The Perfect Tree!

I admit, I’m a tree snob. When it comes to Christmas, I want a real tree. I don’t like fake, plasticflowers, and I don’t like fake, plastic trees. Maybe its the lack of authenticity in Christmas these days, but the commercialism and greed associated with Christmas trumps the true meaning of Christmas. To me, it is about celebrating kindness, family, and generosity to others. A fake tree just contributes to the fake holiday that Christmas has become, at least in my snobby opinion.

Two years ago, my Dad bought us a nice fir, and we haven’t looked back. Last year we ended up getting a spruce from Wal-Mart, and while it didn’t match the quality of the previous year’s tree, it was still nicer than any fake tree I’ve ever seen.

Now, around this area there are several options I encourage anyone to explore when it comes to aquiring a tree. You can purchase a live tree, or chop one down yourself. You can purchase a living tree and re-plant it after Christmas, which will not only provide your yard with a nice tree, but is probably the greenest choice available. And if quick and easy is your modus operandi, you can always putchase a pre-cut tree at independant lots and bix box stores such as Wal-Mart and Lowes.

Outside of the easy-to-find big box stores, there are a few options. There will be local lots that have pre-cut trees, and this is where you’ll often find a solid deal on a great tree. Plus, you’ll have the added benefit of helping boost the local economy. In addition to this, there are several Christmas Tree farms across the state (and nation for that matter) which specialize in different types of Christmas trees that you can pick, and in some cases cut down yourself. Many of them also have live wreaths to hang and gift shops to visit. To locate one of these farms I recommend using Christmas-Tree.Com or TennesseeChristmasTrees.Org.

While looking through these, I found one active and fairly close farm located in Cookeville. If interested, here is their contact information:
Rocky Point Tree Farm
3214 Macedonia Cem. Rd.
Cookeville, TN 38506
Phone: 931.526.2035 E-Mail: savage_richard@hotmail.com

They have a large selection of different types of trees to choose from, as well as live wreaths. They are open most days from Thanksgiving through Christmas, but feel free to contact them with further questions.

There are countless options and price ranges to choose from, and a lot of it comes down to picking whats best for you. I will, however, mention a few points of concern with a live tree.

First, there is the sap issue. This is really only a problem when transporting the tree in and out of the house for the handlers that do so. Outside of that, there should be zero problem. Second, unless you get a live tree, I don’t recommend getting a tree sooner than three weeks from Christmas morning. Trees that are cut down will die, and as they do you can expect a light browning and falling of needles. Sure, this can be dealt with by using a simple broom, but the later you wait the better your tree will look on Christmas morning.

Finally, unless it is a live tree there is the disposal to worry about. Now, several cities have a special pickup day serviced by the local waste disposal utility. Also, many also have a special day, week, or weekend designated for drop-offs at specific locations. This is my first year back in Mcminnville in almost a decade, so I’m not certain which is offered, but I do remember there was a drop-off location at the Civic Center. I’ll look into that soon.

I love my green and blue Frazier Fir christmas tree. Every year, I search for only this variety of evergreen – 6 feet tall and perfect on all sides. I’ve found beautiful ones at Eastern Market, Measdows Farms, and the local Boy Scouts stand on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, VA. I typically wait until after the first week of December in hopes that the freshness remains until the New Year. =) I know many of you run out on Black Friday and pick up your soon-to-be-dripping-with-tinsel-and-lights-christmas-tree from your local garden shop or charity road side stand. Good for you. But if you feel a little less excited to lug it home – sap, needles, and all – try to find your precious online at Green Valley Christmas Trees. They will personally hand select a fresh fir for you and deliver it to your door. Ring a ling a ling is all you need to wait for until the decorating frenzy begins. Thanks for the idea Daily Candy! Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree!

