Poinsettias 02-19-22

It is Euphorbia pulcherrima which originated in Mexico and has its common name from the first US ambassador to Mexico Joel Roberts Poinsett who introduced the plant to the US in 1828.   Although we mostly think of it as red, it also comes in white, pink, yellow, and marbled.

Most of us think Poinsettias look like this.  The potted plants forced in greenhouses to bloom just at Christmas time. 

The actual flower is the yellow/gold wad of little balls in the center of the red "petals" which are called bracts, more akin to leaves than flowers. 

Some people in my area of Southern California plant the withering potted plants in their yard and if the soil, light, and water are controlled, those plants grow into shrubs that can grow ten feet tall. 

They bloom in February and last about a month, depending on the weather.

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Wordless Wednesday 02-16-22

 

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Rain! 02-15-22

Lovely , lovely rain, but not enough.   It only rained for a short time between 6:pm and about 6:30pm, but we also had thunder, lightning, hail, and cold.  The temp dropped to 46F at 7pm.  Just think, last week the daytime high was 91F.  Climate change in a week!!

Rain on the Asilomar Calla Lily in the side yard.  

Looking out my garage door into the cul de sac across the street. 

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Happy Valentine's Day 02-14-22

At various times in my life friends have decided I needed to collect something.  The idea being that they would then have a theme when they wanted to give me a gift.  This was, of course, years before I started collecting expensive art quilts.  At one time everyone was giving me pigs, I had no idea why, and now I have only one remaining, a lovely Beleek pig that always makes me think of Winston Churchill.  But after the pigs someone decided that hearts would be a good collection.

Now I only have a few in a glass box on an end table.  The large on in the lower right is a leather paperweight, in lower left is a compact with a mirror inside, the beige one on the top row is a sea washed rock from a beach in South Carolina.  Several stone hearts are carved and polished (cold, cold heart?) and there is one tiny metal one at top right.  I don't know why I keep them, they really don't have a sentimental value.  Someday I will find someone who enthusiastically collects hearts and they will find a new home.  

This is a scary heart!   After Valentine's Day one year I was visiting friends and went out to their garage to put something in the trash.  When I lifted the lid out popped this discarded balloon, almost causing my heart to stop.  I don't know what I thought it was, but I didn't expect something "living" to come out of the can.  I punctured it so it could never fly again.   But this picture always makes me laugh a little.   

Hope  you had a special day.  

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Quilt from TCQC 02-13-22

Here is a quilt from early in the Collection.  Always interesting to see what Caryl has been up to.  Check out her website.  This is the post from May 3, 2009.

"Refractions #9 and #10" Caryl Bryer Fallert 1993 Each quilt is 36"X36"

In the fall of 2003 someone sent me an e-mail saying there were Caryl Bryer Fallert quilts being sold on eBay. Of course, I had to check them out and it was true. There were about a half a dozen and among them were three that were a triptych. All these quilts and the other 90+ items were being sold by the corporate office of an international company that was relocating and selling all of their art collection. Amazingly, the bidding on these quilts started at $25!! After I won the bid on three of Caryl's quilts I talked to the person at the corporation who was in charge of the auction and I asked her why they sold everything so cheap. She said she was just told to sell everything, with no other information or instructions. I contacted Caryl to see what she knew about the disposal of her work and she had not heard a thing about it. I think it is so odd that they wouldn't offer the quilts back to her first. I know if I ever had to dispose of the TCQC on the open market I would contact each artist and tell them I needed to sell - they might want to buy them back or perhaps know of someone lusting after a particular quilt. I found such a "fire sale" rather peculiar.

Which didn't stop me from bidding! The 'hottest' bidding was for #10 - I liked it best of the triptych pieces and apparently so did a lot of other people. As the bidding for that one went up and up I thought I should bid on # 9, just in case I was outbid for #10 at the last minute. I had the high bid for #9 and when the bidding for #10 was over I also had the high bid for it. I believe that none of the items on auction went over their original selling price and most of them much less.  [less than $1500!]

These quilts are made with Caryl's hand dyed fabric in the style she was working in during the early 1990s. They are pieced in a log cabin order - VERY precisely. They look great hung together or individually, but it is too bad I didn't make the top bid for the third piece. I know that the lady who won that bid was thrilled with her purchase, as was I.

I have always admired Caryl's work and doubt if I would ever have been able to add her quilts to the Collection in any other way. She also has a fabulous website with much valuable information, check it out: http://www.bryerpatch.com/

And while you are there look for the triptych under General Railway Signal Corp the page for Corporate Collections:

http://www.bryerpatch.com/about/corporatecollections.htm