Early yesterday afternoon a silence fell over our small village as darkness started falling and a light fall of gentle snowflakes filled the sky. The roads were soon blanketed with that white powder throwing the area into a strange eerie light, no more tweeting of the birds and the silent passing of cars as they went their way. The roofs of the houses seemed to be instantly dusted with snow icing that glistened in the light of motor vehicles streaming by.
At home and watching the Olympics on TV from my Buffalo hide armchair, seeing the snow falling ...firstly like small down feathers wafting down and finally gently settling on the ground, falling upon each other to form a dense base, I had the urge to venture out for a long walk in the fresh cold air. So the decision was made.... a long walk tomorrow will do the trick.

The mere fact of seeing the langlaufers doing their thing straining muscle upon muscle and the tightening of those butt muscles made me want to get up and do some serious exercise. To fit into a tight outfit like they wear would only show the bulge and here i am not eluding to the cod piece but rather that of my waist which over the months has grown...moan.!
Always enjoyed seeing these men strain and push to the limits and especially from behind showing off those butts from small to large hard formed muscle...hmmm always had a thing with this image as another favorite is that of cricketers, bowlers running up to bowl the ball...hehe what a view.
My least favorite being that of Shaun Vaughan (Australian) who has a huge butt and after all with that display of ...Hehaw...donkey laugh...i rather turned from being a supporter.
Where was i..? Ok so the day has dawned for a long walk in the mountains to a great mountain resort that is rather family orientated, understated and quiet but has all the amenities for the family
where parents do not have to watch the crazies that abound elsewhere.
The first picture shows the swimming pool ( village Pany).....
that overlooks the valley, being a great pool in the summer. Link Pany...snow mountain
Sitting there, our neighbours, munching away at fresh fruits , from our village...SAAS.....link SAAS...Village Saas.

Presented with an apple i declined, as I rather liked mine peeled, hate that skin thing on my teeth, but then he politely offered to peel it for me with his swiss knife. Yeah well i had no intention of trekking with a backpack and half the kitchen but i accept those that do just that.
The next couple of pictures show us on the way to the very top of the mountain and taking a heavy toll on the leg and butt muscles....and the Olympics came to mind once again as i pushed on up the steep slopes. The distant picture shows Klosters(skiing resort for the rich and famous) well really for anyone, far down in the valley showing a clear bright blue sky.
Not a squirrel in sight only the squawks of the large black birds,breaking the tranquility, that chase after anything thrown to them. Heavy foot prints show the way where many have walked this far and there we see these tiny foot prints left by some small bird that hopped part of the way.

Through the archway formed by the large old pine trees we passed in the shade where one feels that real cold of the snow below. Stripped of heavy clothing due to the bright warm sunlight I slog on taking the path that twists and turns bringing stunning views at each turn.

Finally we see bright clear blue sky showing on the other side of the tress that are laden with snow.

There we finally come to rest at a old working barn, now closed up for the winter period. A drinking fountain and a seat to rest and take in the wonderful landscape.


A couple came into sight and the usual greeting of gruetzi rather a greeting used by the locals. Zurich people do not use this term, I think that has to do with the snob aspect. Anyway i rather like it and there are several ways to use this greeting....can be more sung...Gruet...zi ...the zi.. is a light sing away line. So want to greet like the butch farmers do...then be sure to say Salue. Some may greet with Grüss Gott then u will surely know that they are from outside the country.
A great venue for walks snow boarding skiing spas and just resting up. There are special rates for groups and little hide away places for runaway lovers, lovers and those that have those secret affairs. A great hideaway for golfers.!
Who knows we may see u on the peaks one of these days -have fun.

