Making an Auricula Theatre with recycled materials

Hi everyone,

This long lockdown has helped me to make progress with the many jobs needed at home. I love doing projects, painting, making or changing things.

I have long admired the showy elegance of Primula Auriculas  - I had some in the garden but they were rather neglected & certainly not shown off to their full beauty.  They are alpines so need careful attention if you want them to thrive.

Some weeks back, I noticed that several mentions of Auricula Theatres on the Chelsea Flower Show reports & then the vintage shop, https://www.instagram.com/la_vie_shrewsbury/ La Vie in Shrewsbury showed off a rather nice one he had made from an up cycled pallet during lockdown.

I managed to get some free wooden planks & wooden strips from a building project & I then formulated an idea in my head. I wanted it to be largely a recycled project so the dimensions were decided on the materials at hand ...

The 2 large planks were measured; 1 was divided in half to form the sides, the other divided in 3 to form the shelves & top; 2 of the blue wooden strips were used for the base with a gap to aid air circulation. The blue strips were also cut as shelf supports ...

We are not keen on fixing things to the house walls so decided it should rest on a firm base; however, having no additional wood meant that I popped to a local trader whose store is a bit of an Aladdin's Cave but sure enough, he had a heavy wooden stool which was perfect. Two thin beading strips completed my purchase to hold the pots in place when they are on their shelves.

That was the entirety of the purchases needed for the project because we had everything else.

Once it was all done, I found a part tin of shed paint in the garage - a pretty WILLOW colour in a soft, pretty green.

The whole theatre & the stool have been painted in the same colour to uniform it.

It is in place against the rear house wall where it is sheltered & we can enjoy the plants while we are on the patio.

The finished project in place against the rear wall of the house - on the patio & in a sheltered position, facing the garden. I love the colour & the mismatched, mostly vintage terracotta pots that ariculas are traditionally grown in because they have good drainage. 

A good project using materials that we already had which is surely a good thing. Have you done any projects lately? Tell all .... 

Thank you for stopping by,  I hope you are doing well in these interesting times,

Dee ~💕~

Lockdown day 75

Hi everyone,

It is inconceivable that we are on Lockdown Day 75 today - when we went in to lockdown on 23rd March 2020 & we all had the notion that it would be the three weeks initially. I think if we were told it would be 75 days & counting, we would have all taken fright at the prospect.

However, the deadlines have come & gone, been extended, regulations have changed &  yet our death toll is over a sobering 40 200 souls. However, the only way to do these unprecedented times is to take it day by day & to keep focusing on the things you can control & to practice gratitude for the things you do not have i.e  the Covid-19 virus.

My great grandfather was born in a little rural Shropshire village near the town of Bishops Castle in 1810.

I found this on the Bishop’s Castle Heritage Resource Centre site about a previous plague in 1665 & how they dealt with it:

Bishop’s Castle Plague

One of our research volunteers recently came across this in the BC Borough Minute Book for 7th August 1665.

With limited knowledge we’ve roughly transcribed it. It is incredibly familiar in terms of the measures being ordered-keeping strangers and travellers out of the town ordering a

‘Continual watch and Ward had and held at the several entrances to the town’...., appointing ‘Inhabitants of the town’ to new posts to provide it and even imposing fines of ‘two Shillings’ on those appointed if they fail in their duties.

But it is more draconian still in relation to the hospitality industry ordering that... ‘no Innholder or Victualler or any other person whatsoever do presume to Receive into their Houses any Stranger or Traveller coming from any place or Country Infected or supposed to be Infected within the Realm upon pains of the Sum of Twenty Shillings’.....

[Basically the whole town is being quarantined. It would be interesting to know how quickly this measure was introduced, once news came through about the pandemic. Certainly it is evidence of the fact that though we live in strange times, they are not ‘unprecedented’, even in this quiet corner of the country.]

What struck me about the transcription of the account of the plague more than 350 years ago, is that they understood how to protect the population by quarantining the town. It also surprises me how strict the fines were & that they understood how easily it could spread & therefore the actions they needed to take. 

We have the benefit of all the modern conveniences to keep us safe, of grocery home deliveries & broadband to keep in easy contact with our loved ones. We in the UK have not had the tough regulations many other countries have; we have largely appealed to people’s sense of community to keep themselves & others safe by shielding our vulnerable, yet some have flaunted the guidelines with no thought to the NHS staff who would have to nurse them in the worst case scenario. 

