Chile is full of stunning street art.

Throughout Chile, large and small towns, are decorated with amazing open-air art, that is valued by the country and citizenry.

In Punta Arenas for example, the local government issued a statement saying that street art, “is a cultural manifestation, scenery which makes the walls more attractive and vital.”

The Punta Arenas city council actually financed a 400 metre section of street art.

They actively encourage street art in other parts of this most charming southerly city.

Santiago, Valparaiso, and Puerto Montt, all have a plethora of amazing open-air art.

Post the repressive Pinochet regime,

Chilean citizens exuberantly embrace and exercise their artistic talent and freedom of expression.

Walking amidst these amazing street art displays, is a wonderful experience.

Cheers to you with Chile’s stunning open-air art~

There are hundreds of wall sized open air painted murals all over Valparaiso.

Click to enlarge this photo to see how the artist recycled plastic soda bottles to create living window planters for her imaginary town and writes about the need to creatively recycle plastics .

The talent and creativity of these artists blows me away.

In this hostel, I zoomed in on the art around the doorway in the photos below, so you can see the detail.

What strikes me is how talented these artists are,

and how many of them will remain unrecognized.

It is often luck that makes one famous, and another unknown.

In a fairer world, all these artists would be recognized for the true talent they have.

Valparaiso is full of gifted artists, but it also has so many poor people, and the largest slums in Chile.

The unfair fact this illustrates is that talent…

NYPD Emerald Society Leads the Way

     One of New York City’s oldest traditions continued with a huge crowd of well over two million people lining up the parade route on 5th Avenue for the 258th celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. The honoring of the patron saint of both Ireland and NYC is a way to keep the connection and unity between the people of both nations. People come from all parts of the country for this grand event. This year the parade was held on the 16th for religious observances on the 17th which fell on a Sunday.  The parade has evolved quite a bit since its origin in 1762, where today top High School marching bands across the country come in for the event to showcase their talents. All 32 counties from Ireland send their representatives to march. In this parade, everyone marches. There are no…

Our heatwave finally broke today and to celebrate I was inspired to create an arrangement. Blue Lacecap Hydrangea (H. macrophylla) is looking great right now, and along with a couple of my dwindling Azure Alliums (A. caeruleum), were my blue choices for the cobalt vase.

Contrasting yellow Daylily buds, which will open tomorrow (Hemerocallis ‘Happy Returns’), golden Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa) and Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) are accented with wild Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus) and some Poppy seed pods (Papaver somniferum).

Now that the weather has become more pleasant, I look forward to spending the next few days in the garden. Enjoy your weekend!

Lettuce Leaf Poppy (Papaver somniferum)

Also known as Breadseed Poppy, this is one of my favorite self-sowing annuals that puts on quite a show in early summer. Only lasting a day, the delicate blossoms of papery petals are a lovely mauve color atop gray-green, sharply serrated foliage. This type of poppy comes in white, pink, red and purple colors, as well as fringed and double varieties.

Beloved by bees for their abundant pollen, I often get cross-pollinated seedlings with a red variety I grow in another bed, which can result in a lovely raspberry color. I try to keep the separate beds true to color, as I once almost lost the mauve in a sea of red, so if a red pops up in the mauve bed, I do not let it to go to seed.

Happy bee in red/mauve cross.

Each seed pod contains dozens of tiny seeds that can be…

Hey guys! Got the whole scoop on the next Blackgaard book. With cover, description, title, and release date! But peeps don’t like spoilers. Not responsible for ruined lives, blah blah…

Look beyond the thorns to the red rose bushes

for beautiful leaves on twisted branches

azure streams amid treacherous forests

dark clouds that the sustainer of life houses…

Prickly pines with their pristine reaches

diamond dews on the morning grasses

the gleaming orange tree when the sun rises

the God painted hues of varied sunsets…

Snowflakes that look like pearly brooches

oil painted inspiration in balmy sketches

cheeks kissed by love’s first blushes

all that this poetic soul arouses…

See how there’s so much that pains yet more that pleases,

how the world is rife with suffering and even its releases,

how even in the storm, the garden sways and dances,

and how, for a happy heart, sadness quickly passes…

© Isha Garg

 Anyone who’s been keeping up with my Sunday Rundowns of late will know that I’ve been making painfully slow progress with Shakespeare: The World as a Stage by Bill Bryson. So, when I was approached by Linh Le James to read her novel #Toots for a review, I decided it would be a good excuse for a break from my current read. And, thankfully, it was a quick read that proved to me it’s not that I’m in a slump that Byrson is taking so long. It’s just the book itself. So, I’m now wondering, still being only about halfway through at 2.5 weeks, whether it’s worth carrying on with it. I don’t want to give up considering how much time I’ve put into it but it feels like this uphill struggle is never going to end. I mean, there’s only so much pleasure you can take reading the history…