If you can’t think what to get someone for Christmas (or you can’t bear to think about it yet) get a portrait painted or drawn. It’s the ultimate present, it’s personal, it’s an investment and it’s something you can all enjoy for years to come. If you have just had a baby this year, make this a first Christmas to remember with a baby sketch. Lets face it, it would take the legwork and anxiety out of the shopping rush and you can stay at home with the baby sure in the knowledge your present is being taken care of – put your order in and leave the rest to me. I will keep you updated along the way as the portrait progresses and make sure it arrives in plenty of time. I use an online framing company who are very reasonably priced, so all you need to do is put the picture in the frame, which is really easy; then wrap it and place it under the tree. There we are, that’s some of the Christmas pressure off your shoulders, now you can get on with the lunch.

today’s shelf sketch
November 23, 2009

Canon 30D, 17-40f/4L
Three exposure HDR, manipulated in photoshop

Thunar is the default file manager for Xubuntu’s Xfce desktop environment, and is as stable in Ubuntu as the default app, Nautilus (especially since Xfce uses a lot from Gnome anyway). In many ways, you can’t tell the two programs apart, but for a time Thunar was way ahead of Gnome’s file manager. That’s not just because of advanced features like custom actions you could add, but because of the various views you could have. For example, for newbies tentatively moving away from Windows, the Tree view in the side pane is assuringly similar to Windows Explorer.

While Nautilus has certainly caught up, with being able to add to context menus via actions, and 6 different views for the side pane, Thunar is still worth installing because you can get the best of both worlds. You can leave Nautilus with the Places pane on the left and “Icon View” (thumbnails) on the right, and for when you want to browse via a Tree pane with “Compact List” icons (“List View” in Windows Explorer), you can open Thunar.

Also, unlike with Nautilus, you can still access the defined shortcuts (usually available via the left pane) while in Tree view by clicking a button at the end of the address bar. If you are thinking Thunar might be good to have as a backup in case Nautilus is having problems (which it is), but prefer it to look like Nautilus, then you can always change things back to how you like them (change the Tree pane to Shortcuts).

If you like this idea, but are thinking the icons in “Compact List” view are too small, you can always make them bigger (seen above), via the View menu, or zoom with your scroll wheel.

If you look at the pics, you’ll see some minor differences between the two file managers. Firstly, while Thunar uses the same icons for toolbar buttons that Nautilus does (they both get them from the current icon theme), Thunar’s are bigger (which I personally like). You’ll also note from the second pic that in your home folder (and elsewhere), hidden folders and files are listed first.

Other things worth mentioning are the differences between thumbnails and folder settings between the two, and that the Thunar context (right-click) menu will probably have less entries than you’re used to (though you should get “Open Terminal Here“ by default, while with Nautilus you have to install a package to get “Open in Terminal“).

Lastly, since the Information pane in Nautilus is rather useless right now when it comes to info, you can use Thunar to get more info at a glance than Nautilus can offer. For example, when you’re in your ~/Pictures folder and what to know the size in pixels of certain images, you generally need to right-click each file and view the info via Properties > Image. But with Thunar, all you have to do is click each file and look at the bottom to the info displayed on the status bar (which can be enabled via the View menu if it is missing).

So you could even do what I did: set up Thunar to display over-sized icons in “Icons” view, and then create a panel launcher to have your ~/Pictures folder open in Thunar (the command for such a launcher would be: thunar /home/yourusername/Pictures). That way, you don’t have to mess with icon size in Nautilus, but still get really large thumbnails of all your pictures, as well as info on dimensions presented in the status bar.

It’s that time again! Week 2 of the DIY blog party {Kim of NewlyWoodwards fame}.

Thank you for your help with Friday’s poll. 70% of you should be pleased with the direction I chose this week, the remaining 30% . . . well, I compromised. Kinda. {30% of readers seemed like an awful lot to disappoint, so I think you’ll notice a nod to my “Thanksgiving Picnic” theme.}

First, lets recap on Week #2’s mission: Dare to… entertain!

Show us your table! If you are not hosting Thanksgiving, take this opportunity to make your table look great. Bring out your dishes and napkins and set your table. I promise you that it will make you smile every time you walk by. Get creative and use new things. Or go true DIY and make something totally new.

Without further adieu, I bring you {drum roll please…….} DUN duh DUN!!!

HEIRLOOM CHINA

This table was inspired by the china {Rosebud by Spode, I believe}.

