thinkceleste-blog

[thinkceleste-blog]

The #AtoZChallenge is about posting an entry every weekday in April, using a letter of the alphabet each day to write about something.

April 25’s entry is U… and the only thing I could think of:

Undies.

  Caution to the wind…

  Can you actually say that your mom never cautioned you to always wear nice, clean underwear just in case of an accident and/or a visit to an emergency ward?

In all these years I considered it to be a horrible notion that silently called, almost wished for, a disaster to happen.  Nevertheless, when my daughter was old enough to change her own undies, “use clean underwear” was her first life lesson!  Of course, I was in charge of supplying pretty ones.

I must confess that my family is always amused at my undies.  They are nice, big, comfortable bloomer like objects that, if needed could easily be used as spinnakers in a regatta.

Just like the gradual evolution from Ethiopia’s Lucy hominid to modern humans, my undies slowly, almost unobtrusively, migrated from Victoria Secret lace and tulle concoctions to comfy cotton drawers.

They have, though, always been clean!

As you can imagine, all my visits to the doctor’s office have been planned, with a careful choice of undies planned weeks ahead, along with the initial appointment.

Except for…

A few weeks ago I had a nasty fall in a destroyed sidewalk.  We were just entering a delightful tea house with Sabrina, my daughter, and her aunt and cousin.  On the way in I tripped on a loose tile and fell to the floor, hitting my knee fiercely.  I stubbornly decided a little fall would not ruin the outing.  Yet, as the minutes passed, the pain increased, as well as the swelling on my knee, so I finally had to ask my daughter to drive me to the Hospital.

The moments waiting for the doctor, and then the xray, were spent worrying over my undies, regretting that I HAD NOT listen to my mother’s admonitions!  I did not consider the possibility of a knee implant, or on having to use a walking stick for the rest of my life.  I dreaded the moment that the doctor would confirm I was not wearing my best lingerie.

Although the medical observation was very thorough, I must admit that it did not include deciphering the size, color or decoration of my drawers.  Luckily it also ruled out any permanent knee damage.

Nonetheless, I’ve decided to visit a vintage shop to pick up some frilly lace or eyelet in an effort to beautify my foundation garments.

Have any of you had a close encounter of the 3rd Kind involving your knickers, bloomers, or thongs? I’d love to read about it!

———————————–

I had a late start with the #AtoZChallenge, but these are the entries to my challenge so far:

My April 21, 2017 post was R: About Resolutions and the Road to Heaven.

My April 22, 2017 post was S: Where I wrote about Sabrina and the split second when my life changed.

In my April 24, 2017 post I used T: Tulips, Tiramisu and Traditions.

      Today’s U is dedicated to Undies … #atozchallenge The #AtoZChallenge is about posting an entry every weekday in April, using a letter of the alphabet each day to write about something.

[thinkceleste-blog]

  The A to Z Challenge’s letter for today is T.

Tulips, Tiramisu and Traditions:

I’d stiffly hold the creature hoping it would not twist its tiny paws in my new cascade earrings or regurgitate into my soft cashmere sweater, not feeling anything else but sincere relief when it was returned safely to its mother’s arms.  The latter infallibly staring at me in disbelief that I did not, could not, find her offspring the most delightful creation!

As far as I could remember babies were something people shoved into my arms erroneously hoping that they would somehow awaken some sort of ancestral motherly instinct.

And so it was, until a very cold December: my first nephew was born.  Sebastian was the first baby born into our families, turning the lot of us into first time parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents.

I flew to Manhattan from Buenos Aires to spend Christmas and New Years, and to help with the chore of this new baby which landed onto a houseful of inexperienced adults.

Of course, as happens in any neophyte family, I was immediately asked to sterilize my hands before touching the new born.  Everyone was asked if they were sterile if they approached closer than three feet from the bassinet.  As you can imagine, that practice quickly became obsolete as the days passed by.

When the creature was carefully placed in my newly germ-free hands, a feeling warm and tingly came over me, and I witnessed firsthand what the term “bonding” meant.  I immediately fell in love with this impeccably swaddled baby and I realized, without regrets, I had somehow crossed over to the cooing and baby loving crowd.

Seven educated adults spent their waking hours talking of baby feeding times, diaper rashes, and what color poop The Prince had made that day.  I should say poops in plural, because I never imagined a 7 1/2 pound being could produce so much per day!!

