Olga and I found a Picasso on our afternoon walk yesterday, propped against the bins where the Deliveroo drivers sit and wait for orders from nearby restaurants. That's his famous sketch of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, from 1955. Finding a priceless artwork isn't something that happens all the time, but still, we left it for the next enterprising trash-picker.
(We did once find a Canaletto discarded against a wall, but we left that one behind too. Apparently we don't know how to answer the door when opportunity knocks.)
I spent most of yesterday morning immersed in Joan Tubbs' slides. I went through all the binders and loose slides that I brought home on Wednesday and came up with about 20 more images to scan, and then I am done with this project.
Olga spent the morning sunning herself in the garden. Doesn't our Thalictrum look nice? Like a big fluffy pink cloud.
I can't resist another shot of Nicole the Nicotiana. She's a big girl!
And our Kniphofia, or red-hot poker, has sent up several flower spikes.
Last night Dave and I were watching something on TV where that included footage of Ronald McDonald, the erstwhile McDonald's clown. (Is he still a symbol of McDonald's? Seems like I don't see him much these days.) It reminded me that as a small child in Tampa, I used to tune in to the television on Sunday mornings to watch Ronald McDonald read the Sunday comics. I told Dave about this and he'd never heard of such a thing, but I was sure I remembered it correctly. I got online and indeed found a blog post by another guy who grew up in Tampa and remembers that same phenomenon. It must have been a very local TV offering, but it was great because we could follow along in our own newspapers, and I'm sure it helped us all learn to read. (In addition to providing publicity for McDonald's and the Tampa Tribune!) Anyway, that's a funny, obscure memory from the darkest recesses of my childhood brain.
Never say never....you don't know when more material will turn up!!
ReplyDeleteBut well done on the Joan Gibbs project.
Your garden is reaching up beautifully
Joan Tubbs... autocorrect!!
ReplyDeleteYou say tomato, I say tomahto. :)
DeleteAs at gin parties in the 1970's, Joan Tubbs is never done! As for Ronald McDonald, whatever happened to his flaxen haired brother Donald McDonald? Where the hell did he end up? Famously he said, “In life you have to rely on the past, and that’s called history.”
ReplyDeleteI'd elect Ronald before Donald!
DeleteI’d never heard of Ronald McDonald reading the Sunday comics. Fun idea. And look what it did for you! I’m in awe that you made it through all those slides and narrowed down to 20. So many rejects! The flowers, garden, and Olga are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI tried to be merciless about my culling. I will probably not even upload everything I got scanned.
DeleteIn the early 60s in Vermont, Santa Claus used to read letters from good girls and boys for 15 minutes at 4:30 every afternoon in December. It was appointment viewing. I wrote him at least one letter but never heard him read it.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's enough to sour a kid on Santa forever!
DeleteClever advertising to kids, having R McD reading to them. Never say never, you'll probably come across more Tubbs at some point..
ReplyDeleteYes, it was definitely a stroke of genius from a local franchise owner! And it boosted the newspaper too. I'm sure there's a ton more Tubbs out there but I'm not going in search of it.
DeleteIt's a wonder that you didn't end up in horticulture, Steve, with your love and knowledge of plants. Maybe in your next career!...
ReplyDeleteYou know, I thought about studying botany, but there's such a thing as taking the beauty out of something with too much scientific knowledge!
DeleteReally? Ronald read the Sunday Funnies? You'd think I'd have heard about this, coming from Winter Haven. Remember Art Grindle? I WANNA SELL YOU A CAR!
ReplyDeleteThat was more Orlando I think.
I think that since Steven King started writing about Pennyworth, clowns have had a hard time making people happy.
Golly, but your garden is lush!
I don't think Art Grindle was in our area! I remember the "Allied Discount TARS" guy, though. Yeah, I thought you might remember the Ronald McDonald thing but maybe you weren't in the right age group. It may not have been on TV very many years.
DeleteI always got a creepy vibe from Ronald. I don't have a clown thing, just a Ronald thing, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of Ronald as creepy until I watched "Poltergeist." That killed it for me and clowns.
DeleteNicole the Nicotiana is quite elegant.
ReplyDeleteIsn't she?! Very stately!
