Belgian Sampler

Selection of things from my Belgium trip.

Leper or Ypres

We went to western Belgium to visit one of a handful of still operating Trappist Abbey breweries, Westvleteren.  They don't let you visit the brewery but there is a very busy cafe across the street, In de Vrede.  It was scenic ride through the countryside to get to this.

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The Abby

The Abby

Leper is a small city in western Belgium close to the French border.  Leper is the official Flemish names but it is also known the be french Ypres.  I heard multiple pronunciations.  Leper was the sight of heavy trench fighting during WWI.  The area of Flanders Field is near here.  The city was completely destroyed by bombing and fires during the war.  The center of the city was rebuilt to match the style of what existed before after the war.  So although much of this looks old it was really all construction in the 20th century.   Textiles were a major part of this areas trade starting in the middle ages (this is also true of Ghent and Bruges).  The Cloth Hall now houses a WWI museum and the Belfry from which you can get an excellent view of the city.  

The cathedral next to the Cloth hall has classic gothic construction.  But it also houses some modern sculpture and paintings.  

ADAM Museum

I visited the ADAM Museum in Brussels this spring.  This is the art and design museum and it's permanent exhibit is the Plasticarium.  It was more interesting than I initially thought it would be as it combined nostalgia from my childhood with thought provoking ideas about how a material can go from revolutionary and ground breaking to cheap and commercial. 

There was also a temporary exhibit about graphic design in the USSR that was very interesting.  I did not take any pictures.  But state controlled graphic design is an area you don't hear much about so it was a fairly unique exhibit.  Much of it was either copied from the west or promoting the state.  The designs didn't have to actually sell the product as there was no capitalist competition.

This museum is right next to the Atomium which was created for the 1958 World's Fair.  We didn't go in this as it seemed like a picture op more than anything else.  It was also cold and rainy.

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Planter Update

So the self irrigating planter has been successful so far.  I've only watered once since it started and we have a bumper crop of lettuce I started from seed in December.  A sheet over the top protected the seedlings from the frost during the cold in January.  Two weeks ago I went and bought a bunch of plants to add to it.

One week after planting

One week after planting

Two weeks after planting

Two weeks after planting

This got pretty crowded as the plants grew quickly.  It soon became apparent that we needed to move up construction of the planned second planter box.  

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The second one is smaller (5x2) because there was a limited amount of remaining fence pieces from the various hurricanes.   It has the same sub irrigation system.  Because it is 5" deeper I moved two of my larger tomato plants from the first box to the second one along with basil, broccoli, cilantro started from seed and spinach seeds.  The tomatoes were a little unhappy about this to begin with but I'm sure they will recover and thrive.

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I added another hot pepper to the first box but mostly just gave the plants more room to grow.  We also put a navel orange tree in the yard for future shade and fruit.  Now we just need to paint the fence...

Klutho Sculpture Walk

This is part of Sculpture Walk Jax, a temporary juried sculpture exhibition that features ten sculpture artists (I only have nine pictured, the fountain is a permanent part of the park, not part of this exhibition).  These large scale sculptures were installed in the fall of 2017 and will remain in place until the fall of 2019.  More information on the program, the sculptures and artists can be found here.

Frost Protection

I feel like there is probably a better (and prettier) way to do this than tarps and old sheets.  It didn't save the top leaves but I think the plants will survive.  Except our Hibiscus, that was a goner the first time around.

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Sally Corp

I had the opportunity to tour Sally Corporation last week.  They are a local business that has been manufacturing dark rides for several decades.  I did not know what a dark ride was.  It is a ride on which passengers travel in some sort of conveyance through specially lit indoor scenes that typically contain animatronics, sound, music, and special effects that can be triggered by interaction with the passengers.

If you hit the lit circles with a laser it activated light, sound and movement 

If you hit the lit circles with a laser it activated light, sound and movement 

Poster for a dark ride in Hershey

Poster for a dark ride in Hershey

At Sally they make all of the parts for the rides except the cars that take you through and some of the highly technological interactions.  They create the story, design and make all the characters and sets and coordinate interactions with the riders and time movements with the sound and lights.  They have installed these types of rides all over the world.

Self Irrigating Planter

Been reading a lot about SIP systems lately.  These are raised beds that are watered from below and supposedly take a lot less water than regular raised beds.  The roots take the water from below as they need it and less water is lost to evaporation than with traditional water from above raised beds.  Since I have not had much success in this hot southern climate with plants so far I thought I'd give this a shot.  Due to hurricane Irma we had some materials on hand that could be recycled so we didn't have to spend any money on lumber, making this a fairly inexpensive project.  I was also happy we could put this material to use rather than it going to a landfill.