Many of us have embraced the sense of calm, peace & the luxury of time to just keep busy, we have embraced the sense of neighbourliness by looking out for each other, the sense of community as a coping strategy. Many of us have become so used to our own spaces that we almost have Stockholm Syndrome where we are comfortable in our lockdown & the prospect of leaving it is not appealing. 

Lockdown has changed many of our lives quite dramatically - I have become an unemployed, self employed person. However, I am fortunate to have many hobbies, skills, talents & the ‘b’ word (bored) is never, ever in my vocabulary. 

Lockdown has also made many of us aware of how hectic life had become,  the glorification of being busy have has been lost & I think we have returned to a simpler time, without the need for commercialisation of our time. 

We have seen a return to food gardening with many growing vegetables & fruit for the first time - realising that we need to become more self reliant in future so if / when we have another such event, we will be better equipped to deal with it.  We are in the same storm, not in the same boat, we all face our own challenges that have been foisted upon us. 

Every morning we get a chance to be different, a chance to change, a chance to be better, a chance to keep calm & carry on.

Thank you for stopping by,  I hope you are weathering your own storm in these trying times,

Dee ~💕~

Hundertwasser Haus art at home ...

In the previous post, I shared my visit to the Hundertwasser Haus village in Vienna.  Because we were doing a lot of travel, I decided to buy a colourful silk scarf that caught my eye with its vibrant colours & bold, modern design.

 Our diningroom has tartan curtains in winter but lighter ones in summer. I also like to change the paintings around & add more blue China & ornaments.

Bringing in the blue & white patterns on the dining room sideboard. The two ladies are a regular feature because I don’t have another good space for them. The white linen & lace cloth is a vintage one. Bolder faux lilies look good in the blue & white vase

The tartan curtains were changed this week for my lighter ones as it look freshers with the blue orchid pots. However, the large painting needs to be changed for something brighter 

I like to change art around too; this huge traditional oil painting has presence & warmth.  The large traditional floral oil painting always looks right alongside the orchids but it does have breaks in the garage

I often swap it for this framed fabric art - I love the exoticness of it & how it fields like a family crest. However, these both need a break ...  

 I bought a silk scarf on a visit to Hundertwasser Haus in Vienna last year & today I decided it was time to frame it because something different is needed. Don’t you just love this bold design?

First step, iron the scarf creases out with a cool iron & a pressing cloth because it is silk ...

This large Ikea Nyttja frame is the right size. Because I like to frame numerous art & images, I buy these inexpensive black Ikea frames in various sizes so I always have something I can use. My last frame this size - mental note - I need an Ikea visit once they reopen & the rush is over.  This might seem daunting but it is not. I buy black Ikea frames in various sizes so I can frame off things & the frames unite the randomness.

I used very thin double sided tape at regular intervals along all the frame sides to secure the scarf; being silk, it is a bit slippery so a bit of time now makes for a better finished image. I used the paper insert as I didn’t have a large enough sheet of card & it worked just fine once the clear front & backing sheets were put back on.

This did not take long & the colours & bold pattern are a lovely change from the gentle floral painting that has been up  all winter. The orchids will soon be in flower with their bold colour too ...

Lovely colour & a bold modern print are the perfect change ...

I love colour & use coloured glass candlesticks & mismatched candles to bring interest in to this room. I love how well the bold, modern image fits in here ...

An hours work is all it took for this framing 

The Hundertwasser Haus / village in Vienna where I bought the scarf from.

Thank you for stopping by, I have enjoyed sharing how I used this scarf at home. I hope I have inspired you to  

look for art in usual places 

Dee ~💕~

Brighter colours inspired by Hundertwasser Haus

Hi all,

We are now on Lockdown day 67 and I have been keeping busy with lots of things - it is a strange  hiatus where time appears to be suspended, where it merges in to one.

Last year we visited the very unusual Hundertwasser Haus & Village in Vienna.

