Museo Sorolla

Had a playdate with the SIL the other day.  We went to the Sorolla Museum on a rainy March morning, where I have been meaning to go since seeing the 2006 Sargent/Sorolla exposition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza.

The museum is his 1910 house, surrounded by a lovely courtyard garden.

The museum is quite small, but the house is lovely with beautiful furnishings and decorative pieces of porcelain and sculpture. Getting in is a little confusing, you have to go through the garden, past the pergola and downstairs to get an entrance ticket, then go outside again and upstairs to start your visit.

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Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1920) was a very successful Valencian painter.  His early academic and historical work eventually gave way to a freer style with brilliant brushwork that deftly captures his fascination with sunlight.

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The museum has a current exhibition of his paintings of his patio garden called Jardines de Luz or Gardens of Light, until May. 

My favorite?  Hard to choose, but this one is a symphony in not-white.  Simply. brilliant.

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Vines

Even though we have a ton of work ahead of us to rehabilitate the walls with cleaning and repointing, frankly  I´m already imagining what they´ll look like with some vines.

There´s just something about vines on stone - newly renovated structures always look a little too pristine and ¨new¨ to me.

On the other hand, or builder, when asked about an arbor, sucked his teeth and shook his head and dismissed it as an invitation to bugs and moisture and directed me to put vines on the barn.

But there are so many tempting possibilities.  The classics -

Ivy (insulating, bee/butterfly attractor, vigorous, invasive, maintenance)

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via Amy on Pinterest

Virginia Creeper (shading, bird attractor, fall color, medicinal, vigorous, invasive, maintenance)

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Climbing hydrangea (shade tolerant, medicinal, fall color, low maintenance)

Source: myfrenchcountryhome.blogspot.com via Sharon on Pinterest

Roses (fragrant, edible, medicinal, requires structure, maintenance)

Source: ivillage.co.uk via Coco on Pinterest

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Source: weheartit.com via Coco on Pinterest

Morning Glory(shading/screening, medicinal, self seeding, requires structure, invasive)

Source: botanicalinterests.com via Botanical on Pinterest

Source: giverny.org via Coco on Pinterest

Source: frenchquartercondotrends.com via Coco on Pinterest

The most romantic - Wisteria (nitrogen fixing, vigorous, invasive, high maintenance)

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Or perhaps something practical and edible

Grapes (edible, shade, requires structure, maintenance)

Source: linenandlavender.net via Coco on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Sienna on Pinterest

Passonfruit (edible, shade, requires structure, vigorous, invasive, maintenance, frost tender)

Source: nativeplantproject.tripod.com via Stacy on Pinterest

Kiwi (edible, shade, requires structure, vigorous, invasive, maintenance)

Source: marthastewart.com via Carmen on Pinterest

Source: hipchickdigs.com via Megan on Pinterest

Hops (edible, fragrant, medicinal, requires structure, vigorous)

Source: search.linders.com via Maeghan on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Sherry on Pinterest

Comng soon

Squeeeeeee! GOT returns in April

House Update

We have a roof!

Roof is now mostly tiled, just a few ridge caps left to be placed.  The two chimneys look great, one for the living room woodstove and the other for the kitchen range and evental range hood.

The constant rain has left the interior very,very green, though the outside seems to be drying off.  Overall we´re thrilled.

Now, we have some budgetary and logistical challenges to confront.  The builder recommends pressure washing and repointing the stone, first outside and then inside before tackling the windows and doors, electrical and plumbing.  He gave us a rough estimate of 25€/m2 and there are a lot of m2 of stone.  Approximately 7000€ worth.  Yikes.  We can only get up there for occasional long weekends, and of course the surface won´t stay clean for long after pressure washing.

Also, he recommended doing the pressure washing and repointing before installing the windows (whch we got second hand from a guy in Lugo who had replaced his with aluminum clad double glazed units.)  The carpenter is very impressed with the Douglas Fir windows and, while he can reuse some parts of the frames that came with the windows, recommends framing in the same wood.  Apparently, Douglas Fir is highly desirable, better than chestnut or oak, and wildly expensive over here. Around 30%  more €€€ for frames and installation.

So we may be looking at an extended pause while we figure out a way to proceed.  So frustrating.

Coming along isn´t it?

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My apologies for the brief hiatus - if you can avoid it, don´t get bitten by one of these:

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The little bastards like to hide in the house in the winter in closets and bedding.  Loxosceles rufescens - European cousin to the Brown Recluse, fortunately not packing the same punch.  Just a nasty itchy, achey welt exactly where I can´t reach to scratch it.

Started a pretty post on shutters, then realized that a) mostly they´re interior shutters in Galicia and b) we won´t be able to afford any for a while.  Started a post on  Ruth Stout, and discovered that an interesting video has been removed from Youtube, so I´ll wait.

Been spending some time number crunching for the next phase on the house, hopefully updating soon.

So in the meantime an amusing animal video.   I laughed. 

Galician harp

The harp is one instrument that I haven´t seen featured in Galician music.  So I was pleasantly surprised when I caught a performance of Rodrigo Romani with a selection from his new CD ¨As Arpas de Breogán¨ on RTVG.



Mr. Romani was a founding member of the group Milladoiro, recording 12 records and is also a founder of the Municipal School of Traditional and Folk Music in Vigo .

In the contemporary folk of As Arpas de Breogán there´s a pleasing jazz fusion component along with the melifluous vocals threading through his original compositions and adaptations of traditional tunes.

Romani has three solo albums - Albeida (2001), Cantos Caucanos (2003) and Breogan Harp (2012).

Rodrigo Romani at Amazon.es

In Sports News

Folks on this side of the pond may not necessarily be aware, but today is marked by a major sporting event in the US.  A marathon of emotion, spectacle, it´s a highly anticipated annual event that I know I look forward to every year.

Puppy Bowl IX!

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It has everything - action, athleticism, controversial calls by the ref, a glittering half-time show, skycam blimp shots and politically questionable ploys for ratings grabbing (I find it exploitative to put cheerleading hedgehogs in tutu skirts - inexcusable pandering in my view).  Cue video.



Puppies and kittens are flown in from shelters all over the country to participate.  Per an article in the LA Times ¨Last year's Puppy Bowl marked the channel's highest day of Web traffic, with 5.5 million page views and 1.4 million videos streamed. . .¨



So pull up a bucket of wings and some nachos and settle in for an old fashioned American cheesy good time.

For extensive coverage go to Animal Planet.

Still more behind the scenes on BuzzFeed.