Apologies
I have been experiencing technical difficulties publishing the blog and it took a while to realise there was a problem and to rectify it. Well, I couldn’t rectify it but thanks to the techo-maestro in Kalgoorlie, our son, all is well again. I am sorry if this caused you any frustration and thank you for persisting.
It would be lovely to know what you are reading, watching and the jobs you are doing, so please comment. We’ve done home maintenance, gardening, read books and online watched “Unorthodox” and “Traitor” on Netflix. Both beautifully filmed and thought provoking. Also watched some very funny old Rowan Atkinson performances and the Mr Bean series. Our favourite serial now is “La Forêt”, “The Forest”, in French with subtitles. If you loved “Broadchurch” you’ll love this thriller, too.
Coco Chanel Photographs
Just before we pulled up the drawbridge and lowered the portcullis we really enjoyed this exhibition of Coco Chanel photographs taken over a period of three weeks in July 1962 by Douglas Kirkland. Now 85, Kirkland is famous for photographing famous people. He was sent to Paris to interview Coco Chanel after Jacqueline Kennedy appeared wearing Chanel suits in the White house.
Kirkland was 27, Chanel was 79. They developed a wonderful relationship, the respect and mutual admiration apparent in these photographs. Chanel was not known for being easy to work with, but these two gifted people obviously enjoyed working together and this exhibition displayed the resulting photographs from his book.
The very stylish Coco Chanel learnt to sew in an orphanage, before a short career in cabaret performance and training as a milliner. As a designer she modernised women’s clothing, using simple shapes, low heels and focusing on comfort and style. She championed trousers for women, swimsuits and bobbed hair. No more corsets and feathers.
Chanel also popularised “junk” jewellery and wore lots of it, layered with real gems. She is probably best known for the first couture perfume, Chanel No.5 which is the most popular perfume ever made.
These photographs reveal a different side of Coco Chanel. She is beautifully captured by Douglas Kirkland, surrounded by her designs and models. Fabulous exhibition.
And Also Sculptures By The Sea
Already being careful and mindful of social distancing, we wandered around this annual exhibition of sculptures, arranged on the beach and grasslands above the beach at Cottesloe.
My apologies to the creators of these interesting works, but crowding, including masses of school groups, prevented me from safely reading or photographing the titles of theses sculptures or their creators. Looking forward to next years’ exhibition being back to normal.
A New Sphere For The Renovated Garden
I like spheres as decoration in the garden. This is a buoy, washed up years ago on the coast near our farm. I had already painted it pink about ten years ago, but wanted something more vibrant for this area under the clothesline.
Buoys are designed to float on water or just below, to mark a location. Traditionally made from iron they are now made of polyethylene.
The existing base was pale pink. It was bleached yellow when it was found. I drizzled it, a la Jackson Pollock, with four colours, using recycled chopsticks and paint sample pots. I placed it in a pot on an old tablecloth, my painting protective sheet and covered it all over by painting an area, letting it dry and then rotating it.
The colours remind me of my parents’ old atlas, which I poured over as a child. I’d love to sit on their bed, looking at the map of the world and then particular countries, many which I have now visited.
It adds a bit of colour to this reduced collection.
Random Jobs
Across the bottom of our steep drive there is a stormwater drain covered by a grate. It was full of compacted leaf litter. This meant rain coming down the drive was not running into the drain and going off to the soak well but actually going into the garage at the bottom of the drive. Not anymore! The grating was removed, the leaf litter dug out, the drain washed and the grating put back in place. Now we need rain to soak our sandy soil and start the seasonal growth cycle again.
My husband likes white bread so I decided to try making this French Loaf after reading about it on a blog. It was so easy to mix in the Kitchenaid and I could have done the second knead in the machine, too, but I wanted to feel the elasticity of the mix so I’d know when it was ready. This recipe made two lovely loaves of bread.
Always have chicken stock, now called bone broth, so made more immunity boosting chicken, vegetable, ginger and turmeric soup. This one has a lot of chicken in it, too, as I’d bought a big one and after three meals still had some meat, so added it to the soup.
Following the success of white bread made in the Kichenaid I mixed my normal 100% rye bread mix in it, too. I added some plain white flour to increase the gluten and expected it to rise more. It was a bigger loaf than my usual rye sourdough. Still quite dense but tastes very good, so I’ll continue using this method.
Always trying to avoid waste, so used leftover bread (bought, not bread I’d made!) for Bread and Butter pudding. Very nice.
Apples lost their crunch? Don’t throw them away! Use a core remover to de-core the apples, cut them in half then put them cut side down on the cutting board and lightly cut them closely but not all the way through. Place them cut flesh side down in a lightly oiled baking dish. Microwave 60gm brown sugar or caster sugar, 60gm butter and 1 tspn cinnamon for 25 seconds, mix, pour over the apples. Bake in a 200 degree C oven for about 30 minutes. Serve with icecream, yoghurt or just as they are and enjoy.
Pruned the hydrangeas and planted cuttings to propagate and then bulk up the existing bed. These are semi-sun tolerant hydrangeas and they also bloom for an extended period.
Set up my paints on the table and really enjoyed painting these flowers. Top one finished, lower one a work in progress.
Alternate Entertainments
As our lives change completely and movement outside the house becomes difficult each of us misses different aspects of our previous lives. For some it is eating out or visiting their favourite cafe, for others it is going to work, theatres, cinemas and beaches. Some people are missing shopping. I miss being able to visit my mother and seeing friends. I continue to paint at home and have found a yoga session on YouTube which leaves me feeling stretched and well. I am so impressed by the many online entertainments people have posted or watched! I hope you are comfortable and well in isolation.
Enjoy Easter whatever you have planned. It will be very different for many people this year. HAPPY EASTER!