Salt Spring Island's Flower Chèvre

Flower Chèvre is a fresh pasteurized goat milk cheese decorated with edible flowers.  This is a soft creamy mild flavoured chèvre that can either be served for breakfast or a lovely addition to any cheese plate. Salt Spring Island's chèvre frais is also available in a variety of flavours; basil, hot chili, lemon, pepper & truffles.

Salt Spring Island Cheese Company is located on Salt Spring Island off Vancouver Island in Canada’s west coast. They produce wonderful handmade goat and sheep milk cheeses.
http://www.saltspringcheese.com/

Visit their site for a great description on the process of cheese making. http://www.saltspringcheese.com/cheesemaking.html

Nampeyo

Nampeyo with numerous examples of her work. C-1901

Nampeyo was born in the village of Hano on First Mesa in the north east of Arizona around 1860. Hano was inhabited by descendants of Tewa-speaking Pueblo people from the Northern Rio Grande river in Arizona. From her people the Tewas, Nampeyo learned the art of molding and shaping the clay to make beautiful cooking vessels. She learned the art of making pots with fine designs from her grandmother who was a Hopi potter.

Top and side view of jar made by Nampeyo and Lesou circa 1895-1910

Nampeyo established a name for herself making pottery with designs inspired by ancient Sikyátki pottery shards that her husband Lesou had excavated from the nearby abandoned ruins. These well-styled designs and geometric patterns are from a type of pottery dating to the 14th and 15th centuries presently called Sikyátki Polychrome common in the Hopi villages of the southwest.

From the time of her teens until her death in 1942, Nampeyo developed her personal style that earned her international legendary status. Her style of pottery has also served as a foundation and inspiration for her children and subsequent generations to follow in her footsteps and become master pottery artists themselves.

Here are examples of some of my own hand coiled pottery pieces inspired by Nampeyo.

 

Nampeyo pottery photos from American Indian Art magazine - Summer 1976

Dextra Quotskuyva

 

Dextra Quotskuyva was born in 1928 at Polacca on the Hopi First Mesa in Arizona. She is a fourth-generation descendant of renowned potter Nampeyo. Today, Dextra's pottery is among the most highly regarded of all Native American pottery.

Dextra Quotskuyva, Shard Jar, Hopi clay, vegetal and mineral paints, tradionally fired, 3 1/2" high, 13" diameter, 1981

 

Dextra's pottery is fundamentally rooted to the ancient traditional pottery of her Tewa-Hopi people. As with her great-grandmother Nampeyo, Dextra has combined her fine technique and her own creative style to perfection. No wonder she has received numerous honours including the Arizona Living Treasures Award and Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dextra Quotskuyva, Awotovi-style jar, Hopi clay, vetal and mineral paints, tradionally fired, 5 1/2" high, 8 3/4" diameter, 1996

 

Photo source: Indian Artist Magazine - Dextra Quotskuyva -  Listening to The Clay - Summer 1996

Echinacea

(Echinacea purpurea)

I can't help it... it's the 1st day of spring... the sun is shining... I have the gardening itch...

Even though the echinacea flower is not due to bloom until July - August, I've enjoyed the lovely presence of last year's dried blooms peeking through the snow covered bed over the winter months.

The echinacea plant commonly known as purple coneflower is a drought-tolerant perennial herb flowering plant that belongs to the daisy family.  Echinacea is native to North America grows to 1 m (3 ft) and has stuning purple pompom bloom with its daisy-like petals. There are a variety of different types of echinacea available in pink, white, yellow, lime green & red.

The echinacea has been used historically in North America by indigenous people, as one of their major medicinal herbs. It is also commonly used today as an immune system booster.