This lovely (?) mosaic version of "The Birth of Venus" graces a tunnel beneath the train tracks near Waterloo Station. Dave and I came across it while walking to lunch on Wednesday. What would Botticelli say? Probably "Get all that junk off my artwork!"
When I went to Italy in 2007 I saw the original painting in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It was kind of like standing in front of the Mona Lisa in Paris or Van Gogh's "Starry Night" in New York -- I felt a sense of disbelief and awe that this is the REAL THING.
The mosaic at Waterloo is definitely not the real thing. But it has a certain rustic charm.
My first day back at work was uneventful. It mostly involved just getting my desk organized -- cataloguing and putting away all the magazines that accumulated over the summer, dealing with mail and deliveries, putting things back in place after they'd been moved and pushed around by whatever itinerant workers happened to wander past the circulation desk at some point. I shelved the returned books and prepared some beginning-of-the-year displays.
It was especially nice doing all those things with the lingering sense that it may be the last time I'll have to start a school year. Still no word on whether my application for the school's buyout offer will be accepted, but I expect to hear something any day.
Nicole the Nicotiana has bounced back quite beautifully after her bout with root rot earlier this year!
Next to Nicole you can see Tommy the tomato (all names courtesy of Dave). We have not yet picked any of the tomatoes. Dave is convinced they're not ripe, even though they are bright orange with red stripes. He thinks they're going to turn red. I'm not convinced -- we don't know what variety of tomato it is because the plant was a gift -- but every now and then I give the tomatoes a light tap. I figure if they don't fall off the plant then maybe they're still OK.
Pick a tomato and taste it, that will tell you if they are ready.
ReplyDeleteThat would be way too easy! LOL
DeleteJust try a tomato, there are so many colourways nowadays it's probably ready.
ReplyDeleteI think it is too, but it's kind of Dave's plant (it was a gift to him) so I'm following his lead.
DeleteI still remember that back to school feeling after the long holidays. Even though it was such a very long time ago.
ReplyDeleteI remember that feeling too, but it's different as a teacher. There's a sense of responsibility for making the year a good one, you know?
DeleteI always enjoyed being back to school in September term, catch up with class mates getting back into the routine.
ReplyDeleteI am usually ready for work again by the time the summer ends. Less so this year, maybe because I'm anticipating retiring!
DeleteHow is Dave the Dog Daisy doing? Also, what about Steve the Spiderwort?
ReplyDeleteWhat on earth is a dog daisy? Is that a thing? LOL
DeleteI hope Dave’s right about Tommy. But, he’s never wrong, is he? Nicole is gorgeous. Seeing Venus like that would break my heart (and trigger my OCD tendencies). I’d want to start cleaning her. I remember seeing her in the Uffizi, too. What an experience.
ReplyDeleteDave is usually right when it comes to plants, I must say. It's always incredible to see a famous painting in person.
DeleteThere hasn't been much respect paid to poor Venus. She could use a good scrub.
ReplyDeleteIt's true! And she's just one of several similarly beleaguered mosaic masterpieces.
DeleteLeave the tomatoes on the bush. They are at their best just before they turn rotten. Give them a light squeeze and you can tell if they are ripe.
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten about the redundancy offer at your school. Of all people, I am sure you will occupy your retirement years very well.
Well, here's hoping! If they even allow me to retire!
DeleteI am glad your first day back was uneventful and not stressful. I remember going back to school after summer break just dreading getting back into that daily grind. But once I started, it was okay. Hopefully this will be your last year!
ReplyDeleteYeah, there is a certain amount of dread this year!
DeleteThe first day back at school was a staff meeting followed by organising the classroom. Such plans! . . . and then the children came back and the plans went awry! (not completely)
ReplyDeleteHa! "The best laid plans of mice and men..." (and women of course).
DeleteHappy last year beginning. Time will fly.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it will go faster than I expect.
DeleteI'm not sure what happened to our tomatoes this year. I canned my second large batch of them, turning that into 21 pints of tomato sauce. The vines however look dried out and they aren't putting on new fruits. I think while we were gone on vacation, they just got hammered with sun and heat with not enough rain. Fortunately, we only needed tomato sauce to stock up on in our pantry and the 42 pints I canned will be more than enough to see us through another couple years.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they probably just got too dry. Sounds like you're in a good place anyway!
DeleteInteresting Venus, graffiti and all. I hope your application is accepted.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed!
DeleteI kinda really like the graffitied mosaic.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting effect, I agree. I tend to like street art more when it gets a bit weathered. (And/or defaced.)