Fence panels rescued from the curb after hurricane Irma

Fence panels rescued from the curb after hurricane Irma

2 x4's and 4 x4's left over from a section of our fence that snapped off in the hurricane

2 x4's and 4 x4's left over from a section of our fence that snapped off in the hurricane

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3' x 7' x 2' H box.  Fence panel also made the bottom, but I didn't get a picture of that

3' x 7' x 2' H box.  Fence panel also made the bottom, but I didn't get a picture of that

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Pond liner stapled at the top

Pond liner stapled at the top

Perforated drain pipe with sock

Perforated drain pipe with sock

'soilless' dirt that supposedly will not compact as much and will allow moisture to wick up to the roots more easily

'soilless' dirt that supposedly will not compact as much and will allow moisture to wick up to the roots more easily

1" fill tube in one end and 1/2" drain tube at the other

1" fill tube in one end and 1/2" drain tube at the other

12" deep of dirt with extra fence pickets used to finish out the top and provide a spot to lean on and hold tools.

12" deep of dirt with extra fence pickets used to finish out the top and provide a spot to lean on and hold tools.

It took about 15 gallons to do the initial fill up.  Unfortunately we do not have a hose that can run unsoftened water this far so that was a bucket brigade.  According the what I've read this should only need watered once a month or so de…

It took about 15 gallons to do the initial fill up.  Unfortunately we do not have a hose that can run unsoftened water this far so that was a bucket brigade.  According the what I've read this should only need watered once a month or so depending on the weather.   

I used cardboard to keep the weeds down, keep the soil cooler and keep neighborhood cats from using this as a litter box.  In between I have planted lettuce and spinach.  At the far end by the fill tube I put in a pepper plant I had in a pot that was not doing well.  We'll see if this can save it.  Hopefully we have produce in six weeks or so.

High Point Furniture Market Oct 2017

Collection of quick pics I snapped while walking the market Friday after setting up our showroom.

China Sept 2017

My first visit to southern China.  This was a two week work trip to familiarize me with the factories that my company currently uses, their capabilities and the people in our China office.  It was quite informative and somewhat exhausting as we had a very packed  schedule.  The landscape was more tropical and hilly than I had imagined.  We were primarily in the Guangdong province, which is right across from Hong Kong.

View from factory roof

View from factory roof

View from factory roof 

View from factory roof 

View of the hotel pool from my room

View of the hotel pool from my room

View of the city from my hotel room

View of the city from my hotel room

View from the backside of the hotel in Chang'an

View from the backside of the hotel in Chang'an

View from the Hunan Bridge

View from the Hunan Bridge

We also went up the coast by train about four hours to Xiamen for a night.  Xiamen is an island and very scenic.  They had just had a major international conference here and it was very green and clean.  

View from my room in the Hilton on Xiamen

View from my room in the Hilton on Xiamen

Dinner at the hotel.  Dry ice created a dramatic presentation of these shrimp.

Dinner at the hotel.  Dry ice created a dramatic presentation of these shrimp.

Food was always served on a big lazy susan and everyone shared.  These were some sort of salted fish rolls.  Didn't try them myself.  Next to it is some sort of pickled fruit that was quite good.

Food was always served on a big lazy susan and everyone shared.  These were some sort of salted fish rolls.  Didn't try them myself.  Next to it is some sort of pickled fruit that was quite good.

Duck in ginger sauce.  Pretty good.  The Chinese do believe in eating the entire animal.

Duck in ginger sauce.  Pretty good.  The Chinese do believe in eating the entire animal.

We also went a little further north to Quanzhou for one night.  Walked around outside the hotel a little bit, the hotel was next to a mall.  Actually went through several malls while I was there and ate a lot of McDonalds.  

View from the hotel in Quanzhou at night.  Lots of dramatic lighting in neon.

View from the hotel in Quanzhou at night.  Lots of dramatic lighting in neon.

Same view the next morning.

Same view the next morning.

Note the restuarant with the Kung Fu Panda characters in front of it.  

Cummer Museum

I took in the Ink, Silk and Gold exhibit at the Cummer Museum a few weekends ago.  The first Saturday of every month the museum offers free admission and I had been wanting to see this exhibit before it left on Sept. 3rd.  This exhibit "features great works of Islamic art...covers virtually all aspects of Islamic art...from the 8th to the 21st century and from Spain to Indonesia."

