Dear friends

Back at Curious Gourds. I awake to a damp, cool morning. I can see the Acteon Ridge though mist and haze rising from Smarts Brook, above the green foreground trees. Mist billows up from the Smarts Brook river valley, pouring into the Mad River where it billows even higher. The mist rises as I write, beginning to hide the lower slope of Acteon, making for a tricolored series: green forest, white mist, cobalt blue mountain (lightened by haze), white sky. The mist is now sinking, revealing more gauzy cobalt, but leaving a fin shaped wisp. Do phantom dolphins swim in a ghostly sea above Smarts Brook? The mist settles, rises again. I can’t keep up and must let my attempt at picturing this moment go.... to read more of this reflection, click here
                                    
                                       — from Nat's Blog

Curious Gourds Studio Open this Saturday, August 7!

I (Nat) am back from my weekend away, and have picked out my chalk and tested my pens.  Hours will be extended this weekend, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 pm. We'll see how the weather is, but in addition to drawing there will fun activities outside as well:

• exploring Erin's Amazing Maize Maze — yes the corn is high and tasseling!

• building a fairy house in a patch of forest by the Curious the Gourds Studio.

• playing in the Jack's Gorgeous Gourd House — it's still growing, and needs a roof, but it's getting there!

• visit with the Curious Gourds Hifalutin Hilarious Hens.

• we also will have a barbecue ready to go for anyone one who wants to grill a lunch or dinner (bring your food).

To see some photos of the garden, click here - http://www.reyfoundation.org/?p=2588
 
Many of you maybe planning to go to the Curious George Cottage Family Festival.  If you are, consider stopping by Curious Gourds on your way in or out.  It's a great chance to get an original drawing in the style of Hans Rey.  Remember, the Curious Gourds Studio and Garden are just off of route 49 on the Sandwich Notch Road on the way into Waterville. 

For CSA Members

Saturday is CSA pickup day! Anytime 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. You will be getting:

• Kale– 1 bunch
• Lettuce– 1/2 bags
• Carrots– 1 bunch
• Summer Squash and/or Zucchini – 4
• Cucumbers—4
• Potatoes -1 pound
• Pepper
• Tomatoes
• Beans– 1 pound
• Garlic
• Pick your own flowers (Shasta daisies)
• Pick your own basil, oregano, mint

Art exhibit at The Community School, reception August 8
Summer Dinner, August 11

The Community School in South Tamworth is thrilled to be hosting a dynamic collection of works by local painters, ceramicists, and multi-media artists -- for ONE WEEK ONLY. Don't miss this beautiful show!

Come meet the artists at the Opening Day Reception -- SUNDAY, August 8, 2-5 PM.

If you can't come by on Sunday, you are welcome to visit any time during business hours, 8 am - 5 pm during the week (8/9 - 8/13), or consider dropping by during the Summer Dinner on Wednesday, August 11.  Great food, great company, great art -- who could ask for more?

Art by Carol Jowdy, Anthony Marrone, Nicole Maher-Whiteside, the Women Who Glue, Marnie Cobbs, Grace Pease, CC White, Lianne Prentice, and Candace Maher will be on display.

Original paintings, prints, books, cards, and more! The show will run through the week, closing on Friday, August 13 at 5 pm.

Call for more info -- THIS IS A GREAT EXCUSE TO STOP BY THE SCHOOL THIS WEEK!
Call 323-7000 for more information.

More Local Foods

And don't forget the opportunity get a local meal before a Barnstormers Summer Theatre  production, Tuesdays through Fridays at the The Daley Cafe at The Other Store:

BYO wine or beer. Served 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  Advance reservations appreciated: 323-8872

Vicki Wasson is this week’s guest chef.

Appetizer:
Chilled Gazpacho
Served with Sunnyfield Farm bread and garlic butter
$4.00

Entrees:
Buffalo/Beef Lasagna, served with a Garden Salad....$12.00
or
Spinach/Chard Lasagna, with a Garden Salad...$10.00

Dessert:
Gifford’s or Sandwich Creamery Ice Cream
with Somethingberry Sauce (yet another local wonder)
$4.00

Local sources include Bob Behr, Weston's Farm, DiFilippe Farm, the Berriers, Owens Farm, and more.
Local beef and NH ground buffalo meat.

It's time for art at The Community School!

Remember those art programs with Cynthia Robinson I mentioned a while back?  Well, they're almost upon us.  

Nests, Webs, & Shelters, Art along the nature trail!
August 16-20 (Monday-Friday), 9-11 a.m.
Ages 4-8

Artist in Residence Week at TCS
August 16-20, Choose from these dynamic sessions:

• Local Artist Crit and Chat
• Interpreting Landscape Through EcoArt
• Nature Boxes, Joseph Cornell Style
• Build with Nature Like Andy Goldsworthy

Summer Studio
Explore your own artistic style while creating a portfolio!
August 16-20 (Monday-Friday), 1-5 p.m.
Ages 13-18

Whiteblack Correspondents 

Whiteblack Correspondent Erin Honeycutt continues to provide beautiful stories and photos from Iceland on her blog, Hvita Svartur Mörgas.  Her latest post, Nattfari, the Icelandic Outlaw, includes a desccription of her sighting a blue whale mother and calf.

Saludos,

Nat Scrimshaw, Rey Foundation president