A friend just sent me this photo of Lila and Lucky playing together in their typical fashion. They can do this dance for hours, with maybe a minute of rest every now and then.
My friend Susan’s Brittany Spanial puppies are now three weeks old. They have their eyes open, can walk around and are beginning to play with each other. They still segregate themselves some but not as much. Getting integrated—in every way.
Yes, they definitely are adorable, but no, I am not going to take one home.
My friend Susan's Brittany Spaniel just had five puppies. I went to visit them Saturday when they were four days old. Cassie's a very good mom, takes excellent care of her puppies. So far their eyes are still closed, they don't hear sound, can't walk, but can smell, feel and suckle.
The puppies have segregated themselves by color, the blond (or red) ones in one corner, the dark ones (called liver color) in another pile. It must be by smell. I know people are attracted to each other by smell as well. Interesting, indeed.
I went to Victoria Park in Truro Sunday with Jenny and Robin Wu, my Tai Chi teachers. We went to collect chi and play frisbee.
Victoria Park is one of the best kept secrets in Nova Scotia. It is so very beautiful. And only an hour north of Halifax.
Lila tried to outrun the frisbee and was very proud when she caught it:
This has been the best spring for gardening. Because of our hard winter (lots of snow and ice but not too cold) and the unusually light rains for this time of year, my flowers have never been so beautiful.
I was fortunate this week to have a couple of very generous friends come over to help with the planting and weeding. It's a big garden and a big job. And very satisfying.
I have to watch myself in those garden centers that have sprung up around the supermarkets. Far too tempting!
Each time I go for a walk along the brook it looks different. It's always a surprise.
Ottawa is such a beautiful city; sometimes I didn't know what country I was in, it felt so European.
Can you guess what this is (I can dream, can't I!)?:
Next, our visit to Holt Renfrew for a makeover. First, Jackie before we go to the store:
then being done-up:
and me all prettied-up:
It snowed again here Friday night. It was more like white rain. But it was the third time this week. I drove home from a party in the deep slush and thought longingly of my (warmer) walk through the South Mountain Reservation with Tamar, Dan and Damian just a few days before. There wasn't a trace of snow that day.
I will probably miss the snow when winter ends; it is so very beautiful. Lila and I enjoy our walks on the lake. So we are storing up memories.
The last few days Lila and I have been taking our walks and laying ball on the lake. It's frozen thick now but the weather is warming up so we may not be able to do this for a while. We are getting an early January thaw, just like we had an early start to winter. But, no doubt, the cold will return.
And one last view: of my house from the lake.
We had yet another snowstorm yesterday. As I was driving home from Halifax (after taking Lila for acupuncture and then going for some myself--different doctors!) the sky was giving us a steady rain of ice pellets. Driving was safe but slow. This morning I awoke to a layer of soft snow over everything, including the ice underneath. It was a perfect day to stay home and enjoy the winter weather.
There's a brook running beside my property. I can hear it year round, even in winter. Lila's friend Lucky came out to visit with her mom, Suzanne. We had lunch, Suzanne and I; the dogs played outside on my field aand then we all went for a walk by the brook. It was too icy to walk far, but it was very beautiful.
Lila loves everything about the snow, playing in it, running in it, and eating it. And I love taking her picture:
are predicting rain for tomorrow and above freezing temperatures all week. A big change from the -10 to -20 C. temps we have been having for the last few weeks. And the plentiful snowstorms as well. But today was warm and sunny. Perfect winter weather. A pleasure.
Meanwhile Lila is outside barking at the full moon. I can hear the echo across the lake.
With all this snow we have been having, and then rain, then snow and cold, there is a lot of ice around. Brian came over this morning to help put sand on my driveway. Driving around here is hard, treacherous. My long steep driveway is thick ice from top to bottom. Yesterday morning I skidded up in my car and then in the evening skidded down it. The kids in the neighborhood have been using it to slide down while waiting for the bus in the morning. Today there was no problem maneuvering on it; the sand really helped.
There is still ice on my deck:
Of course, Lila loves the snow:
The sun on the bushes by the lake this morning:
and on the lake (now mostly frozen, but not enough to walk on yet):
Jackie's comment on yesterday's post inspired me to put up a photo of Lila all “made-up”.
and one from our walk in the woods:
These pix were taken just three weeks ago, before the endless snows we’ve been having. (As we are told to prepare for another major storm Sunday, winter is suggesting it is going to be a long and hard one. It's too much too soon. We don't usually have this much winter in December.)