Pink & yellow aren’t your usual autumnal colors but why not?

It’s been unseasonably warm here in Jersey, so I envisioned this small dinner or dessert outside in the backyard with a fire roaring nearby.

While I’m not usually a pink person, I think it’s cheery & bright. The texture of the fabric – corduroy keeps it seasonal.

The china originally belonged to my Great Uncle John before he handed it down to me. He past away 11 days ago.

I’m thankful I have these dishes to remind me what a gracious person he was.

The dishes are accented with vintage {some antique} sterling silverware. The intentional use of varied patterns was to keep things from getting overly formal.

Bread plates stayed stacked, waiting to be passed out as needed once the food hit the table.

As did the coffee cups. {Uncle John always drank coffee; every meal, no matter what time. I don’t think I ever remember him drinking water.} Cream & sugar waiting patiently as well.

Vintage pumpkin shaped goblets {from my mom’s stash} await your cold beverage of choice. White wine, perhaps?

The centerpiece ~ a bright yellow metal tree from IKEA ~ is a little wacky and a lot of fun. The cheery color pulls from the yellow in china while the branches hold messages of thankfulness.

Guests would take a leaf, write what they’re thankful for on the back, and then hang it on the tree.

Mismatched chairs in the same dark wood tone finished things off.

Don’t forget to head on over to the NewlyWoodwards and check out everyone else’s tables!

Since making the previous post about Jamai Thakur, I felt inspired to learn more about Banamali Raibahadur and the history of Tarash mandir. Unsure of how to proceed, I approached my office mate Partha for help.

Born in Braja to a Bengali family, Partha is an enthusiast of Brijwasi culture, language and folk arts. He had previously scheduled an interview for me with a descendent of Jayadev Gosvami, but before the date of the interview arrived Gosvamiji entered nitya-lila while lecturing on Gopi Geet in front of an audience here in Vrindavan Dham. I knew if I wanted to interview someone from Tarash Mandir, Partha was the one to ask. As it turned out, Partha knew the current owner of the Tarash estate, so we made a plan to go there.

Tarash Mandir´s old gate

The current gate

A curious bakri (goat)

Tarash mandir and surrounding area

On our lunch break we headed over to Tarash mandir. After taking darshan of Jamai Thakur we went to the owner´s private residence which is on the same property. As soon as I walked in the gate I was struck by the abundance of greenery. Tall trees, short palms, hedges and lush vines lined the grassy lawn in front of the old but well-kept building. At the top of the creeper-decorated staircase we met Sri Udayan Sharma. Udayan Ji is tall and as fair as I am: an impressive presence dressed in raw silk, with a yajnopaveeta over his shoulder, pronounced features and abundant chandan decorating his forehead.

Udayan Ji´s home

Partha went to school with Udayan´s little sister and there was visible affection between them. We were immediately brought inside the house and offered a seat. The building is large: with 110 rooms it is possibly the largest private residence in Vrindavan. We sat in the first room, painted vibrant peach, on wooden sofas with tasseled silken cushions. We were asked to wait for a few minutes and I took the time to look around. The next room was painted orange, and the kitchen was violet. Potted plants lined the verandah. An old and probably very valuable painting of Sri Radha-Krishna on bamboo hung prominently over the sofa. I also noticed an antique-looking sword hanging in the corner, and wondered if it was Banamali Rai´s. (It turns out to have belonged to one of Banamali Rai´s guards). When Udayan Ji returned and sat down with us, the awkwardness I felt being in a stranger´s home dispelled quickly. I had wondered if we would have trouble communicating, but Udayan Ji is quite genial and speaks English well.

Sri Udayan Sharma

His family is into politics. His father was the late Magan Lal Sharma, the former governer of Brindaban whose statue graces the crossing of Vrindavan´s main thoroughfare. Udayan reckons it is the only public statue of a human being in Vrindavan. He says, ¨My father was very popular for his love of Vrindavan, seva, devotional mood and honesty. Despite being a politician he was not corrupt. In 1965 he donated 18 acres of land to Ramkrishna Mission to build their famous charitable hospital. When speaking about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu he used to cry.¨ Udayan shows me a black-and-white photo of his father having tea with the King of Kashmir.

