The Spanish south coast may register Europe's hottest ever day on Saturday. Some forecasters are saying it will reach 49 ( 120 in American money ). Here we're expected to be in the high 30's, possibly nudging 40. Not ideal for long haired dogs. They're allowed out in the morning and then ( barring comfort breaks ) in the evening. The tarmac too hot for sensitive paws. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-45048914
Thank you for those loyal blog readers who suggested frozen yogurt cubes. An ice cube dropped in a pot an eighth full of yogurt also works wonders.
Angus goes to London to talk to men in dark suits. They choose what turns out to be an unairconditioned restaurant on Jermyn Street for dinner . In the heat this is not ideal. Everyone is getting ready to strap themselves in for an 'exciting' ride through to the November midterms. We chuckle at the words of Winston Churchill - 'I am an optimist. It doesn't seem too much use being anything else '. No one knows what an ostrich jacket is.
An afternoon in the National Gallery with Michigan Godson en route to Ann Arbor.
We agree there's a great book to be written on dogs in art. As we go through the galleries Chinese tourists crowd round us wondering what we're looking at. From the 13th century to the 17th there are a surprising number of canine companions worked into the corner of pictures.
Angus thinks this dog looking upwards is well painted. Michigan thinks the neck is too long and belongs to a giraffe. The dog has a kind face.
Some artists seem never to have seen a dog and are painting what they imagine one might look like. There again they may just be bad at painting dogs.
The flight back is delayed and delayed and delayed. It finally lands at Toulouse at one thirty in the morning. By this stage passengers and cabin crew are all hot and tired and veering towards being uniformly crotchety. Angus spends the night at an airport hotel before being picked up at nine. Sophie is delighted I've returned. She knows she can twist Angus round her paw. 'The Font' is altogether less susceptible to slipping her treats when the family diva tries on her 'orphan dog that's never eaten' routine. Bob celebrates with twenty minutes of mano a mano touch rugby along the full length of the upstairs hall floor. 'The Font' wonders if canine touch rugby should be renamed 'Dogby' or perhaps more correctly ' Noisy Dogby'.
This is a hidden but architecturally stunning new museum in London : https://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/plan-your-visit/the-queens-diamond-jubilee-galleries/
16 comments:
The men in dark suits may think the lead-up to the midterms is "exciting," but those of us closer and more at risk find it all quite terrifying. I've just read a piece from Esquire discussing things like ostrich and python jackets and pointing out, in no uncertain terms, that money cannot buy good taste.
I think that upward-looking dog is meant to be something like a wolfhound, but it's disproportionate. The neck is too long, and the face too human, as if it were painted separately. Nice rendering of the fur, though.
Surely someone has already written a book about dogs in art? It seems such an obvious subject (but possibly only to someone who blogs in the voice of her dog!)
The recent heat in France came up in a report I read on energy prices yesterday. Apparently, in addition to Europe's 'wind drought', output from France's many nuclear power stations is down because river water is so warm that cooling of the reactors is becoming a problem.
I am wondering if the ice cube in the eighth full yoghurt pot is one step towards the mythical yoghurt pot that spontaneously refills itself?
Cheers, Gail.
There probably are books on dogs in art but I've never seen one. Interesting that so many clients made sure their pooh was included in the portrait. Yes, the water in the nuclear power station reservoirs is warming up but thankfully the heavy rains last month have kept water levels in the rivers up. When the levels drop and the temperatures rise is when the problems begin.
Thank you. The idea of the ice cube as an ever refilling yogurt pot made me chuckle.
There was much discussion of Kavanaugh and what his appointment would mean - which might count as terrifying. Good taste and ostrich jackets seem to be incompatible although I still don't know what one looks like. Agree on the fur.
Have now seen a picture of an ostrich jacket in this mornings WaPo. Am hugely disappointed its not fluffy and feathery.
Wearing a suit (dark or otherwise) in those temperatures must be classed as attempted suicide!!
Anything that you eat cold could be, in theory, frozen - yesterday I advised my son to freeze sachets of Capri Sun drinks for his twins. He, my son, doesn't remember this, but when he was their age (almost 3) he never drank Capri Sun but had it as a sort of slush, straight from the freezer. It WAS in Nigeria, so not unlike the weather now across Europe... Mashed fruit, frozen slices of watermelon or pineapple, semifreddo rice with milk (or stock if it is for the dogs), the list goes on. But...ice cube in a yogurt pot is the dream come true, isn't it ;)
I choose to sit in water in this weather, maybe a paddling pool for S&B would be an equivalent??
And to think that in Scotland, right now, they have a truly perfect summer - about 21 degrees....
P.S. I actually own a book on dogs in art. Published in Poland some 20 years ago. It was given to our daughter for looking after a dog on a holiday when the rightful owners had to go back to Warsaw on business. The dog (who was a very good lookalike of a PON from the legs up, down from the main dogs he had legs like a dachshund) loved our daughter and each evening he would bring his sleeping mat to her bed! she loved him too. To the point that when we were leaving the place first, he ran after the car for 2km. We took him back and he tried to to do the same again. Anyway, so - there is a book!
Something I'd not noticed before was the huge number of slush vendors in London. They seemed to be selling something bright blue that was hugely popular with overly hot tourists. The prices were outrageous - but there again who knows what the value of blue slush really is when it's 30+ degrees?
Exactly! It is called Slush Puppy or, in the 70s in Poland - the Tatra snow! raspberry snow or lemon slow....now, the posh word is "granita"!
things are only worth what people are prepared to pay for it...like 5 strawberries and a spoonful of cream for a fiver at Wimbledon (or maybe more?)....try making slush. if not for yourself, then for S&B. and maybe not bright blue..
Hari Om
West coast Scotland has been 13'C, wet and windy for a week now. Summer as normal. A few other places are getting better than this though... Yxx
Hari OM
Yes, there are many books about dogs in art, most looking at breeds, or specific artists, or eras... THIS ONE, though, appears to be quite comprehensive. In early paintings, the dogs were used for symbolism of loyalty, devotion and such like and not so much for their intrinsic value as dogs. I used to freeze bananas and watermelon for Jade for the Aussie summers. Mana from heaven, according to the drooling they got! YAM xx
Thanks for the link. It looks like a worthwhile book. There's a link on the page whih took me to this rather clever Banksy work :https://www.artofthestate.co.uk/graffiti/cans_festival_banksy_cave_painting.htm
M'Ongoose,
I own a book called Dogs in Galleries, which I bought at the Uffizi a while back. It was published by sillabe s.r.i. in 2003. It's delightful!
Yes, there are many dogs in art books - I own several. On Amazon, just type in "dogs in art" in the book department. There are Dogs in the Louvre, Dogs in the Met, Dogs in Art Throughout History, etc... William Secord, who owns a charming gallery of dog paintings in NYC, has written several, too.
...thanks for the Banksy link in return, Angus - the bloke's a genius! I didn't see that link - but then I have adblocker on, which thaty may have fallen under. Yxx
There is a wonderful portrait of a 16C man in black in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. He is holding in his arms the cutest fluffiest little white dog. It is so obviously a much loved pet.
Look at tapestries too for wonderful depictions of dogs.
With this heat I am considering aestivation. Plenty of suitable caves here.
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