The last photo is when her friend Minnie (another Portie) came over to play. The only good shot was of their running around the field.
Portuguese Water Dogs are often called the clowns of dogs. They are lively, fun, playful, extremely intelligent, fun to train (in fact, Lila demands training, is visibly and audibly upset if we miss it) and very agile. Lila loves to get her front paws up on a stool and twirl around. When she sees the stool she gets all exited and wiggly. I have heard Porties have been known to climb ropes. I have also heard that if you can survive the first two years, you will have a great dog. I can confirm that!
Winter has set in early here. My driveway has been plowed three times already and it's not even mid-December! The driving is hard, walking harder, but it is so very beautiful. The lake is slowly freezing over and summer is buried under snow.
After a very wonderful, stimulating, exiting, rewarding week in Rome, I finally tore myself away and traveled on (by train) to Venice. The city is beautiful, of course. But so confusing. I walked in circles for hours it seemed. It took me an hour and a half to find my way back to the B&B when it should have taken ten minutes! The shopkeepers are so tired of people asking how to get somewhere they don’t answer questions usually. Just wave you away. Next time I go to Venice I will bring a compass and a friend to talk to when I get lost. A couple of people were helpful, but not many.
The view from my B&B in the early morning light:
and the canal at dusk, my first evening there:
On my full day in Venice, I went to San Marco, into the chapel, up the bell tower to view all of Venice in panorama, around the canals, to many churches to see Tintorettos, Berninis, Titians, and other masterpieces. Also the Jewish ghetto. Might as well see my roots in Europe! Now I’ve been to the ghetto in Rome and in Venice. My big purchase was a pair of Italian boots. They will be very handy here in Nova Scotia. It's snowing already. And cold. Makes we want to go back to Rome.
Most of the streets are so narrow you have to turn sideways to pass. And laundry hanging out to dry was a common sight. A traditional vote for ecological sanity.
After so much walking I was ready to get on the train the next morning and go on to Zurich for the exhibition of my paintings.
To continue my recent trip to Italy and Switzerland, here are a few more pix. . . . The beggars in Rome are very creative. Dressing up to look like statues, as the Pope, as cameramen. When someone proffered coins in their cups, they would bow or turn the camera or some other movement to show their appreciation. What impressed me was how long they could stand still, waiting. That in itself, must generate a meditative state. Impressive.
I don't have a happy history with beggars. Once, in New York, a young woman stopped me on the street and told me the most elaborate sad story. She took my heart. And my money. She told me her eighteen month old daughter (the same age Tamar was at that time) was desperately in need of heart surgery or she would die and she, the mom, needed money for medications. I went with her back to my loft on 11th Street and gave her the last $20 I had in my pocket, my food money for the rest of the week. She later bugged the owners of the building who had a factory on the top floor. I was forever embarrassed and look at beggars only with a fair distance between us.
The fountains of Rome are also a memorable sight:
Tamar took these (except for the ones of her, of course). First, of Aaron:
and Tamar:
and Tamar and Aaron, together for the first time in a long time:
and me, happy to be with my children, a rare pleasure:
Living so far from my children is the only thing I don't like about Nova Scotia. I like the weather, the intensity and frequent changes of the weather, the people, their kindnesses, my home, my life here. But I do wish my children were closer by.
Thank you everyone for the warm birthday wishes. It's been a birthday celebration I will cherish. After a lovely weekend with my children, I'm too tired tonight to say much--I'll just post a few photos of the walk Tamar, Aaron, Lila and I took on Sunday by the brook in my neighborhood.
On Tuesday, my last day in Rome, I went to some churches and saw some Caravaggio paintings and Bernini sculptures and some beautiful interiors.
Then Ann and her husband Loris met me for lunch. From there I went to a BIG museum with more Caravaggio paintings and Bernini and Michelangelo sculptures and Etruscan art and artifacts.
Then I walked back to the train station by way of via del Corso, a main drag. Lots of people out. Some of the main streets are blocked to traffic during weekdays which makes it a bit easier, but SO MANY PEOPLE! Tourists from everywhere!
I dragged myself back, totally fried, by 7 pm and watched Bewitched with their daughter Elisa. Then dinner and bed. Ann and her family were so wonderfully warm and welcoming. I could have stayed there well beyond my welcome!!! But I really wanted to go to Venice before heading off the Switzerland, the original reason for my trip.
