Garden at Night: a Blue Russian Shawl

As a rule, I do not like blue Russian shawls. I do not wear blue, I do not like too much blue around me, unless it is water or twilight sky... I do not even wear blue jeans, can you imagine? So, a blue shawl is not something that would normally have me impressed. 

However, this indigo blue Russian shawl is quite different; it caught my eye immediately. It is so full of lavish flowers - like a tropical night - and those deep shades of blue look cool and refreshing. 

The shawl is called Confession (or Acknowledgement, for its Russian title can be translated in several ways - but I prefer the more romantic option, for the obvious reasons). It is a lovely shawl, huge but lightweight and easy to wear. It is made from the finest wool, soft and supple. 

It was produced by the famous Pavlovo Posad Manufacture, the center for Russian shawl production. Its author is Elena Jukova, a renowned shawl designer who has created many collectable pieces.


The shawl is just stunning, with an avalanche of flowers against the rich blue background. It is overflowing with classic roses, but there is also a very unusual detail - lovely trumpet creeper flowers! This is the only Russian shawl that has those beauties, to the best of my knowledge. 

 

 You can buy this beauty in our Etsy shop; we only have one and I do not expect it to last.

A Whimsical Silk Scarf by More

This is my own vintage silk shawl. I love this whimsical picture, and it looks amazing when worn. I would love to find more like this, but cannot. It is signed "More", and when I try to Google silk scarves by More, the search results are complete rubbish as you can imagine. Anyone knows this brand?

A Secret Park with Squirrels

We spent another month on improving our collective health; I went through an extensive anti-inflammation therapy which, as I already know, has been successful, and the dog was busy restoring his digestion. He has made progress, too, but I am yet unwilling to say that the battle is over. I still want to be sure before I start celebrating.

In the meantime, I have found a lovely little park in the very middle of our city, and it has squirrels! In order to understand my emotions, you should know that squirrels are very rare here. Moreover, these do not look like Central Asian squirrels to me; I strongly suspect that their ancestors were brought from Russia and then managed to escape and settle down here.

It took me about forty minutes to get closer to these cute creatures. I tried to be "calm as still water" and was moving ahead little by little. Finally, I guess they started seeing me as part of the landscape.

I like this very concentrated sniffing - just like a dog doing good quality nosework!

I have learned that squirrels eat grass, straw, dry leaves... their tastes are quite Spartan. I bring them some walnuts and just leave them under the trees; I hope they collect them later.

It is great fun to see wild animals in the city. I hope to see them again and to spend some enjoyable minutes in the atmosphere of almost-wild-nature, listening to the birds singing and breathing fresh air.