Mairlyn's Photos - Sep 15 2025 - A Sailor Suit

don't see any clothes now that have the sailor suit flap collar. I remember having more than one outfit with a sailor collar.  What made such a big piece of fabric part of the sailor uniform, given there was a fair amount of fabric needed to make one?   I didn't find out why they are so big - but did find out about the shape: "The first collars were not cut square but were round and closely resembled items that were fashionable ashore. The three rows of white tape were probably added for ornament at first, surviving records mention some discussion about whether there should be two rows or three. The more familiar square collar developed as it was easier for the men to cut and sew themselves than the round variety." The colour has its own history - the uniform became navy in colour in the mid 1700s because Indigo based dyes offered a reasonable degree of colour fastness to sunlight and that's when Indigo came to the UK.  And my own familiarity with them as children's clothing has a distinct beginning.  Sailor suits became fashionable for children when Queen Victoria had a sailor suit made for her four-year-old son Albert Edward - it was copied immediately and was worn by boys and girls in many countries. It became a fashionable ladies style.   During the late 1800s, yachting suits became fashionable and the nautical style took hold.  In the 1920s middy blouses became popular. It became associated with active wear and sports clothing.  In Japan and the Philippines, sailor suits are common in girls' schools today. Here's a 1920s page from a Sears catalog - with the Admiral Brand blouse. And today's flower belongs in a pond.

Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

July 17 2024 - No Stupid Question

 

Is that really true?  Is there no stupid question?  Someone has already thought of this and compiled a list of questions from various sources.  They claim these are real questions.  I guess they might be - I couldn't come up with some of these.     1.  “If animals could talk, which species would be the rudest of them all?” 2.  “What happens if you don’t show up to a job interview?” 3.  “Are there birds in Canada?” 4.  “What would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?” 5.  “Should I tell my parents I’m adopted?”  Also, a woman in a chatroom once asked, “How can I be sure I’m the real mom of my kid?” 6.  “What happens if you paint your teeth white with nail polish?” 7.  “Why isn’t 11 pronounced onety one?” 8.  “Can I eat my Himalayan salt lamp?” 9.  “Why does the coronavirus hate us?  What have we done to upset it so much?” 10.  “If the world is going to end, should I buy, sell, or hold stocks?” 11.  “Can I make a PlayStation 5 by linking a PlayStation 2 and a PlayStation 3 together?” 12.  “I was bitten by a turtle when I was young.  Can I still drink orange juice?”  Someone responded to that one and said no, it will reactivate the turtle venom. 13.  “Is an egg a fruit or vegetable?” 14.  “Are skeletons real or made up?” 15.  “Why are the holes in cats’ fur always in the right places for their eyes?” 16.  “Does looking at a PICTURE of the sun hurt your eyes?” 17.  “If I ate myself, would I become twice as big or disappear completely?” 18.  “Why isn’t a cupcake a mineral?” 19.  “Do inflatable dolls count as passengers in the carpool lane?” 20.  “Why are there school?”  That’s how they phrased it . . . “Why are there school?” This list was compiled in 2021 - there are 3 years worth of questions to add to the list.     I put two pictures together to get the Koi under the lily pads.  Sort of works.

Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Oct 19 2023 - Water Lily Harvest

 

Last week I didn't know where roses are grown for perfume, and this week I didn't realize there is a water lily crop in Bangladesh.  The picture is on Bing this morning.   It makes me think that they are talking about Lotus, which we can buy here as a canned product and is well known. But that turns out to not be the case. The Bing image and description is such pretty picture. And the flowers look like our traditional water lilies rather than lotus.  You might want to check out the series HERE as they are breathtaking. The photographer is Pham Trung.   Other articles say that water lilies' stems are edible and the plant is used for brewing tea.  There are articles on native edible water lilies in North America. It doesn't look like the kind of rose harvesting we checked out last week.  It looks more like a local crop.  There's a reference in the article to the harvest providing extra income as the lilies are used for food and home decoration.    Here my own version of water lilies in black water.  This one is at the Royal Botanical Gardens in the rose garden.

Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

July 16 2023 - Lily Show Weekend

 

It was the Ontario Lily Show yesterday at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington.  RBG is again under renewal.  I can’t help but contrast the funding in the U.S. and in Canada.  I expect that it isn’t that the US receives more government funding. It is that there are more super-rich people there who support and fund their favourite institutions.  Brian was recently in Chicago and commented that the Chicago Botanical Gardens were large and  perfect with immaculate maintenance.   That’s not the case with RBG.  It isn’t that I want immaculate gardens, but when gardens are presented as ornamental display gardens, then they end up with the expectations of an ornamental garden. That means weeding and caretaking that matches with this ornamentalist approach.  It is like having a lawn and then maintaining it poorly - not mowing it regularly and having major weed infestations.   With that, there still is great delight in the Royal Botanical Gardens displays.  The lily ponds are beautiful and the rose garden is a showplace.  Its renovation a few years ago make it more inclusive of all kinds of plants and has been very successful.  The Lily Show has decilned in numbers of lilies each year.  Members are growing older, the lily beetle has diminished interest in growing and showing lilies, and competitive flower shows have dwindled in numbers and interest. - young people have other inclinations.   It still remains a wonderful show and in particular, the floral arrangements are creative and beautiful.

Isn’t the black water of the RBG lily pond so amazing!    Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Canada's Star Aligns

CBC is having fun today reporting that Justin Trudeau has taken over the first spot as the sexiest politician in the world according to the UK Mirror newspaper.  It picked up these quotes from well-known national reporters in other countries: "In Canada Justin Trudeau's Liberals elected on a platform of sorry I lost my train of thought he's just so handsome." "For real though, congrats Canada on your hot grown-up-Howarts-student Prime Minister." In the Daily Mail article, they include a Youtube video of the 'time Justin Trudeau stripped for charity". And this quote from Richard Nixon in 1972: 'Tonight we'll dispense with the formalities. I'd like to toast the future prime minister of Canada: to Justin Pierre Trudeau,' said Nixon during a state dinner in Ottawa hosted by Pierre Trudeau. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3280490/Justin-Trudeau-named-Canada-s-new-prime-minister.html#ixzz3pCTMtgTq With the pictures in the article of him with his father in world-famous places with world-famous people, it is pretty impressive.  So I guess with star power like that, some starry flowers are matching pictures for the day.

Water Lily with Friend

This image is one that brings together my passion for botanical gardens with photo manipulation.  The water lily image was taken at Longwood Gardens and the Koi lives in the Royal Botanical Gardens.  These two images were brought together in Photoshop, and then texture layers were applied to bring the blue summer sky background to the image.

As we approach the winter solstice, it is nice to be able to immerse oneself in what was and what will be when summer arrives again.