We're under an emergency alert for flash flooding, and torrential rain, thunder and lightning have altered today's plans.

I'm happily settled inside, recovering all of my dining room chairs with a striped velvet that is much more complimentary to the furniture in the adjoining living room. I used the same fabric in the rose velvet pillow.. It's been a productive day in spite of a change of plans. 

This came up on my Facebook memories today! What a fabulous event! The Pride of the Susquehanna is docked on the river in Harrisburg, PA and the atmosphere is delightful. We had a catered dinner as we cruised down the river and then had our training. I even had people come from out of state! So many wonderful memories.

One of these days I'd love to do the Hidden Treasures Styles on the pirate ship in the harbor in Baltimore!

​The last few weeks have been overflowing with color and kitsch, both here in Baltimore and on recent travels. Seeing so many vibrant creations - kinetic and still sculptures, statues. screens, jewelry and even menus was a whimsical delight. From now on, in addition to museums, natural and historic sites, and more typical tourist attractions, I plan to seek out whimsy when I'm touring!  I returned with my sketch book over flowing and numerous ideas for gifts, home and garden!

Baltimore, MD
Kinetic Sculpture Race 
​
On Saturday, May 5, we headed to the harbor early to see the start of the kinetic sculpture race, followed by lunch at Marie Louise Bistro and a stroll through historic Mt. Vernon for their annual Flower Mart. 
Baltimore's Visionary Art Museum's annual kinetic sculpture race - "a race through Baltimore of wacky, imaginative, TOTALLY HUMAN-POWERED WORKS OF ART, DESIGNED TO TRAVEL ON LAND, THROUGH MUD, AND OVER DEEP BALTIMORE INNER HARBOR WATERS, constructed out of used bicycles, gears, and parts, created by a lunatic genius who tinkers around in the garage or backyard.

Jim Thorpe, PA
This is just a small sampling of the delights in Jim Thorpe. I've narrowed the number of photos down by focusing on all things Alice in Wonderful!

Every day Nasrudin went to beg for alms in the market, and people used to make fun of him by playing the following trick: they would show him two coins, one worth ten times more than the other, and Nasrudin would always choose the smaller coin.

The story went round the whole province.
Day after day, groups of men and women would show him the two coins, and Nasrudin would always choose the smaller one.

Then one day, a generous man, tired of seeing Nasrudin ridiculed in this fashion, beckoned him over to a corner of the square and said:

‘When they offer you two coins, you should choose the larger one. That way you would earn more money and people wouldn’t consider you an idiot.’

‘That sounds like good advice,’ replied Nasrudin, ‘but if I chose the larger coin, people would stop offering me money, because they like to believe that I am even more stupid than they are. You’ve no idea how much money I’ve earned using this trick.

“There’s nothing wrong with looking like a fool if, in fact, you’re being really clever.’

Yesterday was our final session for the Exploring Rainbows course. As with many of my courses, the workshop was set up alphabetically to prompt me to think more creatively. We went through the alphabet for each color, as well as the rainbow. The letter U  for each color represented something  "unexpected". This was the Unexpected reference in the blue section. 
​And yes, it's ok to be smart!