Tell me about…whimsy!
Someone once told me that every home needs a touch of whimsy. I agree, and and believe it should apply to other areas of life as well. Whimsy can be as obvious as sense of humor, but can also be shown by not taking yourself too seriously. People who cannot laugh at themselves are just too tedious for me to bear…but, back to the subject at hand.
My home’s touch of whimsy is in the form of these two concrete griffins (lion’s body, eagle’s head). There’s a wonderful place just north of Louisville on the river called The Concrete Lady, that has every kind of fountain and statue you could image, from St. Francis of Assisi to Bigfoot, and I fell in love with these fellas. They don’t get dressed up for all holidays like the concrete porch geese that are so popular, but they do sport Santa hats at Christmas. I also put the Christmas wreaths around their necks this year so they wouldn’t blow off! We call my house Griffin Cottage. I like the juxtaposition of fancy entrance statuary and my very unpretentious, 1500 sq ft, 1 story, 1 bathroom house…
It was also important to me to choose a mate who didn’t take himself too seriously (lessons learned from the past…) My favorite things about The Cutest Boy in the World are his kindness and his curiosity, but his also-crucial sense of humor is shot through with the hilariously absurd. I have several photos that illustrate this well, but I’d never be forgiven if I used them, so this is the best bet:
I am lucky to work with a woman named Paula (website here), who may win the first prize for whimsy. Paula is a crafter extraordinaire, who illustrates, paints, works in fiber and needlecraft, and on and on. Some of her work is here. I only wish I had a photo of her wearing toy dinosaurs for earrings!
Can food be whimsical? Absolutely! Here is a photo of a cake I made while dabbling in “sugar work” – melting sugar into caramel, drizzling it on parchment paper and letting it harden, then using it as cake decoration.
I also took this photo in a grocery store on my last trip to England, which struck me as both whimsical and a great idea – can you imagine how great that would be after the bacon is crispy and the pork has been roasted in bacon fat?!?!?!
Now for a whimsical, food-related story: For a work event, we asked different groups of international students to make a typical dessert from their culture. The Chinese group told us that in summer, they ate a gelatin made with medicinal botanicals that was thought to have a cooling effect on the body. The gelatin had formerly been made by boiling turtle shells (our gelatin now comes from bones, horns and hooves of slautered meat animals – did you know that?). When we asked them what the English translation to put on the dish was, they pondered, then replied “turtle fungus jelly”! Not wanting the Americans to be horrified, we labelled it “Chinese summer cooler”, and it had more takers than would have been the case. (It tasted like jello made with tea, and did feel cooling!)
I hope you’ll enjoy my fellow bloggers takes on the subject of whimsey:
Is This Mutton https://www.isthismutton.com/2023/04/tell-us-aboutwhimsy.html
Deb’s World https://wp.me/p2juKh-dE5
Frugal Fashion Shopper https://frugalfashionshopper.co.uk/wp/whimsy/
10 Comments
Leslie Susan Clingan
What a delightful post. And I am hoping to get one written in the next few days as whimsy is something I crave but enjoy too infrequently. Love the whimsical foods you shared. I was quite sure what all went into our gelatin but I have a Muslim son-in-law who won’t eat gummies or Jello so I had a sneaking suspicion gelatin might be a little sketchy. The caramel-sugar cake topping reminds me of a carnival…certainly a place of whimsy.
Love Paula’s creations. Does she have an online store? Those pumpkins are such fun.
mkmiller
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And thanks so much for the reminder – I’ve just added a link to Paula’s website.
jodie filogomo
Your cakes always amaze me girl. I think you should be called the girl with the most talents EVER!!
And your coworker has amazing things too. I’ll be off to check them out.
XOOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
mkmiller
You’re too kind – YOU’RE the one who’s a medical professional AND a yarn artist!
Michelle
I love your griffins! And your sense of whimsy. I agree with you that it is important to have a spouse with a sense of humor. We have to be able to laugh at ourselves or life would be pretty grim. My husband is the king of bad puns. And I love it. Had to smile about the braided bacon. Now I’m off to visit Paula’s blog.
mkmiller
Thanks, Michelle – sorry for response a month late! It’s been one of those months…
Gail
Loved your post and how whimsy infuses your life. The pic of you and hubster with bunny ears and tail is a delight! So glad you were back in the lineup this month. We missed you!
mkmiller
Thanks, Gail – just finished a punishing period at work and am catching up with comments. I treasure that photo…
Stefanie Armstrong
Oh how this blog captures your spirit! You are such an accomplished, intelligent, talented, thoughtful woman, but you ARE also fun and full of whimsy! I would not have used that very creative, lovely word before I read the post, but I will be adding it to conversations moving forward! Of course, I adore each example of whimsy you posted, but my favorite was about the Cutest Boy in the World! A fun and well suited partner indeed! Who knew he could rock a bunny tail!! Your boss reminded me of Susie Johnson….she could inspire a blog about whimsy and talent on her own, as well! How you find the time to do all the amazing things you do and create clever posts defies logic! Maybe that needs to be your next blog……how to do it all while looking cute and not feeling frazzled! haha!
mkmiller
Sorry for this late response, but you’re still in Italy, so no one feel sorry for her! Thanks for the always-kind words. You are still president of my fan club – love you, sister!