Cafe d'Artistica

 Sometimes when small people display a reluctance to eat the food prepared lovingly by their elders, one must enforce cunning measures to get it into them. Enter, the Fisher Price cash register! That stalwart of the F.P. aisle has not changed in years ands lasts forever although the money tends to disappear from the set. That must be the inherent F.P. life lesson.

"My would like one piece of apple please, shop lady."

 Sometimes a little role reversal is involved. The word spreads quickly when a decent food establishment opens. It attracts all types.

Note how the dome- headed rugby warbler is attracted by the food.

This cafe does not offer asparagus and honey sandwiches. Best not to confuse the staff.

Give me all of your money.....

 and I will give you a sandwich fit for an eleven year old food vortex.

The proprietors of food establishments must be ever watchful for marauding ninja types. They get hungry too you know.

Art Therapy

There were a couple of things that stood out in those surreal days in the hospital. They were little highlights that broke up the monotony in the fog of endone and shock and scans. The hospital I was in had some very good karma for me as I had my five babies there. I figure that still leaves me in good karma credit even after this last bit of unpleasantness. Most of the aesthetic choices in this hospital are good ones although I question their carpet choice. It's great for disguising dirt but needs to be when it has a riotously adverse effect on nausea.

There was one special afternoon when the Big Fella bought the fantastic five up to visit and I decided I wanted to emerge from my cocoon and hit the cafe with them. So I dressed up in some dandy pressure stockings and stepped out to take some air.

One of the boys got me a latte (as incongruous as him putting out washing), the girls showed me some good twirling.....
and my last glimpse of them was pulling some ninja moves down the wheelchair ramp (less incongruous). Once they left I was all dressed up with no place to go so I thought I might explore a bit.

Of course I went straight to maternity where I ran into some old friends on the wall. This Vermeer print welcomes you in as you enter from admissions. I always loved how he seems to place so many of his women subjects by this window. His wife, Catherina, had lots of children so I'm assuming this was her. There is a lovely version of his painting wiles in the book, "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier. Anyway I always felt like she was saying "Hello. Here we go again!" as I walked down to deliver each of the chillun.

This one a little further on was of a couple doing couply things in a series of large lino cuts. Only in retrospect do you realise it is a cautionary tale saying "You won't be doing this again in a hurry ".

I liked these little Howard Arkley-ish suburbia paintings. They were on small, chunky, square canvases- my favourite.
On the way to and from the tedious body scans there may have been some lip biting and tear blinking which these little lovelies distracted from.

This was a huge canvas painting of some one's hoarder-esque back yard. The detail and degree of clutter was mesmerising, perhaps because my own brain was fairly jumbled at the time. I loved the old swings hanging in the foreground. The banality of a back yard is just perfect to stare at when normal has no yardstick any more.

I'm not sure about this. I passed it the first time after that awful diagnosis the night before we went in. I don't remember that walk. The Big Fella just steered me with firm gentle hands. Then I passed it again after we saw the honkologist for the first time. I think it's about patience and moving on. That's how it worked for me and it has some lovely painterly qualities too.
This is my bestie though. There may well have been talk of angels when I dodged that secondaries bullet. I was thinking about them hard as I lay having the bone scan in particular. This one was there for the babies too and I liked it but didn't feel as strongly about it as I did this time. It is now my screen saver. I carry it with me and look at it every time I turn on the phone. It reminds me angels come in many guises and are handy to have around. I'm keeping more of an eye out for them now.