Magan Lal Sharma (left) with the King of Kashmir

He asks my name, and seems pleased with my answer. ¨Visakha is nondifferent from Yamuna devi. Her father is the sun, the governor of time, and her brother is Yamaraj (the god of death). When someone crosses the Yamuna river to enter Sri Vrindavan Dham, there is no more time or death. We enter into a realm governed by divine time. Another amazing thing about Sri Vrindavan Dham has to do with its vastu.

¨India has very bad vastu; it is a peninsula with the sea on the west, south and east, and mountains to the north and northeast. But Sri Vrindavan Dham has perfect vastu! We have Giriraj in the west, and Yamuna Maharani in the Northeast. Vrindavan´s perfect vastu corrects the bad vastu of the whole Indian subcontinent. Whatever bad things may be going on in India, the remedy lies in Sri Vrindavan Dham. All success lies here and nowhere else.¨

I could tell from his answer that he is really enthusiastic about Sri Vrindavan, and I was eager to hear more about Radha Binod Ji from him. He says, ¨For me, there is no image of Krishna as beautiful as Jamai Thakur. Jamai means ´son-in-law´. He is called that because he married the Raja´s daughter.¨

Udayan Ji tells the story of the deity´s marriage differently than the way OBL Kapoor tells it. In Udayan´s version, the story began when the Raja´s daughter came to him weeping. Pointing at a scratch on her forehead, she cried, Thakur plays too rough! This time he hurt me.¨ The Raja thought she meant their pujari whom they called Thakur Mosai. The Raja went to the mandir and started to scold the pujari severely, but the pujari had no idea what he was talking about. He offered, ¨let´s call the girl and ask her exactly what happened.¨ But when she came she pointed to Thakur in the mandir saying, ¨Thakur Mosai is always nice to me. It is this one who is so cruel!¨

The Raja was terrified by his daughter´s strange behaviour. He felt she was was getting too absorbed in bhakti and was on the verge of madness. He decided to marry her off as soon as possible, to drag her mind back into the material world. But his daughter agreed to marry only if she were allowed to marry the deity first. Her father reluctantly agreed and arrangements were made for both weddings to be held on the same day. When the day came, her marriage to the deity was sanctified. But at the end of the ritual, the Raja´s daughter placed her head at Thakur´s feet in obeisance and left her body on the spot.

In connection with Banamali Raibahadur, Udayan Ji says, ¨Banamali Rai was a British-educated barrister (lawyer). His family was very aristocratic, and during the British Raj they had British guards to protect their more than 52 bighas (32 acres) of property. Banamali Rai was a great advocate of women´s rights including widows´ right to marry. He was friends with Raja Rammohan Roy.¨

¨Banamali Rai began his spiritual life as a member of bramho samaj, but by Jagadbandhu Prabhu´s kripa he had a change of heart and totally dedicated himself to the path of bhakti. It was Jagadbandhu who gave Banamali Rai the title ´Rajarshi.´

¨Among the world´s saints Jagadbandhu was pretty special. In childhood he had already attained perfection. Actually, that was not attained by any sadhana but by the special mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu he had it. In later life Jagadbandhu stayed alone in a room for 16 years in deep contemplation. When he finally came out he acted just like a small child, talking to himself happily, playing with toys and eating laddus. We have to research more on Jagadbandhu. Banamali Rai was the first to give him the title ´Jagadbandhu Prabhu.´ He is also known as Jagadbandhu Sundar for he was very, very beautiful. Jagadbandhu was very close to Jamai Thakur and Banamali Rai´s family.¨

Udayan Ji says Banamali Rai first brought Jamai Thakur to Radhakunda where he built the famous Rajbari temple. But later, Jamai Thakur came in Banamali´s dream and gave him a suprising message.

