Opo for dinner.

Here, where I live, we don't have much in the way of exotic food although things are getting better. Since last year or so (at least that was when I heard about it) we have a Vietnamese grocery store. There I can buy cream crackers, lemon grass, fresh baby bok choi and satay sauce. I usually make nasi every week and a big batch of peanut sauce every now and then, but since we have the Vietnamese store I can actually buy it canned.

This week I saw a large squash kind of vegetable, which I didn't recognize and I was told it was 'like okra', for which I don't particularly care, but I will try anything once and this was a success because after some googling it turned out to be calabaza, which made it considerably less exotic but easier to prepare. One chopped onion (golden brown), add very thinly sliced squash, (sort of) stir fry until glassy. (I let it cook for about 3 mins - then stir - 3 mins again and so on till it looks (under) cooked - you want it to have texture). Add fresh garlic; fresh tomatoes; a chili pepper (I took out the seeds because I didn't want it to be too spicy); a can of sweetcorn, pepper and salt and let it simmer for a while, being careful not to let the opo/calabaza/squash go mushy. When finished add fresh cheese and place under broiler till melted. This is a Mexican way of preparing squash. Great with Mexican rice and some chicken from the grill.

Someone who knows about vegetables told me that it's a bottle gourd and not part of the squash family. It's a lufa like the ridge gourd and snake gourd.

Cushion cover.

I have lately been able to work on my cushion cover again. This is a detail of the bold felt flowers on the green duck cloth. I bought beautiful yarn on Etsy that I machine stitched on the surface cloth first. I then drew flowers and cut them out of felt which I then either free-stitched by machine or by hand using silver thread or embroidery silk. I should be able to finish this project soon. After my long creative drought this was one of the first things I started.

Sketch.

A platespinner for sure, I never work on a single project at a time. I have sketches ready for a family from Swaziland and this is the youngest son. I will post more as I finish elements. Although I look forward to coloring this (7 cm) sketch, I am also a little hesitant because I haven't done anything like this for such a long time.

Missing Jasper.

My nephew Jasper from Holland spent part of the summer with me in the Southwest. Seems really quiet without him around and the house much too tidy.

Paper Cut.

My first paper cut. I made a drawing of an Acacia tree, then traced it and placed the tracing paper over dark brown Mulberry paper so that I didn't have any pencil marks on the final cut.

Bookbinding and Father's day.

Over the years I have learned many different techniques and one of them is bookbinding. This is the very first book I made and I even marbled the paper for the cover. I gave it to my father as a gift ,and he filled it with carefully drawn diagrams and technical notes which are a mystery to me except perhaps the ones about hydro culture. When he died, the book came back to me. It is nice to have something we shared, each because of our own interests.

Aquapac

The temperatures are rising and today was the perfect time for a dip in the pool. I also wanted to make some shots with the Aquapac that fits over my 'point-and-shoot' and it worked rather well. I set my camera on 'daylight' for white balance, kept the sun in my back and my model cooperated most of the time . I didn't do the 'bubble test' to see if my pack was absolutely sealed, so I didn't submerge the camera entirely. Tools: Canon S400, Aquapac, a Weimaraner and a purple ball. If you want to see larger pictures, click on the collage.

Kirigami

I like receiving a letter in the mail. The stamps and the handwritten address, the feel of the paper and most importantly the contents make it special to me. Since email has become so popular I seldom receive any personal letters anymore. People still send Thank you cards, and birthday cards though, so not all is lost. I enjoy writing a letter and even more enjoy decorating the envelope. Usually when I am on a longer trip I will collect what comes my way and decorate the stationary and the envelope with these findings. My mother is usually the recipient of these letters. I will draw, glue and include little surprises like the dried grasshoppers I bought in Oaxaca, Mexico to share my experiences with her.

Fleur and I keep up a correspondence, thanks to Marianne, as Fleur is only 5. Fleur will draw something bright and beautiful and pen letters on the sides and little hearts, because she has practiced hearts and they are really good now. I usually send a pretty card back to her and on the inside I draw her as Petite Neige with a feather in her hair. Petite Neige is her Indian name in her nature group: Little Snowflake, because her hair is so blond.

I hardly used to draw or sketch anymore, but recently have had a very good reason to take out my tools and brushes and tap into my creativity again. I find it hard to believe that I started out as a Graphic Designer.