One of my favorite photos of Ann and their dog Pann:
Ann has Mondays off from work; no performances or rehearsals. So in the morning we went shopping for groceries in the part of Rome where they live. Lots of pleasant stalls. Because I was taking so many photos, they knew I was a tourist, so they all asked Ann where I was from. Everyone knows her in the markets. And the food is so beautiful and tasty! Can’t miss on food in Italy!
In the afternoon, we went for a long walk into a ravine outside of Rome. There is an old village, almost ruins, where people still live, set into a steep hillside.
There was a movie being filmed there as we walked through. We also stopped for tea in a lovely teahouse. The mother had the teahouse with a hundred different teas and teapots and the daughter make beautiful flowers and picture frames and boxes out of old plastic bottles and magazine pages. Very creative women.
The hike felt like we were in a jungle, with vines and brooks everywhere. We took Pann, their beautiful sweet boxer girl. She’s a sweet lovely dog.
When we got back to their house, Ann made pizza for dinner. A Monday ritual.
On Sunday, I went to the opera! What a treat!
Saw Wozzeck by Alban Berg. A very stark set. Beautiful music.
Afterwards, Ann who plays in the Rome Opera Orchestra, her friend Naomi originially from California who lives in Rome now and also teaches music, and I went for tea and canollli. Her friend commented on how the music seems to have come into the main stream now whereas when it was composed in the 1930’s it was strange, unusual. Bursts of cacophony yet still passages of beautiful lyricism. (Even pop music is like this now.) I have always related to it—bought the record when I was an undergrad. I am very comfortable with this music. It may be similar to what makes me relate more easily to abstract art than work with images.
In the morning Ann and I had gone to get the tickets, then to the flea market. In the evening we all went out for dinner. I tasted a variety of real Italian antipasti. I was a stuffed bunny by the end of the day.
Day two, on her way to teach violin students, Ann dropped me near the Vatican but it was too crowded. It would have been a three hour wait to get in, so I went to Saint Peter’s. (Ann started a music school in Rome and was teaching most of the day.)
Then I stopped at Castel S. Angelo and wandered through it's fascinating passages and its ammunition stock:
and looked down at the Tiber:
From there I walked to the Forum and Coliseum:
then walked to the train station which was quite a hike. That took all day, from 9 am to 6.
There is so much to see. I could have taken a photo around every few steps. I don’t remember Rome being this exciting from when I was there 35 years ago. And it’s so crowded, so many tourists, more even than London or NYC. Everyone is out on the streets. And talking! At the airport, waiting for the plane, it was the noisiest group of people, talking talking talking. I tried to move to be in a quieter spot, but finally gave in. Italians like to talk. It creates a very friendly atmosphere,
So, day one I arrived in Rome at 8 am (after leaving home at 11 am the day before). My niece, Ann, met me at the airport. Shortly after settling into her house, I took a long nap. Then Ann took me to a lookout above the city,
then we walked down into the city,
had pizza with artichokes and zucchini and after that she dropped me at the Villa Borghese. I walked through it--a beautiful beautiful park with, of course, statues and a museum.
Then down the Spanish steps, at which time it was already dark so the beggars were out pushing their wares, flowers, lights, bags, hands. One man offered me flowers. Then I went on to the train station and back to Ann’s.
On Saturday, my last day with Tamar and Damian (Dan has been working long days so, sadly, I hardly saw him when I was there), we went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, then took a walk through Prospect Park, and had dinner with Dan at a restaurant in Park Slope (where Dan and Tamar first lived together). It was a lovely day and perfect ending to my summer visit with them.
Damian took his green belt test in Tai Kuan Do on Friday, the last day I was there. First the masters gave a demonstration. Then the tests. Some of the children seemed to be as young as four or five; all were very enthusiastic about their movements. The instructors had bones of steel and hearts of marshmallow. They seemed to love the children and loved helping them achieve confidence, strength and balance. If I didn’t know I am too old to start, I would enjoy learning it.
Damian and another student took their test together. Damian did great, of course. He really enjoys it.
Then the awarding of the belts.
It's been raining all day so it is the first time I can sit down and catch up. It was non-stop all week since returning home Sunday. That afternoon I picked up Lila, came home, and then some friends came out for a swim, dinner and a look at my paintings. A great way to re-connect with my often solitary life. Then on Monday, Phil Secord came out to look at work as I am having a duo-exhibit there with Elin Neumann from Denmark, opening September 14. Then there was dog-class, piano lesson, painting again, giving a friend of a friend a tour of the Art College, photos taken of my paintings, etc. etc. etc.
