Little Italy and a Hidden Face of the Town

The latter for the three following pictures:

I have been having an eye for gardens lately, since my son started walking and he needs a space to run around. Especially gardens in the town appeal to me, those that you guess over a high wall, but don't see. They help a town to breathe. And they present an individual world for the one who founded it and who has it. No wonder that it has had such a symbolic in art for centuries, gardens are inspiration. I like those old ones, grown over, like this one on the first picture, I took it peeking through the gate, and there was another door hiding!
And these gardens were built between the medieval town walls (click on the pics!).
I am asking myself how many of my neighbors would recognize here their home town? It is a town where I grew up and where my parents live. Small, pretty, but just a little, old, but not as historical. Apart from few buildings on the town square (following picture) that are the jewels of the Czech architecture. Sorry for this partial photo. I focused on the play of the shadows on the roof part that I forgot about the blog readers completely.


Dominik got a new suitcase to keep his toys in it and he proudly walked with it on a Sunday afternoon walk with his grandparents.

I hope you have had nice Christmas holiday and Happy New Year to everybody!

Christmas Tags

Christmas tags is usually for me a way how to handle the fact that I never really painted or drew anything. Tiny things are easy. Still, this year I thought I wouldn't have a strength for it but then I saw these and I couldn't resist. And it turned out that I already had a material for it, we had been painting watercolor with little guy a lot, so I only cut up some of our doodles. I couldn't cut up those he made by himself, though, I thought they were too special (see below). I will keep them for now.

Happy Christmas to everyone!

Dress that I would like to have

I don't know exactly what it should look like. I bought this strange but intriguing piece of fabric the other day, the pattern is big and the colors are odd, it looks very seventies to me. It just looked like from someone's blog so I got it. Now, the pattern for sewing: Since the way it looks the dress needs to be kind of slim with a wider skirt and maybe short sleeves so that the arms would be bare. Knee length. Or little longer. It is stretchy and thick so it can resemble a long pullover as well.

I have been having one pattern on my mind for a long time, it is very old, what a surprise, from the 70s, and I always liked it. (Look at her pose and a hairdo!!) It has raglan sleeves and, that is the thing, they are not short.

And as I know myself, at the end I will try to get off with it as easier as it could be and I will cut out something like this. Keep little wider the skirt. Not as elegant as the one above though.

And I will wear these knitted stockings with it. The blue will be the perfect match. My mum made them several years ago. I have never worn them, they were too tight round my thighs, now they fit well. Scary.

Tree

- Our tree is an intellectual.
- Yes, he is.
- His appearance doesn't belong to his priorities.
- No. He is very hairy. He is a hippie guy.
(At home)

The decorations are made of glass and it is common here to have them on the tree. All the other trees in this country are decorated much more richly. We decided that we didn't like it and we purified it. Most of the decorations are from the bazar on Chlumova street round the corner. Ten years ago I would say that this is a communist tree, pointing to the fact that not only it looks poor like those decorated with apathy and standing lonely in a hall of a corporate company but it also has decorations used at that time despite most of them date back to the First Republic i.e. before 1939, but today I call it a Retro Christmas Tree.

These geometric ones I like the most this year.

I told Dominik that the tree was decorated by the Baby Jesus who came through a window into our apartment last night. And he wagged his finger, how dares he, little Jesus, to crawl through the window! In Christmas circumstances he looks on the picture like he is setting off on a reindeer.

Healthy cookies at Žižkaperk

This is where we live. Different view of Prague then you might know. Part of the town built in the 19th century, settlement of workers and poorer people coming from villages. This view has changed only little since then, but today it has much more romantic atmosphere, just for the same reason: it hasn't changed much. Still, back in the 1980s it was considered quite lower class and poor living, the apartments were small and 90 per cent of people heated them with coal. Just imagine the cloud hovering above the place!
So, the big TV tower on the very left, spoiling the view of the church, is a proof that such things weren't in Gods plan. I kind of like it anyway, it is a crazy cosmic-like piece.
Click on the pic!

Cookies made of olive oil, maple syrup, flour, cocoa, nuts, chocolate, raisons. They where meant for Christmas but I cannot find them now!

How Domík and Kubík went to a puppet theatre

A picture from a puppet show that we went to see last night. A scene from Bethlehem, Virgin Mary and the Angel of Annunciation and a little Devil who has mend his way, both above her. Very artsy play, kids liked it though, laughing and stamping, and the stage design was very playful and well done. The kids could go at the end and TOUCH the puppets. There was even a little snowman in the nativity scene.

So, part of the play was a bowl with two nut shells with candles floating on water. It is actually traditional Christmas stuff here (maybe somewhere else too) and it so common that I forgot about the beauty of it. So this morning, breakfast unfinished, we made some.

Dominik loved it and he was at least throwing dirt in water as he was not allowed to touch the lit candles. Floating and then drowning nut shells have a symbolic of life but we don't mess up with it in our family. We just watch them.
I wonder if you make these little candles where you live and if it has its own symbolic there.