Grumpy Old Men

Its that time of the year in Zurich which is heavily blanketed in snow and rather unusual but giving the city a white glistening charm as well as creating a stillness as if the city was deserted. Cars crawled by at a snails pace and people seemed to be walking on their toes taking small steps as they headed off to their destinations.
The news channels filled with reports of so many people who have being rushed off to the hospitals with broken bones, arms wrists hands legs and shoulders where the injured sat for 4/5 hours to be attended .
That charming look on the ground as one walks along the snow covered streets hides the extreme danger that lies below.....ice..and this is the problem with a casual walk down the road. Normally there would be the clearing and salting that prevents such accidents but then again the weather change caught all unawares as Zurich started to run out of that magic substance.....Salt!!
A busy week taking and fetching friends with broken limbs to hospital and here i must say most of them on the younger side, yes, of course these are the fearless ones charging along. Accidents do happen and a quick slip costs hundreds if not thousands taking the time of all concerned into consideration.
After a long dark week,weather wise, and tired i had this hankering for two wonderful croissants for my Sunday breakfast. So planning an early rise as if one arrives too late there are none to be found.
Here we call them gipfeli and i rather prefer the butter variety which tend to be the best as one can add whatever to make a scrumptious breakfast.
Being not that sparking first thing in the morning i arrived at the local store to get my favorites only to be horrified in what i found to be on offer. On entering the mat was soaking wet as well as the tiled floor, no attempt was made to clean this up which could lead to people slipping and breaking bones....but who cares the place is run by unfriendly teenagers with no smile or interaction with the paying customers...of late this place has become a nightmare to shop in and i was prepared to give it once again another chance. No greeting at the till by the young female attendant and not a goodbye either.
A croissant is one of the best breakfast foods around when well done and they also come with various fillings...heres a link..croissants
..and looking at the pics quickly one can see that what was on offer was a total disaster. Shameful in fact even to charge for them...yet i still bought them thinking they could not be that bad but should have stuck to my instincts and walked out leaving them behind. Once at home i sat staring at these things and then tried to cut them through but as u will see in the pic below ....there was nothing there except for an overdone crust and these two long horns which were so hard and dry. This pissed off my day and yeah i dumped them settling for some Museli mixed with yogurt and sliced bananas.
Heres a link to the history of a pastry we have all come to know and love....history
Theres no going back for me to this store which is poorly supervised!! Grumpy ? Hmmm.
.so how come after all these hundreds of years do they still hope to get away with offering this unadulterated excuse for a croissant. This is what i came to buy..... over baked emancipated looking gipfeli ******

I was pleasantly surprised when i walked into this small collection of VEILLEUSE ...(translation) night light.
Having never seen these wonderful items i decided to buy the collection as they were marked Limoges...being a great porcelain manufacture and the detailed painting drew my attention.
Off i went with my precious cargo and had to do some homework....thanks to GOOGLE...i gathered some very interesting information.
Here i share with you the items purchased and some links. A link to the largest collection that i have found appears at the bottom of the page and is well worth the visit as all the items are just show stopping.
These are wonderful but do not fit into my collections...which one u may ask...arrgh!!
Yes they are for sale and i would like to see them go to a collector or museum that would share their beauty with others.
I do believe that there are several more pieces coming out of their back cupboard and hopefully i would be able to snatch them up. Several pieces are marked LIMOGES and others simply have the initials of the painter.The items are in perfect condition and looks like they stood in a vitrine for all these years.
The gold gilding is of great quality and so is the fine painting with hardly any wear.Simply not a crack or chip with no restorations. The lady selling these had a great collection of Limoges which she put together over the last 40 years or so.Her appartment was....floor to ceiling.... with finely painted porcelain and i was told it took 2 days to pack up the lot.
The other items that i purchased will safely stay with me....big smile. Yet another storeroom to find !A link to the translation....item description and giving smart details..
My Favorite (left)
....showing two with roses


and then something different

and the more elegant.....


to the fanicyful

I hope you have enjoyed looking and for a more sumputious collection ...go here...
Collection...

This entry i would like to feature a design by Jiri Brabec who designed for Rosice and the example shown is for 1990. Rather recent and they are in my humble opinion a stunning design as all the examples that i have found are fresh and crisp. My first find was a plate with an irregular border with a slight blue tinge with the next being the lovely green example shown which has a wide border.


I was rather unsure of what was made in this range but then to my delight i have found a striking blue and a rose pink example with regular borders.



The next example showed up an upturned border with a blue flash and smaller than the regular plates featured. Here it must be noted that these plates are rather thick and thus survived pretty well.
In the last week i walked into a buy with 8 "string" colorless glass plates which then told me that these were manufactured as tableware/dinner service which really surprised me as i had only found other exotic examples.

These are to be found on the CD by Marcus Newhall...Art Before Industry...
It is interesting to note that i have not found any of these on sites showing Sklo Union examples or on Ebay selling!
So the plates found are for various use and i must say that a table now set out(red underlay) with these plates are quite something else and rather a unique table setting.
Most think that colorless glass is boring but then again when one plays with colors the designs jump out and visually are very striking. The same could be said for the vases in colorless glass where i hade added a colouring to the water and this shows off very effectively....so all one has to do is play with the wonderful designs and hey ...Presto!!!...one has a new look.
I prefer the name rope for these....well imagine that a party is thrown....for grown ups..
and your table sets the tone for the naughty night with these "rope" plates.
Ok so I diverse but then again one can play with these wonderful designs as it becomes a conversational topic...instead of talking about the maid or the hairdresser!
Visit the site and look under...Designer Jiri Brabec for the various examples...
Reference guide
The data base is unpdated daily so keep an eye on the site and discover the wonders of Designer Bohemain Glass.

Jurnikl Rudolf master and prolific designer Sklo Union mid 20thCentury and an accomplished one at that.