Binodiji told Banamali Rai, ¨I am not happy in Radhakunda anymore! Let us go to Vrindavan.¨ So Banamali Rai bought land from the administrators of Rangaji Temple, and built Tarash Mandir there. Since then the estate expanded further. Tarash estate has seven temples including the newer Gopijanavallabha temple. Radhakunda´s northern ghat, where Raghunath Das Gosvami´s samadhi is located, is also part of Banamali´s Rai´s private estate.

¨This is the sanskar of many births, to have so much money but to use it in the service of the Vaishnavas and humanity. So many holy and rare places, it costs lakhs to maintain and it is very difficult for me to manage all this alone.¨  Udayan Ji kindly offered us refreshments, and then takes us for a tour of his house. He shows us rare manuscripts, paintings, photos on the computer and his private Thakur ghar (deity room).

Kalapataru Maharaj

Udayan Ji showed us this photo of a tree on his property and explained thus:

¨Sur Das wrote:

sur kito jiya sukh pavat hai, dekhat shyama tamal

´The easiest way to get real happiness is to behold a ¨Shyam Tamal´

The tamal is the tree form of Shyam. Whenever Radharani sees a tamal tree she feels the same ecstatic symptoms in her body as when she sees Krishna. We have three tamal trees on our property. Once there were whole forests of tamals in Vraja; now they are quite rare. One of our tamal trees has a branch twisted three times around the trunk. That is a very special tree. It is a kalpavriksha (desire-tree). Actually all the trees of Vrindavan are divine. Most of them are saints that have taken the form of trees to do bhajan peacefully. If you take shelter of them they will help you.¨

Natal Chart of Banamali Rai´s brother, with hand-painted images of the navagrahas, rashis, and more.

Detail: Navagrahas

An antique palmleaf manuscript of ¨Radha Sudhanidhi¨ by Hit Harivamsh

Sword used by one of Banamali Ray´s guards

Udayan Ji has some projects in the works for everything from planting trees, to restoring old temples, to feeding homeless residents of Vrindavan.   According to him, it is a not a lack of funds that stands in the way of change, but a lack of people willing and ready to share the burden of maintaining such projects.  He says he dreams of a day when not one child in Vrindavan will have to grow up in a slum.  I hope Jamai Thakur will grant his desire.

Vous avez été bien sage, cette année ? Oui ? Alors, après ces quelques tutos pour Photoshop, voici, cette fois-ci, une sélection d’objets vectoriels (au format AI ou EPS), toujours sur le thème de Noël. Encore une fois, si vous utilisez les ressources proposées ci-dessous, pensez à mentionner les auteurs. C’est le seul prix à payer. Comme quoi, le Père Noël existe pour de vrai… Pour chaque ressource, cliquez sur l’image pour accéder au site/blog de chaque contributeur.
Certaines ressources sont libres pour un usage privé et commercial, d’autres pour un usage privé seulement.
Pensez à lire les conditions d’utilisation définies par les auteurs.

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Beaucoup de ressources également sur Vector4Free…

PALMATEER DESIGN

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DESIGNIOUS TIMES

What is this?  What I am seeing?  What does it mean? Ooooh.  For more information, see the Week 3 Sketchbook entry on this blog.

Time: 6 hours.  Paper:  Sennelier pastel card.  19 x 26″.  Media:  Black, white and gray pastel.  Actuals: a standard laptop run amok on MS Vista and a bonsai root trained on a circuit board:

Process: I love drawing on pastel card, basically like drawing on sand paper. It allows for many clean layers of pastel.  If only it came in 54″  x 10 yard rolls.  First layer:

Second layer.  Drawing from bonsai, overemphasizing the circuit board and linear perspective because I liked it that way:

Third layer.  Printed out bits of my Perl program (CTRL + PRTSC) graphically enhanced,  (Print Mask for GIMPs).  Pastel on back of print, then traced with ball point.