DeleteLove the garden (especially with Olga in it). That's fun about Ronald McDonald! These days he's more famous for housing people whose children are in the hospital.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess that's how Ronald's legacy lives on these days. Remember how McDonald's commercials used to feature all those characters? And then that went away entirely.
Deleteyour garden looks great. I looked up thalictrum, common name meadow rue, quite a variety some of which will grow here. might have to check that out. the red hot pokers are nice too.
ReplyDeleteYes, meadow rue! Though no one here calls it that, at least not that I've heard. I bet you could grow red-hot pokers in Texas. They're from South Africa so I think they can cope with temperature extremes.
DeleteThe poker flowers are quite dramatic looking things. One of our tenants planted them around.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea they'd grow as far north as Pennsylvania!
DeleteWe do not hear much of Ronald McDonald these days. Reading the funnies on TV is a good idea, promoting reading skills and McDonald's burgers is good marketing. This must have been local to FL. Your garden is very beautiful. The flowering is outstanding.
ReplyDeleteI think it was not only local to Florida but local to Tampa Bay.
DeleteYour whole garden is looking lush and beautiful and of course, Olga in the middle is a perfect addition. To bad you left that Picasso on the sidewalk. You could have ended up on Antiques Road Show with the find of the day.
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, Ronald McDonald is mostly absent here too.
I watched a movie last night on Prime that I thoroughly enjoyed called "What We Did on Our Holiday".
OK, I'll search out that movie! We need to find some new stuff to watch.
DeleteYou may not answer the door when art is knocking, but you throw it wide open when it comes to plants - lol! We can't collect everything, as I keep reminding myself :D
ReplyDeleteYeah, exactly. We have to have SOME standards. LOL
DeleteSuddenly your blog only likes Chrome! I love the red hot poker flowers and used to buy them. I haven't seen them the past few years. Clowns used to be cool and funny, very kid friendly. Then due to horror films (?), they got a scary reputation and many people claim to be or are creeped out by them. Perhaps that's why Ronald has become low profile!
ReplyDeleteWell, since Blogger is a Google product, I'm not surprised they gear it toward Chrome. As for clowns, I think the creepiness all started with John Wayne Gacy. He forever associated clowns with evil.
DeleteSince we cut the cord, we don't see that many commercials. But I don't think I've seen Ronald for a very long time. Neither him or the Burger King guy, who was pretty strange.
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, I forgot about the Burger King! Definitely a ripoff of the McDonald's character idea.
DeleteI wonder what will happen when Nick (the plant) reaches the Russians' domicile. Keep your head down to avoid low-flying missiles.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised if they behead her! They keep knocking down our passionflower vine when it gets close to their precious balcony railing.
DeleteOne of the reasons I had my first library card at 3 was my father read the newspaper to me - including the funny pages - every day. I was the youngest of 5, and when he got home from work, I wanted to be with Dad and he just wanted to read the paper. He'd been around the block enough to know kids are not that fussy, so he'd just read the paper aloud so I cut my literary teeth on Walt Kelly.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to spend time with a kid and teach them something too! Did he read the news as well as the comics? Seems like that might have been a little scary, though I imagine he was selective.
DeleteWhen I hear Ronald McDonald, I think of the charity (Ronald McDonald House) that helps families with sick kids. I guess the fast food chain still supports it?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wonder what the relationship is now between McDonald's and the Ronald McDonald House.
DeleteA garden, you must mean a park? That's huge and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAnd well done on spotting the art ... I once bumped into & met John Hurt. That's my claim to fame. :)
We are very lucky to have such a big garden. I only wish we owned it! (Sadly, we're just renters.) John Hurt is a pretty good brush with fame!
DeleteI would have scooped up that Don Quixote painting! I love it. I reading the book and find the whole thing enchanting and a bit disturbing.
ReplyDeleteDave would have killed me if I'd brought that thing home. :D
DeleteMy sister in law told me that her Dad invented Ronald McDonald- that was as true as Michelle inventing Post-its. I actually had to look it up!
ReplyDeleteYour garden really loves you!
Ha! I wonder if he told her that when she was little and she just believed it?
DeleteYour garden is looking great and so is Olga.
ReplyDeleteThe garden is definitely on the downslope, though -- and I guess Olga is too, come to think of it!
DeleteLove that Picasso. And your garden -- spectacular. I bow down in awe!
ReplyDelete