is eco-friendly) and it was sent from England to my stockist in just a little over a week. Armed with a primer in Farrow & Ball's "Downspout" and my boyfriend Tim who is quite handy with masking tape and a paintbrush I waited with anticipation while he primed, waited three hours, added the first coat, waited two hours, added the second coat and voila! Thank you Farrow and Ball and thank you Tim.

I love the way it evokes the Victorian era and the consummate search for classification - the known versus the unknown. I see bell jars and butterflies, terrariums and topiary in my future.

The absence of color attracts color - I really wanted to play up the beauty of my many finds from India - textiles and paintings, hot colors and no color.

I've always seem to follow an ecclectic path to finding things I like and have some sort of story and then enjoy exploring ways that they can all go together. In some ways I supppose this mirrors my life.

Is it okay to be a Luddite?

Is it okay to be a Luddite? Read this piece by Thomas Pynchon from The NY Times Book Review in 1984.

What made me start thinking about this is the wonderful Luddite collection by Thomas Paul where modern gadgets like your cell phone stay cozy and easy to find in your bag inside these wonderful zippered canvas pouches with pictures of their technological predecessor to give you a hint what's inside. Protect your MP-3 player with this lovely old gramophone covered pouch

or slip your digital camera into this one !

Need protection for your laptop while you walk down to the cafe or head out to the airport or office? What a wonderful reminder of how we used to use to communicate with each other before we had laptops and cell phones and digital cameras. I like that these are fabric covers, adding to the irony that the original Luddite movement was in response to new technology developed in the textile mills of England around 1811!

Are you a Luddite?

Fidelio

Woman in White - shrouded in mystery

Dark Harbinger

Right out the courts of old come the masked ladies...

and Saracen warriors

Eyeing the faintest hint of a smile

Can you guess?

Taking my cue from Venice 2010 Carnival photos forwarded to me today , I realized how much they reminded me of something else - what do you think it might be?

Shrouded in Mystery

with masked balls and dream sequences

and costumes changes
Stanley Kubrick's last film - cult favorite or magnum opus?

You decide...

showers bring flowers ...

In one of my classes we're drawing simple geometric shapes and repeating them to create patterns for possible textile applications. I think Marimekko does this so well I stopped a moment to peruse their collection for inspiration.Here just a simple blue squiggle creates a stream for the eye to follow the fabric's flow.

Pomegranates (whole & halved) with birds on a wire and the building outlines with flower pods all hold together with the blue ribbon (like a river) making for an unusual, but somehow very pleasing design - I really like the juxtaposition.

Who doesn't love the silhouette of a gingko leaf? Here it's so tranquil in blue.

or bright red to cheer up a rainy day and remind us spring flowers are just around the corner.

Here the two colors combine to produce a beautiful primitive flowering vine and now I must go design my own...

But just one more before I do. I like how the bold blue tree branches and bright red berries entice the sweet delicate bird into the picture.

Paper & Scissors

Su Blackwell's artist statement:

"Paper has been used for communication since its invention; either between humans or in an attempt to communicate with the spirit world. I employ this delicate, accessible medium and use irreversible, destructive processes to reflect on the precariousness of the world we inhabit and the fragility of our life, dreams and ambitions."

As someone who loves paper and the written word, I admire how Blackwell's sharp knife does not destroy, but rather preserves the essence of these old discarded books

Like the stories of my childhood, these creations transport me to imaginary places in imaginary times and ultimately create so much more rather than they destroy.

You can fall down the rabbit hole with Alice or sail around the world in search of adventure...

This last piece reminds me of my father when I was little using his hands to make animals & birds from the shadows - dispelling the fears that darkness can bring and filling it with wonder!