Monday, June 29, 2009

Wall Pockets



I have a few wall pockets mounted around my house. I figured out some years ago that you don't come across that many wall pockets west of the Mississippi. Back in Kentucky, though, you might happen across wall pockets all over the place: in homes, as well as antique and junk stores. Over the past few years, they multiplied like bunnies on ebay.

A wall pocket is a little ceramic vase that is designed to hang on a wall and hold flowers. At least, that is my definition. The one above is one of mine, made by the Hall company, a business that manufactured china and ceramics. I bought it some years back at the Owensboro Antique Mall when I was home one year.

Wall pockets can be silly, whimsical, pretty or plain. Here is one that was made by McCoy, another company famous for cookie jars, vases, and lots of beautiful and interesting ceramics. This one hangs in my bathroom.



This is one of my favorites, and it sits on the top of my desk.



It depicts a clock (with a time of 7:20!). I purchased it in my favorite place, Savannah. It was no surprise to me to find a lovely wall pocket there, shoved in the corner of a shelf in a junk store. Unlike the others, it does not have any identifying marks on the back or bottom. The big manufacturers, like McCoy, had their name marked on the pieces; this is critical in identifying the high value pieces today. There are many wall pockets and vases that are similar to McCoy, but with no mark to tell who the maker was. Even though it is unmarked, I love this little clock the best of all of my collection, because I think it is so beautiful and it came from Savannah.



This is another unmarked pocket. I bought it in Owensboro and liked it because the colors match the clock and the Hall wall pocket. It hangs in our sunroom.

So, that is all I have to say today about wall pockets.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Heat, No Humidity

Finally, yesterday, a truly hot day. We have had the wettest spring and early summer here that I can remember. In fact, every afternoon, it rains or clouds over. Although it is good for the garden (and the weeds), I have been longing for a good hot day. A day with no clouding over. Yesterday I got that day. The sun beat down without remorse; I thumbed my nose and worked outside, reveling in the day that I had been waiting for two months for.

Something I miss from the south is the humidity. Of course, the only humidity we get here is when it rains. When I go home to Kentucky, it really feels like home to me when I get off the plane and walk outside and the humidity is like a wall. I like it; Dave thinks I'm crazy.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Kitty Sitting



These are my new best buddies, William and Margaret. My friend, Marianne, is their Mom, and she is out of town for a week and asked if I would look in on them so they would have some social interaction while she is gone.

They are soooo cute! They are brother and sister, and indoor kitties only. They were a little shy when I first started showing up. They got over that quickly and pretty much attack me for attention when I walk in the door.

Here's Margaret:



and here's William! He's all boy!




They hate for me to leave and are the most lovey-dovey cats I have ever seen.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Alejandro Escovedo Show



Last week Dave and I went to a concert at the Chautauqua Auditorium. The headliner was Rickie Lee Jones. The opening act was Alejandro Escovedo. In my opinion, this should have been reversed. Rickie Lee was a little weird and boring. No one could say that Alejandro was boring, let me tell you.

He played in a duet configuration with another guitarist named David Pulkingham. They rocked things off first thing with a song called, "Always Been a Friend," his song that he performed on stage with Bruce Springsteen. As soon as they did that song, I knew this was going to be good. They pretty much rocked the place to the rafters on every song.

Alejandro was entertaining and spoke relaxedly to the audience as though they were his friends (just the opposite of Lucinda Williams). He introduced one song that was about Sid Vicious and his partner Nancy Spungen from the Sex Pistols (back in the 70's Nancy ended up dead in the Chelsea Hotel in NY; Sid wandered the halls in a drunken daze). The song chorus echoed "It makes no sense" (sung by Alejandro) and "It makes perfect sense" (sung by David). I loved it.

At the end of their set, I turned to Dave, as we stood clapping along with the rest of the audience in a standing ovation, and exclaimed, "Now, that's entertainment."

I thought later about my statement. We see lots of good music around the Boulder and Denver area--really good music. Sometimes we see a show, though, that rises above the rest of what is already high quality music. This was one of those times. This is a show that will stay with me, joining Jake Shimabukuro on ukulele a couple of years ago and joining Oswald Lehnert, who was a conductor of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra back in the 90's. Lehnert knew what it meant to entertain; I watched him jump off the stage one night during a show (on purpose!). Another time, when the orchestra performed the William Tell Overture, he had cannons set up outside that fired during the music. It was an unforgettable performance; after it was over I watched a man from the audience rush up to him and exclaim, "Ozzie, I can't wait to see what you're going to do to top this!"

Every couple of years, I feel that way about a show. This was one of them.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Mountain Laurel at the Louisville Farmer's Market

On June 6, my Mountain Laurel Bluegrass Band played a set at the combo Louisville Farmer's Market and Taste of Louisville. There were posters around town listing us as part of the entertainment! We had a good time and thought it went well. Our band consists of Sharon Dooley (mandolin), Deb Piranian (fiddle), Jay Stern (guitar), Lindsay Meeks (banjo), and Mark Eggleston (mandolin), as well as myself. Dave was the photographer for these shots.





















Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Bird Girl

I have a replica of the 'Bird Girl' in my garden. Here she is.



This statue is a favorite of mine; the original is long associated with Savannah and featured in the book and movie, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." It stands to reason that the statue would be dear to me, as Savannah is my favorite city in the U.S. I have seen the original sculpture; she is in the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah. Originally she was at a family cemetery plot at Bonaventure Cemetery. After the popularity of the book and movie, and due to concerns about traffic at the cemetery and grave site, she was moved to the museum.

The sculpture was created by Sylvia Shaw Judson and (like the Statue of Liberty) there were a number of copies made. The one in Savannah is most famous, but is one of four that Judson created in bronze from a plaster cast.

Dave bought me that replica some years ago, and she originally stood on the other side of the perennial garden, on the garden wall, where she fell off every time the weather was windy (in other words, very frequently). Finally last year Dave decided to put an end to her shenanigans, and he installed her onto a piece of rebar. Then he located her into the garden itself, where she looks towards the house, at the sunroom. I have enjoyed so much looking out at her all the past winter.

Iris

Here are some iris from my garden. I love having fruit of the labor!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Lucinda Williams Concert at the Denver Botanical Gardens

Well, the weather had been so rainy and iffy, that Dave and I expected to be drenched with rain throughout the show. We had seen Lucinda at the gardens about 3 years ago and really wanted to hear her again, so we packed up our stuff and made sure we had jackets and hats and a blanket.



To our delight, it didn't really rain--just sprinkled a couple of times. Nothing like the torrential downpour we expected. We snuggled under our blanket and were right cozy.



It was a typical scene from these shows. Lots of families and children and music afficionados.



Lucinda was in good shape. Last time, her hair was blonde, and she was totally wasted, swaying on stage and drinking who knows what out of three different cups. This time her hair was dark brown and she appeared to be sober and clean. She was also completely self-absorbed. She didn't interact with the audience at all, except to complain about the sound level restriction which she resented. She only introduced each song and that was about it. After a song, she walked back to speak with her band, not even acknowledging the applause. It's the way she is.



You can see her in the picture--she's wearing an orange shirt. The music was really good. BUT she didn't play my favorite songs--"Jackson" and "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road." The emphasis was on tunes that she had on a new album.

Towards the end of the show, Dave and I walked down to the Monet Deck, next to the lily pond. There are large trees hanging over that deck--it really is reminiscent of the Les Tuileries in Paris. Well, to our astonishment, those trees were decked out in tiny lights. It was so spectacular. Dave tried to get a picture--you can't really tell, but here is a shot.



Overall, a fun night.