Sunday, March 8, 2009

This Mimosa's for you

Today is Festa della Donna, International Women's Day. The Italians celebrate and honor women by presenting them with sprigs of mimosa. The scent of mimosa is everywhere (Julie, you would love it!) A shame it isn't celebrated everywhere, although the Russian part of my family informs me that there are similar celebrations in Russia.




I went to the Santo Spirito antique fair this afternoon. The fair happens once a month, all sorts of stuff, bric-a-brac, posters from the 1930s, dried fruit, hippy stuff, punk clothing, handmade soap, plants. Not so much an antique fair, but good fun.

At several of the stalls were mounds of doilies and older linens. My gran used to have doilies on the tables and I never quite understood the purpose of them. For our wedding, one of Doug's relatives gave us some intricate crocheted doilies she'd made herself. I appreciated the gesture, but at the time wondered what I could do with them. Now, having done a little crochet I recognize the incredible amount of work that goes into such things and better appreciate, I think, the gift that was given to us.



























Thinking about the doilies and the amount of work that goes into such detail, in conjunction with IWD made me think about this series that the BBC did, Blood, Sweat and T-shirts. I guess the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory isn't that far away after all. So, I leave you with that thought and my gratitude to all the women in my life, for all you do.

2 comments:

  1. The amount of effort and talent it takes to make these lace doilies is amazing! I'm always impressed by women that can create these!

    Kathryn

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  2. I do love mimosa! I have some mimosa oil!
    I got some when I lived in France.
    It is related to the sweet acacia as you probably know. It smells so fertile and green and round...totally dreamy.

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