Category ThursdayDoors

The unwanted guest (s) #ThursdayDoors

JT Twissel 24 Comments

We live in a two story house that was built into a hill. There’s a large deck on the upper floor and a much smaller deck below:

In order to keep rain off folks sitting on the lower deck, we installed metal slants between the two decks.

Can you spot who has moved into the narrow space between the metal slats and the upper deck?.

Yes, the mother raccoon and her babies. I haven’t been lucky enough to get a picture of the babies yet but I can sure hear them.

The floor of their nest.

Here is how they make their exit. I guess you could call it their “door.”

They used the old climbing rose to get down to the garden. At least the mother does.

Hopefully once the babies are big enough they’ll go away!!!

Check out other legit doors over at Dan’s place!

No Peeking #ThursdayDoors

JT Twissel 15 Comments

Tomorrow night is the premiere of the The Orinda Starlight Player’s production of The Spider’s Web.

Guess what? They’ve decided to keep the final set design a surprise! Probably a good idea as it is a play about a murder mystery!

But I did find one uncovered door. Below is the “hidden door” that the murderer uses to access his victim. Per the synopsis, it is a play about hidden doors and secret drawers with a protagonist no one believes (she likes to tell wild tales).

Anyway, it is one of Agatha Christie’s longest running plays. But the final set design – well, we’ll have to wait until the Sunday matinee!

Check out other doors at Dan’s place!

Off the beaten path #ThursdayDoors

JT Twissel 17 Comments

The other day we meandered down a few roads in town that are … shall we say … off the beaten path.

The town’s only shoe repair shop.

When I buy shoes, which is thankfully a rare occasion, I often splurge. So I was delighted when a shoe repair shop opened in our town. Nothing is worse than throwing away an expensive pair of shoes just because the soles are wearing thin.

Phairs Mercantile

Across the street from the adorable shoe repair shop is this abandoned building. I really don’t know that much about Phairs or why it has remained empty for over twenty years. Haunted perhaps?

The golf course you can see reflected in Phairs’ now shattered windows belongs to the Orinda Country Club. They only admit legacies at the OCC and they’re so old-fashioned that events held there are notoriously dull. But that’s the way they’ve always run things, gall darn it, and that’s the way things will always be done. No fancy technology for them!

Also across from the shoe repair shop is San Pablo creek. Although it’s protected by a chain link fence, it looks like someone’s been getting down there. The dream of many people in town is to revitalize this and other creeks which have been neglected for too long.

On the same block is a shop selling antiques. I can’t give my grandmother’s fancy china away so I don’t see how these shops survive.

I believe this is the bathroom window for a small cafe next to the antiques shop. Some mighty scary scarecrows guarding the cars in the parking lot.

Lastly here is a seldom used door leading to a mostly abandoned parking lot behind Phairs. Hopefully this block will get some love soon.

Check out other doors at Dan Anton’s place.

Mystery Door #ThursdayDoors

JT Twissel 10 Comments

On a recent walk through the park near my house I was pleased to note that the Starlight Players are preparing for their Summer Season. Although it is an outdoor only event, the last couple of years can’t have been easy for this group. If it wasn’t the pandemic, it was the smoke from all those fires.

Who knows where this door will lead? To Mrs. White’s kitchen where she’s busy spiking Colonel Mustard’s tea with arsenic? Or perhaps the boudoir of the sexy but devilish Deanna Del Doorbell, Duchess of Dimwoodie?

What about this one? Perhaps it will a window through which the audience can glimpse the sloops of the Alps as passengers on a disabled train plot revenge on an evil baby killer. We’ll just have to wait and see!

Below are stage doors in progress from 2016, arguably the last decent summer for outdoor theater we’ve had. The play they eventually put on was Death on the Nile. I saw it with my buddy Jude and we ate popcorn and had a blast.

This image is from Bing Images – the players respectfully ask the audience not to film their productions and I complied.

To see other doors from around the world check out Dan Anton’s place.

#ThursdayDoors: Bee Heaven

JT Twissel 18 Comments
“Door” to picnic area for the employees of a large business complex

Looks like a lovely spot for an alfresco lunch doesn’t it? That’s what I thought while waiting for a friend but guess what? Wisteria in bloom attracts the nastiest, most aggressive bees I’ve ever come across.

Yes beautiful but I soon got chased away by a bee the size of a hummingbird. I swear!
The wisteria in my backyard are a bit fluffier I think, don’t you?
The door to fun!

And finally a real door!

I spent many happy hours behind these doors learning how to sculpt: heads, busts and full figures. Sadly my instructor passed away and the class is no longer offered.

Check out other doors on Dan Anton’s planet – prepared to be amazed.

One of my first heads – he’s now a body-less garden gnome, poor dear!

