MOA at UBC continued...

The Museum of Anthropology 

UBC campus

if you have not seen the previous post please consider reading it before proceeding here,

it is the introduction...

Vintage Cowichan wool sweater

Slight segway...

my father had one very much like this one

he wore it traipsing around the province when he was employed by the BC Forest Service

I "borrowed" it on many occasions in my youth.

I bought my first Cowichan sweater when I was 15

with my BFF 

my current one was purchased with my BFF 

a couple of years ago

the Cowichan knitter's name is Arlene

here is my sweater

The art of knitting these sweaters could be lost

I spoke with an elder at Hills when I bought my lovely daughter a sweater in September this year

and she told me the young women are not embracing knitting these today...

It would be such as shame to lose these designs and warm water resistant garments.

and now back to the MOA!

masks 

cases and cases 

of carvings

works representing all the major tribes from BC

I have a particular fondness for First Nations baskets

(if you go back into my early blog posts you can see the baskets)

I confess that I was overwhelmed by the variety and number here at the museum and after awhile stopped taking photographs

I was on sensory overload!

dolls

look at the patterns and motifs...

I have never seen a table such as this!

we walked through several rooms 

cases and drawers full

Meandering and weaving through rooms

and then an open space...

prepare yourself...

this carving was made out of one large tree trunk

skill and craft merge

from all angles it is brilliant

I walk around many times in awe...

look closely at the details

Read about Bill Reid here,

I hope that you can read the plaque

The Koerner's commissioned this piece for their garden!

The museum has many other displays

a collection of ceramics

Japanese, Chinese, and Inuvit art

travelling shows

films and photographs.

We focused exclusively on the First Nations collection

and were not disappointed

and were most impressed.

We spent a rainy Sunday afternoon perusing this museum

which has a

 tea room, gift shop and grounds with totems, outbuildings 

and paths with reflecting pools 

I encourage you to visit if you ever find yourself in Vancouver, BC

this place is a treasure

bring your camera

it is a photograph friendly place.

I'll leave you with this lasting image

of 

admission stickers

not recycled

in the suggested container inside the museum!

urban art 

at the

crosswalk to the car park...

and as a post script

P.S.

I worked at UBC...not far from the MOA

at the Computing Centre

Computer Sciences Building

mid 70's 

(a beautiful campus located slightly south and west of the city)

 the IBM mainframe computers took up several rooms

the technologists

sat at a desk with a space age looking dashboard of dials and lights

they would manually feed the tapes onto the disk drives

we had card readers

(which jammed on a regular basis)

and dial up was the handset of a telephone resting in a connection box!

How far we have come from coastal villages of indigenous peoples

to 

communicating via the internet

and blogging on laptops...

MOA at UBC

Recently I had the opportunity to visit a wonderful museum at The University of British Columbia...
the Museum of Anthropology.

The building is exquisite.
I am in awe of it's beauty.
Words fail me here...
I will add images so that you can appreciate the amazing space that the architect has designed to house the collection.
The architect responsible is the late Arthur Erickson....you can read more about him here.

 in the parking lot we see the banners hung from the lamp standards

a water feature near the front entrance

I like the grey of the rough concrete wall

as a backdrop to this organic First Nations Totem

First Nations Boxes were made from one piece of wood.

The wood was heated until the it could be bent and fashioned into shape

carved and painted

Boxes inlaid with abalone shells

carved totem, figure, mural

 and a dugout canoe

The designs used by local tribes are recognized world wide

the art and skills are being passed down and work is currently available locally.

Floor to ceiling windows create the feeling of being outdoors

there is nothing about the building design that competes with what is on display.

I happen to be at the MOA with a partner in a local architectural firm...

someone who has the inside knowledge of structure, design, construction, and engineering

 who is rivited

 observing the intricate details that have been employed to erect such a world class structure...

he's asking me to take photographs

and I happily oblige

I think he's overwhelmed!

totems

it is a vast and open space

carved wood posts and beams were used as an entry feature by the First Nations people in their architecture

the contemporary concrete and glass structure alludes to the carved wood posts and beams of the traditonal first peoples entry feature

I will be posting more from the MOA

stay tuned...

