Hendersonville for Beginners

Last Saturday I visited the charming The Fountainhead Bookstore in Hendersonville, NC and had the pleasure of meeting some lovely readers including, to my surprise, a lady who had a copy of the French translation of Art's Blood (Le Secret des Appalaches.) Her mother in Belgium had bought it and given it to her.

Later I took a few pictures around the town and found myself, as always, thinking of Merisi's  Vienna for Beginners.

Domes and spires and people scurrying here and there...

We can't compete with Vienna in terms of architecture or fashion, I'm afraid, but our Carolina blue skies are second to none.

Thanks, Merisi!

I was in Asheville yesterday, attending a luncheon for Muddy Sneakers (of which I shall post more tomorrow) and of course I took my camera.

It's ironic -- Muddy Sneakers is all about getting city kids out into Nature and helping them to understand what they see there.

I, on the other hand, am only now beginning to appreciate what I see in a city -- and that's thanks to Merisi's blog. Without Merisi, I wouldn't have stopped to notice the delicate pastel tiles surrounding this simple but elegant carving...

And thanks to Merisi, I'm always looking up at roof lines  and enjoying the geometry of architecture. . .

 Here are some more things I saw in Asheville yesterday.

 

A Familiar Face...in Vienna

Making my rounds yesterday  of some favorite blogs, I was surprised to see a familiar face at Merisi's Vienna for Beginners. Hop over and take a look. She's in the first photo of Merisi's post and at the top of the metal gate in the second. 

A very familiar face. I have what could be her sister hanging above the entry to our dining room.

Over fifty years ago, she was dusty and forlorn in the corner of a tiny antique/cabinet maker's shop in Tampa. (It had become time to 'do something' about my room as I made the transition from child to teen and my mother was attempting to guide me on the path of interior decoration.)

I saw this carved head hanging on the wall and was a goner. I'd always wanted a ship's figurehead, ever since reading Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Wooden Lady. 

  
This wasn't a figurehead but it was as close as I was likely to get. I named her Magdalene (pronounced mawdlin) and she's been with me ever since.

The cabinet maker who sold her to me said that she was likely an apprentice piece -- something made by an apprentice woodworker in order to move up to the next rung on the way to becoming a master.


Quite probably faces of this sort were something of a standard in the decorative arts of a certain era.  Still, it's fun to feel she has a sister in Vienna.

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory

A while back Merisi (whose Vienna for Beginners blog I check out daily for the amazing photos,)suggested that I might want to upgrade to a single lens reflex camera. And she suggested a Nikon D80.

So now we have house guests and one of them has . . . a Nikon D80. Vic very kindly showed me has to use it and then turned me loose.

I'm convinced. I spent a pleasant hour or two wandering around the garden with this camera. The pictures here are from this camera and there are more in this web album. I see a BIG difference. And I didn't even begin to explore all the bells and whistles.

I still like the little Lumix for carrying all the time but I have a real feeling that a SLR is in my future.