Meanwhile I have some, to me, quintessential New York City pix from our walking tour of Soho:
Just in time to go visit Tamar and family, my digital camera is repaired! I picked it up a couple of days ago and then went to Point Pleasant Park with Lila.
The park is full of bushes and berries. The lack of trees, although still sad, has allowed a new undergrowth to flourish.
Yesterday when Lila and I were walking with our friend Sherry, we met a young girl with her yellow lab and parents. The dogs started playing together and the young lady told me the story of her dogs. They had two for a couple of years and were about to get another, a black lab and maybe a rescue dog, because the older one, also a black lab, had died recently. When they picked out this dog, the one they have now, from the litter the first puppy they saw was too active, jumping on people, tearing at the toys and barking a lot. That wouldn't do, she said. Then there was another girl pup (they wanted a female) who just sat in the corner and didn’t move. So they picked one who was more playful but not too playful. She said this was important because she was an only child and needed to have a dog who would play with her.
When we parted company, I asked her what was her name. She said it was Sophie and she was almost-ten. I told her I hope to see her again. Her mom said, with a big smile, then she will tell you the rest of her life story!
I told Sophie my grandson is nine and I will see him very soon. Tomorrow!
On my last full day in London, I walked around the city:
saw the Old Vic:
walked across the Thames on a bridge with the Eye of London always in sight:
I went to the Tate Modern, of course, and spent two long sessions sitting with Rothko's paintings. Then I went to Trafalgar Square to check on the pigeons. When I was in London with Tamar and Aaron, watching the pigeons was great entertainment for them. The day before, on Saturday when I was there, the pigeons had been scared off by a falcon on the shoulders of a woman. She patrols the area frequently to keep the pigeons at bay. But when the falcon is gone the pigeons return:
On this Sunday, the entertainment was dancers from Vietnam:
Then I went to the Royal Academy of Art for their annual exhibit. Took the Tube back to my friend's for the evening:
And Monday was the long trip home. Tuesday I picked up Lila. And here I am. Happy to be back at work!
I arrived in London in the early afternoon and my friend William, who works in Parliament, took me on a private tour there. This also gave us front row seats the next day for the Queen’s birthday parade, the Trooping of the Colours. I couldn’t have picked a better weekend to visit London and see the Queen.
The soldiers all looked so young. It seems the more mature were in Iraq.
Standing next to us were a couple of women with their children. As the father of one of the boys walked by, he winked at his son. Anther soldier blew his wife a kiss.
The first (and last) time I was in London I was with Aaron and Tamar who were then five and eleven. Tamar was fascinated by horses at that time. This time, it was my turn. They were truly majestic:
As the infantry was standing around a bit, the horses did what is natural. At the end of the ceremonies, a single soldier was striding by us and, when he saw what was in his determined path, turned his head to us, smiled broadly and said: “Yes, I’m always in it!”
After the ceremonies, we had lunch in the park and then a trip through the Royal Portrait Gallery. Then dinner with friends . . . and a sound night’s sleep.
The next day I went to Copenhagen by bus and ferry. Denmark is a series of islands connected by ferries and bridges. It's a very ecologically conscientious country, growing windmills and barley. From my bus window:
In Copenhagen I first took a bus tour, saw the famous Mermaid (don't understand),
then walked all around,
went to the Carlsburg Art Museum (housing some beautiful paintings and sculptures),
and the Tivoli Gardens where I (along with Hans) was enchanted watching the amusements:
Everyone was enjoying the rides. Well, almost everyone:
I sat in the lovely flower gardens and had tea:
Then back to the Aarhus area by train and to Elin’s home for the night before going on to London for three lovely days. At this point I had traveled from the very middle of Denmark (Aarhus) to the very most northern point (Skagen) and then to the most southern end (Copenhagen) and back to the middle.
The next day I explored Saltum a little, going into a couple of small museums. One was a weaving shop with women making linen mats and towels. It also had other paraphernalia from earlier times.
The big surprise of the day was being interviewed for Danish TV. Apparently the interview was on the arts report the next Thursday but I was already gone. So I am waiting for a DVD to view it here at home. It was in English, of course, as I don’t (yet) speak Danish. (It’s a very difficult language but I do know a few words, mainly “tak” which means “thank you” and I said that many times! As Denmark is such a small country, most people do speak English which made traveling there much easier for me.)
