Karen
Posts by Karen Kaminski:
There Is No Cake At Versailles
I’m lucky enough to have my family very close–only a 20-minute drive from the city to the suburbs. My lovely mother recently made a comment that going from my apartment to their house was like going to the country for me. “No,” she corrected herself, “it’s like going from Versailles the the Petit Trianon.”
And on some level, she’s right!
The Orangerie at Versailles:
The fields around the Petit Trianon:
(Yes, I took those pictures myself. From the Paris trip just about a year ago with my mother.)
However, I don’t think they did much knitting or clothes sewing or bread baking at Versailles, and I’ve been doing a lot of that. Enough of it that I think sometimes, “My god, what could I do if I applied this energy to something worthwhile, like finding a cure for cancer?”
But then I make an experimental bread recipe (found in the May “Vogue” magazine, thank you very much) and I think I couldn’t possibly spend my time better. This is some seriously tasty bread.
And it cooks in a Le Creuset French casserole (at temperatures that some kilns reach, I think). It all fits.
All Is Well Again
I just have time for a quick update on the tree carnage. I was happy to see some birds come back Friday evening; by Saturday, the two quail and the robin were poking around in the churned-up dirt and looking delighted by all the ivy berries that had fallen down. So all is well–but sunnier–in the front yard again.
Tomorrow: Why my apartment is like Versailles, and maybe a craft update.
No Excuse
I’ve mentioned before that I really enjoy the wildlife around my apartment. I’ve watched a pair of quail bobble around under the trees outside my bedroom window. There’s an enormous robin who thinks he owns the front yard, who tries to eat the ivy berries off the vines that cover the tree trunks. I watched the sparrows going in and out of the ivy Wednesday night, nesting. I’ve heard a mourning dove in the last week and saw a starling fight in the trees this morning on my way out the door to work.
I got home last night and was putting the key in the lock when I looked to the left towards the trees, where I like to think of the sparrows sleeping in the ivy and maybe the fat robin, too.
There was nothing to the left.
The trees by the house are gone, there is a huge expanse of bare ground where there used to be grape hyacinths and leaf mold and happy quail, and I don’t care what gets planted instead–there is no reason to cut down perfectly healthy, ivy-covered, bird-harboring trees.
Bastards.
Amazing!
First Wilson Pickett, and now this–the delight just doesn’t stop!
Those are Australian fairy penguins wearing sweaters (“jumpers,” if you’re in a former British colony). The penguins are rescued from oil spills and the sweaters help absorb the oil and keep them warm as they recover. And the best part: there are instructions that tell you how to knit your own penguin sweater. Think of the penguins!
UPDATE: Put your needles down; the project is ended. 15,000 penguin sweaters were collected. Also, more information on why you’d dress a penguin in a sweater in the first place:
The jumpers, when fitted, keep the penguins from ‘preening’ (picking at their feathers) to remove the oil, which is highly toxic to them. Later they are used to protect them after cleaning, a process that temporarily affects the natural oil keeping the birds warm and waterproof.
Baby Crane!
Three New Things That Delight Me
1. Wilson Pickett. I know, I should know these things–but I had no idea! The Midnight Hour! 634-5789! Mustang Sally! Fabulous! Yes, I live under a rock. A very white rock.
2. Speaking of white rock (ha!), the second delightful thing is Bruce Springsteen. I’m not going to announce that I’m delighted by ALL his music, but his album “Nebraska” is excellent. Apparently, he recorded it solo at his kitchen table, plus he plays a fine harmonica. I’m a sucker for a harmonica and a strummy guitar.
3. And the third thing that delights me: The color brown. Further explanation: Because one simply cannot wear brown shoes with a black suit, or vice-versa, years ago I decided that, when given a choice between brown and black, I would simplify my life and opt for black. Fast forward 10 years or so to my current wardrobe, in which 80% of my shoes are colored. I realized I could choose brown, so I did, and Sunday I started sewing a brown jacket.
It’s a revolution a day over here, I tell you.
"In Soviet Russia, Dress Wears You!"
So I got some shots of the dress I made out of that enormous Japanese crane print. I like how it turned out, and it went over well at a party, but it is not a subtle dress.
Here it is semi-modeled. I thought the jeans and red shoes were good at drawing attention away from all those cranes, if only to make people ask, “Why is she wearing jeans with a dress, and shoes that don’t match?”
Fun with fashion!
Suddenly, I Want Some Sushi
So in between whining about being sick, coughing fits, and sounding like Marlene Dietrich, I did get some projects finished this week.
I finally have art on the living room walls:
(Not only does my father make furniture; he cuts mats, too.)
It’s a Hasui woodblock print:
And I sewed a dress. No pictures of that because it’s not ironed yet, but here’s the fabric:
Do you think if, wearing my dress, I stood in front of my framed art and clicked my heels three times, I would end up in Kyoto? Maybe I’ll try it.