Monday blog love

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

We had fun! On Saturday we went to the uber fun crafty shop, Zinnia, in South Pasadena. I can't seem to stop with the Halloween-ifying around here and picked up some Halloween collage kits. Oh and some spooky mini skulls and bones and a darling black pom pom crow. Maybe even more fun, Zinnia has the most delightful resident kitty cat, Ali (named so because she was found in the Alley - standing ovation for the Zinnia folks for giving her a forever home). I was ready to leave the crafty stuff behind but wanted to linger all day with Ali. We played ball, she and I - I rolled it to her and she batted it back to me, pinball lever style WOOSH! Over and over ... and over ... and over ... and again some more ... again ... over ... again. Yup, I'm an easy mark for the animal types. Ali is quite the lover of all things "container", as evidenced by these photos on the website, here. (keep scrolling down past "inside Zinnia" and "classes", until you find Ali Alley, Container Entertainer.) I love the pic of the yellow one that she's spilling out of. bwahahhaha The cozier, the better, huh?!

Zinnia also has a blog!

And then we toodled off to The Folk Tree in Pasadena for their 27th Annual Day of the Dead Altars and Ephemera Exhibit. Gosh, I wish we had seen all twenty seven years of this wonderful event! I think this is only year five for us???

Anywho ... it was wonderful as always!

Here is an excerpt from their press release regarding the exhibit:

Ritualized worship of the dead has been practiced in Mexico since at least 1800 B.C. The modern observance is a combination of pre-Hispanic and Catholic influences. Day of the Dead participants prepare elaborate feasts and altars as offerings. A celebration of life and its aftermath, the holiday is a time of reflection and has inspired a rich folk art tradition.

Altars on view at The Folk Tree are often highly personal and include photographs and other mementos, letters, candles and offerings of food. In the past individuals have created altars for deceased family members, pets and other animals, famous individuals, anonymous victims of tragedy and violence, as well as altars dealing with social and environmental concerns.

This year a dozen altars are on display. Among other, altar artists include: Carolyn Potter (who pays homage to family members in an altar that incorporates her gourd and polymer clay art); Johanna Hansen (who memorializes her son and mother in an altar created with her painted ceramics that includes ofrendas or offerings to the public); Nancy Ann Jones (whose interactive altar invites visitors to write their own messages and tributes, which are ultimately burned in a ritual fire by the artist after the close of the show); Janet Olenik (who creates an altar in memory of “Las Muertas de Juarez”); and students from a middle school Spanish class at Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena will also participate with a group altar.

One of the altars was dedicated to the artists mother and mother's in general and we were invited to leave notes for the beloved Mom's in our lives that had passed. I was very inspired by a self-made recipe booklet the artist had done of her mom's recipes. It was filled with photos and charming recipes, one even for toasted bread (toast!) ... which gave me an AHA moment ... a collection of family recipes could be filled with the foods that were my childhood too. Cinnamon Toast, "O, Toe and a Vity Mo" (my dad's specialty, orange juice, toast and a Vitamin C!), Thoup (another one of my dad's, Campbell's Soup), etc. I'm all excited and inspired now to make a cookbook for myself and my nieces.

On Sunday we went and saw a delightful new animated film, "My Dog Tulip". The film is based on J. R. Ackerley's 1956 memoir of the same name. A lovely review can be found here, at the NY Times. Please note the film is not rated but it isn't for the kiddies, it is for the adult sensibilities - please be sure and research well before considering going off with the kiddies in tow. (The audience was largely aging baby boomers and seniors when we saw it.)

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