DeleteI think mosaics are generally really cool, but the colors of Venus's body are kind of drab. It would have been more interesting to have an African Venus. To me anyway.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting idea! Can you make a mosaic? :)
DeleteSome tomatoes are yellow when ripe, some are orange, some are orange with green stripes. I am sure you've looked this up but the Marvel striped heirloom tomato is indeed orange with red stripes when ripe.
ReplyDeleteNo. I hate that effed up mosaic. But I think I may be able to see things going on there that make very strong points about society.
Glad you got a day of peace at work.
I wish we knew what variety we had, but the plant was a gift, so we have no idea. Knowing would make things a lot easier!
DeleteI remember that feeling of first day back, black pit of misery. You seem to cope much better. I forgot you were planning early retirement, new plans coming soon, I expect.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm not in a black pit of misery, that's true. It's more like a creeping dread. But yeah, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
DeleteI used to love those first days of being busy getting everything set up in the library. Hope you have a great year, Steve.
ReplyDeleteThey're nice in a way because there are no kids and we can stay focused!
DeleteMy tomatoes are disappointing. The taste is off. I bought blight resistant plants and maybe this was a mistake. The wildlife is enjoying most of them.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of the street art. It just looks filled with darkness and chaos.
Easing back into work sounds ok. Thinking this is the last time you will return to work makes everything better.
That's a bummer about the tomatoes! I guess it was worth a try but next time you'll know.
DeleteI don't understand the desire to deface things like that mosaic whether I liked it or not. The tagging and the flyers, really, why? And the tomatoes are ripe in my opinion. If you pick them and eat one and decide they aren't quite just set them on a window sill for a few days.
ReplyDeleteI don't get the defacing either, but some graffiti writers get very possessive about certain walls, and if another artwork goes up there they'll write right over it.
DeleteWhen I retired , I made the decision at the end of the year , so in my last year everything was for the last time. I also had time to get rid of all my junk. I was very happy in my last year.
ReplyDeleteThat's sort of where I am now. If things go as I've envisioned, everything I'm doing now I'll never have to do again.
DeleteOne way to tell if your tomatoes are ripe is if the little stem that connects the fruit to the vine has a slight bulge and is bent at approx 90 degrees. Then place your thumb on top of the angle and lift the fruit it will easily come away when ripe.
ReplyDeleteI remember the feeling of dread on the first day that the pupils returned after the long summer holiday, would I have forgotten how to teach. Then a couple of weeks into the term it is like we have never been away and the next holiday can't come quickly enough.
I knew that I would be retiring as soon as I was old enough to get my state pension so as the date got nearer I started the count down in half terms.
Jane (a regular reader)
Thanks for the hint about tomato stems, Jane! I had no idea. I'm not going to collect my pension for several more years but I have some investments through my mom's estate so that ought to keep me afloat.
DeleteI've only grown the yellow and the red so I'm no help! Glad that your first day back was uneventful. The last time! That's fun to contemplate.
ReplyDeleteFun and a little scary!
DeleteI had the same reaction to the Mona Lisa. Da Vinci actually touched this? Also surprised how small it was. (I have enough art books to tell me otherwise). That mosaic took time. Hate it when it gets defaced by tagging.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's incredible to look at the painting's surface and think "Da Vinci MADE those brush strokes!" (Hard to see now with the massive crowds and the glass case.)
DeleteI remember that "last time" feeling well. I have never known a voluntary redundancy offer not be accepted so long as it meets the criteria.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine why they would turn it down unless the outlay isn't worth the savings. (My position isn't paid that much.)
DeleteJust out of curiosity, what percentage of employees at your school are UK citizens? And for what it's worth, I think those tomatoes are ready to pick. If you find they weren't, they'll still ripen on the counter. I love that you can get so many varieties in the cherry size now.
ReplyDeleteProbably a minority are UK citizens but I have no idea about numbers. We have quite a few people who were either born in the UK or have lived here for decades.
DeleteThat Mosaic is lovely except for the Graffiti and people putting stickers over the Art. Such disrespect for an Artist's Work. Too bad the City doesn't clean her up.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wonder if anyone ever gives her a scrub? Probably not!
DeleteVenus has been appropriated by capitalism 1000 times over, yet, she endures. We should all be so tough.
ReplyDeleteHa! It's true. It's tough being a famous image in the public domain.
DeleteThanks for your good thoughts!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, e. Keep us posted.
DeleteI used to love walking back into the library at the end of summer, but of course, it was my library. I have some Nicoles, the bloom stalks on some were over 6 ft! They make hundreds of tiny black seeds and come back from the roots every year.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we get the seeds but they never seem to re-seed. I don't know whether the seeds are viable. I never knew they would come up from the roots so I was surprised by that when it happened this spring!
Delete