May Theme Day: Shadows

I hope you don't think I spend all of my time at the golf course. I really don't - there is also the theater!

I hope all of my European friends are having a wonderful May Day and enjoying some time off. Happy Theme Day to the rest of you, we can at least celebrate the weekend.

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A Photo of a Photo

Not only was Eudora Welty a Pulitzer Prize winning author - she was also an accomplished photographer. During the Depression she worked for the Works Progress Administration. She traveled across the state of Mississippi photographing ordinary people. She really had a talent for portraiture - not really a surprise since she was a self-proclaimed people lover. There are several compilations of her photos out on the market - the most widely known One Time, One Place: Mississippi in the Depression.

I hope you've enjoyed my series on Eurdora Welty. I still haven't found something suitable for tomorrow's theme day. Wish me luck!

More Welty

Each year New Stage hosts the Eudora Welty New Play Series to discover new writing talent. Anyone can submit a new play. A panel of judges reads through all the submissions and selects three for a staged reading.


The readings take place over a weekend and on Sunday the grand winner is announced and awarded a small monetary prize. But really, all three shows are winners. Her legacy remains!

Welty Display

Lots of Welty memoribilia was on display in the Hewes Room at New Stage.


Ms. Welty was a big fan of theater and was always a supporter of New Stage and the arts in general. This season's performance of The Ponder Heart was not the first at New Stage. Adaptations of some of her other works have also been performed here - most notably The Robber Bridegroom. Let's hope the Welty traditon continues!

The Ponder Heart

My husband and I went to see the stage adaptation of The Ponder Heart at New Stage this weekend. We had great seats this time, which made the show even more enjoyable.

There was a big display of Eudora Welty memoribilia on display in honor of what would have been her 100th birthday. I'll be showing it all this week - so check back!

My Roses

The rose garden seems to be doing very well so far. This is one of the Queen Elizabeth bushes we planted. The only plant that doesn't have any blooms is the Peace rose, but it does have some buds, so hopefully we'll see some more flowers soon. They're all so beautiful!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I am not looking forward to Monday.

Avid Fan

While my husband and I were in Berlin we went to a soccer match between Herta (Berlin's team) and Dortmund. We thought it would be a good idea to take the subway instead of our car as the match was completely sold out and parking would be difficult.

We didn't count on the train stations being so crowded as well. But it gave me the opportunity to get a closer look at some of the really hardcore fans. I think alot of love went into this jacket.

Happy Friday everyone - I don't know about you, but I'm glad the weekend is here!

Walker's Drive-In

Walker's Drive-In has long been a staple of the Fondren community. I believe in the beginning it was a diner-type restaurant - today it has been transformed by one of Jackson's top chefs. I've never actually eaten there, but after perusing the online menu, I think I need to try it. Everything sounds delicious! Not to mention we've got perfect weather for patio dining right now.

Find the Squirrel

If you look closely, you'll see him just in the crook of the tree. I think he was even posing for me. He seemed to enjoy the attention anyway.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Roses

This past weekend, my husband planted a rose garden for me. It was actually a birthday present from my MiL, but you can't really find nice roses to plant in October - so we waited until spring. I chose two Mister Lincolns, two Queen Elizabeths and one Peace rose. I would have liked an April in Paris - but they didn't have any at this particular garden shop.

This rose is actually from the golf course, but I hope to have plenty of my own to show you soon!

Flowers on the Lovely Hole

I just love irises - they remind me of my childhood. We always had tons of the purple ones growing in our yard. But the yellow ones are pretty too! Especially when they frame a small pond like this one.

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

This year marks what would have been Eudora Welty's 100th birthday. Jackson was the place she called home for many years, so it's fitting that the city is paying hommage to her in many ways.

One of the most prominent is the staging of The Ponder Heart at New Stage Theater. The Eudora Welty Society is also hosting a special forum before one of the performances and every person who attends will get a special signed print. New Stage needed 300+ posters rolled up and tied in bows for the event - so the call went out to their industrious volunteers.

Here are the results of our work showcased against the "Wall of Fame" in the theater lobby. We got all the posters rolled in record time - and had a good time while doing it!

Facilities II

Cups also provides an aesthetically pleasing mural to gander at while visiting the powder room/john. Is there some unwritten rule about cafes providing their patrons with something to look at in the restrooms?

Confidential to my American readers - I hope you got your taxes filed!

Facilities I

The toilet at Sneaky Beans features a chalkboard where you can leave messages to your fellow coffee-lovers. I guess it's better than graffiti!