]]> http://catsintrees.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/paddy-and-dushi-sitting-in-a-tree-k-i-s-s-i-n-g/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:00:21 +0000 Cats in trees http://catsintrees.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/paddy-and-dushi-sitting-in-a-tree-k-i-s-s-i-n-g/

Most my artwork of the last 10 years falls into this genre so it was no problem coming up with an idea for a class sample drawing.  I was looking forward to doing this assignment, completely prepared.   At the very last minute, I mean the nanosecond before putting pastel to paper, I changed my mind, inspired by the paper size.  I love drawing on Sennelier pastel card but the largest available size is 19 x 26″.   I felt restricted by the small paper.  It reminded me of the laptop I inherited which is a standard sized laptop but feels like being in a doll house compared to my big screen, wireless mansion of a desktop.   Furthermore the laptop was already loaded with MS Vista: windows popping open, scroll bars, some sort of MS designers gone mad translucency thing that has to be seen to be believed, I mean, totally anathema to anyone who knows how to micromanage their computer experience.  Ubuntu, BSD, Perl anyone?

Since 2001 I have grown ficus retusa bonsai over circuit boards, real plants grown over real pieces of circuit board, and made the ceramic containers for them.  Right before I started the drawing, I attempted to email an image of my bonsai using the laptop.  Who knows what happened.  The image broke into multiple windows on the laptop screen, probably nervous pastel coated fingers on that itty bitty fingerpad and the whole mess looked like….well, a potential drawing.  With the thought that it would be easier to create a program for sending images than using someone else’s idea of an image sending program, I added a bit of my own Perl code, a program that admittedly I never got to work correctly, digitally speaking, but has its uses as a decorative element.  The best laid plans and all that.

I put this quote by Colleen-Joy Page with my photograph of a strong fever tree in Timbavati, to remind me that we need to be deeply rooted in who we are, know what our values are, what we want from our lives.  Only then can we become all we want to be.

Palmeirinha de Natal à luz do dia…(claro que o flare nao podia faltar!)

Here are some cute Christmas photos of my good friend Natalie’s little ones, Lilly and Daisy. They took advantage of my new holiday background, which I’m proud to say, I painted myself!  I never thought it could happen! (OK, my husband helped a little )

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I love this! Doesn’t she look like a real Snow Baby?

And since we were a little behind and getting Daisy’s three-month photos, we took a few extra of her to commemorate the occasion.

What a doll!

In the British Isles the rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) has a long and still popular history in folklore as a tree which protects against witchcraft and evil spirits.

The physical characteristics of the tree may have contributed to its protective reputation, including the tiny five pointed star or pentagram on each berry opposite its stalk – the pentagram being an ancient protective symbol.

The colour red was deemed to be the best protection against enchantment, and so the rowan’s vibrant display of berries in autumn may have further contributed to its protective abilities, as suggested in the old rhyme:

“Rowan tree and red thread
make the witches tine their speed”.

(tine meaning ‘to lose’)

The rowan was also denoted as a tree of the Goddess or a Faerie tree by virtue (like the hawthorn and elder) of its white flowers.

Rowan is said to offer protection in several ways. In the Highlands Rowans were often planted beside a house as the tree was supposed to stop evil spirits entering the house. Even now it is considered foolish to remove the a rowan tree growing in your garden. Pieces of the tree were carried by people for personal protection from witchcraft, and sprigs or pieces of rowan were used to protect especially cows and their dairy produce from enchantment.

The berries can be made into or added to a variety of alcoholic drinks, and different Celtic peoples each seem to have had their favourites. In the Highlands, they are made into wine As well as the popular wine still made in the Highlands, the Scots made a strong spirit from the berries, the Welsh brewed an ale, the Irish used them to flavour Mead, and even a cider can be made from them. Today rowan berry jelly is still made in Scotland and is traditionally eaten with game.

Featuring Allan in critique mode, Suma sketching, a violinist, a really awesome gentleman reading Infinite Jest (!), and a tree.

I really love this song…

…from Nightwish

It’s not the tree that forsakes the flower
But the flower that forsakes the tree
Someday I’ll learn to love these scars
Still fresh from the red-hot blade of your words

…How blind can you be, don’t you see…
…that the gambler lost all he does not have…

© Carolee Clark

“Tangles #2″
by Carolee Clark
12″ x 9″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$49 + $7 shipping within US 

Click here for larger image.