Churches in Venice

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "cloud(s)." I'm going with a reflection of a cloud in this pond that used to be quarry but is now part of the "Explore the Wild" section of the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC.

Happy weekend!

Earlier this summer, Maria I posted some beautiful photos of El Viejo San Juan (Old San Juan) in Puerto Rico. I told her that I’d spent one day in Old San Juan many years ago when I was on a cruise that stopped there. I fell in love with the place, and I’ve always intended to go back some day. I also told Maria about two lithographs I bought in Old San Juan - the subject matter of both of them is The Three Kings (aka the Three Wise Men).

Maria said, “The Three Kings are iconic in Puerto Rico. It's part of our cultural heritage and January 6 is a big holiday on the island.” So I took some photos so I could show her my art from Old San Juan.

A quick Google search turned up some cool info about “Dia de los Reyes” or Three King’s Day. In Puerto Rico, it’s the Three Kings who bring gifts to the children and the gifts don’t come on Christmas Day, they come on January 6 which is around the time that the Kings arrived in Bethlehem. This day is also known as Epiphany.

On January 5, children in Puerto Rico put out grass for the Kings’ camels instead of putting out cookies for Santa (I love that!).

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "dark."

I didn't have to look hard to find something for this theme. I've been taking lots of photos lately of a little creature with a dark face, bright eyes, and an exuberant spirit.

Taking a power nap:

Awake!

Happy weekend everyone!

I thought I’d post a few more cat and kitten photos. Maria is growing so fast – she’s no longer a little puffball, she’s more lean and lanky now. In this one, she'd spotted one of her toys on the floor.

And then she was off!

Maria is a talker, so different from LuLu who is a very quiet cat overall. LuLu purrs a lot but it’s very soft and soothing, and she always gives me a quick “meow” any time she comes in the room, just to let me know she’s there.

Well, Maria purrs SO loud, she’s like the little engine that could. She even purrs in her sleep! “Cats for Dummies” says that a cat’s purr is the equivalent of a smile, so I guess Maria is having happy dreams. And she talks...a lot! Her voice is so funny – her meows sound more like a bird than a cat. She chirps and squawks.

Sometimes when I’m cooking dinner, Maria will come and stand at my feet and reel off this stream of squawks – it’s so modulated and positively conversational! Then she’ll stop and just look up at me expectantly, waiting for me to reply. I’d love to know what she thinks she’s telling me. I usually end up laughing and picking her up and maybe that’s what she wants.

First came the Strawberry Buttermilk sherbet recipe, then I made it again with fresh blackberries that I bought at the farmer's market. Delicious! It looked a bit more purple in real life - this photo looks more red. But it was really good. What a versatile recipe; since I published it, Maria I has made

Guava Sherbet
Mango Sherbet

Both of these look amazing!

I've ordered an ice cream maker from Costco, but I still have the old Rival that I borrowed from a friend and last night, I tried another recipe. Mixed results on this one, but I think it has potential. I'll type the recipe straight first and then tell you what I did and what I'll change the next time I make this one.

I found this recipe in "The Healthy Kitchen" by Andrew Weil, MD and Rosie Daley. This cookbook has a photo of this served in hollowed-out lemon peel shells - very pretty. I didn't do that though.

Lemon Yogurt Sorbet

32 ounces plain yogurt
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 cup honey

Mix all in a bowl and put into the freezer until thoroughly chilled, about 30 minutes. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

My notes: I used nonfat organic yogurt, and I substituted agave nectar for the honey.

It's good but it's VERY tart. I'm a big lemon dessert fan so I like it just fine, but it's probably not sweet enough for most people. I recommend increasing the sweetener to at least 3/4 of a cup.

I also think that next time, I'll use low-fat yogurt instead of nonfat. I just think it needs a bit more richness.

The crystallized ginger is the best part - I love this stuff! I minced it pretty fine so it's spread thoughout the yogurt. Yum! I don't have a photo yet but basically it looks like vanilla with little gold specks from the ginger.

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "colorful." Fun theme! I've got a couple for this one.

Nice ride, taken in the parking lot at the Fearrington Folk Art Show:

Kids' art laying in the sun to dry. Taken at Clydefest, an arts festival honoring North Carolina folk artist Clyde Jones:

Happy weekend!

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "wrinkled." It'll be interesting to see what folks come up with for this one. Here's mine:

This is an African Sulcata Tortoise who was born in Hawaii and now lives in Georgia, but I met him when he was visiting North Carolina, go figure. Happy weekend!

An enchanting church that is off-the-beaten path but so worth finding, this is one of my very favorites.

It took several tries across several trips to finally get inside this church. Before my second trip to Venice, my friends Susan and George loaned me their journals from a study-abroad trip they had taken with Elderhostel. George wrote that this was his favorite church of all the many they had visited, so I was eager to see it. On my first try, it was challenging to find but when I finally did, the church was closed because the adjacent canals had been drained and were undergoing repair.

Then finally in December 2006, I found it open. But the best part (which I didn’t know until I saw the sign on the door), I happened to visit on San Nicolo’s feast day (December 6). The church was all spruced up, music was playing, and it was a magical visit. So in December 2007, I made sure that I returned on the feast day. This time, I was the only one in the church except for the lady at the postcard table. I sat down on the back row of the church and then the postcard lady began singing; she had such a beautiful voice and the whole experience just blissed me out. It’s an awesome church.

This lovely 17th century Annunciation relief is over a door on a house next to Ponte Cavallo, the bridge in front of the church of San Zanipolo. It'd be nice to see this every time you came home.

There are a bunch of churches in Venice that look so beautiful from the side or back but not so hot from the front, and this is one of them. Jan Morris (The World of Venice) wrote, “The back of San Nicolo da Tolentino looks like an Edwardian battleship, with barbettes, bulwarks, flying bridges, and catwalks” so in December, I went to check and took the photo above. I have no clue what she’s talking about, maybe because I’ve never seen an Edwardian battleship, but I think the church is lovely from this angle with that pinkish glow and nice campanile. The façade is a different story.

After the Sack of Rome in 1527, many refugees fled to the safety of Venice including the Theatine Order (which included a future saint and a future pope). They settled in an oratory and then later in the century, built this church (1591-1602).

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "beautiful." Hope that everyone has a nice weekend!