After the interview, Thora and I went in the opposite direction, to Aarlborg and surrounds. We visited an artist and then had dinner in the best ever Italian restaurant, a don’t miss meal. This was fish with pesto sauce on it:
And here's a photo of my delicious meal in the restaurant Elin and Lasse took me to, in Aarhus. Also fish:
That evening a neighbor came over and played jazz piano for us. Even though he doesn't perform any more, he is an excellent musician. A real treat.
The next day I was off to Copenhagen!
In Saltum, Thora, the gallery owner asked me what I wanted to do: see nature or meet other artists. I wanted to focus on the amazing landscape and ended up meeting artists and seeing art as well. I can’t remember the names of all the places we went but I can show you pix.
First was the big dunes. These sand dunes were taller than most buildings. We climbed to the top and looked down to the water far below. It was beyond beautiful.
with beautiful flora:
and beautiful surroundings:
Then lunch. We ate on a patio overlooking a small harbor.
I had the most delicious herring, fixed in three different ways.
Then on to Skagen: a charming town, with a good art museum, situated at the northernmost point in Denmark. Here the land goes out to a point and the water meets from each side with a kiss. One side the water is cold, the other it’s warm.
Then back to Saltum for dinner and a sounds night's sleep.
The next day Elin, Lasse, Joyce and I drove to Saltum for the opening reception of my exhibit. They went home that evening and I stayed on for two more days. I've already posted pix of the gallery. I was pleased with the arrangement of the paintings. And they had a video/slide show of my work which, if I can figure out how, will post.
The weather stayed very warm, a pleasant change for me, after weeks of cold and rain in Nova Scotia. Today it is so hot here in NS it is uncomfortable. We are not used to this kind of heat. And the humidity makes it worse. So more pix will have to wait until tomorrow.
The third day Lasse, Elin’s husband and I, went to the Turkish bazaar. Later that evening, Elin’s friend Joyce came for dinner.
The next day we went to Aarhus. Denmark’s second largest city, Aarhus dates back to Viking times and was a major seaport. Now it is an interesting mix of old and new.
First Elin and I went to Den Gammle By (prounced Bu), The Old Town. It is, basically, a museum with shops, a school, theatre, post office, windmill and other buildings to recreate a typical mercantile Danish town covering the times from the Middle Ages to the 1900’s.
Then the Aos, the Aarhus Art Museum which houses a extensive art collection. I saw some magnificent artwork, among them some beautiful Degas, Corot and Courbet paintings. One of the sculptures is this “boy” who is as big enough to fill a large room.
Then a drink by the water, dinner at a lovely restaurant and back to her beautiful home for a good night's sleep.
My first day in Denmark was magical. Elin's house is set before an expansive barley field. I could sit for hours contemplating the beauty of the setting. There are few bugs in Denmark, no screens on the windows and doors. It feels so very fresh and open.
Looking out from the door to the field through the beaded curtain used to keep the birds from flying into the house:
After breakfast:
The field:
Elin is an expert gardener:
After breakfast Elin and I went on a bike ride through the barley fields and had a picnic by the beach.
The land in Denmark is very flat and spacious. And the trees are round and soft, especially compared to the sharp spindly trees so often seen around here. That landscape is embedded in my mind.
I asked my cousin Jonathan if I could post a few of his wonderful photographs from our Aunt Marcella’s 102nd birthday party. Normally he is hanging out of helicopters shooting ships (with his camera) but he comes down to earth occasionally as seen in these photographs. So . . . enjoy!
Photo ©2007 Jonathan Atkin
Photo ©2007 Jonathan Atkin
Photo ©2007 Jonathan Atkin
Feeling housebound after last week’s rain and snow and cold, Lila and I went to Point Pleasant Park for long walks on Saturday, on Sunday, and again yesterday. I used to take Katie there almost every day the four years we lived in Halifax. It was dense with trees then. Now, after Hurricane Juan, it’s a very different park. But still, it’s a wonderful place to take a dog.
Some trees are the same as they were before the storm.
And a self portrait:
The weather has been unusually warm for January but the sun still puts on a spectular show in the morning as it rises:
Winter gave us no warning. It was unseasonably warm and now it’s cold. We had another snowstorm yesterday. Around 4:30 in the afternoon the power went out. I was making some chicken soup. After all the things one needs to do in a power outage—finding and lighting candles, turning off the computer, turning off the stove, making sure there is water—Lila and I curled up on the couch in the candlelight, she chewing on a bone and me just petting her. It was so peaceful, I wondered if I could keep that calm feeling when the lights were on. Sometimes I can.
This snowfall was even more beautiful than the last one. It stayed on the tree limbs, covering everything like white icing on a cake.
