Lars, Thanks for sharing your photos with us. I especially like the red faced mask with the long horns in the drum picture in KevinÂs album. I've always loved your hat that you wore to the festival! Did it appear to be backwards because of the handle on top? Whatever, it is wonderful!

The basket you got for your sister is divine. I'm certain she will love it.

Nice pictures Lars. I think I need one of those drums...fun!

Nancy

I'm giving my sister the mud cloth but not the basket, at this time. I'm going to mail it this afternoon, along with a book from DB.

Yes, I usually wear the "handle" in the front, but that's just a guess. Since I consider that part decorative, I thought it should be in the front. The hat is not only the most comfortable I've ever worn, but it also keeps my head cool.

I would like to have one of those drums too, but I don't know where I would put it.

Lars

Wish we had cool festivals like that here in podunkville, Lars. Those tagines are gorgeous, but I just have never gotten into mideast foods. Maybe some day. I love the mud cloth, and the basket is gorgeous. Looks like you had a nice day all around.

Nice pictures Lars and Kevin. I love your hat Lars. My hats are falling apart from so much wear. I keep them in the hot car for when I walk Odo, and they are literally disintegrating. Is there a hat festival somewhere?

No hat festival that I know of, but the African Festival is still going on, every week-end through Labor Day. Other festivals might sell hats also. There is Oktober Fest near you in Torrance going on now also, and Sunset Junction this week-end, where I bought {{gwi:1470112}}, although I don't recommend that one - it caused echoes, and I ended up giving it to Matthew, Jimmy & Maartje's son, who still wears it. Also this week-end is Fiesta La Ballona in Culver City.

Labor Day there will be Fiesta Hermosa at Hermosa Beach, and the following week-end is the L.A. Greek Festival, which I definitely want to visit this year - I missed it last year. Maybe I'll find a Greek hat.

Lars

Lars, those pictures are just beautiful, I love the colors of the tagines especially.

As for hats, I like yours but I never wear any, not even in the winter. I never have, I guess I've just never thought of it.

Annie

Thanks Lars..I love to see what's going on outside of my world..w/out journalists..

Love the tagines..why didn't you buy one?

I don't think my husband would like the recipes normally associated w/ tagines..but they are so beautiful..that would count for me:)

How nice of you to have thought of your sister..I looked at your DB albums..U have a nice family:)
Your mom's home is :)

I didn't buy the tagine because I ran out of cash, and they didn't take credit cards. I felt like I was actually in NW Africa or something. Here are my pictures from the 2003 Expo. You'll hear background music if you are using IE. I haven't programmed it for Firefox yet.

Here are some pictures from last summer's trip to Sequoia/Kings Canyon. We had intended to climb to the top of the Moro Rock, but Kevin got a severe case of vertigo and had to stop. I went a bit higher than he did. I found that I could adjust to the dizzying heights if I stopped for a while, but that didn't work for Kevin. I think we got high enough anyway.

Lars

You pick the perfect tunes for the pics:)

Thanks again..Brought back memories of my white hip huggers.. (70's)

You should have brought a cheque(SP?) .. those tagines were works of art Lars.It would have been a wonderful addition to your home..But on the other hand..you thought of others first:)

You're right - I should have brought a check book - they did take checks. The festival is still going on, and so I might go back, but I also have the address of the store that sells the tagines. I actually did borrow money from Maartje to buy a couple of tagines, but on the way back to the stall, I saw the basket, which cost the price of two tagines, and so I bought that instead. I should have borrowed more money - I don't know why I was being frugal. I think the main thing was thinking about where I would store them. I'm getting claustrophobic in my kitchen. However, I would like to buy more from the Moroccan store - they are located in the SF Bay area, and I thought I might be motivated to visit!

Lars

What a wonderful assortment of folk art items! Love the basket and the mud cloth. But what does mud have to do wiith it?

I recently attended our local art and wine festival.

They have organized it interestingly. The patrons pay $10 to get in. The exhibitors are given free booth space but are asked to pay 10% of their sales. Nice for them! They have nothing to lose but time.

Much of the work was amateurish but this is only the second year. These are supposed to be local artists but I hope they branch out a bit. What's local anyway? Northern California, the West coast?

I passed on wine tasting. It was hot and I had to drive myself home. I was recently stopped in a sobriety checkpoint and let go, I'd rather not repeat the experience.

Here is a link that might be useful: Art and Wine in Modesto

I like that hat you gave away Lars - too bad it echoed! Was it a Vietnamese hat? Good sun coverage.

I lived in Hermosa Beach for 10 years and the Fiesta is twice a year, so I got burned out on that one. Plus it's one of the most expensive fairs for vendors, so the small artists can't afford to sell there.

I remember your Sequoia pictures. I also got vertigo on that rock! First time ever. You get up there and you can see 360 degrees around you and it's stunning, then all of a sudden, whoaaaaah! Vertigo!

Beautiful pictures, Lars! I always enjoy taking your photo tours!

Okay...I confess I do not know...what does one do with a mud cloth? It's pretty. Do you hang it? Drape it over furniture? Wear it? I'm curious because of it's name. Mud conjures up thoughts of, well, dirt, but the cloth is too pretty to associate with dirt. Just wondering?

Here's some infor on mud cloth making. It's called mud cloth because the dyes have the consistency of mud, I think, although the first dyeing is done with leaves that make the entire cloth yellow. The one I bought was completely yellow on the back, although it had white spots on the front. It's made from hand-woven cotton - actually all the processes are done by hand.

I expect my sister to drape this cloth over the black leather sofa in her living room. I've made several silk and cotton pillows for that room, and those might need to be rotated. I should probably get her to send me a picture of that room in case I need to make additional pillow covers. You can also hang them in windows, although I would think that might cause them to fade a bit.

I don't know where the other hat was made - I thought it was Chinese, but it might have been Thai or Vietnamese. I bought it for sun protection, and it worked well for that - much more practical than carrying a parasol. I've bought some nice glass at the Hermosa Fair, but I'm not sure if I'll make it there this year either.

Lars

How many people stopped and inquired about your hat this time, Lars?

Lars, I only had a chance to look at your first photos; boy it is hard to catch up with all the doings around here. I just wanted to post quickly about the great photos of your and Kevin's. I'll have to come back to do justice to the rest.

Thanks for always sharing your very interesting world.

Renée

Once again Lars you've giving me glimpses of "worlds & cultures" I never see here in my little neck of the woods . Thx . That's a beautiful piece of cloth-- you certainly have an eye for fabric !

Thank you, Lars. Yes, craftyrn...my thoughts exactly!!

Scott, no one asked me about my hat this time - they probably knew where it was from. There was a man at the festival who made similar hats but without the topknot decoration, which is one of the distinguishing features of my hat.

I would have liked to have kept the fabric myself, but I felt my sister would appreciate it. I would have hung it in a window as a curtain, and that would have fragmented my living room even more than it already is. Diane, I've done fabric designs myself, and some of them are somewhat similar to what I've seen in mud cloths. I really like the scale of those designs. I've done quite a bit of fabric painting in the past, often just to get the colors I wanted onto fabrics.

Thanks for checking the photos, Renée. I've not had much time for coming here myself, but I did love seeing the beautiful photos of your grandchildren - they make a very lovely group!

Lars