Spaceship Garden #ThursdayDoors

JT Twissel 13 Comments

The other day I had coffee with a very dear friend in the nearby town of Berkeley California, which has a plethora of unusual and interesting doors. Unfortunately, I was driving and driving in a college town requires one’s complete attention … particularly while classes are in session. Students on their way to class rarely pay attention to crosswalks or street lights or cars. And those on some sort of wheelie jig are the worse. And so for my doorscursion I had to concentrate on the neighborhood around the iconic coffee shop where we met.

Can you see the UFO and the Spaceman standing over it?

The Spaceship garden sat in front of this proud Victorian.

Which, although well taken care of, was largely hidden by overgrown vegetation. As were many of the houses in the area. On the corner was this lending library.

It was probably built by a model railroader, don’t you think? Look at the attention to detail!

My friend … Charlie is his name … is about to embark on a grand adventure. He’s pulling up roots in the Bay Area and moving to Maine. To a small town in Maine.

Charlie is first class photographer who has written a couple of truly gorgeous coffee table books. He’s also involved in the Seed Saver and Build Back Better – Farms movements. On his way across country he plans to visit many like-minded folks.

I’m hoping that he’ll shared his experiences via this blog. Sort of like my friend Carol did during her horseback trek across the Aussie Outback.

Check out other Thursday Doors at Dan’s place.

Stay Home #ThursdayDoors

JT Twissel 45 Comments

Following the advice of WHO and in solidarity with the lovely people of Italy, I am in self-quarantine until, of course, we run out of gin.  So today, I’m inviting you to my house ….

Come a little closer; I won’t bite …

This solid wood door was originally a dull shade of beige but then I discovered Beet Bonanza Delight. The Jade plant to the side has endured all sorts of torture, including lack of sun but is still holding on.  Amazing.  The figure greeting you at the door with the ears and the antlers is a reindeer, of course, left over from a Christmas long ago. He actually provides a good place to hang wet garden gloves, tools and umbrellas.

Swinging from the lamp is Guard Toad First Class, Edmond Von Petty.  He has ESP.

If he senses that you have a black heart or want money, his chimes begin to quiver in warning to Greta Gecko who wishes to keep her rank a mystery.

Since you all  have golden hearts and want no money from me (I hope), you may press Greta’s button without fear of being zapped.

Have you brought your card?  Well, there’s always room on the fridge.

Door to my fridge.

Yes, I’m one of those crazy people who tacks everything on her frig.

I also planted an Australian fern right next to the front door because I love ferns.

Unfortunately these ferns can reach 16 feet high and wide. He’s also very affectionate and so watch out as you leave!

Sorry you have to go so soon but I know you have other doors to check out over at Norm’s Place.   Come again.

ThursdayDoors: The Music of the Spheres

JT Twissel 38 Comments

A few weeks before Christmas while cleaning out the storage area under the house in preparation for a new furnace and some asbestos removal work, I found this long neglected print.

The artist, a childhood friend, called it “The Music of the Spheres.”  It dates back to a time, when young, we both gave unconditionally of ourselves and our work, fully expecting that the universe always made right the innocent.  And it does, although not in the ways we expect.  I framed the print and it sits on the piano.  A good start to a New Year, making right at least one of the treasures cruelly hidden in storage.

I rarely post pictures of my family but here, for Norm’s Thursday Doors is my favorite picture from Christmas.  This little critter likes to slam doors in the faces of his elders.  I suspect he will find many fine doors to slam in his lifetime.

He sometimes gets along with this damsel of the neon lockes.

But she’s rapidly approaching the teenage years.  Oh my.  Enjoy – I tell the parents because the sun sets on everything.  Every year and every innocent friendship of youth.

 

 

 

Above, the last sunset of 2019 reflected in the window of a mobile home in a state park accessible to all.

Reflected in the wall of a gated community just across the street.

Looking up as the sky grew dark.

I hope this next year you uncover many hidden treasures, bring them to the light and enjoy them.

Favorite Doors of 2019

JT Twissel 24 Comments

For me, one of the bright spots of this year has been Thursday Doors, a  challenge by blogger Norm Frampton that encourages photographers (and those of us who point and click) to share entrances, arches, doors, and even sometimes windows from around the world, both the grand and the not so grand.  Sometimes those entrances have a backstory and sometimes they’re just whatever catches the eye.

My favorite doors from this year were actually garage doors.  I found them in a neighborhood of San Francisco known for its extremely diverse culture:  The Mission District.  Before the 1970s this area was heavily hispanic and not on any tourist’s map.  Then artists and hipsters, attracted by the low rents, began to move in.  They convinced home owners, restaurants and shop keepers to let them brighten otherwise dark and suspicious alleyways with their artwork.

Many of the murals (like the above) have political messages.  Others are whimsical.

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A few had cultural overtones. I don’t know what Che is doing in the above mural but there he is.
Because the Mission District is named after 1776 Mission Dolores, it’s not uncommon to see religious murals. Some are inexplicable.

To see other Mission doors click on any of these links

Finally, this door caught my eye down in San Diego.