My father used to film us with an 8mm camera, and to keep up with tradition, Alejandra, my sister would record every aspect of the baby’s life on video.  You have no idea how hard it was to film Sebastian’s baths alongside seven rather large adults cramming into a normal Manhattan kitchen (close to 2 feet wide by 3 feet long).

Tulips, Tiramisu and Traditions are what most come to mind when I remember that December in 1991.

My sister had had a very arduous and prolonged labor, and was terribly tired and sore.  Peter, her husband, was virtually overwhelmed with baby bottles and diapers, and when I arrived, I instantaneously offered my help.  Alejandra at once trusted me with her son’s well being.  Only after I had my own child did I realize and appreciate how much confidence that showed towards me.

Christening Day came… St Thomas Moore was the church paternal grandmother, Sylvia, suggested for such a significant occasion.  It’s a delightful chapel suggesting a cozy English country church, along with a small garden in front.  For years she had safely treasured an incredibly delicate embroidered baby gown which her son and now new father, Peter, had worn in his christening, and she now presented it the new parents.

Sylvia and Sebastian in his christening gown, made by hand in Chile.

That gown has become part of the family tradition… It has also been used by my daughter Sabrina, and by Sebastian’s brother Philip.  I am now the custodian of the beautiful creation, so future generations can use it.

After the ceremony, when we returned to the apartment, I noticed the coffee table was crowned with a lavish vase of hothouse tulips, which were an extravagance, but the occasion well deserved it.

My mother, and Sebastian’s grandmother, sitting in front of the tulips.

After lunch, when my mother produced a luscious Tiramisu for dessert I was surprised by her choice… she had never made it before.  I had thought she served it to start a new family tradition, but with her characteristic detachment she mentioned she had seen mascarpone cheese on sale. Notwithstanding, I cannot see a tiramisu recipe without thinking of Sebastian and his special day.

Maybe it was in rebellion to the noticeable detachment from our mother’s part, that my sister and I became so unwavering with forging traditions for our families.  Sometimes schedules and just life distract us towards different paths, but we both somehow manage to steadfastly continue with these traditions that hopefully will be passed on to many generations.

The Rossettis and The Ryans… a big happy family!

  Please leave comments: I’d love to read your comments about having a child… that wondrous feeling of ALL!

    My April 21, 2017 post was R…. about Resolutions, intentions and goals.

My April 22, 2017 post was S… about Sabrina, my joy, my daughter.

  T is for Tulips, Tiramisu and Traditions … #atozchallenge The A to Z Challenge’s letter for today is T. Tulips, Tiramisu and Traditions: I'd stiffly hold the creature hoping it would not twist its tiny paws in my new cascade earrings or regurgitate into my soft cashmere sweater, not feeling anything else but sincere relief when it was returned safely to its mother's arms.  

[thinkceleste-blog]

The silence is soft like the gauze curtains masking the closed shutters.  As I open my eyes I can feel the crisp sheets against my clean skin.  All signs of the grueling past hours are gone, leaving only a faint soreness that’s mitigated by the strange mixture of apprehension, fear and happiness.

My head turns and as I look at the wallpaper, cool cornflower blue striped with white, my eyes stop at the framed poster hanging in front of me.

In the midst of this unknown blend of emotions, I study the serene landscape.  A delightful and colorful garden surrounds a quaint thatched cottage.  There are no people in the scene and yet it’s not a lonely one.  It’s actually quite soothing.

Although I am quite comfortable, I feel a quirk of anxiety: a combination of fearing the future but wanting it to start immediately!

My mouth feels as if it’s lined with a grey dish rag.  I realize I haven’t washed my teeth, nor had anything to drink since last night.

I notice the dash of sunlight that streams though the shutters and I wonder what time it is.  I try to calculate how many minutes, hours? have passed since 8:36.

Many years of trivial 8:36s have come and gone until this split second changed my life…

Sabrina was born…

Sabrina is my daughter, Sabrina is my joy, Sabrina makes my life wonderful!

  Sabrina 22 years old

Sabrina 4 years old

Sabrina 2 days old

    I’d love to read your comments about having a child… that wondrous feeling of ALL!

My April 21, 2017 post was R…. about Resolutions, intentions and goals.

S is for Sabrina … #atozchallenge The silence is soft like the gauze curtains masking the closed shutters.  As I open my eyes I can feel the crisp sheets against my clean skin. 