The card in the picture is made from a pattern, folded and cut with an exacto knife. The technique is called Kirigami. I had a lot of fun making it and I know Fleur will enjoy receiving it.

Playing For Change | Peace Through Music

Playing For Change Peace Through Music

This is brilliant!

Back from Lyon.

Athena found her old toy.

Having set the irrigation system for the summer because temperatures are rising, Athena found a fuzzy ball from a long time ago, because there is more mud to dig in. I have planted a Mission fig tree and a dwarf Meyer lemon which I bought in Tucson last week. I now have visions of fresh figs for breakfast. They say you can expect some fruits the first year. We will see, in the meantime I will have to make do with fig jam.

Moroccan dinner in the courtyard.

Had friends over for a Moroccan dinner of B'stilla in the courtyard. I am so glad I had it made because it's a lovely place to sit with friends as the sun goes down and talk with the trickle of fountain in the background.

Birthdays.

Every year, for as long as I can remember, on my birthday at 10 a.m. my mother would tell me the story of my birth. As births go, mine was rather unremarkable except that I was my mother's first child. The hoped for 'footballer' did not appear, but that was soon forgotten. I was born in the Kamperstraat in Amsterdam, but I always said Kalverstraat. In one street there was a hospital and the other street is one of the liveliest shopping streets in the heart of Mokum (Amsterdam), but what did I know?
When I left home at 21 my mother would call me every birthday at 10 a.m, and we would both act as if she was telling the story to me for the first time and I, as if I was hearing it for the first time and this is what we still do. It's our little game. Living a continent away makes it a little harder to reach me at 10 a.m. dutch time, so we have changed it to 10 a.m. Mountain Time. It has become quite a precious little ritual to us both. This picture was taken on our veranda of our house in South Africa. I am dressed in a costume from Volendam.

Household maintenance.

So while we are on the subject of color, I have repainted my gate at the side of the house. I had to add some ocotillo branches because over time I had lost a few and I repainted the old ones. Talk about popping color.

Glass, sand and thorns.

Chihuly once again, and this time in the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. What an interesting setting for such bright objects and it works beautifully. Chihuly's work is so organic that it becomes part of the garden just like the bright flowers of the cacti. The desert is a wonderful backdrop for color because it makes it pop. Still, after all these years, every morning as I open my curtains, I am amazed at how vivid the colors are around my house, saturated by sunlight and posed against the desert sand and hills. Click the title of this blog to visit the Desert Gardens.

I think Matt is super cool.

This is Matt Harding and he does this silly dance everywhere he goes and he goes places, believe me! I think you should have a look for yourself and you will see why I think Matt Harding is cool. Click on this and find out: Where the hell is Matt now?

Frozen fountain thawing.

Totally happy because I have the fountain almost finished. There is even water spouting from the mouth of Zephyr.

Wildflowers in Dome Valley.

I decided to get an early start this Sunday to make pictures of the wildflowers, which are plentiful, after the good rains we had this winter. Up before sunrise and enjoying that it is again warm enough to go barefoot, I gathered the bits and bobs I needed; water bowl, leash, treats; and oh yes, my camera.
My mother and I always talk on Skype on Sunday for a couple hours around 10 a.m. my time, so I contacted her to tell her I would be out. My mike clearly didn’t work, and while we could see each other by video I was trying to make clear to her what was going on. Goodness knows what my mother thought I was mouthing, but she doubled up and let out peals of laughter. Every time I tried to make it clear, bubbles of laughter came through my speakers. We managed to do this for well over 30 minutes and had an enjoyable non-conversation anyway.
Ready. I put everything in the car and returned to a very aloof Athena, who refused to budge from her safe place under the coffee table. Nothing I did could entice her to stick her head out far enough for me to slap on her collar. Not the tastiest pieces of chicken; not a happy yellow ball that makes squeaky noises; not even my walking to the back gate pretending we were going for a run. Her cool blue eyes were on me and conveyed the message clearly: I am not going for a ride in the car and that is the end of it.
Here are some of the flowers blooming in Dome Valley.

Brittlebush in a dell.

Mallow.

I call them Globe Mallow, but they probably have a name all their own.

Yellow and green everywhere.

Verbena flowers.

Creosote flowers.

Sand Verbena.

Don't know what this is.

I have no idea what this is. I have seen these shrubs in river beddings for years. I have never seen them bloom like this, but perhaps I didn't have my eyes open. Maybe someone can help me.