The Hundertwasser House in Vienna bears the unmistakable hand of the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, whose birth name was Friedrich Stowasser. The colorfully decorated exterior façade of Hundertwasser House in Vienna draws attention to itself almost magically. Anyone who lives in the Hundertwasser House also has the right to decorate the façade around the windows entirely to their own taste. More than 200 trees and shrubs on the balconies and roof terraces make the Hundertwasserhaus a green oasis in the heart of the city. The Hundertwasserhaus can only be viewed from outside.
Right opposite the Hundertwasserhaus, however, is the Hundertwasser Village, which is open to visitors. It was created out of a tire workshop in 1990-1991. The artist created his own shopping center here with a "village square", a bar and numerous stores in the typical Hundertwasser style.

 The apartments are closed to the public but we were told that the walls, floors, doors etc are not straight  & that they are quite unique. How I would have liked to be a fly on that wall ...

It is a celebration to colour, design, art ...

The pillars have colourful & interesting designs that wrap around the pillars, little pops of colour everywhere.

Colourful mosiac art brings pops of colour & design in the space 

Colorful and unusual

The Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna is a building designed by the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and located in the 3rd Viennese district. The extraordinary building was constructed between 1983 and 1985. It was architecturally realized with the collaboration of architect Josef Krawina as co-creator and the implementing architect Peter Pelikan. The result is known about around the world.

Viewed from the stairs ...

The mosaics on the ground level ...

Numerous trees & plants add more colour & detail to the overall design ...

The hidden courtyard is filled with vibrant greens. It is a totally fascinating place, filled with colour, unusual shapes & can only be viewed from outside.

However, as we still had several countries to travel through on our trip, I bought a very colourful scarf in the gift shop.  It depicts the Hundertwasser Haus village very well & I bought it with an eye to frame it as I often use unusual things for art at home .

Thank you for stopping by, I look forward to showing you how I used this scarf at home

Dee ~💕~

We are all in the same storm, not the same boat ....

Hi all,

In a previous post as we were all trying to process the Covid-19 storm that enveloped us, I put some of my thoughts to paper in this post.  I said we are all in the same boat, I have now come to realise that we are in the same storm, but in our own boats, trying to weather it best that we can.

We are now on day 38 of lockdown, longer for those of us who have been self isolating before that.

It is a strange storm we find ourselves in & it is an adjustment between the pressure to ‘use your time well’ or to rest & realign; to just find the way through it all with some sense of sanity.

Some are self isolating on their own, with pressing financial & family needs - with pressures to home educated & to juggle many things.

Some are living in fear of domestic violence & new reports hint at teen violence towards parents who are trying to enforce lockdown at home - very frightening & isolating.

Some are loving the isolation, others are social beings who hate being alone - all of these scenarios are valid, none are right, they are all forms of the crisis we are living through.

I love the inspirational words of Edgar A Guests ‘Don’t Quit"

When care is pressing you down a bit…
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit!

I am unused to having so much free time on my hands without any form of commitment.

I have spent my entire life in education & I love the feeling of achievement it brings,  the feeling that what I am doing is worthwhile. Too many of us women would just be lost in the mundaneness of doing house work. That does not feed my soul; I like the feeling of achievement, to be appreciated for what I bring to the table & to know that I make a difference, to be appreciated.

This is the same for many working women where we have a sense of self that is built entirely on our own efforts,  without reference to our marital status or home situation. This feeds our soul - even if it is an ordinary occupation, it is something that completes us, especially once our children fly the nest & they have their own lives to live; we have to complete our world so that they are free to explore their own world.

This is how it is for me - I know that I am a really good teacher / tutor & I have made a difference in my work & it is largely appreciated.  I love how excited my students are to see me & to share their news. I love how parents make room in their homes for me to work & how they make sure I have a hot cuppa on a cold day & an iced drink in Summer.  I love how they openly include me in their lives ...

I also have many hobbies & skills that I love doing so I am using some of my time to do that.

So my boat is different to your boat,  I am a self employed, now unemployed person who does not know when they are going back to work. There is uncertainty in my storm even if it is not in the same boat as you - the storm is rocking us all.

Life is as it is, not as we wish it to be. We cannot do the things that we want to do, but we can do the things that we need to do.  How are you all coping with life under lockdown? Look after your friends, check up on each other & take care of each other - even the strong ones.

Thank you for stopping by, I look forward to your company & comments, 

Dee ~💕~