[thinkceleste-blog]

R relates to April 21, 2017

I happened to bump into the #AtoZChallenge looking for god-knows-what in the web.  It sounds very interesting, and although I’m really late in the game, I thought I would try my hand at this challenge!

This challenge is about posting an entry every weekday in April, using each letter of the alphabet a day.  People choose different themes, some write haikus, others about fears they’d like to overcome.

What I especially found so interesting of this challenge is the wide variety of entries, from fiction to nonfiction, and in all sorts of genre.

From some of the ones I’ve read, I thoroughly enjoyed two entries:  The first is by Geoff Le Pard.  In his description, he writes “Earlier in the show, at G is for… I recounted my experiences with Gertie my guinea pig. And I’ve told of the family dog, Punch and my parents’ cat Misty whose poem, written by dad, I revealed a while ago.”  They are wonderful stories!

The other entry I really enjoyed was Andrea Lundgren’s, with pointers for fiction writers.  Her entry for O is informative: “There comes a time in your story when you have to define the opposition. Your characters can be on the run from enemies for a while without indicating who they are and why they’re after them, but eventually, you need to give some details about what they’re up against.”

I hope I’ll have time to post all 10 of the remaining entries.

Hope hope hope… my dad used to say that the road to heaven is paved with good intentions!  And although I was very small when I first heard it, I seem to use his quote many times a week!

As years go by you realize it is not the end of the world not to reach your goal, but it is very important to set a goal and to do your best to achieve a good result!

So I choose Road to Heaven as my R phrase, and with it I render a real resolution to write 10 riveting reports for the remainder of April by Rossetti!

#atozzchallenge

      Road to Heaven is my R phrase … #atozchallenge R relates to April 21, 2017 I happened to bump into the #AtoZChallenge looking for god-knows-what in the web.  

[thinkceleste-blog]

Smile #22: Getting ready for the Easter Bunny! Roses, salvia and lemon verbena alongside our family made Easter ornaments.  Rabbit by Philip; eggs by Sabrina. Click the link in my bio to see how to make these Fabergé style eggs. . . . #smiles #flowers #bloom #foliage #blossom #photooftheday #colorful #IloveFlowers #beautiful #pretty #mothernature #petal #52smiles #vase #rose  #ceramic #pottery #Ilovemygarden #petals #nofilter #pottery #countrygardenroses #hybridtea #easter #eastereggs #iloveeaster #fabergé #coldporcelain #porcelanafria (at Ingeniero Maschwitz)

[thinkceleste-blog]

Bunny time 🐰. . Fabergé style DIY cold porcelain decorated eggs. . #lovemyhome #photooftheday #inspiredway #thinkceleste #GoodVives #picoftheday #lifestyle #happyhome #myhome #homesweethome #homeinspiration #hobby #crafts #homeiswheretheheartis #diy #creativity #littlethings #simplethings #mycountryhome #cottagehome #cottagestyle #easter #easteregg #coldporcelain #porcelanafria #faberge (at Ingeniero Maschwitz)

[thinkceleste-blog]

As always, I like to remind you that this blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.  Thank you for supporting this site with purchases made through links in this article.

Now on to the Good Stuff!

It’s no secret that Martha Stewart inspired many of us way back when the internet did not exist, when we marveled on the beautiful books she published, superbly giving us tips on cooking and decorating for family celebrations.

For someone living in far off Argentina, these books were treasures.  I would linger over them with a nice cup of coffee, dreamily planning my family gatherings around them.

Many years ago, I read a wonderful idea by Martha Stewart in her book Good Things (Best of Martha Stewart Living), suggesting her readers use egg ornaments for Easter, showing a beautiful egg topiary, and also hinting that they could also be hung on a “tree” made with a branch.

About that time I had the rare opportunity to see the wonderful Forbes Fabergé collection, the largest private collection of Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs, owned by the Forbes family before it was sold privately to the Russian oil and gas magnate, Victor Vekselberg.  In the end of this post I put together a description of these jewels.

Mr. Forbes exhibited these eggs at his own museum of art and collectibles, annexed to the offices of Forbes Magazine at 60 Fifth Avenue.  This building is now owned by NYU (New York University).

Coincidentally I found this video made by Martha Stewart, describing the beautiful eggs!

Anyway, I decided to start my own collection of Easter Eggs, with idealistic imaginings of imitating the Fabergé eggs.

    There were sooo many eggs, that I took Martha Stewart’s suggestion, and started what is now a full flung Rossetti tradition!  We started hanging the eggs on a tree, a poplar branch which my daughter dragged home when she was about 5 years old.  Years later we spray painted it white, but at first we enjoyed it natural.