This exhibit had many beautiful pieces of pottery, textiles and manuscript pages among other things.  I wanted to see this because I know very little about these areas, governments and artistic styles.   Seeing this exhibit made me realize I know even less than I thought.  

My idea of Islamic art was limited to what I had seen in art history classes from southern Spain.  This is a limited view of a wide variety of styles.  I had not realized for instance how influenced much of Islamic art was by Chinese calligraphy, pottery and figural drawing styles.  This has whet my appetite to not only learn more about the art but also the history of these regions.

The Great Race - Jacksonville

The beginning of this years Great Race was in Jacksonville FL.  The race went from Jacksonville up to Michigan. Click here for details.  The event brought a lot of people and classic cars and even though it was a scorcher and tough for both cars and people it was fun to see. 

Starting line where each team was announced and sent off in this timed event.

Starting line where each team was announced and sent off in this timed event.

The announcer.

The announcer.

The lineup of cars.  120 in all.

The lineup of cars.  120 in all.

Asheville Waterfall Hikes

On a recent trip to Asheville I caught five gorgeous waterfalls in two hiking trips.  The dog enjoyed this more than I thought since he is generally petrified of water.  His enjoyment of hikes seemed to win out though.

Biltmore Flowers

I visited Biltmore during June.  The house is grand and interesting as a snapshot of a time period near the turn of the last century.  They also had a nice indoor conservatory.  

The real highlights for me were the grounds and the conservatory.  There is an impressive orchid collection, tropical plants and succulents that I have never seen before.

Conservatory building and planned gardens

Conservatory building and planned gardens

Giraffe

Jacksonville's Municipal Zoo was originally on the site where this sculpture is.  The zoo was there from 1914 until 1925 when it moved to it's current location.  First exhibit was a red deer.  

Classic Cars

There is a car show in Springfield every third Saturday.  This past Saturday had a particularly good showing.  Probably due to the great weather.   I like the classics, the rat rods and the trucks.  It is interesting that the finishes on these cars are also pretty trendy in interior design.

Bee Hives

I had the opportunity to contribute to a beehive for the local community garden group, Sustainable Springfield.  They currently have five older hives that they are replacing with ten new ones.  Their current colonies will split soon as the new queens find homes in the extra hives.  In return for our contribution they gave us the opportunity to paint and name the new hive which they dropped off and picked up after painting. 

I went with a Kansas themed house.  I tried to get some bright contrasting colors on all sides because I read bees like that and also it helps them distinguish their hive from the next one.  Somewhere I read that their favorite color is purple, followed by blue.  Not to worry KU fans, apparently purple looks like blue to bees.  Everyone knows blue is better.  :)   My KU sticker on the side did not last however.  Not an outdoor thing.  The lettering on the front is vinyl though and should hold up.

Also if you look behind the hive you will see some progress has been made on the large tree that crushed my neighbors garage in the hurricane back in October.

In return for our contribution we should get some local honey, which I'm very excited about.  But mostly I wanted to support our local bees which are already hard at work pollinating the tangelo tree in my backyard.

President's Day Weekend

My sister and her husband came to visit so I took an extended holiday weekend to hang with them.  Here's a smattering of some of the cool things I found.

Dallas January Light Market

I went to Dallas two weekends ago to set up the showroom with all our new product for the Dallas January market.  Sadly this is the only picture I took the whole time.  We were really busy as we had a lot of new introduction to put up.  We got there early on Saturday and had to have the showroom ready for a walk through by Tuesday afternoon.   It didn't help that a lot of our stuff didn't arrive until Monday.   

This is the heap of trash that comes from unpacking just the first few pallets of product.

We made it through and the showroom looked good in the end.  Wish I'd taken some pictures of that...

Anyway I did get a chance to walk the rest of the show on Wednesday and my main takeaways for the industry trends were as follows.  

1-Lots of shine and sparkle.  Crystals everywhere with polished metals. 

2-Gold is still hot along with other warm metals like copper and rose gold.

3-The black and gold combination is still going strong.  Although often associated with mid century forms this is becoming a color combination seen in other styles as well.

4-Some wood being used, mostly darker finishes like ebony and walnut.

5-Strong geometric forms are popular.  Rectangular and circular.  

6-Bulbs were a mix of LED and vintage bulbs.

Less of the rustic look than I would have expected in Dallas.  Not much white, farmhouse or industrial looks.  Lots of glam.  This is primarily a fixture show so it tends to be a little more one note and conservative versus the shows with lamps and accent furniture that are easier to change out as the trends change.