In Luxembourg there are few signs that Spring is here. It’s still bitterly cold and showers – more like April showers – continue to pour rain and sleet over the sodden landscape. However, the pollen-laden heads of pussy willow buds brighten the landscape, little beacons of light in the gloom.
This photo has been blended with Kim’s Mondays and I’ve reduced the opacity on the texture layer.
In Myanmar (Burma) many of the stupas or pyramids have crowns perched on top of them. These crowns are hung with bells which tinkle delightfully in the slightest breeze. The crowns are made in specialist metal workshops in Mandalay.
Notice how the guys use their feet to hold things in place
crowns at the Sule Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar
Nothing automated about these old wooden looms, apparently still in good working order
and the colours of the silk were so vivid.
The fabric being woven will eventually be made into a woman’s longyi, a tube of fabric that acts like a skirt worn by men and women. Men in Sri Lanka also wear them. A woman is supposed to step into hers and a man should put his on over his head. Weaving a length of fabric for a longyi – usually 2 metres long and about 80cm wide – can take a month or longer, especially if the design is particularly complicated. This explains why the silk ones are so expensive.
“Men who cannot read are like the blind; women who cannot weave are like the cripple”
—an old Burmese saying at a time when every household had a handloom and the women wove all the longyis for the family
If you can’t find someone to play with, the next best thing is something ….. in Mingun, Myanmar
texturised with Kim’s ‘gift’
Wabi Sabi indeed (embracing imperfection). I had already chosen this image of a battered, weatherworn, painted wooden door in Northern Cyprus before I knew that Kim had chosen this theme for this week’s Friday Finds.
Can you see a face on the door?
Artichokes are such versatile plants. Apart from being good to eat, they’re great to look at and their seed heads provide food for the birds in the winter
“His memoir is a splendid artichoke of anecdotes, in which not merely the heart and leaves but the thistles as well are edible.” – John Leonard
“At least you’ll never be a vegetable – even artichokes have hearts.” – Amélie Poulain in the film Amélie
These giant aloe flower spikes grow so big that they are often used to make fences and other things …
I love these sun parasols decorated to look like hats