So green!

This is a photo of the seventh hole at Deerfield. There's nothing really special about it - I just couldn't believe how green everything has gotten. And with all the rain we got yesterday, things will probably get even greener!

Frohe Ostern!!

I just loved this display inside the Rausch chocolate store in Berlin. It's an Easter bunny made of hundreds of individually wrapped chocolate bunnies. I wonder if the employees get to eat it at the end of the season.

Happy Easter everyone! I hope the bun bun brings you lots of chocolate.

Good Friday

In my opinion all Fridays are good - but this one especially since I'm off work.

Here's wishing everyone a wonderful Easter weekend! And a happy Passover too!

Palace at the TV Tower

This is the sign in front of Berlin's main convention center. Somehow the word palace makes it seem fancy. The funkturm is the TV tower - but not that funny-looking space needle thing in the East. The West had its own TV tower back in the separated days - it looks sort of like a mini Eiffel Tower. Now it serves mainly as a restaurant and observation deck.

Cosmic bowling

Some people call it disco bowling or night bowling. Whatever you call it, it's alot of fun! I like the way my "ghostie" images came out.

Light and shadows

I didn't have much time to get out and about in Berlin, but my MiL's garden offered some lovely shots. I like the way the light and shadows play on this wood bin.

I'd also like to dedicate this post to an old friend of mine, Nicole Dolci. I recently learned that she passed away after a lengthy struggle with colon cancer. My dear friend, you will be missed.

Back to the daily grind...

I'm back at my normal place of work today. While in Germany I worked from a different office so I wouldn't have to take a week's vacation. My company has a huge campus over there with scads of offices and different manufacturing areas.

This was not really the building I worked in, but it looked so nice in the evening sun. The working conditions in Germany are also far superior to what I have here in the US. Over there everyone sits in a big open space with plenty of natural light from the windows. Over here I am stuck in an interior cublicle and subjected to 8 hours of flourescent lighting.

Ah well... it's nice to be home!

Lutheran Church

In Germany, the states have a religious affiliation to the Catholic or Protestant (Lutheran) church. Berlin is a protestant state - so there are loads of lovely Lutheran houses of worship. The bad thing about living in a Protestant state is you don't get all the Catholic holidays off from work - like 15 August (Mary's trip to heaven day).

Unfortunately, I didn't catch the name of this one. And chances are, it doesn't have a website anyway!

We're flying back to Jackson today. It's been a lot of fun here in Berlin, but it's always nice to come home. I just hope the weather is ok. I heard the south has been hit with a lot of storms and rain.

Flowers IV

This is another specimen from my MiL's garden in Berlin. In German it's called a Christmas Rose. I've never heard of that before - but apparently this flower is very sensitive and difficult to grow. My MiL said this is the first year they've had such nice blooms on it. It probably wouldn't do well in my beds. I need the easy stuff like pansies and daisies.

The crocuses have also opened. It looks like spring has finally sprung in Berlin!

Happy Friday everyone! I'll be back in Jackson next week.

Flowers III

Today's flowers are coming to you fresh from Germany! My MiL has a beautiful garden with plenty of blooms just waiting to pop up. I believe these are crocuses, but any green-thumbed readers are free to correct me.

April Theme Day: Yellow

Yellow was not an easy theme day for me. But when I saw the flags on the Deerfield golf course one Sunday, I suddenly knew what I was going to post!

Happy April everyone!

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Flowers II

These are the beautiful azaleas blooming in my front yard. After last year's blooming season, I pruned them down and fed them several times with miracle grow. It seems to have helped, they were especially big, bright and pink this year!

Flowers I

It's still cold here in Berlin, these daffodils remind me of what I'm missing back home - SPRING!

Mailbox

Sorry I don't have a picture of a church for you today. I didn't have time to capture one before leaving for Germany. I hope you'll enjoy this old-timey mailbox instead.

The Annabelle II

Since I showed you our hostess from the Belle of the Bends, I thought I'd also show our host from Anabelle. He was quite spiffy and very accomodating!

Happy Friday everyone! I'm going to be out of town again, this time in Germany so I should be able to get online. I'll be putting some of the days on auto post though. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Belle of the Bends II

This was our lovely hostess of the Belle of the Bends. She was gracious enough to pose with one of our German guests. She gave a presentation on floral arrangement as part of the tour, but none of those pictures came out as well as this one.

Thank you!!!