Stoana Granite Stones Faces

It's the time of the year that some cats somehow ... at once prefer to eat bird-food.

Well. when you can't catch birds then ...
Nevertheless we take a walk in a northern part of Austria: The MühlViertel. Usually it's pretty windy here, so we take some shelter in the woods.

Wind and sun have 'eaten' the snow.

The sun is shining bright outside of the wood.


The whole area is full of granite stones in the various forms.


Compared to stones, houses are subject to vanity.


A stone giant looking, sleeping ... ?

Rather sleeping, as we analyze.


Stone giants might frighten children.

Oops, and here is another one ... doesn't look very happy.

So I shared here some photos of my archive. In recent weeks I spent a lot of time digitalizing my 'analog' photos.

Finally ... a 'fat' stone :)

Climate Change Camels in Alps

Is it a mirage, fata morgana or just a simple halluzination?

Riding on camels in the alps? :)

Above photo taken at the dead sea in Israel (1997), looking towards the mountains of the Lebanon.

The natural environment of camels is usually the desert. Above you see the Sahara.

It's such a thing with camels in the alps ... will there be a time when it's normal that camels inhabit Central Europe?

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What will the temperatures be like in 100 years? Temperature changes.

Recently there has been lots of discussions about the climate(s) changing.
Copenhagen Climate Conference.

People start looking at the sky ... a CO2 threat from above?

A matter of instant evolution? :)

Nibbling and noshing ... it tastes great.

The new common sight ... just usual ... ?

One could start meditating on the subject ' Camels Nose ' and ' Climate Change '. Are politicians trying to get their hands into peoples pockets with the help of ' science ' ?

Or is the CO2 threat a ' camels nose ' itself. The nose of something like pollution of the environment. A boomerang?

Original natives of the Alps: The Chamois, also called ' Gemse ', ' Gams '.

Another native: a simple goat.

Camels Nose: the danger of the first approach ...

There is this fable of the camels nose ...

There are also interesting proverbs concerning camels for example:
"Little by little the camel goes into the couscous."
(from Saudi Arabia).

Or another proverb:
"One camel doesn't make fun of anothers camel's hump."
(from Marocco)

The riddles solution: a circus was in town! :)

Nevertheless you might remember the poem "For want of a nail" ... (the shoe was lost) etc.
And in this proverb there is the warning that with or in permitting undesirable situations there will be (or there could be) gradual worsening of situations. The ' butterfly effect ', if you believe in Chaos Theory. Or chains of causalitiy if you tend to be more rational.

Old Farmers Furniture

Please enter the door to have a look at some traditional Austrian folk-art (' BauernMöbel ' thus meaning ' traditional farmers furniture).
These doors were built by a carpenter around 1909. The door knobs are modern and probably originate from the 60ies (20th century). These door handles somehow reflect a change in style.

The paint used is oil based paint. Usually oil was mixed with various pigments. If you can access pigments (buy them) then this is the way to get the cheapest colours in order to get a long lasting wood painting (at least for indoor artefacts).

If you have special interest for some more samples of these kind of paintings then you might like the post BAUERNMALEREI where you can take a closer look at the motives and the stories thereof.

100 percent wood. No plastic or metal in it.

In opposition to most modern furnitures these wardrobes are completely made of simple wood. There's no plastic, and besides the locker no metal, no nails used to put this thing together.

These wardrobes (cabinets, case boxes, cupboards and trunks) were built by carpenters. The profession (or job) of carpenters has become rare nowadays. Like other professions: cobbler, showmaker, tailor, dressmaker ...

Practical and beautiful.

Now two examples of bedstands (nightstands, bedside lockers or whatever you call such a thing).

Yes, they can carry some weight and won't break down if a cat jumps on them :)

This bedstand is equipped with an appliance for 'professional' wine drinkers. Hold your wine glass underneath and it will be filled.

BauernMalerei Vorlagen Motive

Following you see some examples of Austrian ' BauernMalerei ' (Farmers paintings). They originate from a house which was built in the 16th century. Nevertheless the paintings themselves (shown here) were probably created in the time between 1905 and 1910.

The above photo refreshed with some photo editing software:

The place these motives were found served it's purpose as a hotel or hostel for a couple of centuries. Noblesse oblidge! And so the decoration of the rooms. The wood paintings on the doors and the furniture somehow represent also a kind of phantasy emblems or crests. Even a connection to royal coats could be associated.

The above picture is big (1800 * 3300 pixel). You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

These motives ask for respect. Hm, totems?

In the whole house there were not two motives alike. Each one is different and made with phantasy, love and dedication. This is (was) the work of a master of profession.

Nevertheless these emblems or motives look kind of noble, the furniture that had these kind of paintings was a kind of cheap alternative to furniture that had veneers and inlays.

When did these kind of ornamental paintings appear? Well, originating from medieval times they start to spread widely probably around the 17th and 18th century. In medieval times the farmers weren't free and it took time (centuries) for them to get the right to obtain property. The paintings surely also have the function to show off prosperity, luxuriosness or plentyfulness. They show a newly grown selfconsciousness of a group that had rather rudimentary rights and duties before.

Flowers like roses, tulips, marguerits, poppies and cornflowers (bluebottle) as well as leaves and fruits are being stylized.

The painter didn't fiddle around. Just did it cool and quick.

Usually the poorer people imitate the richer people. As I said before, it's cheaper to paint the furniture than to do a lot of expensive carpentry work.

In the next post I'll show you some pieces of furniture with ' BauernMalerei '.

And you'll find out on which pieces of furniture I found these motives.