Quiet season at the Zodiac Cafe

 

A few weeks back, I assembled the last of summer -- dried seed heads from my sizable alliums and my neighbour's graceful crocosmia.  Those with eagle eyes and a long-ago shared experience will realize that that perfect vase is lab glassware -- a Creative Packrat find from olden times at The Lab when, in about 1985, we had to clean out the storage room in a soon-to-be-sold building next door.

 

It's impossible these days for the whole Zodiac crowd to celebrate en masse, but that's okay.  My purpose all along has been to keep a hint of the cafe as I connect with different theme areas -- still lifes, interiors, maybe even some landscapes sighted from the outdoor patio.

 

I briefly considered painting the dried bouquet at almost full height, but what would be the point? (and besides, I didn't have a canvas large enough)  So I shortened the vase and focused on the widest part of the bouquet and got to work.

 

 

As I moved along with this, I thought about the teas and coffees that might be on the menu.  Then I realized that the drinks at the Zodiac Cafe are likely to resemble Mary Poppins' elixirs:-- they will taste exactly like each person's own favourite drink, regardless of what they're called.

 

This one steeped pretty quickly.

 

 

And by this time, in the spirit of Mary P, I decided to name my intended series of 4-6 with simply a number -- this one is "Beverage of Choice - #1." (copyright 2020)

 

 

If you fell in love with that lab glassware, as I did 35+ years ago,....watch this spot, where something is taking root in a charming sample of rectangular lab glassware. (And if you wonder what that was used for -- old-time lab folks turned up their noses when I asked):--