Looking, seeing and remembering...

What is this?

prisms of light

like little Junebugs flying in the forest of trees...

illuminating

a fall afternoon

on the walls of the Humble Bungalow

October 13th was my father's day of birth

he would have been 87 today

I am remembering him today

a man of few words

who never shunned a challenge

a learned scholar of life

a man of strength and conviction

with moral fortitude

he walked a path not always of his choosing

he sacrificed

he toiled

he never complained

but followed his destiny 

with his head held high

 plagued by ill health 

he chose his time 

he told the doctors

he'd had enough

I'll never know how hard a decision that must have been for him

I only know how hard it was for me.

I owe you a lot Dad

as you gave me much

and I am forever in your debt.

Thank you

I see lights today

they are not candles on a cake

but natural rays of beauty

and I post them in your honour

a simple beeswax pillar candle in a sterling dish

The largest of the flock of Ojibwa duck decoys that sit atop the Humble Bungalow mantle

For solace I connect with nature through a garden walkabout

camera in hand

the light is lovely

the white hydrangeas in the front garden

lattice shadows on the back deck 

lovely daughter made this for me when she took pottery classes

she must have been about 12 years old

I love it!

looking around the deck...

my sister brought this back from her travels

swiss chard hunkered down in the raised bed waiting for harvest

ornamental grass plants

I am a sucker for varigated foliage

back garden hydrangea

grown from a potted plant given to me when my father passed away

how timely it blooms

clematis still blooming today

what a trooper!

evidence of autumn

colours

muting and changing

heralding a season of change

a time to hunker down

and layer on warm wooly sweaters

and cocoon in the warmth of the hearth and home.

Stay snug, stay close, and hug often.

AH-CHOO...

I am not good at being sick

in fact 

I am the most impatient patient

the Bungalow has ever seen.

When the flu or the common cold strike

 I don my nurses cap and gear up to practise medicine

the only way I know

in a holistic and natural way

employing organic and healthy tonics and salves

Nom Jim cough syrup

Ginseng

hot honey and lemon

chewable zinc with vitamin C

hot water bottles

cold cloths

TLC

and the best ammunition

the biggest gun in the west

homemade chicken soup.

Mr. HB is stoic and brave and complains very little when he is under the weather

(I'd like him to let me "baby" him)

before they left home

my children would be happy to lie in front of the TV snuggled under their puffy duvets 

and they allowed me to dote on them

in fact I think they thrived on it!

I would attend to their every whim

buy them treats

( they had to be genuinely ill, not faking it for a day off school)

I have been sneezing all day

my throat feels scratchy

and my nose feels full 

like a wad of cotton wool is hiding inside

so....

On the way home I picked up some chicken bones

 for making soup and stock

I like the breasts and backs for this purpose

and in case you have never bought these they are a bargain

  $3.00

for the 3 packages that I bought.

Humble Bungalow 

Chicken Soup

In a large pot put bones in 6 cups water in to boil

add several diced peeled carrots and simmer for an hour

then

separate bones from stock

Saute 1-2 large diced onions in a knob of butter until soft

cool until you can work with the bones without burning your hands

add chicken stock to the onions

add the cooked carrots

debone and add the chicken bits to thje pot

stir and season

I use about 2 teaspoons of salt

and a tablespoon of Herbes de Provence

and a generous grind of fresh pepper

stir and bring to a boil

add 2 cups dry noodles

Stir and simmer 

until noodles are soft

adding more water if necessary

Serve

and get well soon!

I think tomorrow will be a PJ Day for me...

stay home all day, read my book, blogs, drink tea, sup soup and maybe catch a chick flick on TV.