Blooming Books

This has made some rounds in the blogosphere, but if anyone hasn't seen it, they must. Book sculpture by Su Blackwell. You can visit her website at: http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/

The Vanished Gardens of Cordoba

Cordoba is a place . . . a dream of itself, a once-real place in Andalusian Spain. Before Ferdinand and Isabella, it was ruled by the Caliphate of Cordoba, and before the Caliphate, the Romans.

Gardens from the time of the Caliphs still remain, terrace after terrace of pools, citrus trees, date palms, roses. The oldest walled garden in Europe is in Cordoba, an orange grove besides the mosque. In the garden of the Prince of Viana, in the most ancient part of all, is the Patio of the Lady where clipped cypresses arch over a statue of a woman.

I know this because of a piece of music that captured my imagination . . . a piece of music called The Vanished Gardens of Cordoba by the composer Ray Lynch. You can hear it here: http://www.last.fm/music/Ray+Lynch/_/The+Vanished+Gardens+Of+Córdoba

I would gladly . . .

make a spectacle of myself wearing these.




19th. century Chinese tortoise-shell spectacles. From the collection of Laurie Slater on http://www.phisick.com/index.htm

The sweetest art of all

(photo of Saint Honore Religieuse pastry from the Laduree website)

Do you eat your peas with a knife . . .

or perhaps you'd prefer a bit of a leaf or an insect wing?

This is, sans doute, the most gorgeous flatware ever. Created by Claude and Francois Xavier Lalanne, a pair of French artistes who specialize in magic. I expect the Forest Sprite and Mozart Fowl dine with cutlery like this as a matter of course . . . and equally fantastic china, naturellement.

When something so wrong is just so right . . .

This has been making the rounds on the internet, but I find it so funny I just can't delete it. So I'm sharing it.