ASSOCIATED WHOLESALE FLORIST DENVER

I didn't come here to the waterfalls of the Bantimurung River in Maros in the weekend, forewarned that this pretty place is then full of crowds of Makassarese for a day's outing. Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), our naturalist and collector, already remarked colorfully in 1857 - when he camped here for four days - that the steep path along the river was a vivid human thoroughfare between Maros and Makassar downstream and the Bugis territory upwards. With other roads today - mostly very slow-going because of the great potholes - the through paths are no longer in use. Picnickers abound on Sunday, though. Yet I found only a few bathers when I came on Monday.
The total greenness - even the light was greenish - reminded me of Wallace's remarks about it in his description of his sojourn here (perhaps where I am standing to take this photo). He says that many Europeans think of tropical forests as alive with amazing colors, and continues:

'But what is the reality? In vain did I gaze over these vast walls of verdure, among the pendant creepers and bushy shrubs, all around the cascade on the river's bank, or in the deep caverns and gloomy fissures--not one single spot of bright colour could be seen, not one single tree or bush or creeper bore a flower sufficiently conspicuous to form an object in the landscape. In every direction the eye rested on green foliage and mottled rock. There was infinite variety in the colour and aspect of the foliage; there was grandeur in the rocky masses and in the exuberant luxuriance of the vegetation; but there was no brilliancy of colour, none of those bright flowers and gorgeous masses of blossom so generally considered to be everywhere present in the tropics.'

He then gives a good sociological explanation of why Europeans expect differently...
He himself a naturalist but even more of a collector - in order to make money - did in fact have an eye for color: that of the animals - especially birds and butterflies - which he collected, killed, skinned and mounted. Among those he mentions are the magnificent, long-tailed Papilio androcles, a ground pigeon the Phlaegenas tristigmata, and another butterly, Idea tondana. I think the last, Rice Paper Butterfly, is one that I saw fluttering about (with the name 'Idea' rather appropriate maybe for a teacher of the history of philosophy).
I don't know much about butterflies and I wonder whether this Idea tondana (named after the town of Tondano in north Sulawesi by Samuel Constantinus Snellen van Vollenhoven [1816-1880]) in 1860 is the same as Idea blanchardi. I hope someone can enlighten me. Wallace was here in 1857; as I understand it, before Tondana was added to our Idea. He can use this name, though, because he didn't publish his book until 1869...
And the water? Was it cold? No, in fact it was rather warm.

this book is all about how to make pretty towels with sashiko embroidery that have a great variety of everyday uses.

sashiko embroidery is a traditional japanese needle craft, with repeating stitches that create a beautiful overall pattern. this book has a number of designs that can be used on hand towels or small cloths, to create a lovely and useful textile works.

most of the projects are designed for and shown as 35 cm square or 32 by 42 cm sized towels, but you could easily modify the patterns if you wanted to make a smaller or larger project. the patterns range from simple geometric designs, including very traditional motifs, to more modern and contemporary designs such as tea cups or cooking pot, to those that include cute mushrooms, flowers and bunnies.

what’s wonderful about this book is that the full patterns are included, so you can easily copy them, and each pattern is also shown in detail, along with the stitching directions and a sample of the finished product. All the written instructions are in japanese, but the very detailed and well-documented process included great photos, so you should have no trouble at all recreating any or all of these projects. there are directions for how to make a pattern using transfer paper or a fabric marker. if you are brand new to sashiko or embroidery, you might want to look up some basic information about it in english first, but these projects are very straightforward.

isbn 978-4-277-31171-1
71 pages.