Once again the basis of this blog is taken from the book Art Before Industry by Marcus Newhall which with its CD gives a brief history of Rudolf Jurnikl....Link..Book and CD
Other resources may be found in the Glass Revue catalogues which are extremely hard to find in the public domain and yet most libraries carry the many years of production. So it was a rainy day that pushed me into spending lots of time perusing these and it was quite some fun as there is so much more that one learns from all the individual reports of the time.
One particular piece designed by him has caught my attention and that is the vase depicted here...

pattern 984 for Rosice and again for Rudolfova hut.,being one of his first commercial designs. These i have found in three different color ways. Clear,Amber and a striking blue all in the same size and as far as i am aware there was only one size in this design. It has a raised bead decoration and when light is thrown on the vase it explodes with reflection and even more so when it is filled with water.It seems to expand the beads and gives it a deeper feeling than it actually is.
These are not readily available in the market place so hunting one down is exciting.
In the following years Jurnikl was to become a prolific designer where many new designs would capture the publics imagination. The hobnail design must have being extremely popular as these are available and mostly in flint glass whereas the color range is more sought after. In Switzerland the publics taste was more for clear glass objects and this covers most designs as they are readily found.

Being aware that these designs are pressed glass of a very high standard they look like blown pieces and many of the traders would swear that they are not of the pressed glass variety. One telling me that it had belonged to her mother who is 70 years old, which means little,and she had travelled to Venice where she had purchased it from a Murano factory. Yeah well at the price she was asking there was no persuading otherwise but did spur me on thinking...wow if all thought the same i am onto a good thing here. I guess that the serious and well informed collectors would know a whole lot better. Going back later in the day i noticed that the vase was sold and she delighted in telling me she had got her price...stunning...now all i had to do was find another ten of her buyers.
Lens vases and jardiniers were also a great design with the so called hobnail following close behind
Thus far i found the lens objects only in clear glass as i guess this color way showed off its effect to the best, whereas the hobnail design comes in various colors.
Another important design for Jurnikl was to be his Osaka vase depicted here....

it had previously been named Slunce but after an exhibition in Japan in the 70`s it was named as Osaka by... i guess... the clever marking department. Always good to give the public that which they would hold dear and thats wise marketing...i guess! There is a very rare example of this vase to be found...if u are lucky enough...but then buy the book and find out what technique they used.
Another favorite and desirable design is that called `Iceberg`which can be found in many different pieces...vases candlesticks and so on.
Ashtrays and candlesticks by Jurnikl are found frequently and i have many examples in various colors.
To say the least this man brought to the market place some of the best designs and other than one other designer, Matura, where he had more designs exhibited than his fellow glass makers.
Should you wish to browse my library of Bohemian designer glass ....go here...Guide

I will follow up the next blog with another famous designer and until then i wish you all happy hunting.

Matura Adolf... master designer Bohemian glass..

When one is looking at a new adventure then may i suggest that one picks up a new book covering the production of Bohemian Designer Glass by Marcus Newhall..................Art Before Industry.Book
This is a manual with a CD that shows pictures, sketches ,sizes and pattern numbers that span the master designers form the early 20thC through to the late 90“s.
The book is well set out with headings and full details of each designer giving the history of the factories showing who designed which patterns.
Matura's strict form designs are timeless and with no frills and fuss yet they have substance and strength. According to Marcus....Matura produced many designs from the early 60's and one of his stunning designs is the Praha Pattern consisting of more than 25 pieces.
Should you wish to visit the reference library you will find several pieces of the Praha pattern and a recent find turned up as a cake stand which is not shown on the CD. Thats whats so exciting about all this new information that has taken Marcus many years to compile that unknown pieces are out there and just need to be hunted down.
Of the Praha pattern i have quite a number of pieces....one of the favourites is a large punch bowl with the eight glasses. At the moment i am trying to build a dinner service of Praha which displays beautifully. The pieces are of thick glass form and covered in punts..see example..perhaps why they have survived so well although not that easy to find.

Matura had several popular designs which today fetch a great price and really sought after by collectors....but i will leave that with you to discover for yourself in his book.
He experimented with new forms and techniques which proved to be popular at the time and still today collectors search high and low for such pieces.
Another favorite is an ashtray made for Rosice pattern no 983 and i have since found a German ceramic example which possibly shows its high standard of design. Always great when other people copy and follow that which is popular and of good design There are another 8 or so designers who worked over the same period and their items are fully featured in the book and on the CD.
This is going to be the collectables of the future by these great Bohemian Glass Designers and the prices will surely rise in years to come and this is the ideal opportunity to learn more and start collecting whilst the prices are reasonable. There are several that run into the hundreds of dollars and my guess is that the pieces will always be in demand.
Guide and personal collection