Before I write about a recent expedition, in the lashing rain, to the Burke Museum here in Seattle, I want to give a link to a 48 piece jigsaw puzzle, Sciurus carolinensis, the common grey squirrel, the type who frequents our garden. link to the puzzle. (Incidentally, I did this puzzle in about 6 1/2 minutes, slightly a minute more than the average.) I haven’t been able to get good photos of our squirrels so this jigsaw puzzle will have to do for now. Our squirrels certainly get up to some funny antics, stretching like trapeze artists and swinging upside down on the bird feeders. They nibble away at all the food I put out for the chickadees and tits and stellarjays. Lately I’ve been putting out cracked corn in hopes of attracting some larger birds. This morning I had a fleeting glimpse of a medium sized bird (about the size of a thrush in Ireland) – the bird had white underneath, red on its head, a dark back and it had a beautiful glide and distinctive wing flapping to get to the very top of a tall fir tree nearby.
Now for the textile exhibition. The Burke is The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and it is on the campus of the University of Washington here in Seattle. The main campus itself is lovely, even in the pouring rain. My cousin and I trudged along and found the Burke building. We didn’t know what was going on there, just that we wanted to visit that museum. Well, were we ever pleasantly surprised to find that a major exhibition of textiles had just opened. Textiles have been assembled from 13 countries around the Pacific Rim and these garments and wall hangings and rugs have been magnificently displayed. link.
map showing the countries around the Pacific Rim from which the textiles were chosen
I wish all my weaving friends could come to Seattle to visit us and see this wonderful exhibition. It was just fantastic. I wasn’t able to take photos, photography in the museum was not allowed, ……. but now I read that as of November 4 there is a new policy at the Burke and photography is allowed. I’ll have to go back.