First with my daughter Sabrina, and then also with my nieces, Isabel and Antonia, we decorated quaint quasi jewel-like eggs, and so our egg collection grew.  My two nephews, Sebastian and Philip, and Pablo, my brother, joined in the creativity and I now have rabbits, eggs, and baskets made by my whole family, which I proudly display every Easter.

  Another great idea for Easter is to use the cold porcelain and a bunny cookie cutter to make these quaint bunny magnets for your refrigerator!

  The Eggs:

To make these colorful eggs, we use “Cold Porcelain”, with an inset of small styrofoam balls to make the center.  Of course, I like to make the eggs vary in sizes, which makes the tree even more interesting!

We painted these cold porcelain eggs with acrylic paints and decorated with 3D Color Glitter Glue, sequins, pearls and all sorts of bling that we found around the house.

Cold Porcelain:

At first I tried working with Salt Dough, but the high humidity here in Ingeniero Maschwitz made that project a disaster.  The dough never hardened, and it actually became softer as the days went by!

Cold porcelain is an inexpensive, non-toxic, very easy-to-work-with material. Despite its name it is not porcelain, its main components are cornstarch and white craft glue.  Cold porcelain has a much finer finish than salt dough, and it hardens dry, even in very humid climates.  It air dries overnight, so it is ideal for weekend projects!

It can be purchased commercially or can be made at home.  Here’s the Cold Porcelain link to purchase my favorite on Amazon.  Cold porcelain is known by many different names, such as as porcelana fria here in Argentina.

If you prefer to make your own, you can find many different recipes for cold porcelain.  The paste is prepared by cooking on the stove or in the microwave for a brief time and then kneaded until smooth.  I prefer the stove top method, because I always fret that I’ll overcook the dough in the microwave.

My favorite recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

1 cup (250 cc) cornstarch (sifted, with no lumps)

1 cup (250 cc) white craft glue

2 Tbsp (30cc) baby oil or liquid Vaseline, for the sheen

2 Tbsp (30 cc) vinegar used as preservative

Procedure:

Mix the ingredients in a saucepan.

Stir over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat once it starts pulling away from the side of the pan.  Cool slightly.

Put some baby oil or liquid vaseline (whatever you used for the dough) on your hands, and knead continually until the dough reaches room temperature.

Using a Ziploc Storage Quart Bags or plastic wrap, store the dough for 24 hours in a cool, dry location away from direct sunlight.

The dough will be ready to use after this 24 hour rest. After that point you can adjust the consistency by kneading in additional oil to correct overly dry dough, or with cornstarch to correct sticky dough.

If you’d like to make colored porcelain, knead the color of your choice in thoroughly before you begin.  You can add acrylic paint during the initial kneading while making the cold porcelain.  I have also successfully colored it with food coloring.  My favorite method is to paint with acrylic paint after the eggs dry.

Shaping:

Knead each piece before you shape it. Every time you use a new piece of clay, knead it first to increase its elasticity.

Shape the clay into the desired shape. I used the Styrofoam balls so that I didn’t have to use too much dough, and so it would dry faster.  Use such a base for large pieces. Cold porcelain shrinks significantly as it dries, and a large piece may not dry sufficiently all the way through.

I attached 8mm eyelet pins while the dough was moist.  These will be used to hang the ornaments.

If you want to add pieces of dough, they can be glued together using ordinary white craft glue.

Leave the eggs to dry. Cold porcelain requires no additional cooking and will harden simply when exposed to air.

How long this takes depends greatly on the size of your eggs, the overall weather temperature, and the humidity of the air. Keep checking until it is hard.

Once dry, have an egg decorating party!  Every guest can bring their own bling to decorate the eggs.

  “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

Fabergé Imperial Eggs… their story:

The jeweled Fabergé eggs, possibly numbering as many as 69, were created by the House of Fabergé. Most of them were manufactured under the supervision of the goldsmith Peter Carl Fabergé between 1885 and 1917. The most famous are those made for the Russian Czars Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers. The House of Fabergé made 50 such “Imperial” Easter eggs, of which 43 still survive. Two planned for Easter 1917 were not delivered because of the Russian Revolution in which the Romanov Dynasty was overthrown and all the members of the imperial family executed.

The Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs are certainly the most celebrated and awe-inspiring of all Fabergé works of art.

The story began in 1885, when Emperor Alexander III decided to give a gold Easter egg to his wife the Empress Marie Fedorovna, possibly to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. The Emperor gave detailed instructions regarding the design of the egg, making further suggestions to Fabergé as the project progressed.

Easter is the most important occasion of the year in the Russian Orthodox Church, equivalent to Christmas in the West. A centuries-old tradition of bringing hand-colored eggs to Church to be blessed and then presented to friends and family, had evolved through the years and, among the highest echelons of St. Petersburg society, the custom developed of presenting valuable bejeweled Easter gifts.

The first Imperial Easter egg was born.

Known as the Hen Egg, it is crafted from gold, its opaque white enameled “shell” opening to reveal its first surprise, a matte yellow gold yolk. This in turn opens to reveal a multi-colored, superbly chased gold hen that also opens. Originally, this contained a minute diamond replica of the Imperial Crown from which a small ruby pendant egg was suspended. Unfortunately these last two surprises have been lost.

Photos ©FabergeThePerfectGift.com

The Empress’s delight at this intriguing gift with its hidden jeweled surprises was the starting point for the yearly Imperial tradition that continued for 32 years until 1917 and produced the most opulent and captivating Easter gifts the world has ever seen.

Each egg, an artistic work of art, took a year or more to make, involving a team of highly skilled craftsmen, who worked in the greatest secrecy. From 1887 Fabergé was given complete freedom in the design and execution, with the only prerequisite being that there had to be surprise within each creation. Dreaming up each complex concept, Fabergé often drew on family ties, events in Imperial Court life, or the milestones and achievements of the Romanov dynasty, as in the Fifteenth Anniversary Egg of 1911, commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of Nicholas II’s accession to the throne, or the Romanov Tercentenary Egg of 1913 that celebrated 300 years of the House of Romanov.

Although the theme of the Easter eggs changed annually, the element of surprise remained a constant link between them. The surprises ranged from a perfect miniature replica of the Coronation carriage, that took 15 months to make working 16-hour days, through a mechanical swan and an ivory elephant, to a heart-shaped frame on an easel with 11 miniature portraits of members of the Imperial family.

One of the most expensive was the 1913 Winter Egg, which was invoiced at 24,600 rubles (then £2,460), equivalent to approximately usd 3,5 million in today’s money.

Photo credit: Miek’s Fabergé Eggs

The Winter Egg, designed by Alma Pihl, famed for her series of diamond snowflakes, is made of carved rock crystal as thin as glass. This is embellished with engraving, and ornamented with platinum and diamonds, to resemble frost. The egg rests on a rock-crystal base designed as a block of melting ice. Its surprise is a magnificent and platinum basket of exuberant wood anemones. The flowers are made from white quartz, nephrite, gold and demantoid garnets and they emerge from moss made of green gold. Its overall height is 14.2cm (5.5″). It is set with 3,246 diamonds. The egg sold at Christie’s in New York in 2002 for US$9.6 million.

One of my favorite is the Lillies of the Valley Egg. It was presented by Czar Nicholas II to his wife, Alexandra.  This egg’s surprise is “elevated” out of the egg by twisting a gold-mounted pearl button. When fully raised, three portraits are visible under the Imperial crown set with a ruby: Czar Nicholas II and his two oldest daughters, Olga and Tatiana, painted on ivory. The portraits are framed in rose diamonds and backed with gold panels engraved with the presentation date of July 31, 1898.

The Quick 10: 10 Faberge Egg Surprises by Stacy Conradt

My other favorite is the The Bay Tree Egg. It’s 30cm (12″) high, and is made of diamonds, citrines, amethysts, rubies, agate and pearls, and, of course, gold and enamel.

Tsar Nicholas gave this egg to his widowed mother in 1911.  Hidden between the leaves on the tree egg was a little gold winding mechanism tucked inside. Turning it, the top part of the egg rose up and a tiny little feathered nightingale popped out to sing, flap its wings and move its beak. When he was done singing, the bird and the top of the egg all descended back down.

photo credit: Gatchino Jewelers

  Our first family egg hunt with my nephew Sebastian and daughter Sabrina was organized by Alejandra, my sister, in my parents’ house and wonderful garden, which is actually where I still live.  This garden has given me years of memories and comfort, with wonderful nature encompassing me.

Sebastian and Pablo, Easter 2016

DIY Fabergé Easter Eggs As always, I like to remind you that this blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.